Plymouth County Now Under Burn Ban
(Le Mars) — Due to the extreme dry conditions, along with some recent grass and field fires, the fire chiefs from each of fire departments within Plymouth County have requested the State Fire Marshal to issue a burning ban for Plymouth County. The State Fire Marshal has determined that conditions in Plymouth County are such that open burning constitutes a danger to life or property. It is ordered that no person shall engage in open burning in Plymouth County effective today, Tuesday, September 29th beginning at 12:00 noon. Any violation to the burn ban order will be considered as a simple misdemeanor. A couple of weeks ago, Sioux County requested to be placed in a burn ban.
County Supervisors To Hold Meeting Today
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will hold their weekly meeting today at the County Courthouse Boardroom, begining at 9:30 a.m. The county governing board is expected to approve the certification of FY19-20 Ethanol Urban Renewal Debt. The supervisors will discuss selling some county owned property. County Engineer Tom Rohe will appear before the supervisors with various construction permits. Rohe will also update the supervisors on the construction projects. The county board of supervisors will enter closed session to discuss pending litigation.
Gehlen Catholic To Hold “Jay-Walk-A-Thon” Fundraiser
(Le Mars) — Last week, Gehlen Catholic School kicked off a new K-12 student-driven fundraiser called Jaywalk-a-thon: Fueled by Faith. Paced by Prayer. Jaywalk-a-thon will be an upbeat walk-a-thon based on prayer and special intentions of students and their friends and family.
The event will be held at the Gehlen Catholic practice track on Friday, October 16th. The track will have students walking from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Each grade will walk at the track for a half hour during the school day. Walking will include silence and reflection for special intentions plus fun music.
Amy Jungers, Gehlen’s Development Director says, “The two student-driven fundraisers we normally have every fall were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. We had the opportunity to get creative and heard other schools have had great success with walk-a-thon fundraisers, so we thought it would be a great chance to try it ourselves!”
Incorporating faith will be a major part of the day. Each student will get a cross to write a prayer intention on and then decorate. All the crosses will outline the track on the day of the walk to remind students what they should be praying for. Students have also been working on collecting prayer intentions from family, friends and the community. The intentions collected will be remembered in a special way on Jaywalk-a-thon day.
Jungers says, “Adding a faith element to the walk was an idea our 6th grade teacher Mrs. Meredith Clymer brought to our attention. Once she shared that, we deemed the tagline “Fueled by Faith. Paced by Prayer.” Allowing our students to live out their faith through a fundraiser with fitness seemed like a great combination!”
Each student has been encouraged to raise $75 and the entire school has a goal of $30,000. These funds will go toward art & teaching supplies, technology, field trips, PE equipment and more.
Jungers explains, “Watching our entire school come together for this one fundraiser has been awesome! We hope Jaywalk-a-thon will be a powerful event for all students and staff.”
Students are encouraged to turn in cash/check donations every Tuesday between now and Oct. 16. Donors also have the chance to donate online at donate.onecause.com/jaywalkathon. When donating online, donors can write in the name of the student(s) they’d like to sponsor so the student(s) can receive credit for online donations.
If interested in donating, please contact the Gehlen Catholic Development Office at 712-546-4181 or donate online at donate.onecause.com/jaywalkathon.
Le Mars Community Board Of Education Cancels Special Meeting
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Special School Board meeting that was originally scheduled for noon today, has now been cancelled. School board members will next meet during its regular meeting scheduled for October 12th.
Farmers Making Progress On Harvest
(Le Mars) — Harvest is now in full gear, and yields have been showing a wide range with both soybeans and with corn. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Crops Specialist for Northwest Iowa is Joel DeJong. He says many of the soybean fields in Plymouth County have already been harvested.
The weather forecast is calling for the possibility of frost later this week, but DeJong believes the vast majority of our crops have matured to the point where a frost won’t hurt the yields, and in fact may help the harvest pace.
DeJong says this year’s soybean harvest has produced a wide range of yield potential.
The Iowa State University crops specialist says he is concerned about this year’s corn standability.
DeJong reminds everyone about farm safety, as for all motorists to be aware of slower moving, large farm equipment on the roadways.
Harvest Moves Ahead With Good Weather
(Undated) — Iowa farmers had nearly seven days suitable for fieldwork last week and made the most of it. The U.S.D.A. reports says 12 percent of the corn has been harvested — up from four percent — and almost three weeks ahead of last year and nine days ahead of the five-year average. The soybean harvest was at 30 percent complete — up from seven percent last week. The bean harvest is 19 days ahead of last year and 12 days ahead of average. It is the largest percentage of soybeans and corn harvested by September 27th since 2012 when 48 percent of the corn and 41 percent of soybeans been harvested. Farmers in the northwest and west-central Iowa continue to lead the way with almost half of their soybean acreage harvested.
Logan’s Law Leads To More People Signing Up To Be Organ Donors
(Des Moines, IA) — Almost three-thousand people have signed up as organ, eye, and tissue donors in the year since it has been allowed when getting a hunting, fishing, or fur harvester license through the D-N-R. The change was made in what’s called “Logan’s Law.” It’s named for Logan Luft of Charles City, who died in 2017 at the age of 15. He was an organ donor, and his family pushed for the law after his death as a way to honor him. The law passed the Iowa legislature in the spring of 2019 and took effect that September. Nationwide, there are about 112-thousand people on transplant waiting lists, including about 600 in Iowa.
Former Governor To Hit Campaign Trail After Returning From China
(Des Moines, IA) — Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad returns to Iowa on October 5th after resigning as U-S Ambassador to China. Branstad’s oldest son, Eric — a senior advisor for President Donald Trump’s Iowa campaign — says the former Iowa governor will immediately hit the campaign trail. Branstad says his dad will doing everything to support local Republican legislative candidates, congressional candidates, Senator Joni Ernst, and the president. Branstad says his father will also campaign in other states for a full 28 days before the election. The former governor is 73 years old. He’ll turn 74 after the election, on November 17th.
