Steen and Ellefson Named Homecoming Royalty
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Community High School is celebrating its Homecoming festivites today. Earlier this afternoon the coronation and pep rally took place at the new Le Mars Community Gym. Here’s the announcement..
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/September 2012/lcs king and queen 9-21-12.MP3{/audio}
J.D. Steen is the son of Jon and Ida Steen. And Emily is the daughter of Rich and Rosalie Ellefson.
Auto Accident On Hwy 75 & 24th Street SW Injures Two
(Le Mars) — Shortly after 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, emergency crews responded to an auto accident at the intersection of Highway 75 and 24th Street Southwest. Two people were injured as a result of the accident and they were transported to the Floyd Valley Hospital by the Le Mars Ambulance. 22 year old Clayton Boyle of Sioux City was heading southbound on Highway 75 waiting for the traffic to clear before he made a left-hand turn on to 24th Street Southwest when 21 year old Tasha Wurth of Remsen also heading southbound, failed to see Boyle had stopped and rear-ended Boyle. Traffic on Highway 75 was backed up for few minutes as a result of the accident. The Le Mars Ambulance, Le Mars Fire and Rescue, Le Mars Police and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s department all responded to the accident scene.
ATV Accident Injures 19 year Old Le Mars Man
(Le Mars) — An ATV accident occurred south of town at the 2000 block of Lynx Ave. The accident happened at about 1:45 p.m. When Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputies arrived they found 19 year Cody Ortmann of Le Mars lying in a cornfield and a Yamaha 450 four-wheeler in the ditch. Ortmann indicated that he had been traveling south on Lynx Avenue when he lost control on the gravel road where he was thrown from vehicle. Ortmann was taken to Floyd Valley Hospital by the Le Mars Ambulance with a lower left leg injury. Ortmann was then transferred to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City. The accident remains under investigation and charges are pending.
Propane Explosion Injures Storm Lake Man
(Storm Lake) — An explosion on a Buena Vista county farm resulted in serious injuries to a Storm Lake man. The explosion occurred in an outbuiding at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday evening. Initial investigation lead officials to believe that a propane line in the basement of the outbuilding caused the explosion. The Storm Lake Fire and Rescue Department, along with the Buena Vista Sheriff’s office and ambulances from both the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center and Newell responded to the scene. Injured in the explosion was 72 year old Leonard Hartje. Hartje was first transported to the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center at Storm Lake, then flown to an Omaha hospital. He is now being treated at a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska. Damages to the outbuilding are estimated to exceed $50,000. The incident remains under investigation by the Buena Vista County sheriff’s office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.
Sibley Man Found Guilty Of Methamphetamine Distribution
(Sioux City) — A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Sioux City. 48 year old Esmelin Belloso-Valle of Sibley was convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and distributing methamphetamine. On three occassions, Belloso-Valle distributed more than 200 grams of pure methamphetamine during controlled drug transactions with law enforcement officials. During one transaction was within 1000 feet of a Sioux City park. Belloso-Valle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, along with a $10 million fine.
Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Rises
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a point from July to hit 5.5 percent in August.
A Friday news release from Iowa Workforce Development says August’s rate was a half percentage point under the 6 percent of August 2011.
The agency says the number of unemployed people rose to 90,000 in August, compared with 87,900 in July. A year ago the figure was 99,900.
Agency director Teresa Wahlert says an uncertain economic outlook is restraining job growth and that the Iowa economy “is reacting to the effects of drought conditions, a global economic
slowdown and the national uncertainty surrounding taxes and expenditure cuts.”
The national rate fell to 8.1 percent in August from 8.3 percent in July.
MidAmerican Performs Soil Studies For Proposed Nuclear Power Plant
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy Co. is holding meetings with landowners and residents in two locations in Iowa as part of a nuclear energy assessment study.
About 40 residents in Fremont County in western Iowa and a similar number in Muscatine County in eastern Iowa received invitations.
MidAmerican will discuss the purpose of soil samples the company is gathering for the study to assess the viability of nuclear generation in Iowa.
Spokeswoman Tina Potthoff says the company is taking five soil borings of nearly 100 feet deep in both locations. She says no decisions have been made to build a nuclear plant.
The Legislature in 2010 passed a bill allowing MidAmerican to recover up to $15 million in study costs from Iowa electric customers.
A report will be filed with lawmakers next year.
Restoration Company Examines Marshalltown Murals To See If Painted By Grant Wood
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – A restoration company will determine if murals painted by fame Iowa artist Grant Wood are hidden beneath panels in a Marshalltown building.
The possibility that murals by the artist who painted the iconic American Gothic were concealed in the Tallcorn Towers Apartment building arose after a story last year in the Times-Republican
newspaper.
That story noted a 1949 article in the newspaper, which reported Wood had been commissioned to decorate the Tallcorn’s ballroom and restaurant.
The Times-Republican reports (https://bit.ly/TdbfEN ) local historians aren’t aware that Wood worked in the building, but speculation has centered on a hallway near a ballroom.
The building was recently sold, and Koester Construction Co. of Grimes will soon begin extensive renovations. Koester has hired Renaissance Restoration Inc. of Galena, Ill., to determine if the
murals exist.
