School Registration To Be Conducted On-line
(Le Mars) — Registration begins today and will continue through August 7th for students planning to attend the Le Mars Community School District this fall. School superintendent, Dr. Steven Webner says this year’s registration process has gone completely on-line.
Webner says the school was recently notified of some potential problems that may prop up with the registration process.
For those people that either encounter problems with the on-line
registration, or don’t have access to the internet, Webner says two days have been set aside when school staff will assist with the registration process.
Webner encourages people to register their children on-line if at all possible.
Webner says COVID-19 pandemic is the reason for the on-line registration, but he believes it will be a permanent means of student registration for future years.
The school superintendent requests that people that need assistance with on-line registration that they wear a face covering or mask.
School Officials To Decide Tuesday Evening How School Should Start
(Le Mars) — School officials are scheduled to convene Tuesday evening to further discuss the options available for “Return to Learn” as school districts prepare for the start of the new school year. School was dismissed last March due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and students and teachers are anxious for the start of a new school year, although they want to make certain it will be safe for all concern. Le Mars Community, like other school districts across the state, have looked at three different options.
School superintendent Dr. Steven Webner says districts are still waiting for additional instructions from the state.
Webner talks about the decision facing the board of education, but says it may only be tentative due to constant changes from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Education Department.
Webner was asked if there are several students choosing to be “home schooled” instead of attending classes at Le Mars Community.
Fair Auctions To Be Conducted On-Line
(Le Mars) — Even though there isn’t going to be a Plymouth County Fair this year, there still will be the auctions associated with the fair. The traditional three auctions include the quilt auction that benefits Life Skills Training Center, the wood carving, belt buckle and toy truck auction with proceeds helping the Plymouth County Fair, and the 4-H and FFA animal
auction with premiums going to help the 4-H and FFA exhibitors. Bruce Brock with Brock Auction Company of Le Mars, has in the past served as one of the auctioneers for all three auctions. The Brock Auction Company has stepped up to offer assistance so that each of the auctions will take place, although those auctions will be conducted on-line instead of having a live auction.
Brock explains the auctions will take place on-line.
Austin Popkin, an associate with Brock Auction, explains how to submit bids online for the woodcarving auction as well as the Life Skills Quilt Auction.
Brock tells of some of the wood carvings by Blair Smith and Scott Tobin from the Westfield and Akron area that are already featured on the Brock Auction website.
Another wood carving is a bench that will have special features.
The commemorative belt buckles feature The Browns musical family as this would have marked the 20th year the Browns have performed at the Plymouth County Fair.
This year’s toy truck honors the employees of Titan Machinery.
We will feature additional comments from Bruce Brock regarding the fair auctions in future news updates.
Governor’s Office Lifts Cap On Number Of COVID-19 Tests Done At Dubuque Clinic
(Dubuque, IA) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ office says a Dubuque clinic has made the needed adjustments and a cap on the number of COVID-19 tests done there has been lifted. Epic Health and Wellness had been limited to performing 100 tests-a-day. State officials had said it couldn’t handle the volume of tests it was administering and that was leading to mistakes. The
cap is gone, but testing at the facility is only being done now by
appointments.
Motorcycle Rider Killed In Allamakee County Accident
(Allamakee County, IA) — Authorities in Allamakee County say a motorcycle rider from Minnesota died in a weekend traffic accident. Investigators say Gary Thomforde of Redwing lost control of his bike and was thrown off just north of Harper’s Ferry in northeastern Iowa. Thomforde was airlifted to a
hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He died after arriving.
Iowa Community Becomes Second In Nation With 100% Census Response
(Balltown, IA) — The mayor of Balltown, Iowa was determined she could get all of her constituents to fill out the 2020 U-S Census form. She succeeded.
All 73 residents got the job done and Balltown became just the second community in the country with a 100-percent response to the census. Balltown is 17 miles northwest of Dubuque. Mayor Sherri Sigwarth says she sent a message to about 20 friends on Facebook, then texted those who didn’t respond. For anybody older and not using Facebook she called – and even
showed up at some homes to help people fill out the forms. Census takers will begin showing up at locations failing to report August 11th – but not in Balltown.
