School Spending Bill Signed By Governor Branstad
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad has signed legislation into law that sets new funding levels for K-12 education in the next state budget.
Branstad signed legislation Wednesday that will increase K-12 education spending by 2.25 percent for the fiscal year that begins in July. The Republican-majority House and the Democratic-controlled Senate approved the funding earlier this session.
The state currently pays about $6,445 per student in most school programs. The new legislation will increase that by $145.
Some educators say the funding increase isn’t enough to avoid financial hardship for school districts around the state. Legislative leaders in both chambers have said there’s limited funding available for the new budget, though some Democrats have also criticized the compromise. Hinton school superintendent Peter Stuerman says the new spending bill will not benefit the Hinton school district.
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The Hinton superintendent isn’t certain if the school district will need to cut programs or staff. He does say that the lower fuel costs from this year have helped the school district save some money.
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The state spends about $3 billion on K-12 education.
Wine And Chocolate Alzheimer’s Awareness Fundraiser Scheduled For Tonight
(Le Mars) — According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s, making the dementia memory disease the sixth leading cause of death for elder Americans. One in three seniors dies from Alzheimer’s or from another dementia type disease. For these reasons, the Alzheimer’s Association of the Big Sioux Chapter is calling awareness to the disease and raising money for research by holding the “Wine and Chocolate Festival – The Key is You”. The event is scheduled for this evening and will be held at the Willow Creek Golf Club.
Honorary chairs for the event is the family of Violet Grosenheider of Le Mars. Dave Grosenheider explains tonight’s event.
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Grosenheider says a portion of the money raised will remain in this area, helping other families that have a loved one that has been stricken with the dementia disease.
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Grosenheider talks about how his mother was adversely affected by the disease.
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Grosenheider says his family was able to recognize some of the symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s as his mother seemed to forget things.
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Floyd Valley Healthcare Honors Volunteers
(Le Mars) — Floyd Valley Healthcare honored all of its 350 plus volunteers Wednesday morning during a luncheon held at the Willow Creek Golf Club. Michelle Ten Napel serves as the Activities Coordinator with Floyd Valley and oversees the volunteers. She says volunteers serve an important role at the health care facility, and she talks about the hours contributed by volunteers during this past year.
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Ten Napel says when you calculate the number of volunteer hours contributed to Floyd Valley and multiplied that with the current minimum wage, you can begin to see how valuable volunteers are to the program.
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The health care official says the work done by volunteers is priceless to the health Floyd Valley facility.
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Floyd Valley Healthcare honored those volunteers who have achieved a milestone in terms of volunteer hours. The volunteer with the most cumulative hours over her lifetime is Yvonne Law, who has donated more than 5000 hours to the hospital. Ten Napel says Law has spent many years at Floyd Valley as a volunteer.
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Ten Napel believes that volunteers live a happier, healthier and longer life.
Jenny Kayser Honored As “Employee Of The Month”
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Chamber of Commerce honored its latest “Employee of the Month” on Wednesday during the Chamber coffee held at the American Bank. Jenny Kayser has been an employee with American Bank for five years and is currently the Electronic Banking-Info Securities Officer and Marketing Manager. She began her career at American Bank in May of 2011 and brought with her five years of banking experience. Kayser quickly learned teller functions, fed-line transfers, new account functions and many other duties. She soon started training other staff members in the new accounts and fed-line transfer’s area of the bank. Kayser represents American Bank well by responding to customer’s needs effectively and volunteers her time and talents in the community. She was instrumental in developing content, structure and functionality of the new American Bank website which was introduced in early 2015. She also led the efforts to launch American Bank’s facebook page and helps maintain a fresh presence on this page, helping educate and responding to customer and community comments and inquiries. Jenny Kayser is a key person called upon to assist with marketing directives. She is very skilled in desktop publishing needs and coordinating with the Marketing Director and Committee. She was promoted to Electronic Banking Officer in June of 2015 to lead American Bank online banking efforts, both personal and business, fed-line functions and website maintenance and development. Overall Jenny Kayser has earned the respect of her co-workers with her “can-do” attitude and better yet, she has many friends at American Bank. She is always willing to help a co-worker and customer with their needs. Our congratulations to Jenny Kayser for being honored as the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce April “Employee of the Month”.
Plymouth County Farm Bureau Asks For Donations For Christian Needs Center
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Farm Bureau is urging people to join them Thursday and Friday evening to “Cram the Cab”. Joe Rotta, the president of the local farm organization says its a chance to donate non-perishable food items to the Christian Needs Center of Le Mars.
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Rotta says members of the Plymouth County Farm Bureau will be on hand at both of Le Mars supermarkets to collect can goods.
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Rotta says many times during this time of the year, the charitable organization may run low on its supply of food items. He says farmers wanted to help before they themselves were busy with spring fieldwork.
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Le Mars F-F-A Alum Remembers Contests That Helped Develop Career
(Le Mars) — Earlier this week we told you that the Le Mars F-F-A chapter will be celebrating its 75th anniversary of the chapter’s existence this Saturday as they will hold an open house and banquet. Rich Degner, who now resides in Ankeny, Iowa, is an alum of the local F-F-A, having graduated from Le Mars Community in 1968. Degner, who recently retired from being the executive director of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says he was the chapter president, and he earned an Iowa degree. He says the activities and various contests while in F-F-A gave him the encouragement to seek a career outside production agriculture.
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Degner says his leadership abilities with the Iowa Pork Producers can be directly traced back to his F-F-A years.
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Degner says F-F-A taught him the importance of business management and record keeping, and knowing that farming was more than just a way of life.
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The Le Mars F-F-A will host a banquet on Saturday evening at the Carey gymnasium beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Legislature Agrees On Budget Numbers For Next Year
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Leaders in the split Iowa Legislature have announced a compromise on spending targets for the next state budget, though details remain vague.
Lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-majority House released joint budget targets Wednesday that propose the state spend about $7.34 billion in the fiscal year that begins in July. That is slightly below an earlier estimate.
The set of overall spending targets will allow legislative subcommittees to begin work on bills that will make up the state budget.
Most targets propose slightly higher spending for the different areas of state government, but there’s no additional information on the real financial impact.
House Republicans say details will be ironed out. A key Senate Democrat said in a statement his chamber attempted to find common ground to avoid “gridlock.”
State Senate Passes Bill With Stronger Penalties For Repeat Abuse Offenders
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate has passed legislation that would increase penalties for repeat domestic abusers.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted unanimously 50-0 Wednesday in support of the bill, which would create a mandatory minimum punishment for stalking, harassment and repeat domestic violence. It would also allow a judge to set a higher mandatory minimum sentence.
The bill received overwhelming support in the Republican-majority House in March.
Supporters say the legislation would better protect domestic violence victims. The Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence initially opposed the bill amid concern over the value of longer sentences. The group said Wednesday it now supports the bill because of several other elements in the measure.
Changes to the bill mean it will return to the House before it can reach Governor Terry Branstad’s desk.
