Home News Tuesday Afternoon News, March 9th

Tuesday Afternoon News, March 9th

School Board Selects Sioux City Accounting Firm To Conduct Financial Audits

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Community Board of Education approved the contract with the King, Reinsch, Prosser and Company of Sioux City as the accounting firm assigned to conduct the financial audit of the school district for the
fiscal years for 2021, 2022, and 2023. The firm submitted a bid of $55,500 compared to the other bid submitted by Williams and Company of Le Mars which was for $60,000. School superintendent Dr. Steven Webner says he checked
with other school districts that had used the King, Reinsch, Prosser and Company and said they came highly recommended. The school board wrestled with the idea of going away from Williams and Company, who had performed the school’s financial audits for the past five years, but they agreed it was in
the taxpayer’s best interest to go with the lower bid.

 

 

 

School Board Approves 2021-2022 School Calendar

(Le Mars) — Next year’s school year will begin on Wednesday, August 25th as directed by the Le Mars Community Board of Education after they approved the proposed school calendar as submitted by the school district’s administration. Teacher workshop days will be held the three days prior to the start of the school. Winter break will be from December 23rd through
January 3rd. Spring break is scheduled to go from April 14th through April 18th. May 17th is scheduled as the last day for seniors, with graduation scheduled for May 22nd, and the last day of school is set for May 25th.

 

 

 

Board of Education Informed About The School District Proposed Budget For Upcoming Fiscal Year

(Le Mars) — During Monday evening’s meeting of the local school board, the Le Mars Community Board of Education was presented the proposed estimated school district budget for the next fiscal year. Webner informed the school board that they have to go by estimates.

Webner anticipates a dramatic increase in the school’s expenditures due mainly to the increase of ESSR funds.

Webner informed the school board that he anticipates revenues for all funds to increase for the next fiscal year budget.

School board members Angela Catton and Scott Kommes then asked for clarification with the school’s proposed budget.

School superintendent, Dr. Steve Webner says with the 2.4 percent increase the state legislature has approved, it will mean $7,217 will be allocated per student. Webner says the timeline for the submitting the budget will include publishing the budget on March 29th with the adoption of the school budget set for April 12th, and the submitting of the school’s budget to state officials set for April 15th.

 

 

 

Iowa House Approves Payment Parity For Virtual Mental Health Services

(Des Moines, IA) — Pandemic-era policy for tele-health services would be permanent under legislation passed unanimously in the Iowa House. Last year, Governor Reynolds used her emergency powers to temporarily make insurance reimbursement rates equal for in-person and virtual visits for mental health services. Representative Joel Fry of Osceola said the bill would continue the requirement that rates be equal, whether the appointment is face-to-face or conducted online. Fry said, “over the course of the last year with Covid, we have all learned the importance of tele-health, and its ability to provide
health care to Iowans, regardless of where they live in the state.” He says this kind of reimbursement parity for mental health services is already law in ten states.

 

 

 

Sports Betting in Iowa Tops $100 Million Again in February

(Des Moines, IA) — The money bet on sports in Iowa continues to remain strong as more companies get approved to take wagers. Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Brian Ohorilko says the betting — or handle — kept
pace in February despite the shorter month. Ohorilko said, “we had handle just short of 150-million dollars. We did not quite hit the numbers that we hit in January — be we were very close.” February was the third straight month with more than 100 million dollars. There was 143-point-six million bet on sports in February — with about 87 percent of that coming from online
bets. The law changed on January 1st so you no longer need to go to casinos to sign up to bet on sports online, which Ohorilko says has helped drive the increase in sports betting.

 

 

 

Semi Driver Killed, Iowa DOT Work Hurt in Interstate 80 Crash

(Council Bluffs, IA) — A semi driver is dead and an Iowa D-O-T worker hurt after a fiery crash Monday afternoon on Interstate 80 near Council Bluffs.
The Iowa State Patrol says 51-year-old Daniel L. Owens of Omaha died after his rig crashed into an I-DOT truck that was stopped on the outside lane.
The vehicle was equipped with active warning lights and arrow board directing traffic to the inside lane. The driver of the D-O-T truck, 39-year-old Daniel Huneke of Neola was injured and taken to the hospital. Troopers say the semi caught fire upon impact and the crash shut down the interstate for several hours.

 

 

 

Two Muscatine Police Officers Receive State Award For Saving Lives

(Sioux City, IA) — Two Muscatine police officers are recognized with statewide awards for their work saving lives. Whitni Pena and Jolisa Coleman were honored Monday as the 2019-2020 Officer of the Year and Honorary Officer of the Year by the Iowa Association of Women Police. Pena was honored for rescuing a drowning child at a party last February. Coleman received the
award for stopping a woman from jumping off a bridge.