Supervisor Gary Horton Submits Nomination Petition Papers
(Le Mars) — County Supervisor Gary Horton of Akron has submitted his petition papers to the county auditor’s office seeking re-election. Hartman’s name will appear on the ballot for the primary election scheduled for June 2nd, 2020. As of today’s date, no one else has filed any nomination petition papers challenging Horton, although according to Plymouth County Auditor Stacy Feldman, candidates have until Wednesday, March 25th to turn in their petitions and file with the county. Horton represents county district five.
Van Otterloo Files Nomination Papers Seeking Supervisor Position
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo has filed nomination papers with the Plymouth County Auditor to be placed on the ballot for the June 2nd, 2020 primary election. Van Otterloo, earlier in the year announced he would be resigning his position as sheriff effective December 31st, 2020. Van Otterloo will be seeking the District 2 seat with the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors, a position currently held by Supervisor Mark Loutsch. Loutsch has announced he will retire from the county governing board at the conclusion of his term, which is December 31st. Van Otterloo brings 30 years of county leadership experience as the Plymouth County Sheriff in hopes of continuing his public service career. Van Otterloo says he is excited to hopefully have the opportunity to continue to serve Plymouth County, and to work with some of the same elected officials and county constituents. Van Otterloo and his wife, Elaine, have lived in Le Mars for 45 years. Elaine teaches at the Le Mars Community Middle School.
County Prepares For Road Construction Season
(Le Mars) — With spring around the corner will also mark the start of road construction season with orange cones and barrells and barricade signs closing roads and bridges. Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe says efforts are underway to get ready for the upcoming season of road construction projects. Rohe says the first project will be to finish the bridge construction project located on county road C-44, just a half mile east of Merrill.
Rohe says the timetable for the completion of the bridge repair project is set for a month to six weeks with the bridge to be closed to traffic. Another road construction project slated for this summer, and probably will be the most expensive, will be the over-laying of concrete on nine miles of county road C-38 between county roads K-22 and K-13.
Rohe submitted a proposed bid letting schedule to the county supervisors during their Tuesday meeting. On March 31st, Rohe hopes to accept the bids from contractors on three culvert replacement projects and on bridge replacement project. Two weeks later on April 14th, Rohe will open the bids for three additional culvert replacement projects. The Iowa Department of Transportation will again be closing two lanes of Highway 75 between Hinton and Sioux City as construction will continue on the southbound lanes. It is not known when the project will begin, but it is expected the construction will last all summer and through the autumn months.
RAGBRAI Route Now Proposed To Go From Le Mars To Cleghorn On Highway 3
(Le Mars) — Ever since RAGBRAI officials announced in late January that Le Mars would serve as the over-night starting point for the 2020 RAGBRAI route, with Storm Lake being the second overnight destination, local organization officials, along with law enforcement and public safety and transportation officials have been studying the maps trying to decide what would work best as the best possible route joining the two communities. Initially, the proposed route had the estimated 20,000 bicycle riders leaving Le Mars on county road C-30 heading east, then south on county road K-64 and joining county road C-38 going east into Cherokee. However, according to Plymouth County Engineer, Tom Rohe, the proposed route has been placed on hold due to the possibility of a bridge to be closed for repairs on C-30. Rohe says the route may now have the RAGBRAI participants leave Le Mars on State Highway 3 until they hit Cleghorn, then go south and join C-38 and head east again to Cherokee.
Even though Highway 3 has more traffic than the county roads, especially semi-truck traffic, Rohe says one reason why RAGBRAI officials have suggested Highway 3 is to join additional communities, such as Oyens, Remsen, and Marcus. If bikers were to go south from Le Mars following county road K-49 for two miles to county road C-38, and then turn left and go east to Cherokee, there are no small towns along that route, which leaves bikers little opportunity for rest breaks, and little chance for any town to host the event and gain economic revenue. Rohe says his office wasn’t contacted by either RAGBRAI officials, or local officials when Le Mars was first announced they would be hosting the cross-state bicycle ride sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. Rohe says the last time RAGBRAI came through Plymouth County and passed through Kingsley, his crews worked for two weeks on the route to get it ready for the bicycles.
Iowans Being Quarantined For Coronavirus
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say 22 Iowans are among the thousands of passengers and crew who were quarantined on a cruise ship docked in Northern California, and most of them are preparing to return home. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that 18 of the Iowans will be flown home on a government-chartered plane and kept in isolation in their homes. None of them have shown symptoms of the COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but they will be screened before and after the flight. At least 21 of the roughly 3,500 passengers and crew on the Grand Princess cruise have tested positive for the disease.
Iowa State University Official Told To Stay Home
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – For the second time this academic year, a public university in Iowa is paying an administrator to stay home and look for other jobs as part of a legal agreement to quit and not sue. Iowa State University is paying former senior admissions official Consuela Cooper to telecommute until June 15 or until she finds a new job, whichever comes first. Cooper has agreed to resign and “not to seek or accept employment with the university at any time in the future.” It’s similar to a deal the University of Iowa reached with its new chief diversity officer last August.
Charles City Father Charged With Killing Infant Son
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 25-year-old father has been charged with killing his infant son in northern Iowa. Floyd County court records say Shane Morris is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. The records don’t list the name of Morris’ attorney. Charles City police began an investigation on Aug. 3, when the baby was taken to Floyd County Medical Center. Police say he died the next day of blunt force trauma to the head. A court document says Morris told investigators that he’d tripped while carrying his son and the boy’s head struck a kitchen counter edge.
Clinton Man Charged With Vehicular Homicide For Death Of Wife
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) – A Clinton man has been charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence for the crash death of his wife in July. Clinton County court records say Brandon Clary also is charged with driving with a suspended license and with other crimes. The records don’t list the name of his attorney. The crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. on July 26 when Clary was driving west on a rural county road. A court document says the vehicle rolled after he over-corrected when it ran off the roadway. Authorities say his wife, 24-year-old Ashley Clary, was ejected and fatally injured.
