Akron Man Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested an Akron man for sexual abuse charges. 64-year old Kevin Jacobs was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 31st. Warrants had been issued out of Plymouth County for Jacobs for four counts of sexual abuse in the 2nd degree, which are categorized as a Class B felony and one count of sexual abuse in the 3rd degree, a Class C felony. Following an investigation in which a minor child alleged that Jacobs had touched the child inappropriately, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office requested the arrest warrants. Jacobs was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Plymouth County Jail.
Two Accidents Reported Friday Afternoon
(Le Mars) — Authorities responded to two separate accidents Friday afternoon that happened within minutes of each other. The first accident was reported at about 3:00 p.m. at Central Avenue and 4th Street Southeast. Initial contact by a Dodge pickup truck had occurred with another vehicle at Central Avenue, however the pickup truck continued for nearly another block and stopped only after hitting a street light utility pole, causing the power line to snap, and the utility pole to lean. Upon preliminary investigation, Le Mars Police suspect the accident may have happened due to some sort of medical condition. The driver was taken to Floyd Valley Healthcare by the Le Mars Ambulance. There were no additional injuries associated with the accident. Mid-American Energy responded to the scene to re-set the utility pole and to connect electricity to the street lamp.
The second accident happened at approximately 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of 2nd Avenue southeast and 7th Street southeast. The collision involved three vehicles, but fortunately there were no injuries. The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department was summoned to both accident scenes. The Le Mars Police Department is investigating both accidents.
Le Mars Community And Gehlen Catholic To Hold Proms On Saturday
(Le Mars) — Both the Le Mars Community High School and Gehlen Catholic High school will hold their junior-senior prom on Saturday. At Le Mars Community, students will have the opportunity to eat prior to the start of the promenade. The promenade will be streamed on-line, but only parents will be allowed inside the gymnasium to view the event live and take photographs. Parents are being asked to sit in the east bleachers of the new competition gymnasium. Once students have walked the promenade, they will be allowed to watch their classmates and friends, or they can return to the lobby area.
Aderie Morgan is a junior at Le Mars Community High School and serves on the prom decorating committee. Morgan says this year’s seniors chose a theme representing Las Vegas.
Morgan explains the promenade walk and the various photo stops with Las Vegas themed backgrounds.
The junior class student tells how Las Vegas was selected as this year’s theme.
Here is a timetable for the Le Mars Community High School prom…
At 7:30 p.m. doors will open for registration and “bag check” for after prom clothing. Students will be presented a poker chip tickets which will be used to identify their bag. A “photo stop” will be outside the building, weather permitting, for outside photos.
Then at 7:50 p.m. students are asked to start lining up for the grand entrance.
8:00 will be the start of the promenade with Curt Allen announcing and all spots streamed. Students will enter from the south side of the gym. Le Mars Community school says there will be photo stops available, but masks are being required to be worn at all times. For those students attending the dance, but not the promenade, they can enter at 8:25 p.m. Students will need to be at the dance before 8:45 p.m. and you must have a ticket. Following the promenade, students will return to the “bag check” area to check in your shoes and jackets. Students will then to the lobby area until the dance floor is cleared of streaming equipment. The dance floor and the lobby area will be available for use until 11:30 p.m. Flavored popcorn and bottles of water will be available. Students will have the opportunity to consume pizza and sub sandwiches during the “After Prom” event. Any student that leaves the building after 8:45 p.m. and before the “After Prom” will not be able to re-enter. Administration will determine emergency situations. As per policy, your parents will be contacted if you choose to leave.
At 11:15 p.m. students can begin checking out and go to the locker rooms near Carey gym to change for the “After Prom” event. After changing, students are asked to take their prom attire to your vehicle. Locker rooms will not be available at 11:45 p.m.
Morgan says there are plenty of fun activities scheduled for the “After Prom.”
Students can also participate in Dodgeball, and a hypnotist will also be on hand for additional fun.
Students will gather at 1:15 a.m. in the Little Theater for drawings for prizes.
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(Le Mars) — Gehlen Catholic high school students will enjoy an evening of prom activities that would showcase a person’s imagination. The selected prom theme is “A Night In Oz.” Students will attend Mass at 5:30 p.m. then immediately following will the the annual promenade held inside the Vi Kellen gymnasium. Parents and others are welcomed to take photos of the students during their promenade, however, masks are required to be worn. Once the grand promenade is completed, students will gather at the Willow Creek Golf Club for an evening banquet meal and dance. Following the dance, students will go to Sioux City at the Drop Zone for their “After Prom” activities.
(Gehlen Catholic prom photos contributed.)
Remsen St. Mary’s To Hold 30th Annual Ball
(Remsen) — Remsen St. Mary’s will hold its 30th annual ball on Saturday, April 10th. Kara Harpenau along with her husband, Lee, and Chad and Susan Tentinger serves as the co-chairs for this year’s event. Kara Harpenau says the theme for this year’s ball is “Family of Faith” and due to COVID virus
concerns, the event will be held virtually.
Harpenau says tickets are selling for $125 for two meals and everyone will need to pick up their meal at Remsen St. Mary’s high school between 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
The highlight of the evening will include the auctioning of the naming rights to the Remsen St. Mary’s gymnasium.
The Remsen St. Mary’s Ball co-chair says they hope to provide some fun activities for participants of this year’s ball.
Harpenau says the money raised through the annual ball will go towards the purchase of educational materials for Remsen St. Mary’s schools.
For additional information, or to purchase tickets, you can call (712) 540-5215 or (712) 540-8931.
Iowa House and Senate Republicans Differ on Funding For State Universities
(Des Moines, IA) — Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate are proposing different levels of state taxpayer support for the Iowa’s three public universities. The House G-O-P’s budget plans provides no additional money to the University of Iowa, Iowa State University or the University of Northern Iowa — and it calls for student tuition and fees to remain the same in the next academic year. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver said their plan includes a ten-million dollar boost for the three universities. Whitver said, “I think it’s difficult to give them zero new dollars and freeze tuition. They have to be able to fund their universities somehow.” Representative David Kerr of Morning Sun said House Republicans settled on a tuition freeze and no new state money for the three universities partly because they’ll get federal money from the American Rescue Plan.
Iowa DCI Celebrates 100th Anniversary
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is celebrating its 100th birthday today (Friday). The agency was created as the Bureau of Criminal Investigation on April 9th, 1921. Special Agent Adam DeCamp says while much has changed with the world since then — the principles that led to the creation of the Bureau remain. The cooperation of effort and purpose between local authorities, the public, and the state. DeCamp says the tasks of the agency now best known by the acronym D-C-I have gone from chasing the Barrow gang to regulating Iowa casinos. He says the heinous crimes often overshadowed the work of the agency — which he says is to help the people of Iowa. During a Capitol ceremony, Governor Kim Reynolds said a hundred years of uninterrupted service to the people of Iowa is a monumental achievement.
Davenport Police Mourn Death of Detective
(Davenport, IA) — The Davenport Police Department is mourning the loss of one its own officers. Detective Errol (earl) Walker died this week after 27-years with the Davenport P-D. The department did not say how he died, but rather highlighted his 20-years of experience investigating gangs, property crimes, and computer forensics among other things. He was awarded more than 15 gold bars for excellence in the field.
Feenstra Concerned About Biden’s Position With Gun Control
(Washington) — One of Iowa’s Republican representatives in Washington is reacting negatively to President Biden’s call on Thursday to seek out ways to curb gun violence through legislation. Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says he’ll oppose the president’s call for “red flag” laws and any new federal rules to restrict gun purchases and ownership.
The president wants to ban assault weapons, crack down on “ghost guns” that are self-assembled, and eliminate the exemption on lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Feenstra says they’re all troublesome.
Feenstra has spent the last two weeks of Easter Recess traveling in the district, meeting with residents and touring industries. He will return to Washington on Monday.
Whitver Calls Iowa Supreme Court’s Instructions For Redistricting As Vague
(Des Moines) — Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says Thursday’s Iowa Supreme Court statement about how it might handle redrawing the maps for legislative districts was a little vague, but if U.S. Census data arrives after the deadline for LEGISLATIVE action, Whitver believes the court will still let the House and Senate to handle redistricting.
While political parties in most other state legislatures draw up new districts that favor one party over another, Iowa has a non-partisan redistricting process. If legislators fail to approve any of three new maps generated by a non-partisan agency, the constitution says the Iowa Supreme Court then has the final decision on district lines. Thursday’s written statement indicated the court hopes to adhere to the redistricting law “to the extent possible.”
The state’s non-partisan redistricting process should be well underway, but the Biden Administration notified states the U.S. Census data usually delivered by April 1st won’t be sent until as late as September 30th. Iowa’s Constitution requires the Iowa Supreme Court to take over if the legislature fails to approve new legislative district maps by September 1st.
Whitver made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S. At the end of the program, Whitver announced he intends to seek reelection to the state senate in 2022.
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