Home News Tuesday News, November 10th

Tuesday News, November 10th

Firefighters Respond To Vehicle Fire

(Le Mars) — Firefighters from Le Mars were called to a vehicle fire last evening that occurred at the 3300 block of 140th Street. The call happened at around 10:51 p.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they saw a Jeep Wrangler fully engulfed in flames. The Jeep had driven head first into a steep embankment leading to a creek. The Jeep was listed as a total loss. Fire did
burn the immediate area surrounding the Jeep. There were no injuries associated with the vehicle fire accident.

(photo contributed.)

 

 

 

Kommes And Catton To Lead Le Mars School Board 

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education elected Scott Kommes as its president, and Angela Catton as the vice president. Once again, Lisa Boehm was appointed as the school board secretary, and Kim Clarey will serve as the treasurer for the school district. The school board retained the
services of Ahlers and Cooney law firm for any legal concerns. This is the second year in a row that Kommes and Catton have been elected as the school board president and vice president.

During last evening’s school board meeting, representatives from Williams and Company accounting firm gave their report of the financial condition of the school.
Graham Forbes informed the school board the school district is in good financial shape. Forbes indicated the school district was $1.4 million under budget, and the school district is capable of conducting business for a period of 97 days for expenditures. Also during last evening’s school board meeting, a group of 8th grade students addressed the school board asking for their consideration to approve a new student organization called “Bulldogs for Better” with the goal of making Le Mars Community school a better place.
The school board were given a demonstration of the computer software “See-saw” as used in the elementary grades as a tool assisting teachers.

 

 

 

County Board Of Supervisors To Canvass Election Results

(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will convene for its weekly meeting at the County Courthouse Boardroom this morning at 9:30 a.m.
Supervisors will canvass the results of last week’s election and certify the votes. The county supervisors will also vote on a resolution that would allow Emmet County to join the Sioux Rivers Mental Health District. County engineer Tom Rohe is also scheduled to appear before the county governing board to
discuss various road construction projects. Surveyor, Al Fagen will appear before the county supervisors to seek approval of the BIX Addition in Portland township, and approval of the Fisher 1st Addition in Stanton Township. The county board is scheduled to go into closed session to discuss the sale of real estate.

 

 

 

Le Mars Kiwanis And Josh’s Ride Provide Another Bicycle To Special Needs Child

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Kiwanis organization, along with Josh’s Ride, have again made it possible for a local child with special needs to be able to enjoy riding a specialty equipped bicycle. Josh’s Ride, which is a Le Mars-based non-profit organization that provides bicycles to children with special
needs. With the money the Kiwanis Club of Le Mars donated to Josh’s Ride, it enabled this non-profit organization to order a special adaptive bike for 5 year old Josie!


Josie had never ridden a bike before and she was excited that she just wanted to keep going!
This is the 60th bike that Josh’s Ride has gifted to a special needs child in Plymouth County in 5 years.
The adaptive bikes give the children normalcy, freedom and helps build up their muscles.
Kiwanis Club Members Barb Hames and Mayor Dick Kirchoff were present on Saturday for the event.


The Kiwanis motto is “Serving the Children of the World” and this fits right in with the Kiwanis motto!

(photos contributed.)

 

 

 

Gehlen Catholic Cancels Veterans Day Program

(Le Mars) — Veterans Day is Wednesday, and normally Gehlen Catholic school would feature a presentation. The much anticipated and enjoyable Veterans Day Program at Gehlen Catholic has been cancelled this year, due to the COVID-19
virus, but that won’t stop Gehlen Catholic students and staff from recognizing Veterans and their sacrifices to the United States of America.

Alissa Schipper, Director of Campus Ministry, says, “Instead of inviting people in our school to participate in the celebration, we are sending the celebration out into our Le Mars community and overseas.”

Schipper says, “Some of the things our students have been doing include letter writing, art projects and making videos. These will be used to reach out to the Veterans in our community and those currently in active duty. We want them to know we are thinking of and praying for them.”

It remains important for the student body of Gehlen Catholic to thank all Veterans for their service and to give honor and respect to them.

“In the past, the Veterans Day celebration included all grade levels in the school and that continues to be our goal for our celebrations and outreach this year,” according to Schipper.

 

 

 

Remsen St. Mary’s To Hold Veterans Day Program On Friday

(Remsen) — Remsen St. Mary’s will hold a Veterans Day program scheduled for Friday, November 13th. The program will be held at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church and will begin at 8:15 a.m.

 

 

 

Fair Board Annual Meeting Scheduled For Thursday

(Le Mars) — The annual meeting of the Plymouth County 4-H and Agriculture Society, or better known as the Plymouth County Fair, will be held Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Lower Level of the Le Mars Convention Center.
Membership to the Plymouth County 4-H and Agricultural Society is open to any county resident that pays a one-time $5.00 fee. The membership request must be communicated to Loren Schnepf, Fairboard president, by calling (712) 786-
2904 by 4:30 p.m. on the day of the election to vote that evening. Board members who terms will expire and may seek re-election include: John Ahlers, Candice Nash-Farrer, Gail Schoenrock, Chad Peters, Alise Allen, Brad Harvey,
Matt Reuter, Bob Kabisch, and Loren Schnepf.

 

 

Casey’s General Stores Purchases Bucky’s Convenience Stores

(Ankeny) — The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain has purchased another chain with stores in several states.
Casey’s announced the agreement Monday to acquire Buchanan Energy — the owner of Bucky’s Convenience Stores — in an all-cash transaction for 580 million dollars. Bucky’s Convenience Stores were founded as a family-owned and operated business in 1980. It has stores mainly in Illinois and Nebraska
— with others Missouri, Texas, and one in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Casey’s acquisition will include 94 retail stores and 79 dealer locations, and multiple parcels of real estate for future new store construction. The purchase will increase Casey’s store count to more than 23-hundred. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of this year.

 

 

 

Iowa DNR Investigates Discharge From Fertilizer Facility

CLARION— DNR staff were rechecking a discharge from a fertilizer plant into a drainage ditch about six miles southeast of Clarion, Monday afternoon.

On Friday, DNR staff responded to a complaint about air pollution at the NuOrganics facility when they found a discharge that had overflowed from a large storage tank. The ammonia-laden water flowed into a road ditch, through an underground tile line and into a drainage ditch. DNR staff found contaminated water in the ditch for two to three miles downstream.

DNR staff collected water samples for laboratory analysis. They also found live fish in the ditch below the contaminated water. Low stream levels helped contain contaminated water in pools, preventing it from moving downstream into the Iowa River.

A contractor hired by NuOrganics dammed the drainage ditch and recovered approximately 10,000 gallons of contaminated water. The plant has shut down production as they work to discover the cause of the discharge.

DNR will continue to monitor the cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action.

 

 

 

Coronavirus Outbreaks Reported At Prisons In Anamosa, Clarinda and Rockwell City.

(Des Moines, IA). — Department of Corrections officials are reporting multiple coronavirus outbreaks at three state prisons. Authorities say a 70-year-old inmate, who was in declining health, had been transferred from the Anamosa prison to a hospital in Iowa City, where he died Sunday. Mass testing of inmates was conducted at the Anamosa prison last week and the
agency’s website shows 490 inmates at the Anamosa prison, along with 51 staff, currently have the virus. At the state prison in Clarinda, 377 inmates and 13 staff members have COVID-19. There’s also an outbreak at the state prison in Rockwell City, where 254 inmates and four staff members have the
virus. So far this year, five inmates in Iowa prisons have died of COVID- related illnesses.

 

 

 

Jasper County Vote Results Corrected After Multiple Recounts

(Newton, IA). — The results from one small precinct in Iowa’s Second Congressional District have been checked and rechecked after a clerical error in the Jasper County Auditor’s office gave one candidate too many votes. A group of volunteers hand-counted a batch of ballots cast on Election Day at a
precinct in Mingo and came up with a tally that matched the results of Saturday’s machine recount. On the seventh round of counting the 516 ballots Monday, the group added one extra vote for Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. They determined one voter had colored outside the lines on their ballot — so the vote had not been counted by the machine. Secretary of State
Paul Pate says he ordered yesterday’s audit to remove any doubt about the results.

 

 

 

Iowa Insurance Division: More Than 200K Damage Claims Filed From Derecho

(Des Moines, IA) — Officials at the Iowa Insurance Division say more than one-point-six-billion dollars has been paid to policyholders filing claims from the derecho that hit the state last August. About 160-thousand of the 200-thousand claims filed have been paid. Insurance companies are reportedly
holding another billion dollars in reserves to cover the remaining claims.
Homeowners received more than 876-million dollars in payments. The state warns the approach of winter could begin delaying the already-slow process.