B-P-I To File Defamation Lawsuit
(Dakota Dunes, SD) — Beef Products Incorporated will announce a major lawsuit regarding defamation of their Lean Finely Textured Beef. The company will conduct a news conference this morning at its corporate headquarters in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota to discuss details of the lawsuit.
The company was forced to close three of its four beef processing plants this past year after national media reports referred to its beef in derogatory terms and alleged that the meat was potentially unsafe.
B-P-I has provided consumers with safe lean beef for 30 years.
Third Grade Students To Participate On Farm Tour
(Le Mars) — Third grade students from Le Mars Community, Gehlen Catholic, Remsen Union and Remsen St. Mary’s will have the opportunity to visit four different farms today. Its all part of the Elementary Agricultural Tour sponsored by the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Committee. The tour will include four different types of farms, a dairy operation, a beef operation, a swine farm, and a sheep farm. The tour is to teach the students about where our food comes from and to learn more about Iowa agriculture. The tour has been active for several decades. Mark Loutsch owns a sheep farm and has hosted the agricultural tour for more than 15 years. He says he wants the students to get a better understanding of how his farming business works, and how the crops he grows has a relationship with his livestock.
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He says the students ususally ask several questions, and he says that helps them better understand agriculture.
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Teachers and administration officials like the tour. After the tour, the students will gather at the Cleveland Park for a picnic meal consisting of grilled hamburgers.
Despite Drought, Ag Exports Still Holding Strong
(Boone) — Iowa farmers have benefited in recent years from both grain and livestock agricultural exports that have been on the rise. However, with the summer drought, there is some concern that Iowa farmers may not be able to meet the demands from foreign nations, and those customers may go elsewhere to purchase grain, oilseeds, and meat products. Grant Kimberly serves as the Marketing Development Director with the Iowa Soybean Association. He says foreign nations are still coming to the United States for their food supply.
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Besides China, Kimberly talks about other nations that are buying U-S agricultural goods.
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The drought has slowed down some transportation of ag goods, mainly because of the lower levels of the Mississippi River which has prevented barge traffic. However, Kimberly says farmers are instead looking to market their products through the Pacific Northwest.
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Kimberly says 25 to 30 percent of all soybeans and soybean meal is exported through the Pacific Northwest.
Fall Clean Up Days
(Le Mars) — Two days remain for the Le Mars clean up. The city has declared an amnesty from the landfill disposal cost, therefore, up to 1000 pounds per household of “throw away” material delivered to the landfill will be paid by the city of Le Mars. Items that are included with the amnesty are furniture, construction and demolition that includes wooden items like fence posts, scrap lumber, windows, doors, sinks, toilets, and screens. Metal items are being accepted, and white goods are also being accepted during this amnesty clean up week, although there is a $10 charge per item demanufacturing charge at the time of drop off. Normal household garbage and yard waste are NOT included or are tires, and hazardous waste. A year ago, Le Mars residents threw away more than 107 tons of waste products, which was the most in the five year history of the program. Residents are asked to take the waste items to the Plymouth county landfill themselves, as there is no curbside pickup for this program. The county landfill is open between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturday.
Latinos Encouraged To Vote During November
WEST LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) – Political strategists and a prominent advocacy group say Iowa’s growing Latino population could play a more powerful role in this year’s presidential campaign.
Iowa’s Latino population increased 84 percent between 2000 and 2010, to more than 151,000. That’s about 5 percent of the overall total.
The League of Latino United Citizens is conducting a first-of-its-kind effort to identify Latino voters in Iowa and increase their turnout. The group says it has identified 35,000 Latino voters from previous elections, and is aiming to sign up 15,000 more before November.
While the Hispanic community might still only make up 3 percent of Iowa’s electorate, strategists say even a modest increase could be meaningful if the race here is close between President Barack
Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Search Group Organized For UNI President
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – A 21-member committee has been formed to search for the next president of the University of Northern Iowa.
The Iowa Board of Regents on Wednesday approved the members of the search and screen committee, which includes regents, professors, administrators and leaders of faculty, staff and
student groups. The public members of the committee are three
leaders from the business world.
The group will search for a replacement for President Ben Allen, who has announced plans to step down when his successor comes on board. It will evaluate and filter out candidates and recommend a
handful as finalists to be brought to campus for interviews.
The board will make the final hiring decision.
Des Moines Selected For EPA Project
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Environmental Protection Agency says it has chosen Des Moines to participate in its Greening America’s Capitals project making the city available for technical help to
improve an area of downtown.
The EPA will provide a team of designers and landscape architects that specialize in green infrastructure to help produce schematic designs and illustrations for improvements along a
one-mile stretch of Sixth Avenue.
The team will hold a three-day design workshop in Des Moines later this year or early next year.
Project designs include wider sidewalks, narrower traffic lanes, better lighting, improved bus stop shelters, permeable pavement, and rain gardens that can minimize storm water runoff.
The city plans to use the project to guide designs for other street improvements.
