County Board Of Supervisors To Hear About Wind Farm Urban Renewal
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will gather at the Courthouse Board Room at 9:30 a.m. this morning for their weekly meeting. The county governing board is expected to approve a resolution to approve a temporary county redistricting commission. The supervisors will also approve a certificate of appointment for Treasurer Tax Deputy. The county supervisors will hear from John Danos with the Dorsey and Whitney Law firm as he will discuss wind farm urban renewal. H-R consultant, Jack Reed will appear before the county board to discuss law and policy revisions and review and approve consulting contract. County engineer Tom Rohe will also appear before the county board to submit construction permits for Garfield and
Lincoln Townships. Rohe will also submit for board approval the right-of-way for culvert construction projects.
Le Mars City Council To Discuss Central Avenue Overlay Project
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars city council will meet today at 12:00 noon at the city council chambers. The city council have a long list of consent items, but in terms of action items, the city council will discuss the Central Avenue PCC Overlay project, parking ordinances, and they will discuss the airport runway extension project.
Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission To Hold Window Restoration Workshop
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission will hold a two-part workshop seminar focusing on the restoration of windows. The workshops are scheduled for the late afternoon of Friday, May 14th and the morning of Saturday, May 15th. Stuart Dekkinga with the Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission tells us about the workshop seminars.
Dekkinga says many people wish to keep the original historical windows that are part of their buildings. He says people often times find the cost to replace windows as being too expensive.
Friday afternoon workshop will begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Central Avenue Events Center. The Historical Preservation Commissioner says there isn’t any registration fee tied to the window restoration workshops.
Dekkinga says the workshop is open to everyone, but he encourages contractors, and do-it-yourselfers to attend the two-part window restoration workshops. He says Saturday morning’s portion of the seminar will be a “hands-on” lesson.
Dekkinga says he believes three to four windows will be demonstrated as to how to restore the original windows from the building located on East Plymouth Street.
Ten Plymouth County FFA Members Earn Iowa Degrees
(Undated) — Ten students from Plymouth County FFA chapters were recently presented with the Iowa Degree during the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference held in Des Moines. The Iowa Degree is the highest state honor a FFA member can achieve through their Supervised Agricultural Experience. Le Mars Community
had four members achieve the honor. They include: Jaycee Davison, Kiley Allan, Colby Jennings, and Jacob Spencer. MMCRU has two Iowa Degree Recipients this year…Regan Peters and Makenzie Meyer. Tate Linton and Nick Batcheller from the Hinton FFA Chapter were recipients of the Iowa Degree.
Akron-Westfield chapter also had two members awarded the high honor of the Iowa FFA Degree. They include: Samuel Philips and Aubie Hartman. Each of the Iowa FFA Degree recipients can continue with their Supervised Agricultural Experience and compete for the prestigious “American FFA Degree.”
Plymouth County Farm Bureau Contributes $2,000 To Round Barn Agriculture Education Project
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Farm Bureau organization, along with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation recently presented a $2,000 check to the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee to be used for the “A ROUND the farm
in the BARN” agricultural education exhibit featured inside the famous Tonsfeldt Round Barn located at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.
2021 will be the seventh year the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee has showcased local agriculture in an educational exhibit during the Plymouth County Fair. This year, the focus will be on farm safety.
Plymouth County Farm Bureau president, Ben Johnson, presented the check to Micah Lang, Vice President of the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee.
“The Chamber Agriculture Committee is so grateful for the contribution made by the Plymouth County Farm Bureau,” said Lang. “We appreciate the support, not only with the monetary donation, which will help with expenses of the exhibit, but also the support of the program. It is reassuring to know organizations, such as the Plymouth County Farm Bureau, and others, recognize the need to educate the public about local agriculture, and its economic contributions.”
Lang continued by saying, “Plymouth County Farm Bureau will be recognized as a premier sponsor of the annual A ROUND the farm in the BARN educational exhibit.”
Ben Johnson, Plymouth County Farm Bureau president said “Farm Bureau is pleased to support the efforts of the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee. We know that each year during the fair, thousands of visitors tour the round barn and are amazed by the shared information.”
Farming is listed as one of the most dangerous occupations, and every year thousands of people are injured or killed as a result of a farming accident.
Farm related accidents happen to all age groups and demographics from young children to elderly senior citizens. Lang says the exhibit this year will feature six specific areas of farm safety that include: roadway collisions, roll-overs, machine entanglement, grain suffocation, pesticide crop protection
products, and electrocution.
Iowa Farmers Now Have 69 Percent Corn Planted
(Des Moines) — Iowa farmers are now more than two-thirds completed with planting of this year’s corn crop. In the latest weekly crop condition report as issued by the U-S Department of Agriculture, 69 percent of the state’s corn crop is now in the ground. The corn that has been planted is nine days ahead
of the five-year average. With a few warmer days, there were scattered reports of corn emerging. The state’s soybean crop is now listed as 43 percent planted, 12 days ahead of normal. Moisture levels still remain a concern for many regions of the state. Topsoil moisture went from six percent being very short last week to 17 percent very short this week. A jump of ten
points was noted for topsoil moisture as listed as being short. Last week it was at 28 percent, and this week it is 38 percent short. 45 percent of the state’s topsoil moisture levels is rated as adequate, with zero percent as listed as adequate.
Animal Rights Group Wants Charges Filed Against Sioux Center Pork Plant
(Sioux Center) — An animal rights group has asked Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle to investigate a Sioux Center pork plant that was cited last month by regulators for the inhumane slaughter of a pig.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Kunstle on Monday asking his office to investigate Perdue Premium Meat Company and file suitable criminal charges against the company and responsible workers for violations of the Humane Methods Slaughter Act.
Kunstle says he has received the letter and he would see if any charges are warranted. “It’s a complaint received by my office, and I will look into the matter,” Kunstle said.
The U-S Food Safety and Inspection Service on April 9th sent a notice of suspension to Perdue Premium Meat for an incident in which a federal veterinarian observed the failed slaughter of a hog with a handheld captive bolt device. The hog was killed during a second attempt.
Later on April 9th, the FSIS sent the company a notice that the suspension was being held in abeyance, enabling the plant to resume processing, after receiving details of the Perdue Premium Meats’ corrective actions and preventive measures that were being taken to correct the violation.
On November 6, the FSIS sent Perdue a notice of intended enforcement for an incident in which a hog had to be stunned four times before it was unconscious. The federal agency deferred the notice after Perdue provided it with a list of corrective measures being taken.
Company spokesperson Kerri McClimen said the issues in both complaints have been addressed and Perdue takes humane animal care seriously.
Perdue bought the Sioux Center company, started in 1970 as Sioux-Preme Packing Company in 2015. Perdue Premium, which is a subsidiary of Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Maryland, supplies products to upscale restaurants and retail food markets. The company completed a $29 million, 50,000 square-foot addition at the Sioux Center plant in early 2020. Perdue operates a Sioux City facility that performs boning and packaging of pork shipped from the Sioux Center plant.
(story contributed.)
Lawmakers Working Out Final Details Of Session
(Des Moines, IA) — Republicans are in the majority in the Iowa Senate and House and control the debate agenda, and are now trying to work out the details on taxes among their leadership. A proposed cut in property taxes along with an acceleration of income tax cuts are priorities for the Senate — but Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says there are a lot of other
decisions to make too. House Speaker Pat Grassley says there are state budget issues to resolve as well — and they are having conversations with the Senate to try to figure out where the middle ground is on everything. Democrats in the legislature continue to criticize Republicans for failing to use the
state’s budget surplus to provide pandemic relief to small businesses and individuals.
REAL ID Deadline Pushed Back
(Ames, IA) — The deadline to get your driver’s license transitioned to a REAL I-D has been pushed back by the pandemic. Iowa D-O-T Customer Services Bureau
director, Darcy Doty (Doh-tee) says the REAL I-D deadline is now May 3rd of 2023. You need to bring in a series of documents that are checked by the D-O-T to verify your identity and your license is then converted. Most people get their licenses converted when they are renewed — but Doty says you can come in before the license expires and she advises you not to put it off.
Polk County Judge Will Decide This Week Whether To Split Trials For Three Defendants
(Des Moines, IA) — A Polk County judge will decide this week whether to split trials for three murder defendants. Emmanuel Totaye Junior, Daishawn Gills, and Leontreal Jones were charged with killing three teenagers last year. Iowa state prosecutors want to consolidate the trials into one starting May 24th. The three suspects are accused of killing Devonte Swanks, Malachi
Swanks, and Thayne Wright in January 2020. Their dead bodies were found inside a Des Moines home.
Family Says Southwest Wouldn’t Let Them Board Flight Because Autistic Son Could Wear Mask
(St. Louis, MO) — The Petek family of Des Moines spent five-and-a-half hours Sunday driving a rental car home from St. Louis. They say Southwest Airlines refused to let them board a connecting flight home when their autistic son couldn’t wear his face mask. The incident happened at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Cody and Paige Petek and their two children were returning from a Florida vacation. Their five-year-old non-verbal son was struggling to wear his mask due to a sensory processing disorder.
Southwest Airlines says it was following federal law.
Midwest Economy Coming Back To Life As Pandemic Eases
(Omaha, NE) — The Mid-America Business Conditions report for April shows an economy in Iowa and eight other Midwest and Plains states coming back to life as the COVID-19 pandemic eases. The monthly survey by Creighton University
economist Ernie Goss finds the region’s overall index at its highest reading in almost three decades. The report finds more than half of the 106-thousand manufacturing jobs that were lost during the pandemic have been regained.
April’s index was 73-point-nine. Any score above 50 suggests growth, while scores below 50 suggest recession.
[States covered by the survey: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota.]
Man Who Used Child As Shield During Standoff With Police Sentenced To 2 Years
(Des Moines, IA) — A man who used a child as a shield during a police standoff has been sentenced to two years in prison. Thirty-two-year-old Lewis Deshawn Butts of Des Moines was found guilty of child endangerment. The incident happened March 3rd when Des Moines police responded to a domestic
disturbance report. They forced their way into a home where they encountered Butts. They say he pulled the child in front of him before eventually letting him go. Butts entered an Alford plea to the charges last month. He will spend another five years in prison for a separate domestic disturbance that happened last year.
