Le Mars School Foundation To Host Awards Banquet
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community School District Foundation will host its annual awards banquet this evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Le Mars Convention Center.
Denise Anthony serves on the board of directors for the Le Mars School District Foundation and explains tonight’s program.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/April 2014/Anthony1.mp3{/audio}
The awards program will honor Mary Beth Benton, the middle school instrumental music instructor as the Decades of Excellence Crystal Bell Teacher of the Year recipient. In addition to the chrystal bell and certificate of honor, Benton will receive a cash gift of $500, plus another $500 to be used for her classroom. The program will also honor its two Distinguished Le Mars Community Alumni, Glada Koerselman and Dr. Paul Summerside. Koerselman was the former editor of the Le Mars Daily Sentinel, and Summerside, a medical doctor from Wisconsin.
The awards banquet will also honor those seniors that are among the top five percent of their class.
Wasmer Post #241 To Host District Legion Convention
(Le Mars) — Wasmer Post #241 of the American Legion, Department of Iowa, based in Le Mars, will host the annual Iowa 9th District Spring Conference on Saturday, May 3rd. Meetings will be held all day Saturday at the Wasmer Post Home at 110 Plymouth Street SW and at the Rock Solid Assembly Church at 126 3rd Street SW. Jim Rolfes of Le Mars serves as the district adjutant. He says more than 120 people are expected to visit Le Mars. Rolfes says the legionaires will discuss the various programs that are sponsored by the American Legion.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/April 2014/Rolfes1.mp3{/audio}
Rolfes says Boys State will be celebrating its 75th year, this year, and he says that will be discussed during the district convention.
Listen to
{audio} images/stories/mp3/April 2014/Rolfes2.mp3{/audio}
Elections will be held for District Officers, Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention, and for the Department Liaison Committee. Representatives of the Legion, Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, and American Legion Riders will be in attendance. The 9th District is comprised of 92 Posts located in 13 counties (Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickenson, Ida, Lyon, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sac, Sioux, and Woodbury). Rolfes says 1998 was the last time Le Mars was hosting the district convention.
Board of Regents Release Settlements
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Regents has released settlement agreements showing the state’s three public universities have made cash payments of more than $1.3 million to resolve employment disputes since 2011.
The release of documents Wednesday to The Associated Press comes after Gov. Terry Branstad released similar settlements covering the executive branch in March.
The $1.3 million in cash payments doesn’t include dozens of cases in which universities reimbursed employees for back pay, including for suspensions that were later rescinded, or the cost of benefits. Nor does it count instances in which employees were allowed to remain on the payroll for a short period of time after their duties were reduced or eliminated.
The largest settlement revealed in the documents was a $275,000 payment to a former University of Iowa doctor.
Economic Development Offers Grants To 70 Iowa Communities
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The state has awarded $23.8 million in grants to 70 mostly small communities across Iowa for infrastructure improvements, community planning and building renovations.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority announced Tuesday it had awarded the block grants, which are funded by the federal government.
Many of the grants are for water and sewer system improvements, and five were awarded to cities to help fund the rehabilitation of building facades.
Gov. Terry Branstad called the grants “strategic investments” that enhance Iowa’s economic development efforts while helping smaller cities thrive.
The state received 136 applications for the federal funds.
Grants were made based on factors including the benefit to low- and moderate-income people, elimination of blighted areas and commitment of local resources to a project.
