Elected Officials To Take Oath Of Office Today
(Le Mars) — Today, is the day for county and city officials to take the oath of office as they start the new year’s business. The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will select a chairman and a vice chairman for 2014. Once a new chairman and vice chairman is selected, the supervisors will authorize claims and payroll, and investment officers. The supervisors will discuss and assign committee memberships. The supervisors will also appoint the official county newspaper per the Iowa Code. The Supervisors will re-appoint all current members of the County Compensation Commission, and fill vacancies for various county boards. The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will begin their meeting at 9:30 a.m. from the county courthouse board room.
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Mayor and City Council, along with the elected trustees of the Floyd Valley Hospital, will hold the ceremony to formally install the newly elected officials for the City of Le Mars today, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Mayor Dick Kirchoff will be the first city official to take the oath of office, followed by Councilman Rex Knapp, new council member Clark Goodchild, then Ken Nelson. Hospital Trustees Craig Bauerly and Bill Young will be sworn in after the mayor and city council members. Judge Robert Dull will be presiding over the official ceremonies.
Cold Temperatures Blamed For Train Derailment
ASHTON, Iowa (AP) – Officials are blaming the cold weather for a train derailment in northwest Iowa.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says more than a dozen cars came off the tracks Tuesday morning along Iowa Highway 60 south of Ashton. No injuries have been reported and no spills.
Officials blamed the cold weather for causing a piece of track to come up. National Weather Service records show subfreezing, near zero and subzero temperatures have chilled the area over the past three days.
Fire Destroys Food Pantry
FAYETTE, Iowa (AP) – Fire has destroyed a food pantry that served hungry people in northeast Iowa’s Fayette County.
The Fayette Food Shelf lost seven freezers, two refrigerators and food in the blaze, which was reported at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday in Fayette. No injuries have been reported.
The main building is heavily damaged but still stands. The adjoining thrift store sustained smoke and soot damage.
The main building was built in 1920 and once housed St. Francis Catholic Church. The food pantry was on the first floor. A four-bedroom apartment on the upper level was home to college students. They weren’t home because of the holiday break.
Pantry manager Karen Martin and board president Sherry Pattison says the pantry served 1,900 people in 2013.
The fire cause is being investigated.
Home Near Toll Bridge Damaged By Fire
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are investigating a fire that destroyed a man’s home in western Iowa near the Nebraska border on New Year’s Eve.
The Mills County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that officers responded late Tuesday to a call from a security company about an alarm going off at the home near the Highway 370 toll bridge.
They found several alarms going off and the home filled with smoke, and several local fire departments responded to the scene.
Homeowner Gerald Nibbe says he’s lived in the home since the 1970s, and that he was visiting his son in Omaha at the time of the blaze.
The 69-year-old says two classic cars located in a garage next to the house were also damaged.
Army Reserve Unit Called Back For Duty In Afghanistan
POCAHONTAS, Iowa (AP) – An Army Reserve unit in north-central Iowa has been called up for duty in Afghanistan.
A deployment ceremony is scheduled Jan. 18 at Pocahontas High School for the 415th Military Police Detachment (Law and Order).
The unit was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
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Iowa Based Companies Performed Well With Stocks In 2013
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s 21 publicly traded companies had a great year in the market.
Share prices for all 21 companies went up in 2013 and all but four of them beat the Dow Jones industrial average, which had its best year since 1995.
If an investor owned equal shares of all 21 stocks, a portfolio would have seen a 38 percent increase.
The companies that showed growth included American Equity Investment Life of West Des Moines, a seller of annuities. Its shares have risen almost 300 percent in five years.
Another was the Renewable Energy Group, the nation’s biggest biodiesel producer. The company had a great comeback in 2013, after its stock fell almost 40 percent during in 2012.
