Feed Truck Rolls Over On Highway 60
(Le Mars) — A semi truck and trailer filled with ground corn feed rolled over on its side at the intersection of Highway 60 and county road C-12, or about seven miles northeast of Le Mars. The accident happened at about 1:40 p.m. Monday afternoon. Apparently, the Freightliner truck, owned by Ag Partners of Sheldon was heading southbound on Highway 60 when he wanted to make a right-hand turn heading westbound on county road C-12. Authorities at the scene believe the strong northwest winds of more than 40 mph may have contributed to the roll-over accident. The semi truck and trailer was hauling about 12 tons of ground corn. A portion of the feed had spilled out of the
trailer on to the county road C-12. Both the Oyens Fire Department and the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department, along with the Le Mars Ambulance Services and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of the accident.
Officials say the driver of the semi truck suffered some injuries in the mishap and was transported to Floyd Valley Healthcare with what is described as major, but non-life threatening injuries. The name of the driver has not been released as of yet. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accident scene.
County Supervisors To Hear Budget Requests
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will convene this morning for their weekly meeting. The supervisors have begun the process of forming the next fiscal year budget. As such, they will hear from Shari Kastein with Family Crisis Centers as she presents a funding request for the fiscal year budget 2021-2022. Likewise, Loren Schnepf, the president of the Plymouth County Fair Board will visit with the county governing board to make a formal request on behalf of the Plymouth County Fair. The county supervisors will hear from Attorney Justin Vondrak as he seeks approval for a resolution for
an extension to file Schenzel addition. The county board will also hear from Weed Commissioner, Matt Loutsch as he presents a budget request. County Engineer, Tom Rohe will appear before the county board to discuss construction projects and equipment needs. The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will enter into closed session to discuss pending litigation.
Van Otterloo and TeBrink To Be Given Oath For New Jobs
(Le Mars) — Newly elected county supervisor, Mike Van Otterloo will take the oath of office as a county supervisor, meanwhile, Deputy Sheriff, Jeff TeBrink will be sworn into office as the new county sheriff. Both will officially assume their new duties and responsibilities on January 1st. Judge Jeff Neary will perform the swearing of oath ceremonies at the county courthouse this morning.
Plymouth County Farm Bureau Collects Donations
(Le Mars) — During the last few weeks the Plymouth County Farm Bureau along with Tyler Meekma with Farm Bureau Financial Services collected food, toys, and children’s clothing as part of a holiday drive. On Monday, Farm Bureau representatives gathered the donations and delivered them to Mid-Sioux
Opportunity in Remsen that will be distributed to deserving families. Tyler Meekma says this was the first year for the collection drive. He says 2020 has been a challenging year for many community people.
Meekma says the Farm Bureau were able to collect approximately $1,500 dollars worth of various items and cash donations. Meekma says his office and the Farm Bureau Federation will match the dollar value of the donations, making
the total contribution around $4,500. Ben Johnson serves as the president of the Plymouth County Farm Bureau says several Farm Bureau members contributed to the cause.
Both Meekma and Johnson calls the initial collection drive a success, and both are anxious to conduct the collection donation drive again next year.
The Farm Bureau insurance agent tells of some of the specific items that were donated this year for the drive.
Johnson says there was wide support from the county farm bureau board of directors of the cause.
Johnson also serves on the board of directors with the Plymouth County Pork Producers Association. The Iowa Pork Producers Association has been involved with pork donations, including a “ham challenge” in which a producer will donate a ham, then challenge another pork producer to donate a ham. Johnson says the local county farm commodity organization has recently made donations of pork products to local entities.
$600 On The Way; Congress Approves $900B Pandemic Relief Package
(Washington, DC) — On a vote Monday night Congress approved a 900- billion-dollar pandemic relief package. The bipartisan bill should finally bring badly-needed cash to businesses and individuals, along with the resources needed to vaccinate the nation from COVID-19. Iowa Congresswoman
Abby Finkenauer says Iowans still need help as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic. She says she has been pushing both the House and Senate to work together on a bipartisan agreement since the summer. The Iowa Democrat says the legislation passed Monday doesn’t come close to provide the help people
need – but she supported it because some form of help had to be passed.
Hinson Wants To Restore Faith In Electoral System
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson says she hasn’t seen the details of Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra’s letter calling for an investigation into the election results. Hinson, a Republican from Cedar Rapids, says her number one priority is the faith in the electoral system and
if we need to be looking at changes. Hinson says, ” I think there were some irregularities ultimately — and I said this before — people’s faith in the electoral system, we need to find a way to restore that.” Feenstra is a fellow Republican who says he signed a letter to House Speaker and Democrat Nancy Pelosi requesting the probe be launched. Hinson will be sworn in as the
First District Congresswoman in January.
Cedar Rapids Agency Sees Big Increase In Homelessness
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — Nine months into the pandemic and many Iowa families are still being pushed into homelessness. Waypoint Services, a Cedar Rapids-based provider, is seeing the need grow sharply among Iowans who never experienced homelessness before. Housing services director J’nae (juh-NAY)
Peterman says in the last month-and-a-half time they have served the number of people that they typically serve in a full year. Peterman says that’s typically around three-thousand people in less than two months. Some families were able to avoid homelessness by continuing to live in buildings that were
damaged by the derecho in August, but winter weather is forcing some of them out. People facing homelessness or eviction anywhere in Iowa can call Waypoint’s hotline at 1-833-739-0065 or get free legal advice from Iowa Legal Aid at iowalegalaid.org.
Iowa Company Sees Big Increase In Disinfection Services
(Des Moines) –– A spokesperson for an Iowa-based emergency cleaning and restoration company says it has experienced a drastic increase in its disinfection services since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. SERVPRO’s Michele Presley says
disinfection services were not on their radar before the outbreak — and since then they have doubled their workforce — and it has by far taken over as the number one service. She says worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and the C-D-C as the outbreak happened in March to ensure they could properly respond. Presley suggests that businesses and customers come up with a contingency plan by thinking ahead of time about what happens if an infected person was in your building and how much square footage needs to be treated. She says this will help them to know how much the service will cost.
