Plymouth County To Sell Residential Care Facility
(Le Mars) — On Tuesday, the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will auction the Residential Care Facility located on the east edge of Le Mars at 1240 Lincoln Street Northeast. The actual auction will occur at the Courthouse Annex Building at approximately 11:00 a.m. with Brock Auction Company of Le Mars serving as the auctioneer. Don Kass is the chairman of the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors. He says Pride Group, the current operator of the Residential Care Facility approached the County Board of Supervisors with the idea to sell the building and facilities. Kass says the reason for the sale is because Pride Group wishes to make a transition from an institutional complex to more of a home assisted living facility.
Kass says several potential buyers of the building have approached the county board of supervisors indicating interest in buying the facility.
(photo contributed.)
The county supervisor chairman says following the sale of the facility, Pride Group will have up to a year to assist with the relocation of its residents.
Kass says he is hopeful the buyer will convert the property into something of a better community service and value to the county.
The complex was constructed during the early 1950’s and is a 43-bed facility.
Governor Wants To Educate Republicans On School Plan
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s ready to educate fellow Republicans expressing reluctance about one of her plans to expand charter schools and give parents state money for private school expenses. The plan has cleared the Iowa Senate with the minimum number of Republican votes
required — but three Republicans voted against it. House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says the House moves at a different pace and there are differences of opinion among House Republicans on what parental choice should look like. Reynolds says shifting more state money to private schools is the right thing to do — especially after the impact that the pandemic has
had on students in the past year.
One Dead After Car Goes Through Ice On Mississippi
(Moline, IL) — One Davenport man died and another is in critical condition after their car plunged through the ice and sank in the Mississippi River early Sunday. Construction workers in Moline, Illinois, spotted tire tracks in the new snow and saw that barricades in a parking lot along the river were gone. On closer inspection, they saw a hole in the ice and found a man lying
nearby. The 21-year-old was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The car was under about eight feet of water and rescue teams were able to pull it out — and found the body of a 32-year-old man inside. The names of the two men were not released. Moline police say alcohol was likely a factor in the
accident.
University Presidents Defend Use Of Tenure
(Ames, IA) — The presidents of the three state-supported universities are defending the use of tenure at their institutions. Republicans in the legislature are considering bills that would get rid of the tenure system at the universities in Ames, Iowa City, and Cedar Falls. Iowa State University president Wendy Wintersteen says if Iowa becomes the first state to ban
tenure, it would hurt I-S-U’s ability to attract talented professors.
University of Northern Iowa president Mark Nook says tenure isn’t given, it’s earned. He says a faculty member has to spend five to seven years proving that they are able to educate students, proving that they have the research credentials to make a difference in their discipline. One G-O-P lawmaker
suggests professors who’ve treated conservative students badly have not been fired because tenure has given them “Teflon coating.”
Wendy Wintersteen – ISU Mark Nook – UNI
Grassley Joines Other Senators In Pro-Life Message
(Washington, DC) — Senator Chuck Grassley is joining fellow Republican Senator Steve Daines and 46 other pro-life senators in sending a message to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer pledging that they will vote to block any bill that would undermine the Hyde Amendment or any other pro-life
protections. Grassley says they are “united in our resolve to guard against any changes to federal law that would unsettle nearly half a century of bipartisan consensus against taxpayer funding for abortion on demand, or otherwise threaten the lives of unborn children.”
