Le Mars Community School Foundation Banquet Scheduled For This Evening
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community School District Foundation will hold its annual banquet this evening at the Lower Level of the Le Mars Convention Center. The teacher of the year, Kim Rohles, along with the school district’s employees of the month will be recognized. The evening’s festivities will also honor the Le Mars Community Distinguished Alumnus, as well as the top five percent of the Le Mars Community graduating seniors. The banquet is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Elementary Teachers Offer Early Reading Report To School Board
(Le Mars) –– During the Le Mars Community School Board meeting held Monday evening, board members were given a report from elementary teachers on how they were assisting students with their reading, and assessing their progress. The FAST program, as it is known, works with students in Pre-school, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First and Second grades. Students are given assessment test three times during the year. The elementary teachers reported to the board that at the beginning of school assessment scores are lower than other schools in the area education agency and through out the state. However, the teachers say that the young Le Mars students catch up fast with their reading comprehension skills and by the third test, students generally are above the state score level for reading.
Gehlen To Feature “Anything Goes”
(Le Mars) — Gehlen Catholic High School is set to present its spring musical, entitled “Anything Goes”. Curtains will go up on Thursday and Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. Director Courtney Sandbulte says she chose the light-hearted comical musical because she could envision many Gehlen high school students easily adapting to their characters on stage. She says the characters really fit the personalities of the students. Sandbulte explains the story-line of the musical.
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The musical includes a cast of 36 people, including the backup singers. Sandbulte says the play “Anything Goes” is full of high energy which she thought would fit well with the Gehlen student body.
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Sophomore, Collin Wise, has the lead role for “Anything Goes” as the character Billy Crocker. Wise, the son of Mike and Diane Wise says his brothers helped talk him into participating.
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Wise admits to being somewhat nervous about the opening of the musical.
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When asked if he had his lines and songs memorized, Wise was a bit hesitant with his answer.
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Wise describes his character, Billy Crocker.
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Check back as we will be introduced to other Gehlen students who are acting in the musical “Anything Goes”.
Culvert Projects Received Contractor Bids
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved the bids for four separate culvert projects during their weekly meeting held Tuesday morning. With several representatives from various contractor companies attending the meeting, the sealed bids were opened by County Engineer, Tom Rohe. Rohe says he was pleased at the level of interest for the construction projects.
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The first project involves a precast concrete box culvert measuring 12 feet by 6 feet by 48 feet. Seven different contractors submitted bids ranging from $105,464 to a top bid of $151,744. Richards Construction out of Sac City submitted the accepted low bid of $105,464. Rohe explains each of the culvert projects will start during the late summer, and he tells of the location for the first bid culvert project.
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Richards Construction was also able to win two additional contracts with a project low bid of $57,848, and $46,947. Rohe says Richards Construction is a relatively new bidder for Plymouth County construction projects.
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The second project is located southeast of Kingsley on 330th Street in Garfield township. L-A Carlson of Merrill, Iowa submitted the low bid of $165,372 for a culvert project located southwest of Struble on Key Avenue. Rohe says each of the approved submitted bids were lower than his estimates.
Special Meeting Scheduled For Conservation Board
(Hinton) — The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors along with the Plymouth County Conservation Board will be attending the Special Meeting of Plymouth County Conservation Board on Thursday, April 30th at 7:45 pm at the Center for Outdoor Learning at the Hillview Recreational Area at 25601 county road C60, west of Hinton, for the purpose of review and discussion of a land acquisition proposal.
Dog Flu Hits Sioux City
(Sioux City) —THE DOG FLU IS CAUSING CONCERN FOR PET OWNERS IN THE SIOUX CITY AREA.
ONE CASE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED LOCALLY SO FAR, BUT THE CITY IS TAKING THAT CASE SERIOUSLY AND HAS CLOSED THE DOG PARK LOCATED IN BACON CREEK PARK FROM NOW UNTIL AT LEAST MAY 6TH.
DR. JEFF BOTTGER OF ART AND SCIENCE PET SERVICES IN SIOUX CITY SAYS THE CANINE FLU SYMPTOMS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE WHEN HUMANS GET THE FLU:
OC…..TYPE ISSUES. ;11
DR. BOTTGER SAYS THE FLU, KNOWN AS H3-N2, IS OF GREATER CONCERN TO PETS THAT MAY HAVE OTHER MEDICAL ISSUES:
OC….FOR COMPLICATIONS. ;16
PEOPLE CAN’T CATCH THE FLU FROM THEIR DOG, BUT DR. BOTTGER SAYS A PET OWNER COULD PASS THE VIRUS ON TO THEIR PET:
OC………ANOTHER DOG. ;10
AND HE RECOMMENDS KEEPING YOUR DOG AWAY FROM OTHER DOGS:
OC….THE OTHER DOGS. ;22
BOTTGER SAYS YOUR DOG WILL NEED PLENTY OF BED REST IF IT BECOMES SICK AND IT WILL TAKE A WEEK TO TEN DAYS FOR THE VIRUS TO RUN ITS COURSE.
Sioux City Man Charged With Arson
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A man has been charged with several counts of arson in connection with fires started in trash receptacles in Sioux City.
Police say 24-year-old Darin Morey set multiple trash cans and one dumpster ablaze early Monday. He is charged with two counts each of first-degree arson, second-degree and third-degree arson and one count of first-degree criminal mischief.
Authorities say the fires caused damage to two garages, two commercial buildings and a fence. No injuries were reported.
It was unclear Tuesday whether Morey has an attorney who could comment on his behalf. Online court records don’t yet list the charges.
Morey faces up to 82 years in prison if convicted on all charges against him.
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Former Cherokee Teacher Accused Of Having Sexual Relations With Student
CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) – A former Cherokee teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student has been arrested following a two-year investigation.
Police arrested 32-year-old Chad Osler, of Manchester, on Monday and charged him with two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee and one count of lascivious conduct with a minor. Details about the investigation resulting in his arrest weren’t immediately available Tuesday.
Kristen Rickey, superintendent of West Delaware Community School District where Osler is currently employed, says Osler has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Cherokee Community School District Superintendent John Chalstrom says Osler resigned in 2013. He was previously the district’s physical education teacher.
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Legislative Staffers Prepare For End Of Session
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Staffers in the Iowa Legislature are starting some of the tasks associated with adjourning the session, even though lawmakers are not close to concluding the budget process.
Student pages in the Iowa Senate were organizing boxes in the chamber Tuesday for members to pack up desks. As per tradition, they also stacked the boxes up to the balcony until they collapsed.
Friday will mark the last day for lawmakers to receive daily expense payments, as well as the final day of work for many clerks and pages in the part-time Legislature.
But lawmakers in the Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-controlled House have not reached a compromise deal on the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Lawmakers Pass Bill In Committee To Make Eminent Domain More Difficult
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Legislation that would make it harder for two energy projects to win eminent domain rights has won preliminary approval in the Iowa Legislature.
Subcommittees in the House and Senate met jointly Tuesday and approved identical legislation on the issue. Under the proposal, a project seeking eminent domain to build through private properties could only get permission after negotiating voluntary deals for at least 75 percent of the affected land.
The proposed change could impact two current proposals. One is to build an oil pipeline that would ship 450,000 barrels daily from production sites in North Dakota to an oil hub in Illinois. The other proposal is to build an electrical line across 16 Iowa counties would transmit wind-generated energy from Iowa to customers in the Midwest and East Coast
