National Guard Unit Returns Home
(Le Mars) — Last year, on June 1st, 90 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard unit 113th Calvary Troop C based from the Le Mars left for a ten month deployment mission to the southern horn of the African continent. Today, (Wednesday) those soldiers are coming home. Army National Guard Major Katheryn Headley
talks about that mission.
The soldiers will arrive by plane at the Sioux City Gateway Airport at approximately 12:20 p.m. with a small welcome home ceremony scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.
The buses carrying the National Guard soldiers are expected to leave the Sioux City airport by 1:00 p.m. heading north to Le Mars. Headley says due to the concern of the COVID-19 virus the homecoming ceremony to be held at the Sioux City Armory at the airport is not open to the general public.
The soldiers will take Highway 75 and then enter Le Mars on Business Highway 75 or Hawkeye Avenue. The buses will turn east on 12th Street Southwest near the Hy Vee grocery store and Kemp’s milk processing plant. The buses will follow 12th Street southwest past the football stadium, and then they will
turn north on Central Avenue. The buses carrying the soldiers will travel on Central Avenue heading north until Plymouth Street, or Highway 3. They will then head east on Highway 3 to the Armory Building located next to Floyd Valley Healthcare. Family members and friends can re-unite with their soldiers at the armory building. Major Headley encourages the public to stand along the bus route to welcome home the soldiers.
KLEM radio will broadcast the homecoming ceremony from the Sioux City Armory,
and it will be featured live on the KLEM Facebook page.
Iowa House Votes To Let Adults Who Were Adopted Get Copes Of Original Birth Certificate
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa House has unanimously voted to let adults who were adopted get a copy of their original birth certificate that likely shows the names of their biological parents. Representative Marti (MART-ee) Anderson of Des Moines says current state law requires a court order to release that
information. Anderson was 19 when she gave up a child for adoption in 1970.
Anderson was only able to connect with her daughter in 2018 because each took an Ancestry-dot-com D-N-A test. Representative Brian Lohse (LOH-see) of Bondurant says biological parents would be given medical history forms that an
adoptee could get when they become an adult. If the bill clears the Senate and is signed into law by the governor, state officials would launch a public relations campaign to reach parents who have already given up a child for adoption — so they can fill out those forms, if they wish.
Infectious Disease Expert: Pause In Distribution Of J&J Vaccine Shows System Is Working
(Iowa City, IA) — A University of Iowa infectious disease expert says the pause in the distribution of the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine shows the system is working. Doctor Patricia Winokur, says there are rare events that happen with all drugs — which she says can’t be picked up until a drug or vaccine is distributed out into the public, Doctor Winokur says only having six cases out of six-point-eight million doses of the vaccine that have been delivered is “hopeful,” Winokur says it is important to keep trying to get one of the available vaccines because the risk of not being vaccinated is higher than a potential side issue.
Three Iowa Legislators Give Emotional Speeches In Honor Of Fallen Trooper
(Independence, IA) — The Iowa legislators have given emotional speeches at a ceremony honoring fallen Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith. Senator Craig Johnson knew Smith personally. He says he watched the trooper in uniform giving blood and he remembers thinking then – What more is this guy
willing to give? State Representative Chad Ingels of Randalia said, “We can never sufficiently express our gratitude to those men and women that volunteer every day to run toward bad situations while the rest of us run away.”
Quarantine Time Shortened For Iowa City Students Exposed To Virus
(Iowa City, IA) — The Iowa City Community School District is shortening the 14-day quarantine time for some students exposed to the coronavirus. The school board adopted guidelines from the Iowa Department of Public Health allowing students to go back after ten days if they show no symptoms or seven
days with a negative coronavirus test. If everyone was wearing a mask, no quarantine is required. The change comes as Iowa City schools reported more than one-thousand students and staff in quarantine as of Monday. The district will follow the new guidelines on a trial basis for two to three weeks while
monitoring student infection numbers.
Iowa Senator Ernst Co-Sponsors Cattle Legislation
(Washington, DC) — U-S Senator Joni Ernst is co-sponsoring legislation designed to foster more disclosure of the prices paid for cattle, as well as a bill to block federal agencies from promoting a “meatless” diet among employees. The Iowa Republican grew up on a farm near Red Oak and says these
issues are important to her since her family raised hogs. Ernst said, “here in Iowa, folks, we are all about the meat.” One measure would give independent cattle producers more data about what meatpackers are paying for cattle and would set up a system already used to help track hog prices. The other bill would ban federal agencies from excluding meat from the menu in government cafeterias and dining halls. Ernst calls it the TASTEE Act, which stands for Telling Agencies to Stop Tweaking What Employees Eat Act.
Estherville Police Department Mourns Loss of Police Dog
(Estherville, IA) — The Estherville Police Department in northwest Iowa is mourning the loss of its police dog. Officers say K-9 Max 3 died unexpectedly Friday of a stomach condition. Max started with the Estherville P-D in October of 2019. During his 18-month career, Max helped with 17 drug seizures. He also successfully tracked a felon with a firearm in neighboring
Spirit Lake. Max came from Partners for Patriots in Anthon. No word on a new police dog in Estherville.
Ames Man Pleads Not Guilty in February Apartment Murder
(Nevada, IA) — The man accused of killing a woman in Ames apartment in February is pleading not guilty. Thirty-three-year-old Richard Fleck filed a written arraignment and plea Monday in Story County for the murder of 37-year-old Ranea Bell. She was found dead in her apartment February 20th and Fleck was initially named a person of interest in the case. He was arrested
on a first-degree murder warrant March 21st in Des Moines. Fleck’s next court hearing is June 1st and his trial is set to begin June 15th.
Centerville Man Draws 27-Year Prison Sentence For Child Pornography
(Des Moines, IA) — A south-central Iowa man will serve 27 years in federal prison on child pornography charges. Forty-nine-year-old Ryan Ford of Centerville was sentenced in U-S District Court for production of child pornography and receipt of child pornography. Court information shows Ford secretly recorded minors in the shower in 2018 and distributed some of the
images to others. Investigators say he downloaded images of child porn in 2018 and 2019. A search of Ford’s cell phone led to 18-hundred images and 27 videos of child pornography.
