City Council Approves New Library Position
(Le Mars) — Earlier this week, the Le Mars city council gave its approval for the Le Mars Public Library to go ahead and hire one more full-time employee. Some of the council members suggested the library may want to consider closing on Sunday as a way to cutback on the budget. Councilman Clark Goodchild said he looked around the area, and found that Le Mars was
the only public library that was open on Sunday. Goodchild mentioned to Library Director Shirley Taylor and Library Board president Robin Hermsen that they may want to consider cutting back on hours for Friday evening and Saturday. The council approved the new position with a 4-to-1 vote. Councilman Ken
Nelson voted against the hiring of an additional employee. In other action, the city council approved a tax exempt request for an apartment development project. The council gave approval to Adam Brown for a duration of a seven- year deal, then when that is completed, they would approve a tax exempt status for another three years. The measure passed on a 4-to-1 vote with
Clark Goodchild voting no. The council also approved the installation of “yield signs” at the intersection of 1st Avenue southeast and 3rd Street southeast. Mayor Dick Kirchoff informed the council members that he drove at the intersection, and stated it is “definitely a safety hazard.” Kirchoff
says motorists now need to take a “second look” when driving through the intersection due to low visibility as a result of off-street parking. The city council voted 3-2 for the yield signs with Rex Knapp and Clark Goodchild voting against the installation of yield signs. The city council also accepted a bid of $109,710 for the paving of Industrial Road from 24th Street to where the paving currently ends.
SIDS Memorial Walk Scheduled For Saturday
(Le Mars) — Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, ranks as one of the top means of death for young small children. Pam Jeneary serves as the coordinator for the area’s SIDS awareness program, and on Saturday a memorial walk and fundraising project is scheduled to take place at the Le Mars Municipal Park. Jeneary offers an explanation of SIDS.
Jeneary says she and her husband lost a child 35 years ago due to SIDS.
Jeneary says little is known about how SIDS affects some babies, but not others, or how and why it occurs. She says there are ways to help reduce the onset of SIDS.
Registration for the memorial walk will begin at 8:30 with the walk to begin at around 10:00 a.m. Jeneary says there will be a silent auction featuring many items also available at the Memorial Walk. We will have more about the
SIDS Memorial Walk during our 10:00 news update.
Agriculture Groups Remain Silent On Tibbetts Murder
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The arrest of a Mexican farmworker in the death of an Iowa college student renewed calls to change immigration laws. But it also focused attention on the immigrant workers whose labor is essential to the state’s agricultural industry.
Hours after authorities found the body of Mollie Tibbetts, some
Republican politicians including President Donald Trump expressed outrage that the suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, had been able to live illegally in the U.S. for years. They urged a wider crackdown on illegal immigration.
The response from farming groups was more muted, reflecting the difficulty in hiring people for physically demanding work at dairies, slaughterhouses and other facilities.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley acknowledged that some of the most intense opposition has come from the agriculture industry because of its need for workers.
Autopsy Shows Tibbetts Was Stabbed
BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) – A medical examiner says the Iowa college student who was allegedly abducted by a stranger last month died from stab wounds.
Authorities announced Thursday that preliminary autopsy results show 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was a homicide victim who died from “multiple sharp force injuries.”
State medical examiner Dennis Klein says that finding means a sharp- edged or pointed object such as a knife was used to attack Tibbetts.
He says his office will hire consultants, including forensic
anthropologists, to analyze her remains and make additional findings.
The man charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts’ death,
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, allegedly led investigators to her body Tuesday in a cornfield near Brooklyn, Iowa.
Prosecutors allege Rivera abducted Tibbetts on July 18, killed her
and disposed of her body in the secluded location.
University of Iowa Wrestler Sentenced For Computer Hacking
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – A former University of Iowa wrestler has been sentenced to four months in federal prison for manipulating the school’s network so he could access its computers and change his and other students’
grades for classes.
Federal prosecutors for Iowa said Thursday that 23-year-old Trevor Graves was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release and pay $67,900 in restitution. Prosecutors say that’s how much it cost the University of Iowa to investigate and respond to the network breach.
Graves pleaded guilty in April to transmission of a command to damage a protected computer.
In a plea agreement, Graves admitted that from March 2015 to November 2016, he manipulated the university’s computer network and obtained professors’ usernames and passwords. He then changed grades for himself and five other students.
Glenwood Woman Convicted For Daughter’s Death
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa woman convicted of causing the death of her young daughter by giving her unprescribed antidepressants has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The Daily Nonpareil newspaper reports a judge on Thursday sentenced 34- year-old Misty Frazier of Glenwood to the prison term following her earlier conviction for child endangerment resulting in death. Frazier was found not guilty of other charges, including second-degree murder.
She will be immediately eligible for parole.
An autopsy showed Frazier’s 8-year-old daughter, Kathleen Tafta, died in October 2016 of an overdose of the antidepressant amitriptyline, commonly sold under the brand name Elavil.
Frazier’s lawyer argued during the trial that her actions were due to an intellectual impairment.
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