Plymouth County Involved With Another High Speed Eluding Chase
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputies were involved in yet another high speed eluding chase. This time the incident happened during the early morning hours of Tuesday, December 11th. At about 4:00 a.m. the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office was advised of a pursuit entering Plymouth County from Sioux county on Highway 75. The pursuit originated on Interstate 90 in
the Worthington, Minnesota area, and had traveled through northwest Iowa until it entered Plymouth County. Worthington, Minnesota, Police and Nobles County authorities had attempted to stop the vehicle when it fled from an officer. Multiple agencies within northwest Iowa and Minnesota assisted during the pursuit. At about 4:20 a.m. a Plymouth County deputy that was in
front of the pursuit was able to safely deploy stop sticks near county road K-22 and 250th Street. The suspect vehicle struck the stop sticks and both right-side tires went flat. The vehicle then stopped in the 2500 block of county road K-22 at which time both the driver and passenger were detained.
Authorities conducted a records check and determined both the driver and the passenger were found to have active arrest warrants from South Dakota. The driver, 45-year old Kevin Gunhammer of Tabor, South Dakota, was charged with
eluding an aggravated misdemeanor along with the South Dakota warrant. The passenger, Desiree Sully, age 34 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was arrested on the South Dakota warrant. Once at the Plymouth County Jail, she was also
found to be in possession of a controlled substance believed to be methamphetamine. She was then charged with possession of a controlled substance in the first offense.
Akron-Westfield Voters To Decide On $6.9 Million School Bond Issue
(Akron) — Voters in the Akron-Westfield school district will decide today on a $6.9 million dollar bond issue. The bond issue relates to additions and improvements to the school district’s present facilities. School superintendent Randy Collins says there are two phases to the bond issue.
Phase 1 will look at the safety and security aspects with the installation of a new secure high school entry. The improvements would help the industrial technology area, plus the agriculture and art renovations and a science classroom, plus a new wellness and physical education facility.
Phase 2 would include additional parking for the staff, and locker room updates, along with a track update. This marks the third time the voters of Akron and Westfield have had this bond issue presented, having defeated the measure twice before. However, Collins feels confident this time around the voters will approve the bond issue. He says school officials took a
different approach to the local voters.
Voters have until 8:00 p.m. to make their choice known. Voting is being conducted at the Akron Public Library.
Floyd Valley Trustees To Meet This Evening
(Le Mars) — Floyd Valley Healthcare Board of Trustees will meet this evening for its monthly meeting. The hospital trustees are expected to approve a resolution that would allow incoming administrator Dustin Wright as the official signatory on all official documents relating to Floyd Valley. The trustees will hear a medical update report from Dr. Geha. The Floyd Valley Healthcare trustees will discuss board education. The trustees
will hear a general update from Administrator and C-E-O Dustin Wright. They are also scheduled to enter into a closed session.
County Employees Present Their Contract Requests To Supervisors
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County employees presented their initial position for collective bargaining during this morning’s county supervisor meeting.
Speaking for the county employees was Pete Holtzgrew.
Supervisors Craig Anderson and Don Kass asked for a clarification regarding the closure of the engineer’s office during bad weather conditions.
Supervisor Mark Loutsch then countered with the county’s initial position for the collective bargaining with county employees.
Supervisor John Meis explained why the county board wants to include some of the requests and positions in the county employee handbook.
The county employees then asked if there was a reason why the county wanted to negotiate only one year, instead of a three-year contract?
Both sides will now begin formal negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement for county employees.
KLEM 2019 Calendar Features Photos Of Le Mars Beginnings
(Le Mars) — Le Mars will be celebrating its Sesquicentennial in June, but people have the opportunity to acknowledge the 150th year of the town’s founding all year long. KLEM radio teamed up with the Le Mars Historical Preservation Commission, and the Sesquicentennial Committee, and have collected photos from years past in a commemorative keep-sake 2019 calendar. Each month shows a different photo from the time of Le Mars’
early beginnings. The photos were gathered from various sources. Some of the featured photos have never been seen by the general public. Iris Hemmingson is with the Le Mars Historical Preservation Commission and says the featured photos were enhanced by Steve Collins. She offers her opinion
of the calendar.
The cover photo features a photo of the original Plymouth County courthouse.
Hemmingson estimates the photo of the first courthouse was originally taken somewhere around 1890. As you open the calendar, the month of January features a couple of children shown ice skating at around the time of 1905.
February features a photo of the old Union Hotel which was located on the corner of 1st Avenue Southwest and Plymouth Street. Hemmingson says not only was the hotel historic, but the street also has historical significance.
Check back on the KLEM website, as we will continue our visit with Iris Hemmingson to further discuss the historical perspective of photos featured on the 2019 KLEM calendar.
The KLEM commemorative calendar can be picked up at the KLEM radio offices, or from one of our sponsors.
