Home News Tuesday Afternoon News, February 23rd

Tuesday Afternoon News, February 23rd

Le Mars Community FFA To Host Sub-District Contest During FFA Week

(Le Mars) — “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds, achievement won by the present and past generations of agriculturalists, in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.” That is the opening paragraph of the FFA Creed, and this week is recognized as FFA Week, and to help celebrate, eleven different FFA chapters from northwest Iowa will gather at the Le Mars Community High School this afternoon to compete in the sub-district FFA speaking contests. Members will be wearing their official FFA uniform consisting of the blue cordoroy jackets as they participate in various competitions including Parlimentary Procedure, Creed speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Ag Radio Broadcasting, Ag Sales, and even Job Interviews, plus several other categories. Danielle James serves as the Agriculture instructor and FFA advisor for the Le Mars Community High School. She tells of the importance of today’s speaking contests.

James says the Le Mars FFA chapter has many activities planned for this FFA week.

National FFA Week will continue through Saturday, and it always falls on the week closest to George Washington’s birthday.

 

 

 

Bill In Senate Prevents Defunding Of Police

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Senate has passed the first review of a bill that would withhold state funding from cities or counties that cut budgets for local police and law enforcement. Republican Senator Chris Cournoyer, a Republican of Le Claire, backs the bill. He says there’s a lot of concerns here with some of the movements across the nation with defunding police. Robert Palmer of the Iowa League of Cities says the bill is an unnecessary intrusion into local decision making. And Palmer says it may prevent towns from entering into less expensive regional agreements for police or sheriff’s department protection. No group representing Iowa law enforcement is registered in favor of the bill. A lobbyist for the Iowa Police Chiefs Association says the group has concerns there may be unintended consequences if the bill becomes law.

 

 

 

Resdistricting Plan Still Unclear

(Des Moines, IA) — Things are still up in the air when it comes to redrawing the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries based on the new Census data. The Census Bureau population data will be delivered weeks after the September 1st date when the Iowa Constitution says the new maps for Iowa House and Senate districts are to be approved by the legislature. The Legislative Services Agency oversees the process and attorney Ed Cook says they still don’t have any idea how legislative redistricting is going to be conducted. Cook says the Iowa Supreme Court will be responsible for the process after the September 1st deadline.

 

 

 

Meat Processors Win State Help For Expansions

(Camanche, IA) — Local meat processors in eastern Iowa have won state incentives to help them expand. Naeve (Nave) family beef in Camanche is planning to build a state-of-the-art processing and packing facility this spring, and create a total of 49 new jobs. The Edgewood Locker in Edgewood plans to build a new facility to help quadruple their volume of the wholesale business and increase their production of things like jerky and sausage. They plan to create 14 new jobs. The two facilities are investing a total of nearly 19 million dollars in the expansions. They won state aid through the High Quality Jobs Program that includes things like loans, forgivable loans, tax credits. exemptions and refunds.

 

 

 

High School Events Returning To Drake Relays

(Des Moines, IA) — Drake University announced the high school division will return for this year’s Drake Relays. The high school events were canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the high school competitions will be held on April 22nd at Drake Stadium. Relays director Franklin Johnson says they are working with the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, as well as public health and other officials, to define appropriate COVID-19 protocols. The high school events will have modifications with all running events as finals, except for the 4×100 meter relay. All high school field events will have preliminaries and finals.