Set Your Clocks Back and Change the Batteries In Smoke Detectors
(Le Mars) — Today is the last day for Daylight Savings Time, so before you go to bed this
evening you will want to set your clocks back one hour. This is also a good time to change
your batteries in your smoke detector, as per Dave Schipper of the Le Mars Fire Department.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/November 2012/Schipper detectors1.mp3{/audio}
We soon will be having the cold weather, and fireplaces, and space heaters will be in use.
Schipper offers some fire prevention tips for the winter months.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/November 2012/Schipper detectors2.mp3{/audio}
Steve King To Visit Le Mars On Saturday
(Le Mars) — Republicans will have the opportunity to hear from their candidate today as Representative Steve King is scheduled to make an appearance in Le Mars. King will speak from the Plymouth County Republican Party Headquarters at 2:30 p.m. King is making a swing through the new fourth district as part of his “Restoring Our American Dream Victory Tour.”
Former Police Officer Charged With Arson & Theft
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former Forest City police officer charged in a fire at the police station and in the theft of a rifle from a police car has been convicted of arson and burglary charges.
A judge on Friday found Thaddeus Ellenbecker guilty of second-degree arson and second-degree burglary.
He was charged in a fire that damaged the Forest City police station in October 2011 and with stealing an assault rifle from a squad car in November 2010.
The judge announced the verdicts in Mason City after presiding over separate bench trials on each case. Ellenbecker faces up to 10 years in prison on each count. Sentencing is Dec. 11 in Forest
City. Ellenbecker was shot during a scuffle with a state agent investigating the crimes.
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Marshalltown Credit Union Thief Identified
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Police have released the names of an officer and two suspects in a credit union robbery in Marshalltown that led to a shooting that wounded the officer and one of the
suspects.
The Lennox Employees Credit Union was robbed Friday morning. The suspects fled and led officers on a short chase.
Police say one of the suspects, Ben Crisantos, fired at Officer Vern Jefferson, hitting him in the leg. Jefferson returned fire, hitting Crisantos in the lower extremities. Jefferson and Crisantos
were taken to a Marshalltown hospital. Both were treated and released.
Crisantos is charged with attempted murder. The second suspect, Abel Ramirez, is charged with first-degree robbery. The two Marshalltown men are in the Marshall County jail. It’s unclear if they have an attorney.
Branstad Appoints Judge
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican Governor Terry Branstad has named an associate juvenile court judge to the district court bench in the 2nd Judicial District, which covers central and northern
Iowa.
Branstad on Friday appointed James McGlynn to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Joel Swanson, of Carroll.
McGlynn, of Webster City, received his law degree from Creighton University.
The district covers 22 counties.
