(Le Mars) — Le Mars city crews will be closing 6th Avenue southeast between 4th
Street and 5th Street southeast for some street repairs. The road work will be
done just south of 4th Street southeast, so residents living in the one block area
will be able to access their driveway coming in on 6th Avenue southeast from the
south by 5th Street. City crews estimate the work will take about ten days to
complete.
(Le Mars) — City officials are announcing Vander Pol Construction will be closing
down the outside South bound lane between 4th St . S.W. and 2nd St. S.W. sometime
Tuesday May 31st in the evening to start construction of the new water main going
in on the west side of Business 75, they will also be closing down the S.W part of
the intersection at 4th St S.W. and 75 to do some boring underground then within a
couple days they will have the S.W. part of the intersection closed at 3rd St. and
75 . The water main replacement is to start at the intersection of 4th St S.W. and
continue on all the way up to 4th St N.W. and take approximately 12 weeks, they
plan on doing two blocks at a time so there will be other intersections and parts
of business 75 that will be affected as they move North, Citizens are being asked
to drive with caution and slow down as they drive through the construction zone. We
will try to keep everyone updated to what roads will be affected as they move
North.
(Le Mars) — Preparations are being made for the annual Memorial Day Avenue of
Flags program to be held at the grounds of the Plymouth County Courthouse on
Monday. This year will mark the 51st anniversary of the event in which flags are
dedicated in honor of a passed loved one. The Le Mars American Legion, Wasmer post
#241 will again host the program. To date, more than 1200 flags of veterans that
have died are remembered as the roll call of those veterans are read each year.
The flags represent veterans of all wars from the Civil War up to the Persian Gulf
war. This year, more than 40 additional flags will be dedicated. Any family that
wishes to dedicate a flag of their family veteran who has passed, need to notify
the Le Mars legion club. The deadline for submitting new flags is set for Friday.
Questions can be directed to either Jim Rolfes at phone number 546-8398, or you can
contact the post commander, Wayne Schipper at cell phone number 540-3773. The
Memorial Day parade is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. with the program at the County
Courthouse to begin at 10:00 a.m. Be sure to listen to KLEM radio if inclement
weather should occur, the event would then be moved to the Le Mars Community Middle
School auditorium.
(Le Mars) — Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm on Tuesday, June 7th in all
13 Plymouth County voting precincts.
Voters going to the polls will be nominating officials for partisan offices ranging
from State and County offices.
Voters must be 18 years of age and be registered to vote to be eligible to vote at
the polls, or the EDR
(Election Day Registration) process can be used at the polls to register prior to
voting. Unofficial election results will
be made available on the Plymouth County website at www.co.plymouth.ia.us after the
polls close at 9 pm once they are tallied. There is one contested race in the
Republican primary for District 5 County Supervisor position. Jim Henrichs has
decided to not seek re-election leaving his seat open. Dan Smith of Merrill and
Gary Horton of Akron are facing each other for that open supervisor seat.
Meanwhile, republican voters will decide between incumbent Steve King of Kiron and
challenger Rick Bertrand of Sioux City for the 4th District U-S House of
Representatives position. There are no local primary races for the Democratic
party.
(Le Mars) — We have received a lot of rain this spring, which means our lawns have
grown fairly quickly, and some people may be tempted to burn that yard waste in
their backyard recreational fire pit. However, Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper
says that is against city code ordinance.
The fire chief reminds people that the city does offer a disposal site located on
the west side of town near the Riverview ball parks in which yard waste may be
deposited on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays. Schipper says the fire department
has responded to a few fire calls in which people were burning their yard waste.
Schipper says burning yard waste creates problems for many people, especially if
that yard waste is damp and only smolders.
DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Winds gusting to 87 mph have knocked over train cars and
toppled trees in western Iowa.
Authorities say no injuries were reported from the storms that ran through
Crawford and other counties early Thursday morning.
Crawford County emergency management coordinator Greg Miller says 17 double-
stacked container cars are blocking two sets of tracks about two miles west of
Westside. Miller also says trees and branches are down in several communities and
that power also had been briefly lost.
The National Weather Service says the 87 mph gust was reported at the Denison
Municipal Airport around 2:15 a.m.
To the east, the service reported that a home east of Albion lost a large
portion of its roof and that inch-and-a-quarter hail had been seen two miles west
of Minburn.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A federal judge is planning a trial to determine whether
Iowa’s sex offender treatment program is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett said in an order Wednesday that he hopes to
set the two-week trial for Nov. 28.
The case concerns sex offenders who completed prison sentences but are locked
up at a state institution in Cherokee for treatment, based on findings that they’ll
likely reoffend.
They’ve argued the program is unconstitutional because it doesn’t give them
adequate treatment, and that they’re essentially serving life sentences because few
offenders complete it. Testimony from employees has confirmed staffing shortages
and cutbacks in treatment.
Bennett says the trial will determine whether the program violates
constitutional standards, is punitive rather than therapeutic, and is the least
restrictive way to treat sex offenders.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police say they have arrested a suspect in connection to
the death of a Des Moines man who was assaulted while riding his bike.
The Des Moines Police Department says 28-year-old Michael Scott, of Des
Moines, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 65-year-old
Charles Brown.
Police say Brown was riding a bicycle on the east side of Des Moines on May 1
when he was assaulted by two men. Brown was seriously injured and hospitalized. He
later died as a result of his injuries.
Online court records don’t list an attorney who could comment for Scott.
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) – State agents are conducting an investigation at the Iowa
Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.
Spokesman Alex Murphy for the Iowa Department of Public Safety has confirmed
that an investigation is underway but has declined to comment further.
Iowa Corrections Department spokesman Fred Scaletta says a prisons employee
has been put on administrative leave, but Scaletta would not provide more details.
The Coralville institution is a reception center for all male offenders. There
also is a psychiatric hospital.
PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) – It’s been eight years since a massive tornado destroyed
nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in the northern Iowa city of Parkersburg,
but city leaders say the town’s revival is a model for other cities recovering from
natural disasters.
The May 25, 2008, twister caused $100 million in damage.
City Administrator Chris Luhring says the community didn’t dwell on the
destruction and moved quickly to work on repairs.
He highlights the fact that Aplington-Parkersburg High School was
reconstructed a little over a year after the tornado destroyed the school, allowing
the school to hold fall classes in 2009.
The school’s reconstruction restored hope in the community, and the city has
awarded 250 new residential building permits since 2008.
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