Home News Saturday News, September 1st

Saturday News, September 1st

Lt. Governor Adam Gregg Visits With KLEM About Trade Wars

(Le Mars) — Rural Iowa has felt the brunt of the trade tariffs with soybean prices falling at least two dollars a bushel, and pork prices down by nearly 30 percent. But, does urban Iowa residents understand the significance of the trade wars as imposed by President Trump? Iowa’s Lt. Governor Adam Gregg
spoke with KLEM on Friday during an exclusive interview. Gregg says that he and Governor Reynolds understands the implications of the rural economy to the general economy.

The Lt. Governor says Governor Reynolds has been telling several government officials within the Trump administration, and Congress, the importance of trade to the Iowa economy.

Gregg says the message about restoring agricultural trade was also mentioned to U-S Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue during his visit to Iowa this week when he visited the Farm Progress Show at Boone.

According to Gregg, there is some good news coming from Washington with regards to trade agreements with our trading partners.

The Lt. Governor says he and Governor Reynolds will continue to push the message for resolution of the trade wars, and ask that the tariffs be dropped, every chance they get to speak with anyone of the Trump Administration.

 

 

Gehlen Catholic Receives Grant From Farm Credit Services

(Le Mars) — Prior to the start of last evening’s Gehlen Catholic football game against West Monona, representatives of Farm Credit Services of America presented a check in the amount of $2,000. The money will be used by the Gehlen Catholic Agriculture Science program as taught by Mrs. Asley Langel.
Gehlen Catholic will purchase Chromebooks to enhance the Ag science’s program on Wisconsin Fast Plants (WFPP). The Wisconsin Fast Plants program began in 2016 offering quick, easy to grow, productive, small plants. As plants grow, the students collect data which will be logged using the
Chromebooks. The Chromebooks will be used by students to create projects, identify patterns and make predictions for the Wisconsin Fast Plants as well as to access technology tools and resources to work together to solve real world problems. The WFPP was funded in part by FCSAmerica. Gehlen Catholic
School is one of 73 organizations to receive a Working Here Fund grant in the second quarter of 2018. FCSAmerica awarded $126,110 during the latest grant cycle ending June 30, 2018.

Left to right: Gehlen Catholic 7-12 Principal, Mr. Jeff Alesch; Gehlen Catholic School Board President, Mr. Mark Kallsen; Farm Credit Services of America & Gehlen Catholic parent, Mrs. Michele Larson; Gehlen Catholic High School Ag Teacher, Mrs. Ashley Langel; & Gehlen Catholic Technology Director, Mrs. Lori Schuch.

 

 

Auditions Scheduled For “See How They Run”

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Theater is announcing the audition dates for their next theater production to be held at the Le Mars Postal Playhouse.
“See How They Run” calls for three women and six men. The play is set in the idyllic village of Merton-cum-Middlwick, England during the 1940’s. It’s World War II, and the village inhabitants are preparing themselves for the imminent threat of Nazi invasion. Meanwhile, resident spinster, Miss Skillon, becomes convinced that her beloved vicar’s actress wife is having an
affair and attempts to expose her. Add an escaped German prisoner of war, a handsome actor, the visiting Bishop of Lax, a rotund locum priest and some meddling neighbor and hilarious confusion and mayhem result. Auditions are set for September 17th and 18th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Postal Playhouse located at 105 1st St. N.E. The tentative opening date is
scheduled for November 8th.

 

 

Former Secretary For Soil and Water Conservation Districts Charged With Embezzlement

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former secretary for Iowa soil and water conservation districts allegedly embezzled nearly $300,000 in cash and personal purchases over a 7-year period.
A report released by State Auditor Mary Mosiman says Leslie Carey made hundreds of withdrawals and improper purchases, criticizing the districts for failing to implement safeguards after a similar scandal was uncovered in 2014.
Carey was secretary for the Black Hawk County Soil and Water
Conservation District and its counterpart in Bremer County. She was an employee of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship until resigning last December.
The report found Carey withdrew $182,000 in cash from the Black Hawk district and spent $105,000 on debit and credit cards. She used public funds to buy items such as a new television and water heater, airline and concert tickets, groceries and clothing.
Carey improperly transferred $134,000 from Bremer to prop up Black Hawk’s budget. A listed number for Carey, who hasn’t been charged, rang unanswered.

 

 

White Supremacist Group Using Robo Calls

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa authorities have confirmed that recorded phone calls citing the slaying of an Iowa college student are being used to promote white supremacist views, but there’s apparently little the officials can do.
Lynn Hicks is a spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office, and he said Friday that prosecutors have no authority because there’s no apparent effort to deceive anyone for commercial purposes. He called it a “tricky First Amendment issue.”
It’s unclear how many of the robocalls have been made since they began Tuesday, two days after Mollie Tibbetts’ funeral in Brooklyn, Iowa.
They reference comments her father made in defense of Hispanics when he addressed friends and family. A man officials suspected of being in this country illegally is charged with her slaying. The calls describe him as “an invader from Mexico.”
The recordings say the calls are paid for by The Road to Power, an Idaho-based neo-Nazi organization. Associated Press attempts to reach the organization were unsuccessful.

 

 

State Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court’s Ruling On Traffic Cameras

(Des Moines) — The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that had ordered the city of Des Moines to repay more than $90,000 in fines collected from traffic camera enforcement – but it resurrected several constitutional challenges to the city’s use of the traffic camera.
The high court’s ruling Friday was one of three issued on the use of traffic cameras in the state.
In the Des Moines case, a majority of justices ruled that the
plaintiffs should be allowed to argue that the city’s use of an automated speed radar camera on Interstate 235 violates the due process and equal protection rights of motorists. The ruling reverses a Polk County judge’s decision last year that threw out those claims.
The high court also gave new life to a similar lawsuit in Cedar
Rapids, saying that city’s law on collecting traffic camera fines doesn’t conform to state law.

 

 

Safe Haven Baby

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The state has taken custody of another infant through Iowa’s safe haven law.
The state Department of Human Services says a baby born Aug. 19 at an Iowa hospital was released into the custody of the agency.
It was the 32nd time the procedure had been used since lawmakers changed the law following a 2001 case in which a mother killed her home- delivered newborn in eastern Iowa.
Under the law, parents can give the state custody of babies who are 30 days or younger without concern of being prosecuted. Parents or an authorized representative can leave infants at a hospital or other health care facility.
The babies are placed with foster or adoptive families.
The state doesn’t identify the location of babies taken into custody.

 

 

Teacher Disarmed Student With Handgun 

ELDRIDGE, Iowa (AP) – Police say a teacher disarmed a 12-year-old student at a junior high school in eastern Iowa.
The Eldridge Police Department said in a news release that no shots were fired and no one was injured in Friday morning’s incident at North Scott Junior High School. Police say the woman disarmed the student before officers
arrived.
The boy’s been charged with attempted murder and a weapons crime. His name hasn’t been released.
The department declined to answer more question about the incident, including why a charge of attempted murder has been leveled. The school was placed on lockdown while officers investigated.

 

 

Past Labor Day Weekend Traffic Has Been Deadly

(Des Moines) — The chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Patrick Hoye (rhymes with ‘toy’), is hoping this holiday weekend is a lot safer for motorists in Iowa than it was in 2017.

Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer and this weekend is typically one of the busiest travel times of the year. According to Hoye, too many motorists get behind the wheel after celebrating the holiday with alcohol.

Police in Iowa are taking part in a national campaign that involves an increase in law enforcement officers on roadways through this coming Monday. Among other things, they’ll be looking for impaired drivers, so Hoye is encouraging Iowans to plan ahead.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that during the 2016 Labor Day weekend, there were 433 crash fatalities nationwide with 36-percent involving drivers who were drunk.
——–