Vilsack visits Le Mars
(Le Mars) — Democratic Congressional candidate Christie Vilsack made a campaign stop in Le Mars last evening. Vilsack took a tour of downtown and met with several business owners, then she appeared at the Plymouth County Democratic headquarters and met with about 40 supporters. Vilsack told the group the reason why she is running for Congress is to help small towns.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/October 2012/Vilsack Le Mars stop.mp3{/audio}
Vilsack carries with her at all times a small foam football made from soybeans. She says small towns, such as Le Mars, can develop more products made from corn and soybeans.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/October 2012/Vilsack Le Mars2.mp3{/audio}
Vilsack says she wants to be a connector.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/October 2012/Vilsack Le Mars3.mp3{/audio}
Construction on C-60 Is Complete
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe has announced that County road C-60 is once again open for traffic, and the construction project, involving the paving of C-60 is completed.
Protestors Disrupt World Food Prize Ceremony
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some protesters have been arrested as they tried to enter a private event at the World Food Prize headquarters in Des Moines.
Five people were arrested Wednesday afternoon as the foundation prepares for its 2012 award ceremony.
Members of Occupy Des Moines planned civil disobedience efforts and expected to be arrested as they obstructed participates at the headquarters and again at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday before the
$250,000 prize is awarded to this year’s recipient.
Organizer Frank Cordaro says he expected about 30 people to turn out on Wednesday, with 10 willing to be arrested. The group opposes what it sees as a focus on corporate agriculture motivated more by profit than food safety or protection of natural resources.
Obama Speaks At Cornell College
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (AP) – President Barack Obama called upon about 2,000 people at Cornell College in Mount Vernon to vote for him and back his campaign as the November 6th election nears.
Obama appeared energized Wednesday as he spoke to the crowd. He also met with about 800 others in an adjacent overflow area.
The Democrat repeated many of the criticisms of Republican nominee Mitt Romney that came up in Tuesday night’s debate, but he also made several points that seemed tailored to a largely student
audience. That included parts of Obama’s health care law that lets young adults remain on their parents’ health insurance and the president’s move to reduce student loan costs.
It was Obama’s ninth trip to Iowa this year and the first time a sitting president has visited Cornell College.
Updated Information on the DCI Investigation of Shooting By Deputy
KEOSAUQUA, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting death of an armed man by a Van Buren County sheriff’s deputy in southeast Iowa.
The agency says the deputy shot and killed the man on Iowa Highway Two near Cantril on Tuesday. Deputies were investigating reports of a man wearing a military uniform and armed with a rifle
walking along the highway and making obscene gestures at passing motorists.
Officials say when deputies arrived, the man was ordered to drop the rifle. A deputy shot the man when he pointed the rifle at the officers.
The DCI says more information about the shooting, including names, is expected to be released late Wednesday afternoon.
Fired Principal – Reinstated
DURANT, Iowa (AP) – A state board has dismissed its ethics inquiry into the newly restored principal at Durant High School.
The Quad-City Times says the Board of Educational Examiners dismissed the case this week against Monica Rouse, finding no wrongdoing. Rouse was fired in 2010. In April, the Iowa Supreme
Court declined to review a lower court decision that Rouse was improperly fired.
The district filed a complaint with the state board in March. It was amended to include personal emails found on Rouse’s school-issued computer after her firing.
The newspaper says the emails were between Rouse and a man while she was separated from her husband.
Rouse’s attorney says the district went to “extremes” but the state board didn’t consider the emails. The school board says the matter is “now closed.”
