Knights of Columbus To Hold Annual Phone-A-Thon For Life Skills
(Le Mars) — The Knights of Columbus chapters of Plymouth County will again be going to the phones on Wednesday to help raise money for the Life Skills Training Center. This marks the 40th year for the annual K-C Phone-a-thon.
Shelly Thomson is the Marketing and Development Director with Life Skills Training Center and says in the past, Plymouth County residents have been very generous.
Thomson says the Knights of Columbus throughout the county will assist with the fund raising activity.
The Life Skills official talks about the other Plymouth County communities and their efforts assisting with the annual phone-a-thon.
Thomson says the Kingsley K-Cs usually write letters to those living within the Kingsley area asking for donations. Thomson says if you are unable to make a contribution on Wednesday, the day of the phone-a-thon, but wish to donate to Life Skills, donations can be made at area banks.
Another major fund raising event for Life Skills is the annual quilt auction that is normally held during the Plymouth County Fair, but this year, because of the COVID-19 virus, there wasn’t any fair. However, Life Skills was still able to conduct an auction by having it featured on-line. Thomson says the results were positive.
Thomson says this year, six long-time clients of Life Skills will serve as the honorary knights to the phone-a-thon. The Knights of Columbus 40th annual phone-a-thon for Life Skills Training Center is scheduled for this Wednesday, September 2nd.
Des Moines Schools Add 2 Positions Following Town Hall Meetings On Race
(Des Moines, IA) — Two new positions have been created to increase the support for students and employees of color at the Des Moines School District. Peter Le Blanc will be the principal on special assignment and Carrie Romo will serve as a principal intern. Le Blanc and Romo are coming from other positions in the district. The decision to add the positions came in response to a series of town hall meetings on race. Among the problems
discussed – more than 90 percent of district employees are white, while only 37 percent of the students are white.
Some Iowa Counties Feeling Left Out Weeks After Destructive Derecho
(Vinton, IA) — Three weeks after the destructive derecho storm left a trail of damage across Iowa, some locations are feeling left out. Only one Iowa county has been granted individual assistance through FEMA.
Next door to Linn County, where the federal funding is available, Benton County is still reeling from the storm’s aftermath. The federal agency still hasn’t signed off on its assistance. Local officials say the people in rural areas are “really hurting” and the individual assistance could change lives.
Coronavirus Pandemic Costing Polk County Millions
(Des Moines, IA) — During the last fiscal year the Iowa Events Center turned a profit of one-point-seven million dollars for Polk County. This fiscal year, losses could range from seven-to-11 million. That means the county has a lot less money for things like community grants to social services, nonprofits, and food pantries. No concerts at the Wells Fargo Arena, no conventions at Hy-Vee Hall, and no customers spending a few nights
at the Hilton Hotel are already hitting the county’s bottom line. Polk County is trying to save six-to-eight million by offering early retirement to about 200 employees.
2 People Die In Motorcycle Wreck While Trying To Elude Deputies
(Waukee, IA) — The Iowa State Patrol says two people were killed in a motorcycle accident Saturday evening as they tried to outrun a Dallas County deputy. Thomas Kennedy and Rachel Glissman, both 36 years old, lost control on a turn and ran into a ditch shortly after 5:00 p-m. Troopers say neither was wearing a helmet and both bodies were taken to the Iowa Medical Examiners Office. The deputy had terminated the chase, but the motorcycle carrying the Waukee couple continued at a high rate of speed before crashing.
Democrats Seek To Overturn Judges Ruling On Absentee Ballots
(Des Moines) — After two judges ruled tens of thousands of absentee ballot request forms from Woodbury and Linn Counties are void, the Iowa Democratic Party is filing a lawsuit seeking to overturn those rulings. Last week, the REPUBLICAN Party and the Trump campaign successfully argued in court that the
forms violated a state order because voter I-D numbers were included — and the secretary of state had ordered all forms to be BLANK. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Mark Smith spoke at an online news conference Monday morning.
Kay Pence is vice president of the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans which represents many retired trade union members. She says the Republicans’ lawsuit seeks to reduce the number of Iowans who vote by mail.
The Democratic committees that support candidates for the U.S. House and Senate are part of the lawsuit as well. Marc Elias (uh-LY-uss) is the lead attorney for Democrats on this case.
The lawsuit challenges the Iowa Secretary of State’s authority to order county auditors to send blank absentee ballot request forms to voters.
Auditors in Johnson, Linn and Woodbury County sent forms that included voter I-D numbers. The G-O-P lawsuit challenging Johnson County’s mailing will be heard next week. Republicans argue the three county auditors endangered election security by including voter I-D numbers on their mailings.
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