Thousands Turn Out To View Annual Fireworks Sky Show
(Le Mars) — Thousands of people had gathered Sunday night at the fairgrounds…along Highway 3… at Floyd Valley Hospital… and other preferred places to watch the annual fireworks sky show. The festive and colorful fireworks lasted for 22 minutes. Many people also had tuned their radios to KLEM as the music offered a nice background to the spectacular show. The annual show was moved to Sunday evening due to the availability of the pyro-technician team.
Reservations To “Mame” Can Now Be Made
(Le Mars) — Reservations can now be made, starting today, for the next Le Mars Community Theater production. The musical “Mame” is the featured summer show. Curtains will go up July 16th through the 19th, and again, July 23rd through the 26th. The story is about a young boy, who’s after his parents die, the nanny brings him to live with the only remaining relative, Aunt Mame. To the nanny’s shock, Mame is a wild party animal. Never-the-less, she is a kind woman, and she and the boy hit it off immediately. Things are basically going well until the stock market crashes and Mame loses her rather large fortune. Eventually, after a series of odd jobs, Mame marries a rich man. When her new husband dies, Mame is wealthy once again. This time, however, she has come to realize that love is much more important than money. She dedicates her fortune to the foundation of Burnside Memorial Home for single women. As mentioned, today is the first day for members to make reservations for the show, and Wednesday, July 8th is when the general public can begin making reservations. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and at 2:00 p.m. for Sunday matinees. Reservations can be made by calling (712) 546-5788. The box office is open between 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Reservations can also be made online at www.lemarscommtheater.org.
Parading Tractors A 23 Year Tradition
(Oyens) — For the past 23 years, it has been a July 4th tradition with the Mark Loutsch family of Oyens to show his collection of antique tractors in the Oyens Independence Day parade. Loutsch has a collection of nearly 100 tractors with most of them being produced by John Deere. Loutsch talks about why his family started the July 4th parade tradition.
Listen to
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Loutsch says the reaction from the people of Oyens and the surrounding area, is they have enjoyed seeing the antique tractors, and have come to expect seeing the tractors on the 4th of July.
Listen to
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Some Plymouth County residents may make the claim that Loutsch is starting to rival the collection of green and yellow John Deere tractors that was once owned by the late Dave Hawkins. Loutsch admits to owning nearly 100 tractors, but his favorite, and the oldest tractor in his collection is a predecessor of John Deere.
Listen to
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Escaped Inmate Is Recaptured In Illinois
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – A 25-year-old inmate who escaped from the Iowa State Penitentiary Sunday morning was recaptured several hours later in Illinois.
The Iowa Corrections Department says Justin Kestner was arrested by the Illinois State Police just south of Geneseo, Illinois, on Sunday morning.
Kestner was roughly 100 miles from the prison in Fort Madison, Iowa when he was caught around 10 a.m. after an abandoned vehicle was found. Kestner fled into a corn field before his arrest.
Kestner was discovered missing from the prison during a 4:45 a.m. headcount. Before his escape, he was last seen during a 1:30 a.m. count on Sunday.
Prison officials were investigating how he escaped from the prison Sunday.
Kestner is serving a 10 year prison sentence related to two charges of theft in Woodbury County.
7 Year Old Boy Suffers From Bullet Wound During Fireworks Show
COUNCIL BLUFFS ,Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs Police say a bullet someone fired into the air wounded a 7-year-old boy who was watching fireworks with his grandparents.
When the boy started crying and complaining about shoulder pain Saturday night, his grandparents initially thought he’d been hurt by fireworks.
But while treating the wound, the boy’s grandmother discovered a bullet in the wound, which was about 1/4-inch deep.
Police say the .223-caliber bullet was likely fired in another location and hit the boy’s shoulder as it fell.
The boy was treated at a local hospital and released.
Girl Drowns In River
LANCASTER, Wis. (AP) – An Iowa girl has drowned during a family gathering on a Wisconsin island on the Mississippi River.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office says 2-year-old Bryle (BRIGH’-lee) Morgan of Waterloo, Iowa died early Sunday at an Iowa City hospital.
According to the initial investigation, the child’s family was preparing for a group picture on an island on the Wisconsin side near Waupeton, Iowa, late Saturday afternoon. Bryle’s mother took her back to the boat to retrieve an item. When the mother got out of the boat, the girl was missing. Bryle was found moments later under a boat in the water.
Detective Rick Place says Bryle was wearing a life jacket before the incident, but it was removed for the group picture.
He says there’s no indication of foul play.
Truck Stop Death
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have released the name of a Tennessee woman who was killed in an accident at an eastern Iowa truck stop.
Davenport police identified the woman as 74-year-old Mary LeMay, of Centerville, Tennessee.
Police say she was guiding her husband as he was trying to park a recreational vehicle at the truck stop on Saturday. Police Capt. Brent Biggs says the RV went out of control and struck LeMay and then struck a car full of children. Several of the were treated at the scene for scrapes and bruises.
LeMay’s husband was taken to a Davenport hospital for evaluation. His name hasn’t been released.
