Le Mars Arts Center To Hold Fund Raiser Event
(Le Mars) — The Board of Directors with the Le Mars Arts Center are wanting to step back in time 100 years as they celebrate the new year with a fund raising event. Nancy Thoma serves as the president of the Le Mars Arts Center and she says they are wanting to celebrate the “Roaring 20’s.”
Tickets are selling for $75 a piece, and can be purchased at the door.
Thoma says for tomorrow evening’s event, the Le Mars Art Cener will be converted from an art gallery to a “Speak Easy.”
Thoma offers a glimpse as to what visitors will expect at Tuesday evening’s event.
The Art Council president says they hope to raise around $10,000 and she explains the projects that are ear-marked in need of improvement.
Thoma says the Art Council encourages people to dress up for the occasion, and if you can, come dressed as a Roaring 20’s flapper.
The Le Mars Arts Center annual fundraiser will be held at the Arts Center and it will be from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.
Petitioners Challenge Woodbury County Supervisor’s Residence
(Sioux City) — Some Woodbury County citizens have filed petitions challenging the residency status of County Supervisor Jeremy Taylor. Petitioners accuse Taylor of moving into a Sioux City home that’s outside the district he was elected to represent, while listing another Sioux City home he owns that *IS* in the district as his official address. Taylor says he’s done nothing wrong.
A woman who has often run unsuccessfully for public office in Sioux City has filed a separate legal challenge of Taylor’s voter registration status, arguing he wasn’t a legal resident of the address he used to vote. Taylor is one of the Republicans running in the primary against Iowa Congressman Steve
King. The county attorney has said he has a conflict of interest and the county has hired an outside attorney to provide legal advice during a hearing about Taylor’s voter registration. County officials will hold a separate hearing about the allegation Taylor does not live in the district he was elected to represent.
Glenwood Resource Center Superintendent Is Fired
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – The superintendent of an Iowa care center for people with intellectual disabilities has been fired amid a federal investigation.
Jerry Rea was notified in a letter Monday that he was being dismissed from his position at the Glenwood Resource Center. The letter says the dismissal is a result of disregard for policies and procedures. Associated Press efforts to reach Rea were unsuccessful. Rea had been placed on paid leave earlier this month. Few details have been released about the federal investigation. It covers concerns that residents with a range of
developmental and physical disabilities were the subjects of sexual arousal experiments.
Judge Approves Competency Evaluation For Woman Charged With Running Over Minority Children
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge has approved a competency evaluation of a woman accused of hate crimes in the Des Moines area, including intentionally running over a girl she believed was Mexican. Nicole Poole’s attorney told a judge Monday that he thinks Poole has a mental disorder and is incompetent
to stand trial. The Des Moines Register reports that prosecutors didn’t fight the defense request for a competency evaluation. Poole is accused of throwing items at a store clerk and directing racial epithets at him and customers and of intentionally hitting a 14-year-old Hispanic girl and a 12-year-old black boy with her vehicle. Both children survived.
Iowa’s Population On The Increase Due In Part By Migrant Workers
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – New U.S. Census estimates show Iowa’s population continued to increase slowly in the last year and now numbers 3,155,070. The July 1, 2019, estimate released Monday was up 108,199 from the 2010 population. Iowa’s population would have been significantly lower if not for
international migration, which since 2010 has added nearly 48,000 people to the state. That migration offset nearly 30,000 residents who moved from Iowa to other states during that period. The national population was estimated at 328.2 million.
Survey Shows Iowa Agriculture Is Backbone Of State’s Economy
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa –– Iowa’s 86,104 family farms
continue to be a key driver of Iowa’s economy, contributing 10 percent more to the state economy than in 2012, according to a new study commissioned by the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF). The study shows that more than 31 percent of Iowa’s total economic output came from Iowa agriculture
in 2017.
The study analyzed data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2017 Census of Agriculture and the IMPLAN system to determine the contributions of Iowa agriculture.
The agriculture industry goes beyond just impacting the total economic output of the state. One in every five Iowans are employed in agriculture and ag-related industries, accounting for nearly 400,000 jobs.
“This study underscores how productive and innovative farmers have been since 2012,” said Spencer Parkinson, of Decision Innovation Solutions who conducted the study. “Despite major weather events such as drought and flooding over the past several years, farmers have increased total output to
$121.1 billion, benefiting not just agriculture, but all Iowans.”
Even with this growth, Iowa’s farmers maintain their roots. More than 90 percent of farms in Iowa are family owned and operated with farm size averaging 355 acres.
