Plymouth County Fair Begins Today
(Le Mars) — It’s day one of the five best days of the summer…the Plymouth County Fair begins. Today, open class entries can be entered between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Livestock entries need to be in place by 12:00 noon, with the weigh-in to be completed by noon. The fair schedule has the 4-H Clothing Selection and Fashion Revue to start at noon at the Century Hall. The 4-H and FFA Rabbit Show begins at 1:00 p.m. at the north arena. The 4-H and FFA livestock judging contest begins at 1:00 p.m. The sheep scanning begins at 1:00 and the Commercial Exhibits and the Round Barn open at 2:00 p.m. The midway starts the rides at 5:00 p.m. and the bucket calf check-in is at 5:30 p.m. and the judging of the bucket calves is set for 6:00 p.m. At the Grandstand it is the Motorcross races, and they begin at 6:00 p.m. The King and Queen Crowning ceremony is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Pioneer Village Stage.
Judging 4-H Projects
(Le Mars) — Tuesday at the fairgrounds, the 4-H exhibits were judged. Carl Lee of Grimes, Iowa and Julie Herring-Kent of Cherokee served as a couple of the judges. Lee judged the science and mechanical technology category, and Kent judged the personal development category. Both judged students between fourth grade and the 12th grade. Both judges say they enjoy visiting with the 4-H members about the projects. Kent explains her judging criteria.
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Lee explains what he looks for in a project as a 4-H judge.
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Lee recalls some of the projects that he looked at for the Plymouth County Fair.
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Kent says she recalls one project exhibited by a ten-year old member that featured the political process.
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Both judges say they were in 4-H as a youngster, and they have been judging 4-H projects for at least 15 years.
Supervisors Approve Bid For Restoration of Courthouse Building
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Supervisors approved a bid by Shoonover Tuckpointing Company of Vinton, Iowa to help with the restoration and masonary work of the courthouse building. The submitted bid was for $223,290 with the understanding the work is to be completed by June 30, 2013. Shoonover is assigned to repair the building’s stonework facade that is showing signs of wear and in some places is crumbling. The supervisors also approved a resolution allowing Plymouth County to be part of the Western Iowa Community Improvement Regional Housing Trust Fund. The regional housing trust fund will be coordinated by SIMPCO and it includes Monona, Woodbury, and Plymouth Counties. Cherokee and Ida counties were invited to participate, but decided instead to create their
own regional housing trust fund. The County Supervisors also approved a change of voting places for residents living in Precinct #3. Precinct #3 includes the townships of Elgin and America and also includes the town of Struble. In previous elections, voters would cast their vote at the Le Mars Public Library. As of this coming November, residents of precinct #3 will intead cast their votes at the Courthouse Annex Building.
Area Fire Departments Busy Fighting Grass and Hay Fires
(Le Mars) — Area fire departments were busy yesterday. Kingsley fire department responded to a grass ditch fire about four and a half miles north of Kingsley on Highway 140. That call came in at about 1:20 p.m. At nearly the same time, the Le Mars Fire Department responded to an alarm at the Le Mars Day Care Center. Fortunately, it was some burnt popcorn that produced some smoke at
the day care center. The Akron Fire Department was called to 17684 Evergreen Avenue at about 1:15 for a Hay pile that was on fire. Later in the day, Akron was called to fight another hay pile fire located at 17638 Fir Avenue. The Le Mars Fire Department was also called to offer Akron assistance with the hay pile fire. Fire officials were on the scene of the second hay pile fire for nearly three hours. The fire started at about 5:15 p.m. and it wasn’t until 8:30 p.m. that fire officials had the fire under control.
Presidential Candidates Look At Iowa As A “Battleground” State
NEW YORK (AP) – Iowa may not be getting nearly as much attention as it received last winter at the start of the presidential caucus season. But politics hasn’t exactly stopped at the border, either.
Iowa is among a half-dozen battleground states the Obama re-election campaign has chosen to run a new television ad pushing back at Republican Mitt Romney’s efforts to use some of President
Barack Obama’s words against him.
Romney has taken Obama to task for saying “you didn’t build that” in a campaign speech about how government helps small businesses thrive. Romney’s campaign is running ads that suggest Obama doesn’t think entrepreneurs build their own businesses. In the new ad, Obama says the Romney ads take his words out of context and, the president says, are “flat out wrong.”
Obama says was referring to public programs like education and infrastructure that helped businesses be successful.
The ads are running in several general-election battleground states including Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Nevada.
Jeb Bush To Speak At Sioux City Chamber Banquet
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a leading Republican, will be the keynote speaker at the Sioux City annual Chamber of Commerce dinner in October.
Jim Jensen, the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce CEO, says Bush will share his perspective on the key challenges facing the country. The speech will be titled “America’s Promise in Uncertain
Times.”
Jensen announced Bush as the annual event’s speaker on Tuesday.
Bush has recently said the willingness to compromise that allowed his father President George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan to succeed no longer exists in Washington. He holds both parties responsible. He says the tone of the Republican Party often concerns him because it doesn’t allow for disagreement among members.
Bush has campaigned recently for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Red Oak Woman Back In Jail
RED OAK, Iowa (AP) – A Red Oak woman out of prison for three days is back in jail after a fight with her husband over the weekend.
KETV Television reports 20-year-old Karli Jo Brown was released after serving eight months of two 10-year sentences for motor vehicle homicide.
Two boys aged four and five were killed and their mother, Nina McNeese, injured in November 2011.
Investigators say a head-on collision occurred as Brown was speeding south of Red Oak, texting, and passing cars in a no-passing zone.
Last week, Judge James Heckerman suspended Brown’s sentence and ordered supervised probation.
Brown and her husband were arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse over the weekend.
A probation revocation hearing is July 30.
The judge could reinstate Brown’s original prison sentence.
Mercury Found In Armstrong, Iowa
ARMSTRONG, Iowa (AP) – More than a dozen people, including four children, are being watched for symptoms of mercury poisoning after they were exposed in the north-central Iowa town of Armstrong.
Emmet County emergency manager Terry Reekers says a construction worker remodeling a house found a plastic bottle with about 40 pounds of liquid mercury on Friday.
Reekers says the worker took the mercury to a bar to show friends. Someone dropped the bottle and exposed 10-12 people at the bar.
Reekers says the worker took the remaining mercury to the house and hid the bottle in a sandbox where four children later found it.
An EPA team will clean up the mercury in the sandbox and at the bar.
High levels of mercury exposure can lead to kidney damage, respiratory failure and death.
