Home News Thursday News, July 1st

Thursday News, July 1st

Dorhout Is Promoted To Rank Of Lieutenant

(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff, Jeff TeBrink has promoted a deputy. Effective July 1, 2021, Sgt. Scott Dorhout will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Dorhout has been employed with the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office for 24 years. Prior to becoming a deputy, Sgt. Dorhout served as a police officer for the communities of Sioux Center and LeMars.

Sgt. Dorhout also served in the Army National Guard for 32 years before retiring at the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

On July 9, 2021 at 3:30 PM, Judge Vakulskas will be administering an oath of office to Sgt. Dorhout for the new position of Lieutenant at the Plymouth County District Court Room.

 

 

 

Susemihl Retires From Being Auto Service Mechanic

(Le Mars) — A good mechanic is often hard to find, and Le Mars is losing one of its long-time independent mechanics due to retirement. For more than 45 years, Tom Susemihl has been changing oil, repairing tires, pumping gas, installing batteries, and generally keeping hundreds of customers’ vehicles in top shape and in running order. Wednesday, June 30th, marked the last day the Susemihl’s Uptown Auto Service Center located at the 100 block of Plymouth Street northwest was to be open. Beginning today, July 1st, the auto repair shop that so many Le Mars and area residents have come to depend upon will have its doors locked, while Susemihl begins his next journey of retirement. Susemihl says he thought about retiring for sometime.

Susemihl says he will miss seeing his loyal customers.

He says he couldn’t even guess as to how many cars he has serviced, or tires he repaired during his 45 years as a auto mechanic.

One change that Susemihl noted was when the decision was made to no longer pump gas for customers. Susemihl reflects on a time when he and his brother were in business together, and Le Mars had several company gas stations through out the community, now to be replaced by convenience stores that sell gasoline.

Susemihl’s Uptown Auto Service Center had been a part of the Standard Oil/Amoco franchise of gas stations. Susemihl talks about what lead him to becoming an auto mechanic.

Anyone that has visited Susemihl’s service station can easily see what is Tom’s passion and hobby…restoring old gasoline pumps. Susemihl has more than a dozen restored pumps in his lobby and in the service area. He says he more than likely will continue to restore older gasoline pumps. Susemihl says he will remain in the community and folks will still be able to see him, and if you miss seeing his smiling face, simply look at the mural next to his former service station. There, you will see a painting of Tom featured.

 

 

 

Northwestern College To Create Leadership Development Program

(Le Mars) — Northwestern College of Orange City is broadening its reach throughout northwest Iowa, and is creating a leadership development program aimed at assisting businesses and identifying leaders within a community.
Representatives of the new program were in Le Mars Wednesday morning discussing the program with community leaders. Erica Vonk is the director of “Accelerate Siouxland-Siouxland’s Regional Leadership Development Program” and explains the purpose and mission of the new outreach program.

Josh Van Es is a recent graduate of Northwestern College and has started his own small retail business in Orange City. He tells how the program will help benefit small businesses within the area.

Vonk tells of the five areas of focus for the new Center for Innovation and Leadership at Northwestern College.

The program is scheduled to begin by late summer.

 

 

 

Supreme Court Overturns Ruling in Branstad Workers Compensation Commissioner Case

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling awarding damages to the state Workers’ Compensation commissioner former Governor Terry Branstad tried to fire. In 2019, a district court jury awarded Christopher Godfrey one-and-a-half million dollars. Godfrey argued he was
pressured to resign and his pay was cut because he is gay. Godfrey’s attorney, Roxanne Conlin, says the ruling is disappointing and surprising. She said, “it is just not the role of the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse the findings of fact of a jury.” The Supreme Court’s ruling states there is no evidence to prove Branstad is “anti-gay” or knew Godfrey was gay as he was
seeking to replace him as workers’ compensation commissioner. Godfrey also alleged he was fired because of unfounded complaints from business groups about his rulings on workers’ compensation cases.

 

 

 

Governor Issues Disaster Declaration For 2 SE Iowa Counties

(Des Moines, IA) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Davis and Van Buren counties. The action by the governor comes in response to severe weather that started June 24th and continues to impact the area. The proclamation opens the door for state resources to be
used to help the area respond to and recover from the storm damage. The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant and the Disaster Case Management programs have been activated for qualifying residents.

 

 

 

Grassley, Ernst 5 Other Senators Send Letter To President Urging An End To Trade War

(Washington, DC) — U-S Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa and six other Republicans have sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to end the trade war. The letter indicates the senators believe it is damaging many U-S businesses. It points out that farmers have lost access to growing markets and experienced significant price drops for their commodities. The letter says, “Of course we all need to unify and demand China follows the trading rules and stop stealing intellectual property.” The group wants Biden to make good on his promise to end the tariffs. The senators signing the
letter include Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Mike Lee of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

 

 

 

Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Law Barring Planned Parenthood From Sex Ed Programs

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Supreme Court is reversing a district court decision, so a state law can go into effect that bars Planned Parenthood from getting state grants for sex education programs. The law was passed in 2019 by the Republican-led legislature, but Planned Parenthood and the A-C-L-U of
Iowa filed a lawsuit and it’s been on hold as the case made its way through the courts. The law prohibits organizations that provide abortion from getting grants from two state programs aimed at preventing teen pregnancy.
Governor Kim Reynolds said she is “proud to be a pro-life governor” and the ruling is a strong statement “in support of the idea that taxpayer dollars should not fund abortion.” The president and C-E-O of Planned Parenthood of North Central States says for more than a decade Planned Parenthood has
provided “comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education” for young Iowans and the ruling is “a major setback for public health.”

 

 

 

Almost 3 Million Iowans Have Received COVID-19 Vaccine

(Des Moines, IA) — State health officials report nearly three-million Iowans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The Iowa Department of Public Health says nearly one-and-a-half million, or 45-percent of Iowans, are fully vaccinated. The state’s case positivity rate remains very low at around two percent.

 

 

 

 

Iowa Woman Sentenced To Prison For Damaging Oil Pipeline Equipment

(Des Moines, IA) — An Iowa woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for damaging oil pipeline equipment and setting fires. The federal judge also ordered 39-year-old Jessica Rae Reznicek to pay more than three million dollars in restitution. The co-defendant in the case, Ruby Montoya,
will be sentenced at a later date. The Des Moines women damaged valves and set fire to construction equipment along the pipeline that crosses Iowa and three other states from 2016 to 2017. The two released a statement before their arrest admitting the vandalism.

 

 

 

State Auditor’s Office Finds Nearly $20K In Improper Financial Transactions

(Des Moines, IA) — A special investigation requested by the Des Moines Public School District has turned up almost 20 thousand dollars in improper financial transactions by a former teacher. The Iowa State Auditor’s Office report was released Wednesday. It found former horticulture teacher Craig
Nelson made more than 18 thousand dollars in payments to his wife and used almost 14 hundred dollars in Menard’s rebates for personal purposes. District officials say Nelson was fired in April.

 

 

 

Weather Conditions in Iowa Setting Up For Good Pheasant Season

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist who tracks pheasant numbers says the winter and spring weather should offset each other to set up for a good fall hunting season. Todd Bogenschutz uses a model of bird survival based on past weather information. He says the winter was mixed for
pheasants. Bogenschutz says, “the northwest part of the state had relatively normal to just slightly below normal winter. The eastern third definitely had more snow than normal. The southeast had several ice layers, and in January and February, I was told humans could walk on top of it without breaking
through.” He says the drought conditions actually helped pheasants this spring during nesting, as a dry spring is usually good for the birds.
Bogenschutz says the number of birds will vary by region. He says they should be good in the northwest part of the state and not so good in the eastern part of the state — so he expects the overall numbers should be as good or better than last year.