Le Mars Police Department To Host Town Hall Meeting
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Police Department will host a town hall meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening to be held at the Wells Enterprises Visitor’s Center and Ice Cream Parlor. Assistant Police Chief, Justin Daale says the town hall meeting serves the purpose for the community to better know their police
department.
The town hall meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Daale says the police will focus on some specific topics, but he says discussion may hinge on what questions are asked by the Le Mars community.
With the addition of two new officers within the past few weeks, the Le Mars Police Department is again at full staff with 15 officers, and while all of the officers are trained for law enforcement, Daale says each officer has a specialty focus.
The Le Mars Assistant Police Chief says there has been a lot of interest with the School Resource Officer program, and Officer John Vickery will be attending the town hall meeting to offer a report regarding the presence of a police officer inside our schools. Daale says the town hall meeting is set up
to provide a two-way dialog between the community and its police department.
Again, that Police town hall meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the Wells Enterprises Visitor’s Center and Ice Cream Parlor located on north Central Avenue.
(photos from 2020 Police Town Hall Meeting)
Iowa Department Of Agriculture Awards 12 Grants For Urban Water Quality Projects
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig
kicked off Soil and Water Conservation Week by announcing 12 urban water quality projects will receive funding from the state’s Water Quality Initiative. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will provide financial and technical assistance to the communities and organizations that are implementing urban water quality practices to manage storm-water. These practices help reduce precipitation run-off by capturing and
soaking up water and sediment from impervious surfaces.
Naig says, “These urban conservation projects are great examples of how state and local partners are collaborating to make a meaningful impact on water quality, and they provide valuable road-maps that other communities can follow.” Naig continued, “When we all work together, we can improve our local water sources and help our neighbors downstream.”
To receive state funding, the urban water quality projects must include outreach and education components and local partners to support the project.
These community-based projects raise awareness about new storm-water management methods and encourage others to adopt similar infrastructure-based practices to improve water quality in local bodies of water. These urban conservation
projects include water quality practices like bioretention cells, bioswales, native plantings, permeable pavers, rain gardens, soil quality restoration and wetlands.
One of the funded water quality projects is at Sioux Center.
The City of Sioux Center is installing a large wet pond in the middle of an existing grassed waterway on the southeast side of the city. The Meadow Creek Wet Pond will capture and treat runoff from 144-acres of land to protect the West Branch of the Floyd River. The amount of the grant is $100,000.
Attention Focused On Erosion Control And Water Quality Efforts During Soil and Water Conservation Week
(Le Mars) — Each year, depending on soil conditions, nearly ten tons of soil are lost on every acre of land due to either wind or water erosion. That’s about the size of a dump truck filled with soil for every acre of land.
Approximately 10 tons of soil, or about a dump truck load of soil, is lost due to erosion on each acre of land every year.
Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District, as part of the U-S Department of Agriculture, wants to remind farmers, landowners, and the general public about the need to control erosion during this designated National Soil and Water Conservation Week. Ben Brady is the District Conservationist for Plymouth County. He says many farmers recognize the importance of conservation methods and have implemented those practices as part of their farming operations.
Brady says farmers are also turning to planting cover crops as another method to help reduce soil erosion, and to help with the reduction of nitrate run-off into water sources.
The District Conservationist says the USDA still offers a variety of cost-share programs as an incentive for additional farmers and landowners to implement conservation practices.
Brady says May 7th is the deadline to apply for conservation cost-share funding for either new projects, or renovation of previous existing conservation methods.
Crews Start Work On Another Flood Control Project Monday
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — Crews in Cedar Rapids are beginning work on another flood control project today (Monday). They are working on an underground storm water gate in the Czech Village area of the city. Traffic won’t be affected, but part of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail will be closed for about a month and a half. This job is part of Cedar Rapids’ major flood control plan
that has been in the works since the 2008 flood. Construction on a flood levee for that part of the city was completed a little over a year ago.
Governor’s Health Policy Adviser Hired As Iowa Medicaid Director
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds says her health policy adviser will take over as Iowa’s Medicaid director on June 1st. Reynolds calls Elizabeth Matney a health policy expert and a dynamic member of the governor’s team. She will replace Mike Randol who left the position last August. The program oversees care for more than 700-thousand poor and disabled Iowa
residents. Iowa’s Medicaid program has received dozens of complaints from providers and users since private companies assumed control a few years ago.
One Of Two Men Charged In Gruesome Murder Pleads Guilty
(Des Moines, IA) — One of two men charged in a gruesome 2019 murder has entered a guilty plea in Polk County Court. Forty-six-year-old Yancy Dane Freland entered his plea last Friday. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.
Freland and 26-year-old Bryan Taylor Norris are accused of shooting 23-year-old Marshal Aaron Terrell Johnson during an argument. Each man allegedly shot Johnson, then investigators say Norris cut his neck. Police say they wrapped Johnson’s body in plastic and tried to bury him, then tried to burn the remains and buried them again. Norris is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Two-Year-Old Boy Shot To Death While Riding Bicycle In Davenport
(Davenport, IA) — Police are still looking for the person who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in Davenport who was riding his bicycle with friends.
Devell Johnson was killed and another boy was wounded when people in a passing vehicle opened fire last Thursday. Police say the victims and two others were riding their bikes when a black S-U-V pulled up and several shots were fired. An 18-year-old who had been riding with the group was arrested after he was found with a gun in his possession, but he wasn’t involved in the
fatal shooting incident.
