Claussens Mens Wear Employees Selected As “Employees Of The Month”
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Chamber of Commerce awarded two “Employee of the Month” honors to
employees of the Claussen’s Mens Wear on Thursday afternoon. Rhonda Justice and Stacey
Mahlke were presented the honors during a Chamber after 5 function. Terry Claussen, owner
of the Claussen’s Mens Wear nominated both employees saying, They only work one day a week
together but on the other days they are texting, calling and leaving notes for each other on
what they did or what needs to be done.
Both of them possess the desire to take care of the customer. They do this by calling or
sending notes when something comes in they think a customer would like. They both have come
in on their days off to help with various emergencies that have come up. They do the little
things that it takes to satisfy a customer, such as ironing a shirt in one hour for a
funeral or hemming a pair of pants right away so a customer from out of town does not have
to come back. It’s those little things that helps set us apart from some of the
competition.
They have taken upon themselves different responsibilities and have set personal goals for
themselves in the store. For instance Rhonda wants to sell a pair of Saucony (SOCK-a-knee)
shoes a day. Stacey wants to see how many “likes” we can get on our Facebook page. While
they both help out with the alterations, Rhonda makes sure we get new customers signed up in
our Rewards Program. Stacey has greatly improved our involvement in Social Media.
I believe to survive in this business you have to offer a quality product and provide great
customer service. I have been fortunate to have been in the clothing business for the last
35 years, 23 of them in Le Mars. I have had the opportunity to work with some great people
over the years and these two are exceptional!
I look forward to coming to the store every day to work with these two and hope to continue
to do it for many years to come. Our congratulations to Rhonda Justice and Stacey Mahlke
for being selected as the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce November “Employees of the Month”.
Gehlen Catholic Announces School Schedule
(Le Mars) — Due to Gehlen Catholic qualifying for the state volleyball tournament, Gehlen
Catholic School has announced their school schedule for next week.
Gehlen Catholic will have regular school all day on Monday, November 11th, with the Veteran’s Day Prayer Service beginning at 8:45am in the Steve Shea Memorial Gym.Tuesday, November 12th – Gehlen Catholic will have a regular school day. There will be no local busing since LeMars Community will be at State. The Spalding bus will run as scheduled.
Wednesday, November 13th – Gehlen Catholic will not have school, so fans, parents & students
may cheer on the volleyball team at quarter final game, which is at 4pm.
Thursday, November 14th – Gehlen Catholic will not have school, due to State volleyball.
Friday, November 15th – if the girls make it to finals, we will not have school. If the
girls do not win Wednesday night, Gehlen Catholic will run a normal school day.
Gehlen Catholic 7-12 Principal, Mr. Jeff Alesch, says, “What a treat for LeMars to have both
LeMars Community and Gehlen Catholic competing at State this year! The tournament will be
even more special for Northwest Iowa with Hinton, Western Christian, Central Lyon, Sheldon,
and MOC-Floyd Valley also competing” “Good luck to all the teams and coaches!” Mr. Alesch
concluded.
Sioux City Man Denies Helping Conceal Murder Victim
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 22-year-old man has denied helping conceal the slaying of a Sioux City man whose body was dumped in South Dakota.
Ricardo Vital entered a written plea of not guilty on Wednesday to a charge of being
an accessory after the fact. He’s accused of driving a car used to move the body of
20-year-old Adrian Rojas-Hernandez. Police also say Vital cleaned up blood and disposed of
clothing and bedding.
The partially burned body was found in a roadside ditch in South Dakota’s Lincoln County on Oct. 27. Investigators determined that Rojas-Hernandez had been fatally shot in Sioux City.
Police arrested 20-year-old Martin Castellanos on Oct. 31. He’s charged with murder.
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Education Survey Shows Iowa Students Making Small Gains In Math And Reading
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A national education assessment report shows Iowa students have
had some gains in math and reading since 2011, but stagnation over the long term remains a
challenge.
The latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress covers math and reading for fourth- and eighth grade students. There is a flat long-term trend in reading for both grades, but a small growth in math.
State Education Department Director Brad Buck said in a news release that there are
some bright spots in the results, but they largely underscore a need to keep pushing
education priorities.
The NAEP, advertised as the nation’s report card, has been administered in Iowa since 1990. It is given to a sampling of students using the same sets of test booklets across the
country.
Teachers To Be Honored
ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) – Some of Iowa’s top teachers will be honored at an event in Altoona.
The state Department of Education says 12 teachers will be honored Friday at the Outstanding Iowa Teachers Recognition Luncheon.
Iowa Teacher of the Year Jane Schmidt, an eighth-grade teacher from Maquoketa, will give the keynote speech.
The five teacher of the year finalists also will be honored, as well winners of awards for history and math and science teaching.
Iowa Department of Education Director Brad Buck and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds also are scheduled to attend.
King Says Farm Bill Conference Committee Still Apart On Food Stamp Program
(Le Mars) — A Congressional Conference Committee working on the Farm Bill is getting closer to a final compromise, that according to Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King. King, along with Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin are both on the farm bill conference committee. King says the major obstacle is the amount of money that will be allocated to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or otherwise commonly referred to as the food stamp program. King says it is the most contentious issue relating to the farm bill and the difference between the House version and the Senate version is about $36 billion.
Listen to
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King says the conference committee is working first on issues that both sides agree on.
King has introduced an amendment that he believes will protect livestock and poultry producers as to how they raise their animals. The Iowa Congressman hopes his bill makes it through the final farm bill, if not, it could mean billions of added revenue for livestock producers across the nation. At issue, is a California resolution that calls for eggs that are to be shipped into the state of California would have to meet the same conditions as approved for California producers. King says many animal rights lobbying groups oppose his amendment.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/November 2013/King Farm Bill2.mp3{/audio}
The Republican Congressman says if California gets away with their rules on other states, it will serve as a domino effect on every livestock and poultry producer across the nation. He says next up would be the elimination of gestation and farrowing stalls for the pork industry, then the dairy industry would have to make different provisions, and it would also affect the beef industry.
Nurse Shuts Off Vet’s Monitoring System
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Records show a 65-year-old Army veteran died in March at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital after a nurse shut off monitoring alarms that would have signaled he needed care.
Greg Smith, a human resources specialist for VA Central Iowa Health Care System, testified at a recent public hearing about registered nurse Bernard Nesbit. Nesbit was subsequently fired for the incident and was seeking unemployment benefits. They were later denied.
Nesbit testified that he turned off several alarms because they went off even if patients weren’t in distress. Michael Deal died after oxygen levels in his blood dropped.
Hospital spokesman Dwayne Rider says the case remains confidential, and he cannot discuss if Nesbit’s actions have been reported to the Iowa Board of Nursing.
