Smidt Proposes Additional Language To City Ordinance Dealing With Construction Dumpsters Parked On City Streets
(Le Mars) — Earlier this week, the Le Mars city council was informed about the situation involving construction dumpsters, recreational vehicles, and cargo trailers, and other items that have been left parked on city streets.
City Code Enforcement Officer, Greg Smidt told the city council that he has sent a text message to more than 50 area contractors alerting them of the problem. Smidt says building construction contractors and sanitary disposal contractors were notified to move the dumpsters, and in the future, those
large dumpsters would need to be placed on the resident’s or business’s driveway or lawn.
Smidt says the Public Safety committee decided to add specific language to the city code. Smidt says there is already an ordinance that deals with the issue, but the language is vague.
Smidt informed the city council that he has specifically added language to include construction dumpsters, and other items.
The city code enforcement officer then read to the city council the contents of the text message that was sent to several contractors alerting them of the pending proposed ordinance changes.
The city council has not taken any action on the proposed ordinance as of yet, but the issue is likely to appear on the city council’s agenda sometime in the future.
All Six Members of Iowa’s Delegation Vote to Certify Electoral College Results
(Washington, DC) — Iowa’s congressional delegation was unanimous in its rejection of attempts to delay confirmation of Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. Democratic Representative Cindy Axne of West Des Moines and Republicans Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa and Ashley Hinson of Marion announced in advance that they would accept the Electoral College results. Republican Randy Feenstra of Hull said in a statement that he was following the Constitution by ensuring the Electoral College votes were confirmed.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said election disputes are to be settled in the courts and noted none of the 78 lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign changed any state’s election results. Senator Joni Ernst said objecting to the count will not change the outcome and the “reprehensible violence” in the U-S Capitol won’t change it, either.
Former Iowa Congressman Nussle Leaving GOP After US Capitol Violence
(Des Moines, IA) — Former Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle says he’s leaving the Republican Party in response to Trump supporters storming the U-S Capitol Wednesday. Nussle said on Twitter, “tonight as I am outraged and devastated by the actions of too many elected Republicans (some I know and served with)
and supporters. Today a final line was crossed that I will not excuse. The GOP is NO more and left me and others behind.” He was the Iowa Republican candidate for governor in 2006 and represented Iowa’s Second and First Districts in the U-S House from 1991 through 2007.
First-Time and Continuing Unemployment Claims Rise Again in Iowa
(Des Moines, IA) — Iowa Workforce Development is reporting another uptick in first-time and continuing unemployment claims. The eight-thousand-236 initial claims filed between December 27th and January 2nd is an increase of nearly 11-hundred from the previous week. I-W-D says continuing weekly claims rose by five-thousand-878 to 43-thousand 901 last week. November through February are normally the months with the highest number of jobless claims.
More than 68 percent of laid-off workers in Iowa said their claims were not related to COVID-19.
Iowa Lottery Offering New Transparent Scratch Ticket
(Clive, IA) — The Iowa Lottery is introducing a new scratch ticket that spokesperson Mary Neubauer says is unlike anything they’ve done before.
Neubauer says “it’s a scratch ticket — but it is transparent, it’s see-through, you can see through the ticket.” The ticket is part of what is called the Cash game, and Neubauer says it will probably be more known for the material it’s on. She says it’s just a different printing technique and it’s a different ticket substance that these tickets are printed on. Neubauer says
the actual section on the ticket where you play is not see-through. Scratch tickets continue to be the top seller for the Iowa Lottery as sales of lotto tickets dropped during the pandemic.
