Old Time Country, Bluegrass, and Gospel Music Festival At The Plymouth County Fairgrounds
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County fairgrounds is the site for some Old Time Country, Bluegrass, and Gospel music as Lally’s Restaurant is hosting its first annual music festival. The event continues through Saturday evening. Tom Mullally is the organizer of the event. He says attendees will be able to listen to a variety of country, bluegrass, and gospel music as the festival is featuring close to 200 different musicians. Mullally says there are some changes allowed with this music festival as opposed to the music festival held at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds in past years.
Mullally says the music has an unique and special appeal to those who appreciate it.
The music festival organizer says the music featured is the traditional country music and was the establishing roots of what we know as today’s country music. Mullally says the music festival is featuring some well-known artists.
As mentioned, the music festival continues through Saturday evening. Admission to the festival is set at $12 per person, or $36 for the week. Mullally says camping is also available for attendees.
Iowa Secretary Of Agriculture Mike Naig To Speak At Plymouth County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting
(Le Mars) — Trade tariffs, low commodity prices, pending trade agreements, non-meat substitutes, and waivers against ethanol production are all topics of concern for today’s America’s farmers. The Plymouth County Farm Bureau organization is aware of these issues, and most likely, these and other issues may be discussed next Tuesday evening as the farm organization holds its annual meeting at the Century Hall at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. Mark Bohner is the Regional Manager for the Plymouth County Farm Bureau. He says this year, the farm group has a special speaker scheduled to address the members.
Bohner says Farm Bureau is beginning its grass roots survey with members to inquire what issues are on their minds, and should be pursued by the Iowa and the American Farm Bureau organizations.
The Farm Bureau official says the membership will discuss issues that go beyond the borders of Plymouth County, and those issues may extend beyond agriculture.
Bohner says the county annual meeting is being held in a timely manner.
The Plymouth County Farm Bureau meeting will start with featured exhibits at 5:30 p.m. with the meal to begin at 6:30 p.m.
The annual meeting is open to all members of the Plymouth County Farm Bureau.
Former Iowa Human Services Director To File $2 Million Lawsuit For Wrongful Dismissal
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The former head of the Iowa Department of Human Services has filed a complaint with the state seeking $2 million for wrongful discharge.
Jerry Foxhoven says in documents filed Thursday with the State
Appeal Board that Gov. Kim Reynolds, her chief of staff and legal counsel fired Foxhoven on June 17 as he questioned whether it was legal for the DHS to pay the salary of a governor’s staffer who had moved from the agency to the governor’s office.
Foxhoven, known for his frequent workplace praise of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, says his firing was done to prevent him from enforcing his legal right to disclose information he believed was illegal.
Reynolds has said Foxhoven never raised such concerns and never asked the staff for a legal opinion.
Mercy One Will No Longer Perform Kidney Transplant Surgical Operations
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines medical center has announced that after three decades of operation, it will shut down its kidney and pancreas transplant operation.
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center announced in a news release Thursday that the closure is effective Oct. 1. The program had been suspended earlier this year as hospital officials questioned the need for two transplant centers in Des Moines.
MercyOne says it will work with the city’s other transplant center
at Iowa Methodist Medical Center to help those in need. The release says the closure affects four MercyOne employees.
The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa Methodist Medical Center handles more than twice as many kidney operations per year as MercyOne’s transplant team.
Former Nurse Admits To Diverting Pain Medications Will Spend 15 Months In Prison
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A former nurse who admitted diverting pain medications from residents at two northeastern Iowa nursing homes has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
The Courier reports that 36-year-old Lacey Staveley, of Evansdale, was sentenced Thursday in Cedar Rapids.
Staveley pleaded guilty last year to one count of acquiring a
controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception or subterfuge and another count of making false statements relating to health care matters. She was later charged with contempt after police say she stole pills from a relative after she had pleaded guilty to the nursing home thefts.
Prosecutors say she took hydrocodone intended for two chronic pain patients at Cedar Falls Health Care in November 2016, then faked medication logs to cover her tracks. Officials say she also took pain medication in 2018 from two patients at Harmony House in Waterloo and replaced them with anti-psychotic and antidepressant drugs.
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Winterset Woman’s Body Found In Home After Fire
WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) – Officials in south-central Iowa are investigating after the body of a 62-year-old woman was found in her burning Winterset home.
Ames station WOI reports that the fire happened Thursday night. Fire officials say the body of Jolene Ann Baker was found inside after the flames were extinguished.
The cause of the fire had not been reported by Friday morning and is being investigated by the Winterset police, the Winterset Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal’s office.
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Guatemala Man To Face Trial For Killing Mother And Two Children
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Trial has been set next month for a Guatemala man charged with killing an Iowa woman and her two children.
The Des Moines Register reports that a judge on Thursday set Oct. 28 as the start of the first-degree murder trial for 31-year-old Marvin Oswaldo Escobar-Orellana.
Escobar-Orellana is accused of fatally shooting 29-year-old
Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez, her 11-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in mid-July in a Des Moines home.
Escobar-Orellana is charged with three counts of first-degree murder under what authorities say was a false name he initially gave to police: Marvin Esquivel-Lopez.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have said Escobar-Orellana is in the United States illegally and had twice been deported before the July shooting. He was convicted in 2010 of illegal entry into the U.S.
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