County Board Of Supervisors To Convene Today
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will convene this morning at the County Courthouse Board Room. The supervisors are expected to appoint Chris Cook as a Liberty Township trustee, replacing Ralph Hecht.
The county governing board is expected to approve applications for impoundment structure property tax exemptions. County Engineer, Tom Rohe, will appear before the county board to offer a resolution relating to an application for RPA for project funding. Rohe will also submit final plans for review and approval of a letting date for a bridge repair project, and three culvert construction projects. The Plymouth County Supervisors will
meet with Tom Hernick with the Iowa Department of Transportation as the IDOT is seeking approval of the Hinton Drainage District Consent Agreement.
City Council To Vote On Expanding Urban Revitalization Area
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars City Council will meet at 12:00 noon today at the city council chambers. On their agenda will be a review of the Convention and Visitor Bureau Advisory Board Recommendations, as well as the approval of the urban revitalization tax exemption requests. As for action items,
the city council is expected to approve the third reading of the National Electric Code. The city council will vote on the designation of expanding the Le Mars Highway 75 Bypass Urban Renewal Area and Urban Renewal Plan amendment. The council will also discuss again the proposed fiscal year 2019-2020 city budget. The council will hear from Le Mars Police Chief Kevin
Vande Vegte as he submits the police department’s annual report. The council will also convene in a closed session for a performance review of the Assistant city Administrator, Jason Vacera.
Floyd Valley Apartments Again Without Elevator
(Le Mars) — Residents living in the Floyd Valley Apartments of Le Mars are again without an elevator. Firefighters were called to the apartment complex building on Saturday evening to discover the motor that operates the elevator had burned up. Karla Bohle serves as the manager of the apartment building.
One other time when the elevator wasn’t working, the residents had to go for four months before repairs could be made. Bohle says volunteers are assisting with the residents, many of who are senior citizens.
Bohle is hopeful the repairs will be completed in a short time frame, although she says she doesn’t have an idea as to how long it will take before the only elevator is again operating.
The five-story building has 59 units, of which Bohle says each unit is occupied.
Governor Reynolds Says She Will Not Appeal Court’s Decision On “Heart-beat” Abortion Bill
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Kim Reynolds says she has decided not to appeal an Iowa judge’s ruling last month that struck down Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat” abortion law, which would have been the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation.
Reynolds says it was “an extremely difficult decision” but is the
right one for the state. Abortion opponents hoped the legal challenge could get to the U.S. Supreme Court and overturn the longstanding case that legalized abortion nationwide.
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa challenged the law on state constitutional grounds only foreclosing a federal appeal.
Judge Michael Huppert said last month the bill violated due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution based on previous Iowa Supreme Court rulings.
The law would have banned an abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
Reynolds Will Sign Education Bills Today
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to sign education funding bills sent to her last week by lawmakers providing a 2 percent increase in state per-pupil funding for the budget year beginning in July.
Reynolds has scheduled a bill signing event for Tuesday morning at the Iowa Capitol.
The measures would boost per-pupil support from the state general fund to nearly $3.3 billion. Democrats had proposed an amendment that would have provided 3 percent but Republicans holding a majority of votes rejected it.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, an Ames Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Education Committee, argued 3 percent would have made up for inflationary losses over the past two years and provided a modest increase.
Reynolds says it provides the funding to “continue moving forward in preparing our young people for the challenges of a 21st century economy.”
The bill includes teacher professional development and leadership compensation.
Reynolds also will sign a separate bill to provide schools $21.3
million, including funding for transportation in districts where the cost of busing students is higher.
Hubbell Involved In Bicycle Accident
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Former Iowa candidate for governor Fred Hubbell has been injured in a bicycle accident in Arizona.
Family friend David Adelman says Hubbell was struck by a car on Friday at an intersection in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Hubbell has a home.
Adelman says Hubbell, who is 67, has undergone surgeries for a
fractured pelvis but the injuries are not life-threatening.
Adelman says he’s spoken with Hubbell’s wife, Charlotte, who reported Hubbell is expected to need physical therapy to fully recover.
Hubbell was the Democratic candidate for governor and was narrowly defeated by Gov. Kim Reynolds in November.
FFA Chapters Acknowledge National FFA Week
(Le Mars) — This week, February 18th through February 22nd, is National FFA Week. Laken Mullinix is a member of the Akron-Westfield FFA Chapter. She is also a state officer serving in the role of Secretary. Mullinix says she has a busy week of scheduling, and explains why National FFA Week occurs
during the same time as George Washington’s birthday.
Mullinix says Iowa has more than 15,000 members from 240 chapters. She says the organization has grown having both boys and girls involved in FFA.
Girls now comprise of more than half of the membership. She says the organization also includes urban chapters as well as rural chapters, with many members, including herself, of never having been raised on a farm. For the past ten months, Mullinix has served as a state officer as Secretary.
She talks about the selection process to become a state officer.
Mullinix, along with several other FFA state officers from across the nation, recently were able to visit South Africa.
The Akron-Westfield FFA member says she was surprised while visiting South Africa.
Mullinix credits her adviser, Randy Kroksh, for helping develop her leadership skills and assisting her grow through the FFA program. She says her highlights include attending both the state and national FFA conventions. She also says visiting the Iowa State Fair will be remembered as a FFA highlight.
Mullinix is attending Des Moines Area Community College studying liberal arts. She intends to transfer to Iowa State University and major in political science, and then on to law school at the University of Iowa. Each of the Plymouth County FFA chapters: Akron-Westfield, Hinton, Le Mars Community, MMCRU, and Kingsley-Pierson will compete in various contests
during the Northwest Iowa Sub-District FFA Contest, scheduled for Tuesday, February 19th at Hinton Community School.
Two UNI Students Killed In Auto Accident
CONRAD, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say two University of Northern Iowa students were killed when their car collided with a semitrailer.
The collision occurred around 12:40 p.m. Sunday, a few miles north of Conrad on Iowa Highway 14. The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office says the northbound car went out of control on the snow- and ice-covered roadway and crossed into the path of the southbound semi.
The Sheriff’s Office identified the car driver as 21-year-old Justin
Kime, who lived in Stewartville, Minnesota, and his passenger as 21-year-old Tristan Marlow, who lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The truck driver wasn’t injured. He’s been identified as 27-year-old Laurence Smith, of St. Louis.
The accident is being investigated.
Illinois Woman Claims $2 Million Powerball Prize
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – An Illinois woman has claimed the $2 million she won in the Iowa Lottery Powerball game.
The Iowa Lottery says 49-year-old Lisa Hays turned in her winning ticket Monday at lottery headquarters in Clive.
Hays, who lives in Monmouth, Illinois, says she bought the ticket while shopping at the Hy-Vee store on Agency Street in Burlington. It matched the first five numbers in the Feb. 9 drawing but missed the Powerball number.
The match of five numbers is worth $1 million, but Hays added the Power Play option, multiplying the prize to $2 million.
No one matched all six numbers to win that drawing’s $223.6 million jackpot.
Hays told lottery officials that she intends to buy a house and a new car with her winnings and set some aside for retirement. She says that, if she makes the right decisions, “this should set me up for the rest of my life.”
