Snow Hits Northwest Iowa
(Le Mars) — Despite the heavy snow that dumped on Le Mars and all of northwest Iowa, very there were very few reports of vehicles having accidents or sliding into the ditch as a result of the snow. According to the Plymouth County Sheriff’s office, they had received only five reports of accidents or vehicles in the ditch. There was a personal injury accident located on Highway 3 that occurred at about 5:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The Le Mars Fire And Rescue responded to that accident. The Hinton Fire Department responded to an auto accident that occurred shortly after 3:00 a.m. this morning on the north bound lane of Highway 75. It is not believed any injuries were reported. No further details are know at this time on either accident.
Roads Are Slow To Clear
(Le Mars) — All roads in northwest Iowa are 100 percent snow and ice packed. There is a winter storm warning issued for Plymouth, Woodbury, Cherokee, Buena Vista, and Ida Counties. Interstate 29 has slow moving traffic this morning. Highways 75 and 60 are totally snow covered. Many area schools are either cancelled or starting late. Meteorologist Brad Adams of the National Weather Services from Sioux Falls. He says the brunt of the storm did pass over northwest Iowa.
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Some people were perhaps surprised at the amount of snow received when in fact humidity levels were low.
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Adams says Thursday was the first wave, with the second coming on Sunday evening into Monday. But he says that storm may be more to the south.
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Snow plows are starting to clear the roadways, according to Iowa State Patrol trooper Vince Kurtz.
Local Artist Donates Painting To Museum
(Le Mars) — Le Mars artist Marjorie Dornink and her painting, “Black Elk’s Dream,” will be featured at a 3 p.m. coffee this Saturday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars.
Marjorie donated the painting to the Museum this week. Her daughter, Twilla Caudron, explained that the art work is about the story and legend of Wounded Knee and the native Americans.
Marjorie, a lifetime resident of the Le Mars area, has been painting for many years. Hosting the coffee for the artist will be the children of Marjorie and the late Wally Dornink: Kathy and Don Budd of Florence, Colo., Dick and Roberta Doornink of Cameron, Mo., and Twilla Caudron of Sarteneja, Belize.
The Museum, located at 335 First Avenue Southwest, will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. A special open house for the new Main Street Exhibit is set for Sunday afternoon.
Snow Storm Has Homeless Seeking Shelter
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The head of Iowa’s largest homeless shelter says the center will be packed because of a snowstorm moving through the state.
Tony Timm, executive director of Central Iowa Shelter in Des Moines, says 150 emergency beds already were full at the shelter on the edge of downtown by midday Thursday.
He expects there will be about 40 people who will sleep in chairs at the shelter. Many of them have been living in homeless camps along the Des Moines River.
Timm says, “It’s going to be miserably cold and the snow adds an extra hurdle.”
Despite Snow, Airports Remain Open
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Despite the heavy snow, Iowa’s major airports are still open.
Des Moines International Airport shows four morning flights from Chicago have been canceled, but another is scheduled to land on time at 9:14 a.m.
Early departures to Atlanta and Dallas have been delayed, but early flights to Newark, N.J.; Houston; and Denver are listed as on time. Flights to Memphis, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C.,
have been canceled.
At the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, a departure list shows several cancellations. Those include flights to Houston, Atlanta, Chicago and Denver. But flights to Detroit and Orlando,
Fla., are listed as on time.
The Quad City International Airport says early flights to Chicago and Atlanta are canceled, but early flights to Dallas, Detroit and Minneapolis are listed as on time.
Kossuth County Farmers Produced Most Corn and Soybeans
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Farmers in north-central Iowa’s Kossuth County beat out all others in corn and soybean production last year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in a report issued Thursday that Kossuth County led with 52.8 million bushels of corn and 10.3 million bushels of soybeans. It makes sense that Kossuth
would stand out, it’s the state’s largest county by land size and has the most harvested acres of corn and soybeans.
The extreme heat and drought last year reduced yields significantly across much of Iowa. Only Palo Alto and Clay counties in northwest Iowa produced corn yields above 170 bushels per acre.
Southern Iowa counties suffered most. Appanoose County reported the lowest yields with corn at 44.5 bushels per acre and soybeans at 24.3 bushels per acre.
