Missing Person Body Identified
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department has reported finding a body of a
missing person. On mid-morning Friday, the Plymouth County Communications Center received a report of a person missing since the morning of August 15th. A search was conducted by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office and Akron Police Department in a heavily wooded and overgrown area near Akron, which hindered the investigation. On Friday, at 19001 Highway 12 the body of 36 year-old Jeremy Clarey of Akron, Iowa was located. The subject was deceased. His body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny for an autopsy and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office is awaiting the results of their findings. The investigation is continuing.
Le Mars Fire and Rescue Have Busy Weekend
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department had a busy weekend, responding to
numerous calls consisting of accidents, recreational pit fires, and smoke calls. David
Schipper serves as the Le Mars Fire Chief and explains the weekend calls.
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Schipper says shortly after the clean up duties were completed for the two semi trucks, the
fire department was then called to the Le Mars Day Care Center for a carbon monoxide alarm.
Fortunately, Schipper says it was only an old alarm that needed replacing. The Le Mars Fire Department was called to a personal injury accident Sunday morning that happened at about 8:00 a.m. on Business Highway 75 and 24th Street. The Le Mars Fire Department was at the scene of the accident for more than an hour.
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The Le Mars Fire and Rescue squad also responded to the Four Brothers Restaurant located at 1430 Twin Rivers Blvd. for a fire alarm. The call came in at about 11:24 a.m. Fire crews were on the scene for only 20 minutes. As we now know, that alarm was due to the brief power outage.
(Le Mars) — That accident, as referenced by Fire Chief Schipper, involved a vehicle being
driven by 20 year-old Desiree Lauderdale of Sioux City. Police investigation reports show
Lauderdale failed to stop at the exit junction of U-S Highway 75 and Business Highway 75.
Lauderdale’s vehicle first struck a guard rail, then crossed over and hit asemi truck and
trailer being driven by 59 year-old Curtis Cain of Chariton, Iowa. That accident had
blocked all four lanes of travel for a short time. Lauderdale did report having some injuries as a result of the accident.
Hinton Fire Department Responds To Accident
(Hinton) — At about the same time the Le Mars Fire Department was assisting at an accident, the Hinton Fire and Rescue Department was called to 31629 County Road K-49 for another personal injury accident. Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department reports the accident involved one vehicle. The call was received at about 7:52 a.m. The vehicle, driven by 50 year old Todd Kapler of Hinton, apparently was traveling northbound when it crossed over the centerline and nearly hitting a southbound car. Kapler then got back on the correct lane of traffic, but then entered the east ditch and traveling several hundred feet in the ditch. The vehicle collided with an embankment causing the Kaplan vehicle to go airborne about 140 feet. The vehicle rolled once. Kaplan was transported to Mercy Medical Center of Sioux City via a helicopter. Kapler’s condition is listed as critical. Fire crews were on the accident scene for nearly an hour and fifteen minutes.
Dynamite Found On Buena Vista County Farm
(Storm Lake) — Buena Vista County authorities found some old explosives located on a farm near Newell. Deputies responded Saturday morning to 2345 590th Street and determined the items to be dynamite and other related items which were located in an outbuilding. The area was secured and the state fire marshal’s office was notified. The dynamite was disposed of by the state fire marshal. The dynamite was determined to be extremely old and had been stored on the property by previous owners. Officials warn that if suspicious explosives such as dynamite, blasting caps, or gun powder are found, do not attempt to move them as age makes the items become extremely unstable. Contact authorities and get to a safe distance.
Kessenich Honored For “Excellence In Education” By Diocese
(Le Mars) — A Gehlen Catholic faculty member was honored Monday morning by the Sioux City Diocese. Carol Kessenich of Le Mars was informed that she is one of four recipients of the Excellence in Education Honorees. Dan Ryan of the Sioux City Diocese explains why Kessenich was selected for the honor.
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Kessenich was surprised by the recognition. Her family was also in attendance, and by her side when the announcement was made. Kessenich expresses her feelings about the award and gives credit to her mother.
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Kessenich has been a teacher at Gehlen Catholic for 17 years. Prior to Gehlen, she also taught at Remsen St. Mary’s. She teaches both junior high religion and mathematics. Kessenich is the seventh Gehlen faculty member to be honored with the Excellence in Education award by the Sioux City Diocese. The last Gehlen faculty member to be given the honor was the late Steven Shea, for which the Gehlen gymnasium is being named for this year.
Ahlers Given Seed Association Scholarship
(Ames) — Six $3,000 scholarships have been awarded by the Iowa Crop Improvement Association to support Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students planning to pursue careers in seed science or the seed industry. Rebecca Ahlers of Le Mars was one of the scholarship recipients.
Ahlers is a senior majoring in Agronomy and Journalism and Mass Communications. Her
passion for agriculture began young and has developed into a love of plant sciences coupled with sustainable agriculture. Ahlers has a goal of communicating agronomic information to farmers while also being an advocate for agriculture.
Branstad Advocates Later School Start
(Des Moines) — Many schools will begin classes this week, including Le Mars Community and Gehlen Catholic which are scheduled to start on Thursday, August 22nd. Some schools, such as Kingsley-Pierson, started last week. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad says he would like to see all of Iowa’s public schools have a later start, preferably after September 1st. The governor spoke to KLEM news while he was attending the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Branstad says earlier school starts don’t necessarily mean high academic scores.
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Many school districts advocate an early start is needed in order to complete the semester prior to the Christmas Day Holiday. The state’s tourism industry, including the Iowa State Fair, would like to see schools have a later start. They say, attendance and exhibits are down due to schools starting early. Resorts, restaurants, camps, and other summertime employment opportunities, like community swimming pools, are forced to close early because of the early school starts. Branstad believes a compromise can be achieved. He says he hopes the newly appointed Director of Education does not offer school districts waivers, unless they have a valid reason for the earlier start.
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Many school officials believe the decision for the start date for school should be left up to the individual school district, and not be dictated by the state.
Branstad and Reynolds Announce Bullying Seminar
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced they will be hosting the second Governor’s Bullying Prevention Summit, to be held on Nov. 4 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.
This year’s theme is “Mission Possible: Stepping Up the Response,” and is a follow-up to the governor’s sold-out inaugural 2012 Bullying Prevention Summit, which drew about 1,100 students and adults to focus on community involvement in preventing bullying.
The purpose of this year’s summit is to explore the practical next steps to better address the pervasive problem of bullying.
The 2012 Iowa Youth Survey reported that 57 percent of students said that in the last 30 days they had been bullied at school in a variety of ways. That was up from 50 percent in 2010. Growing awareness that bullying should not be tolerated may be behind the increase, as well as new challenges presented by the Internet and social media. Despite this, the governor says we all need to work together to reverse the trend.
Minnesota Man Charged With 1999 Homicide
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Minnesota man has been charged with killing an Iowa woman in 1999.
Cedar Rapids police say 34-year-old Deshaun Phillips was arrested in Shakopee, Minn. He’s charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing 44-year-old Judith Weeks. Her body was found in the backyard of a vacant Cedar Rapids apartment on April 5, 1999. An autopsy said she’d been struck in the forehead by a sharp object.
Cedar Rapids police say in a news release that the case was thoroughly investigated 14 years ago and has been reviewed several times over the years. But police say investigators specifically assigned to the case developed new information that led to the charge against Phillips.
A police spokeswoman didn’t immediately return messages Monday from The Associated Press.
It’s unclear whether Phillips has an attorney.
