Fire Department Responds To Three Calls
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department responded to three different calls on Sunday and early Monday morning. The fire department was called to assist with clean up duties from a accident. That accident happened at about 7:00 p.m. and it occurred at the intersection of 12th Avenue Southwest and 18th Street. Later, at about 9:12 p.m. the fire department responded to a call where an electric utility pole was on fire. That fire was reported on County Road C-16 near the railroad tracks. Finally, at about 3:40 a.m. this morning the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department was called to the Good Samaritan Center at 1140 Lincoln Street for a general fire alarm.
Le Mars Fire Department Hosts Water Application Contest
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire Department hosted a water application contest. Eight different fire departments were represented during the annual competition which was held Sunday afternoon at the Fareway parking lot. More than 200 spectators viewed the competition. Results of the Men’s Water Fight consisted of the Hull Fire Department taking top honors, with Sioux Center receiving second, third, and fourth place. In the Women’s Water Fight division, Le Mars was able to win the competition with Nita Dreckman, Sandy Vanderloo, and Steph Hargens. Le Mars also had second place with Nita Dreckman and Alissa Schipper. Hull placed third in the women’s competion and Orange City placed fourth. In the Men’s Leader Line competition, Le Mars placed first with Chief Dave Schipper, Steve Ahrendsen and Jarrod Vanderloo. Second place honors were awarded to Sheldon, Third place was given to Storm Lake, and Fourth place was presented to another Le Mars team consisting of Kevin Bolton, Michael Hargens and Joe Morris.
Le Mars Community School Board To Meet Monday Evening
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Communitiy Board of Education will meet this evening. The school board will hear a report from Assistant Superintendent, Steve Webner regarding the adequate yearly progress report concerning the district’s requirements from the “No Child Left Behind”. Dr. Todd Wendt will offer a report outlining data presented to the District Learning and Instructional Impact Team. The board is also expected to discuss the upcoming school board election scheduled for September 10th.
Pork Producers Schedule Seminar At Sheldon
(Des Moines) — Area pork producers may want to attend one of four seminars scheduled
around the state. The Iowa Pork Producers Association Swine Health and Animal Well-being
Committee is sponsoring a seminar this afternoon at the Northwest Iowa Community College at
Sheldon. Dr. Rodney Baker of the Iowa Pork Industry Center located at Iowa State
University will share what is currently known about the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus or
PEDV. The disease has proven deadly to piglets across the country. Baker will explain how
producers can manage employees and visitors relative to PEDV, how hog producers can protect
their herd when most packing plants and trailers are testing positive for the virus, and
what can be learned from Transmissible Gastroenterites and the practices that should be
effective against PEDV. The seminar will also focus on Porcine Reproductive and
Respiratory Syndrome, or PRRS. That seminar is scheduled to begin today at 1:00 p.m.
Other seminars are scheduled for Carroll on August 28th, New Hampton on August 30th, and
September 3rd the conference will be held at Washington, Iowa.
MidAmerican Energy Being Challenged On Energy Efficiency Plan
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups are challenging the energy conservation plans of Iowa’s largest gas and electricity providers, saying Interstate Power and Light and MidAmerican Energy aren’t doing as much as they could to help consumers use less electricity.
Iowa law requires gas and electricity utility companies regulated by the state to draft new
energy efficiency plans every five years. The five-year plan submitted by IPL, a division of Alliant Energy, calls for spending $399 million and saving 814,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That’s the amount used by everyone in the city of Dubuque last year.
MidAmerican spends $512 million to save 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours.
The Environmental Law and Policy Center says the utilities should spend much more on programs that curtail energy use because it’s far more cost-effective than building new power plants.
New State Board Reviews Record Requests
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new state board charged with enforcing Iowa’s public records and meetings laws will also have to settle disputes over records requests. The new board that was created July 1 has already received about 50 complaints. The complaints come both from public records advocates and from government agencies who say they are facing unreasonable requests.
For instance, a county hospital administrator in Denison says he has received more than 300 information requests from Richard Knowles in the past 16 months.
And Ottumwa city officials say staff members sometimes spend more than 75 percent of their
day fulfilling records requests.
ISU Has Super Computer To Help With Research
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University says a powerful new computer on campus is producing
data for 17 research projects.
The school says the machine is capable of more than 183 trillion calculations per second.
It has a total memory of more than 38 trillion bytes.
Professors say the computer’s high performance will help expand science research at the
university. It’s assisting in 17 research projects from eight school departments.
The computer, named Cyence, has been running since July. It includes 12 black cabinets and
rows of blue lights and it is located in the basement of the Durham Center.
A $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation helped purchase the computer.
Other school departments helped chip in $800,000. The school is already looking into
resources for a second high performance computer.
Des Moines Police Investigate Fatal Beating
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a 40-year-old Iowa man who
was severely beaten near Wells Fargo arena in Des Moines.
A woman called police shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday to report the assault in a parking lot
near the arena in downtown Des Moines.
Police found Richard Daughenbaugh with significant injuries, and paramedics took him to
Methodist Hospital where he died.
Several witnesses were interviewed by police who are continuing to investigate the death.
Police say this is the 10th homicide investigated by the Des Moines department the year.
Woman Falls To Death At Palisades Park
DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine why a 16-year-old girl fell from an overlook and died in northeast Iowa.
Decorah police say Kellie Sharp of Decorah died Friday evening after falling from the
overlook at Palisades Park.
Officers found her at the bottom of the overlook when they arrived at the park.
An autopsy of Sharp is planned, and the police investigation is ongoing.
