Fire Departments Respond To Dairy Farm Fire
(Maurice) — Fire broke out at a dairy farm, east of Maurice Saturday afternoon, at about 3:00 p.m. resulting in the death of several young bucket calves. Maurice, Orange City, and Alton fire departments responded to the blaze that happened at the Maassen Dairy Farm located on Hickory Avenue about a mile east of Maurice. Maurice Fire Chief Jeff Vanderweide explains what had occurred.
Apparently, sparks from when the employees were cutting the wire panels had ignited straw and corn stalks that were used as bedding for the small calves.
Vanderweide says he did not have an actual count of the number of bucket calves that had died as a result of the blaze, but one fire official put the estimate at around 30 calves.
No large milking cows were lost during Saturday’s blaze, and the milking parlor was spared during that fire. In addition to the
small calves that perished in the fire, several plastic individual huts used to house the small calves were destroyed, and a portion of a large barn was also destroyed by the fire. Fire officials were on the scene for more than an hour. While attending the dairy farm fire, Maurice firefighters were also
called for a grass fire. Because Maurice fire department was busy with the dairy farm fire, Ireton fire department responded to the grass fire.
Le Mars Community Board Of Education To Meet This Evening
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education will meet this evening, and they will elect officers, as well as appoint a secretary, appoint a treasurer, and select legal counsel. The school board will also designate bank depositories to area banks. Representatives from Williams and Company will present the results of the financial audit that was performed for the
school district. Cirriculm Director Rachel Leavitt will present to the board’s attention the final certified enrollment numbers. The school board will be given a demonstration of the computer program “See-saw” which is used for elementary grade students. Darcy Palsma, Susan Irwin, and Eric Peterson will present the demonstration. In action items, the school board will take
action on the resignation request by Nick Knapp who has resigned his position as a 7th grade football coach. Berth Lundula has resigned her position as an elementary teacher associate, effective immediately. Contracts will be extended to Andrea Medinger as a Mentee, Kristen Fober as a Mentor, Kristie
Foreman with the Food Services, and Brittany Petsh as a Kluckhohn Teacher Associate. The school board will consider approval of the district’s application to the School Budget Review Committee for modified supplemental amount for excess English Language Learner costs for students being served
beyond five years. The school board will consider approval of updates to the 800 and 900 policy series. The board of education will consider approving the high school air conditioning unit as they seek contracts for the replacement of the air conditioning unit.
COVID-19 trend lines in Iowa continue to escalate.
(Des Moines, IA) — More than a thousand COVID-19 patients were being treated in an Iowa hospital Sunday evening, the highest patient count at any time during the pandemic and 38 percent more than were hospitalized at the end of October. A record 92 nursing homes have an active COVID outbreak among
residents and the state website on Sunday evening showed more than 25-hundred nursing home residents had the virus. Over the past two weeks, 40 percent of Jones County residents who’ve taken a COVID test had the virus — the highest positivity rate in the state. A record 81 counties have a positivity rate of
15 percent or above.
Jasper County Ballots Recounted
(Newton, IA) — All ballots cast in Jasper County in this year’s election were recounted this weekend and a hand recount will be done today (Monday) in a precinct in Mingo. The preliminary results — added to vote tallies from the 23 other counties in Iowa’s second congressional district — show Democratic candidate Rita Hart now leading Republican Mariannette Miller-
Meeks by 163 votes. The secretary of state ordered the recount after Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott notified state officials that a clerical error in his office had given Miller-Meeks and other candidates on the ballot too many votes out of the Mingo precinct. The Miller-Meeks campaign has questioned the auditor’s operation and asked Parrott to provide more information about the error.
ISU College Republicans Criticized For Saturday Tweet
(Ames, IA) — Officials at Iowa State University say they are aware of a controversial Tweet posted Saturday by the College Republicans group. Just after Democrat Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the 2020 presidential election the group posted, “Everyone, you must arm up.” The statement from
I-S-U says any suggestion of armed activity by an Iowa State student organization is prohibited by university policy. The College Republicans posted a picture of their page and captioned it “picture of the most oppressed group on campus.”
West Des Moines Police Officer Injured While Making Traffic Stop
(West Des Moines, IA) — West Des Moines Police say an officer was sitting in his patrol car during a traffic stop shortly after midnight Sunday morning when his vehicle was hit from behind. Officer Joe Kaufman suffered serious injuries, but he is expected to survive. Investigators say the driver of the
car that hit Officer Kaufman’s vehicle is also hospitalized with serious injuries. Sixty-one-year-old John Schwartz of Kellogg is expected to survive. Schwartz has not been charged.
