Orange City Home Catches On Fire
(Orange City) — Four fire departments responded to a two-story house fire in Orange City Tuesday afternoon. Orange City, Sioux Center, Alton and Le Mars were all called to the residence at 421 2nd Street southwest. The fire was first detected at about 3:50 p.m. Orange City Fire Chief Denny Vander Wel
explains what had happened.
Vander Wel says damage was mainly confined to the attic insulation, and to the upstairs bathroom. However, smoke did penetrate the entire home. Fire officials were able to quickly extinguish the fire, and were able to leave the scene within an hour.
Henrich Retires From Serving As County Supervisor
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors chairman Jim Henrichs of Akron pounded the gavel to adjourn the weekly county supervisor meeting for the last time on Tuesday morning, as the 12 year supervisor is stepping away from
government. When Henrichs first was elected as a Plymouth county supervisor in 2004, the county had only 20 days of available reserve funding. Today, the county has more than four months of available cash reserves. Henrich says he is
pleased to have had a helping part in turning around the county’s financial condition.
Tuesday marked the last official act of business for the retiring county supervisor. As mentioned, Henrich has been a county governing official for 12 years with the last eight years as the chairman of the county board. Henrich credits his fellow supervisors, and the dedication and hard work of the county
employees for the county’s success.
Prior to being a county supervisor, Henrich served as a city council member for the city of Akron. He has been a part of a government entity for more than 20 years. He says it was not always an easy job telling people the county can’t
perform the specific task they were requesting, especially when discussing various road and bridge repairs.
Henrich admits there are aspects of being a county supervisor that he will probably miss.
Henrich says he and his wife will be spending additional time with family, particularly the grandchildren, and he hopes to do some traveling now that he has retired from being a county supervisor. Following Tuesday’s meeting, the county employees fellow supervisors, family and friends honored Henrich with a retirement party.
Compensation Board Suggests A Four Percent Salary Increase For County Elected Officials
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors heard a report from County Compensation board member Larry Petersen as he offered the salary increase recommendations for county elected officials, as proposed by the County Compensation Board. The Compensation Board met Thursday of last week to
initially hear each of the county elected officials.
For the current fiscal year, the board of supervisors approved a 2.75 percent salary increase for county elected officials, and a two percent increase in salary for the supervisors. Petersen says the Compensation Board held a good discussion in determining the salary increase.
The county supervisors have the final word on county employee salaries. They can either accept the four percent increase salary recommendations, reject them, or come up with a different proposed figure based on the county’s budget.
Museum Requests An Increase In County Funding
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Historical Museum is seeking additional funds from the county, especially since the supervisors decided to use all Local Options Sales Tax revenue for road and bridge repair projects, as opposed to dispensing some funds to organizations. Museum administrator Judy Bowman
appeared today before the county board. She says the museum is seeking a total of $17,000 from the county. Previously, the museum’s annual allocation from the county had been set at $13,500. Bowman reported to the board that due to the
number of charter buses now coming to Le Mars, the county museum has seen an increase in visitors. Bowman was asked if the museum charges any admission, which she replied, “no, we depend solely on donations”. Bowman highlighted the
coming year’s museum activities for the supervisors. She informed the county board the current Manger Museum display with nativities donated by several people, including a large donation of nativity sets donated for exhibition by
Father Paul Eisele has been a big success for the museum.
City Council Hears Library Renovation Proposal
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars City Council heard plans for the possible renovation and expansion of the Le Mars Public Library during Tuesday’s meeting. Director of Library Services Shirley Taylor introduced representatives from the F-E-H Design from Sioux City. F-E-H specializes in library designs. Toi Sullivan
spoke before the city council. She presented ideas that would change the configuration of shelving, relocate the main entrance of the library from the north-side of the building, and instead place it on the east-side of the building, and move the children’s story area.
Sullivan says comments from users of the library indicated they appreciate the adult reading area that is surrounded by glass, and asked if that area could remain as it is currently being used.
The library design specialist informed the city council that simply moving the book shelves will add needed space.
Sullivan offers an explanation as to why the library officials may want to consider moving the front entrance.
The city council did not take any action on the proposed changes to the library, and at this point in time, an estimate of renovation costs has not been determined.
Easter Lake To Be Drained
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials have announced they will begin draining Easter Lake in southeastern Des Moines to prepare for renovations to the lake this coming spring.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, city of Des Moines and other agencies will be lowering the water level in the lake about six feet per day until it’s completely drained by February.
Most of the fish in the 179-acre lake will be sent downstream into the Des Moines River. Some fish loss is expected.
Dredging and shoreline restoration work are set to begin in the spring and continue through the winter, with final trail construction completed by the end of 2017. All major improvements are expected to be completed by March 2018, when the lake will begin filling back up and fisheries will be restocked.
Marshalltown Hospital Having Financial Problems
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Marshalltown’s struggling hospital has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors as it reorganizes for a sale.
Central Iowa Healthcare asked the court in its Tuesday bankruptcy filing to approve a plan to sell substantially all of its assets to UnityPoint Health – Waterloo, an affiliate of UnityPoint Health.
Under the bankruptcy plan, all of Central Iowa’s operations would operate without interruption. The operations include the 49-bed hospital, emergency department, primary care clinics in Conrad, Marshalltown, State Center and Tama-Toledo, and its outpatient center.
Hospital officials have blamed billing difficulties for much of the
financial trouble that led to millions of dollars in losses over the past three years.
Iowa Has Backlog Of Autopsies
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A backlog of autopsies at the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office has been delaying the return of remains to family members.
It usually takes the office a day or two to complete an autopsy. But a spokeswoman for the office told The Des Moines Register that in the past month, a 12 percent surge in cases coupled with an understaffed office has caused delays.
Polly Carver-Kimm, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, says that at one point in the past month, the office had 32 bodies awaiting autopsy and it took up to two weeks to release remains to funeral homes. She says the situation is “not typical.”
The office is budgeted for 11 full-time positions, but one position is
open. It is expected to be filled.
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