Nine New Reserve Deputies Given Oath Of Office
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office held a ceremony last night to administer an oath to nine newly certified Plymouth County Reserve Deputies. Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo administered the oath of office. The newly trained reserves have been attending classes and have received extensive on-the-job training over the past 12 months. Each have met the requirements and qualifications needed to become certified through the State of Iowa and Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. They have been certified to carry a weapon and will be able to perform many of the duties a full-time deputy is authorized to do. The nine reserves will join the two existing reserve deputies to bring the total strength to eleven certified reserve officers. The purpose of the Plymouth County Reserve Unit is to assist the sheriff in any manner he requests in promoting, creating, and maintaining the best interest of the State of Iowa and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s office. They will assist in protecting the health, safety, lives and property of the citizens within Plymouth County when authorized or requested to do so by the sheriff or his authorized representatives. The nine new reserve deputies include : Conner Delfs, Robert Rohmiller, Steven Konz, Travis Sitzmann, Jessica Anderson, Scott Allen, Adam Kolker, Amanda Timmer, and Trent Morton.
ICON Ag And Turf To Raise Money For Breast Cancer
LE MARS, IA — During October, ICON Ag & Turf is joining the fight against cancer and asking employees to wear breast cancer T-shirts on Fridays to help support breast cancer prevention awareness and research during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All funds raised will be donated to The Siouxland Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help increase awareness of the disease, raise funds for research, offer helpful information to support those affected by breast cancer, and remind women of the importance of early detection. Funds will be kept local; impacting Sioux, Lyon, Plymouth and Woodbury Counties in Iowa as well as Union County in South Dakota and Dakota and Thurston Counties in Nebraska.
Adam Timmerman, General Manager at ICON Ag & Turf, stated, “This is the third year we have offered this fundraising opportunity to our employees. We are both honored and proud of the substantial employee involvement and this unique program to join the fight against cancer. We are proud to help create awareness for breast cancer prevention and bring the message into our workplace. ”
In 2013 ICON Ag & Turf was able to raise $2,675 directly from the employees with the company donating an additional $1,550 and the cost of the T-shirts. In total with customer donations ICON raised $4285 in 2013. ICON Ag & Turf has already received a donation amount of $3,050 directly from employees in 2014, which will be donated to The Siouxland Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Tulip Festival Selects Royalty Court
Orange City, Iowa — The 2015 Orange City Tulip Festival Royalty Court was elected on Wednesday. Tulip Court members for the 75th annual Tulip Festival include : Jennifer Droog, daughter of Rick and Sue Droog; Sydney Huizenga, daughter of Darren and Dawn Huizenga; Micah Vande Vegte, daughter of Gary and Amy Vande Vegte; Cara Venema, daughter of Dan and Tonya Venema; and Emily Wielenga, daughter of Kevin and Dixie Wielenga.
A Queen’s Tea and Pageant will be held in November to crown the 2015 Tulip Queen. The Queen and Court will serve as ambassadors for Orange City’s 75th Annual Tulip Festival, slated for May 14-16, 2015. Tulip Festival news, event information, volunteer opportunities and more can be found on the festival’s website at www.octulipfestival.com, as well as the festival’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
17 Year Old Found Guilty Of Vehicular Homicide
BREDA, Iowa (AP) – A 17-year-old faces two counts of homicide by vehicle after investigators say he killed two teenagers in a car crash in western Iowa.
Trevor Ray Feauto of Clarksville was taken into custody on Wednesday.
Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure said Feauto was driving a 1996 Dodge Ram pickup that crashed into a 2009 Chevy Impala on August 23rd near the town of Breda.
Sixteen-year-olds Bailey Jacobsen and Lindsey Quirk were both killed in the crash.
McClure said a report from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Crime Lab found that Feauto’s blood alcohol level was 0.133 percent.
Feauto was being held at the Northwest Iowa Youth Emergency Shelter in Cherokee.
Farmers Can Start Sign Up With 2014 Farm Bill Provisions
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says farmers can begin signing up for new safety net programs next week established in the 2014 farm bill that replace the much-criticized direct payments with government payouts based on risks farmers face.
Vilsack announced the roll-out of the programs on Thursday, and said farmers can sign up as soon as September 29th.
The programs can help farmers protect themselves against price drops and from lower revenue in poor crop years.
Payouts this year could be significant since anticipated record corn and soybean harvests have sent commodity prices plummeting. If farmers lose money in the harvest, the programs will enable them to collect significant government payments.
Vilsack expects farmers will take several months to research their options, talk with advisers and use online calculators to determine their best choices.
American Red Cross Urges Farmers To Donate Grain To Organization
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) – The American Red Cross is encouraging farmers to donate part of their crop to the charity to fund programs of special importance to rural Iowa.
The Gifts of Grain program has been successfully tried in Nebraska with 19 cooperatives and the American Red Cross is looking to expand it in Iowa, said Bryce Sitter, who is coordinating the Iowa program.
Sitter told The Daily Freeman-Journal that a volunteer had contacted more than 600 Iowa cooperatives about that program and that 570 had agreed to participate.
Under the program, farmers can contact participating cooperatives and say how many bushels of grain they want to donate. The co-ops then will transfer the value of that grain to the Red Cross.
The donations will be used by the American Cross Serving Greater Iowa for five areas: disaster relief, supporter military families, blood services, international services and health and safety services.
