Floyd Valley To Host “Drive Through” Chamber Coffee In Recognition of Hospital Appreciation Week
(Le Mars) — This is National Hospitals Appreciation Week, and Floyd Valley Healthcare will acknowledge the importance by hosting a “drive through” Chamber Coffee. Floyd Valley will hand out their famous rolls along with a cup of coffee to those people that attend the drive through event. The Chamber coffee at Floyd Valley will begin at 9:30 and will continue until
10:30 a.m.
Plymouth County Historical Museum Looking For Directors
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Historical Museum is looking for volunteers willing to serve on their board of directors. Terms are for three years.
Directors will offer guidance to the museum’s operations. Candidates are needed from all parts of the county. Join the cause of saving Plymouth County History.
Chamber Ag Committee To Focus On Farm Safety For Round Barn Agriculture Education Exhibit
(Le Mars) — Farming is considered to be one of the most dangerous occupations with thousands of injuries and deaths reported each year. Farm related accidents happened to every demographic from young children to elderly senior citizens, and everyone in between. Grinnell Mutual Insurance Company along with its local agency, Perspective Insurance of Le Mars, Iowa,
recently donated money to the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee for its agricultural education exhibit to be featured inside the famous Tonsfeldt Round Barn, located at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.
Micah Lang serves as the Vice President of the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee. Lang says the Chamber Agriculture Committee selected farm safety as this year’s topic of focus during the “A ROUND the farm in the BARN” agriculture education exhibit at the Plymouth County Fair,
scheduled for July 28th – August 1st. Lang says, “The Chamber Agriculture Committee is appreciative of the financial support exhibited by both Grinnell Mutual and Perspective Insurance Companies.”
Matt Susemihl, branch manager with Perspective Insurance said,
“Unfortunately, farming accidents happen all too often, and sometimes they happen to our family, friends, and neighbors. Both Perspective Insurance and Grinnell Mutual are committed to helping bring farm safety to the forefront, so accidents can hopefully be avoided. When we heard the Le Mars Chamber of
Commerce Agriculture Committee was putting this exhibit on, it just made sense on multiple levels for both of us to get involved and help out. We wanted to share in the education efforts to remind our farmers to always be thinking about safety. It only takes a second for a farm related accident to
happen,” said Susemihl.
Micah Lang (left) accepts a donation by Matt Susemihl of Perspective Insurance to be used for the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee’s Agriculture Education Exhibit featured inside the round barn during the Plymouth County Fair.
“The exhibit to be featured at the round barn during the fair will encompass the theme, Farming In The Danger Zone,” said Lang. The Chamber Agriculture Committee, along with the assistance of the FFA Chapters from Le Mars Community, Akron-Westfield, Hinton, Kingsley-Pierson, and MMCRU will feature six different areas involving farm safety. The areas of focus will touch on
tractor and ATV roll-overs, machinery entanglement and PTO’s, chemical crop protection products, grain suffocation in bins and wagons, roadway collisions, and electrocution.
“This year’s agriculture education exhibit will feature many different enlarged photos and images, as well as several ‘hands-on’ interactive displays, all designed to call attention to the many possible dangers associated with farming,” said Lang.
Grinnell Mutual Company has contributed $500 to the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee, and Perspective Insurance has donated an additional $250 to be used for the exhibit.
Democratic House Leader Calls Governor’s Decision “Unconscionable And Heartless”
(Des Moines, IA) — Democratic House Leader Todd Prichard calls the governor’s decision to decline some federal unemployment assistance “unconscionable and heartless.” Prichard says it’s a publicity stunt designed to hurt Iowans for her personal gain. He says Republican Governor Kim Reynolds wants her name in the national headlines. Reynolds announced
Tuesday that Iowa will stop accepting and handing out the increased federal unemployment benefits that provide most recipients with an additional 300-dollars-a-week. She says that discourages Iowans from looking for a new job.
Former Teacher Acquitted Of Charges He Sexually Exploited A Student
(Wapello, IA) — A former Spanish teacher at Columbus Community High School in Columbus Junction has been found not guilty of charges he sexually exploited a student. The Louisa County jury deliberated less than two hours last month. Prosecutors had argued that Eusebio Jimenez Junior rubbed the
student’s leg in his classroom and made inappropriate sexualized remains to him in person and through text messages. The student told authorities he was uncomfortable with the way the teacher treated him because Jimenez is openly gay.
Iowa State Education Association Wants Teachers Involved in Stimulus Discussion
(Des Moines, IA) — The state teachers union is calling on superintendents and school boards to include teachers and school staff in discussions about how districts plan to use 770-million dollars in federal pandemic relief. State law limits teacher contract negotiations to a discussion of salaries, but I-S-E-A president Mike Beranek said U-S Department of Education
guidelines require “all school employees” to be engaged in “meaningful consultation” in how federal funds approved in March are used. Beranek says “we want to want to make it perfectly clear that Iowa’s educators who bravely and consistently worked on the frontlines of this pandemic, who understand first hand what their students need will be at the table when the ideas for use are discussed and the final decisions are made.” The funds can be used to hire new teachers, mental health counselors, and school nurses or to finance summer school programs.
Asian Aquaculture Researcher Wins 2021 World Food Prize
(Des Moines, IA) — This year’s winner of the Iowa-based World Food Prize is an aquaculture researcher. Food Prize Foundation president Barbara Stinson announced today (Tuesday) that Doctor Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted of Denmark and Trinidad-Tobago won the 2021 award. She is the seventh woman
to win the World Food Prize and the first woman of Asian heritage. Stinson says Thilstsed’s work made a big impact on ending hunger. She said, “our laureate’s trailblazing on small native fish species in Bangladesh led to the development of aquatic food systems at all levels. From farmers to food
processing to consumers — this approach led to improved diets for millions of the most vulnerable people from Asia and Africa.” Thilsted will receive the 250-thousand-dollar World Food Prize at an October ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol building.
Iowa DOT Expects To Launch Digital Driver’s License By End Of 2021
(Des Moines, IA) – – The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Division is on pace to launch the state’s new digital driver’s license by the end of the year. Mobile I-D will be available for download through either Apple or Google devices. Users can scan the front and back of their driver’s license and then use it as their I-D. M-V-D officials say the I-D on the app
would be used as a supplemental identification to the physical card.
Detectives ID Driver, Vehicle of Interest in Deadly West Des Moines Hit and Run
(West Des Moines, IA) — Police in West Des Moines say they have identified a vehicle suspected in a deadly hit-and-run crash over the weekend. Officers say a passerby discovered the body of 38-year-old Stephanie Waddell of Oskaloosa along Interstate 35 Sunday. Investigators believe Waddell was struck and killed overnight Saturday. Detectives are not releasing
information about the suspect vehicle and driver as the investigation continues.
Pella Woman Found Guilty Of Murdering Her Estranged Husband’s Girlfriend
(Knoxville, IA) — A Pella woman has been found guilty of murdering her estranged husband’s girlfriend. Tracy Mondabough was found stabbed to death inside a vehicle a year ago. Michelle Boat had told the court she “snapped”
and stabbed the victim following an argument. Her attorney said she killed Mondabough due to a sudden, violent and irresistible passion. The prosecution said the murder was intentional and planned. It argued she had followed the victim for nearly an hour before the attack. The Marion County jury convicted Michelle Boat on a charge of first-degree murder after just 45
minutes of deliberations.
California Man Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison
(Des Moines, IA) — A California man will spend 18 months in federal prison after a traffic stop that revealed more than 400 pounds of marijuana products in his vehicle. Thirty-three-year-old Jamar Lawrence Daniels was on Interstate 80 in Dallas County when he was stopped by an Iowa State Patrol
trooper. Local prosecutors dropped the charges against Daniels when he was indicted in federal court a month later. He agreed to plead guilty in January and was sentenced last Thursday.
