Remsen-Union Dedicates New Multi-Purpose Facility
(Remsen) — Remsen-Union held a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony last evening for its new 17,000 square feet Multi-purpose and locker room facility last evening. The cost of the project is at $2.1 million. Remsen-Union Superintendent Ken Howard says the project was a long time coming.
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Shirley Schroeder serves as president of the Remsen-Union school board. She offers this explaination of the new facility.
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Schroeder says the community did not need to vote on a bond measure, instead the project was financed through the one percent state sales tax.
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Superintendent Howard says the school now has an extra facility for tournaments, practice, and even an additional space for elementary recess during bad weather days.
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Howard says the new facility will help with scheduling conflicts and offer the school more versitility.
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Nearly 400 people attended the dedication ceremony.
Le Mars Fire Department Responds To Five Calls On Friday
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire Department had a busy day on Friday. The local fire department responded to five calls beginning at about 5:30 a.m. when they were called to the Brentwood Good Samaritan Center for smoke in the kitchen. The next call came at 8:05 when fire officials investigated smoke west of town. At 10:30 a.m. the Le Mars Fire Department investigated a strange odor from behind Fedder’s Marine and Rv and Family Table Restaurant. Twenty minutes later the fire department responded to a call at the Cloverleaf Cold Storage, and then at 1:15 a fire alarm was sounding at the Park Place Estates. Fortunately, with most of the calls there wasn’t a fire, and on the one actual fire reported, it was contained and could not spread. Two calls involved water leaking into the alarm system which prompted the alarms to sound.
Akron Fire Department Fights Grass and Baler Fire
(Akron) — The Akron Fire Department responded to a grass field fire that started from a baler. The fire was reported at about 2:40 Friday afternoon. The grass fire had quickly spread. Both the Akron and the Hawarden Fire Departments responded to the fire. It was located just across the Big Sioux River in South Dakota at 480 2nd Avenue between 308th and 309th streets.
Iowa City Police Arrest Drug Shooting Suspect
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Police have arrested a person involved in a shooting that occurred during an undercover drug operation at a trailer park near Iowa City.
Iowa City police Sergeant Denise Brotherton tells the Iowa City Press-Citizen that officers responded Friday afternoon to an apartment complex where someone believed to be involved in the
Thursday night shooting might live.
After a standoff of nearly four hours, police shot tear gas into the building. Officers escorted John Mulbah outside in handcuffs a few minutes later.
Police were looking for Mulbah and another man who fled after the shooting, in which two state agents fired shots during an undercover drug operation. The incident left 24-year-old Ivan Hardemon dead and 21-year-old Demarco Dudley injured.
Milo Man Ordered To Pay Victim’s Family
INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) – A Warren County judge has ordered a central Iowa famer convicted of killing his neighbor to pay $4 million in a legal battle.
KCCI-TV reports the judge on Friday ordered Rodney Heemstra of Milo to pay Rhonda Lyon in a settlement decision.
Heemstra shot his neighbor Tom Lyon in 2003 in a dispute over farmland and cattle-watering equipment.
Lawsuits resulted in court judgments against Heemstra totaling about $7 million, including interest, but he continued to fight paying it. He made a settlement offer in April.
Heemstra was originally convicted of first-degree murder. The Iowa Supreme Court ordered a new trial, and Heemstra was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
Investigators To Release Video of Hot Lotto Mystery
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – State investigators may release part of a video in hopes of solving the mystery behind a Hot Lotto ticket worth more than $14 million that was claimed and later
withdrawn.
A New York attorney claimed the prize on behalf of a trust based in Belize. His representatives offered the winning ticket hours before the prize would have expired Dec. 29.
The attorney refused to say who purchased the ticket at a Des Moines gas station and who would receive the payout. The claim was eventually withdrawn.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette (https://bit.ly/P30u0O ) says if leads the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are following don’t pan out in the next few weeks, it may release part of the video showing the Hot Lotto sale in hopes of helping the investigation.
Circuit Court OK’s EPA 15% Ethanol Blend
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to Environmental Protection Agency decisions allowing an increase in ethanol content in gasoline.
In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said trade associations of engine manufacturers, food producers and petroleum producers did not have standing to sue
because they failed to show that their members are harmed by the EPA action.
In two decisions, the agency approved the introduction of a gasoline blend of up to 15 percent ethanol for use in light-duty vehicles from model-year 2001 and later. The national gasoline supply is largely a blend with 10 percent ethanol. Ethanol producers, who sought the 15 percent option, say the ruling keeps a pathway open that could enable ethanol demand to expand.
