Road Closure
(Le Mars) Plymouth County’s secondary roads department has informed us of a rural road closing which begins today. 310th street will be closed between Shamrock Avenue to Tamarack Avenue for a bridge replacement with a culvert.
The stretch of road will be closed from 8am Wednesday for two weeks through August 28th. The road will be open for local traffic.
Promissory Ruling
(Sioux City) A judge has ordered Sioux City to pay $1.2 million on a promissory note guarantee the city made for the developer of the downtown Promenade movie theater complex.
The judge also told the city on Tuesday that it must pay $300,000 a year from 2014 through 2018 if First National Bank has not received full payment of its loan to Civic Partners, the complex’s developer, by Jan. 15 of each year.
Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott and the city’s private attorney handling the case declined to comment.
In 2005 the developer refinanced a bank development loan under a promissory note and stopped making payments in 2009. The bank sued the city in August 2012 for breach of contract. Civic Partners has filed bankruptcy.
Vermillion Jobs
A Minnesota-based software services company has broken ground on an information technology support center that will bring 200 jobs to Vermillion, South Dakota.
Eagle Creek Software Services is building the center in Vermillion, and it’s also partnering with the University of South Dakota to train eventual employees.
Company executives and area leaders broke ground on the new center on Tuesday.
Eagle Creek chief executive Ken Behrendt says there’s a need for STEM jobs in the country, and the problem can be solved in the Midwest.
The firm worked with USD to help home-grow new tech talent through a customized four-course certificate.
Deere Earnings Up
Deere & Co.’s third-quarter net income rose 27 percent, driven by booming agricultural activity in North and South America.
The company easily beat most expectations and shares are rising before the opening bell.
The farm and construction equipment manufacturer earned $997 million, or $2.56 per share, well ahead of the $2.17 per share that Wall Street was looking for.
Revenue climbed 4 percent to $10.01 billion, the company said Wednesday, also topping most expectations.
The company last year booked earnings of $788 million, or $1.98 per share.
No Texting Ap
The state of Iowa intends to supply a smartphone app for 14- through 17-year-olds that will keep them from texting while driving.
The state Transportation Department is choosing a high-tech firm to develop the app, which is expected to become available early next year. It will be called “TXTL8R,” which in text language is “Text Later.”
The department will pick up the cost of the app for the teen drivers. Older drivers will be able to acquire the app but will be charged by a third-party vendor.
Several text-blocking apps already are commercially available for smartphones. They use a phone’s global positioning system capability to determine movement.
Iowa law forbids all drivers from texting while driving.
