Remsen Imposes A Water Ban
(Remsen) — Remsen city officials have issued an alert regarding a water ban.
According to the city’s Facebook posting, one of the Remsen’s wells has gone down. Due to this incident, city officials are telling their residents not to water their lawns, or wash their cars, fill their swimming pools, during the water ban. Officials says the water ban will be strictly enforced. If residents ignore the water ban, there is a possibility the city will not be able to keep up with the water demand and will be out of water altogether.
City officials ask that you limit the amount of water used for necessities such as laundry, dishes, showers, and toilet use. The city says they realize it is an inconvenience and they apologize. Once the well is back in working order, city officials will notify the residents.
Oyens 4th of July Tractor Parade
(Oyens) — The Annual Oyens 4th of July Tractor Parade is scheduled for Sunday at 12:00 noon. Mark Loutsch, one of the organizers of the parade, says this is the 28th year for the parade, which started as a result of relatives visiting the Loutsch farm.
Loutsch says in past years there have been over 100 entries of antique tractors participating on the parade. He says it has expanded from his family members and friends driving tractors from the Loutsch family collection of tractors to now other friends and neighbors wanting to showcase their own tractors.
Loutsch says many of the tractors that will appear in Sunday’s parade are on display at his farm for visitors to get up close and examine.
Loutsch talks about the oldest tractor as part of his collection.
Loutsch says anyone is welcome to participate in the annual Oyens Tractor Parade. He says the tractors will begin lining up at about 11:30 a.m. from the Loutsch farm located on Pioneer Avenue, east of Oyens.
(photos are from 2020 parade)
Holiday Travelers May Find Some Gas Stations Out Of Gas
(Des Moines) — Some gas stations are having trouble getting their normal supply of fuel going into the holiday weekend. FUEL IOWA spokesman John Maynes says there is enough gas — it’s a matter of getting it delivered.
He says some outages happen as the demand picks up from holiday travel.
He says it will be a temporary outage as distributors will be doing what the industry calls a “milk run” and dropping a partial load of gas at stations just to ensure they have some on hand. He says those partial loads of gas can be enough in some cases and in others they aren’t.
Maynes says the gas shortage will most likely be the most visible during times of higher demand, but the actual shortage of truck drivers could be ongoing for some time as the industry looks to get younger workers learning the skill.
Struve Family Donates To Prairie Heritage Center In O’Brien County
(Primghar) — A donor is giving 300-thousand dollars to finance improvements at the Prairie Heritage Center in northwest Iowa. The center showcases Iowa’s tall grass prairie and features live buffalo. It’s located just off Highway 10, between Sutherland and Peterson. Gregg Struve says his donation is in honor of his parents Dan and Jean Struve.
Two-hundred thousand dollars of Struve’s donation to the center is creating an endowment and the other 100-thousand is going into a fund named after his parents. There are nine miles of walking trails around the center, canoe access to the Little Sioux River and a building that houses educational displays about Iowa’s tall grass prairie. Abbie Parker, a naturalist with
O’Brien County Conservation, says they are currently working on the design process for new exhibits.
Parker says they hope to start these projects in the spring of 2023. The center is open Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and on Saturday afternoons from 1 to 4.
FAA Confirms 2 People Killed in Small Plane Crash Near Lamoni Airport
(Lamoni, IA) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirms a plane crash near the Lamoni Airport Thursday morning claimed two lives. F-A-A records show the Cirrus SR-22 plane was registered in Valley, Nebraska. A family pastor identified one of the victims as Dave Paladino from Omaha. The
second person hasn’t been named. Investigators say the small plane attempted to land but took off right away and appeared to stall on departure. The preliminary investigation is expected to take more than two weeks.
Reynolds Orders Flags Half-Staff In Honor of Iowa’s First Black Woman Mayor Wynn
(Des Moines, IA) — Flags will be flying at half-staff across Iowa on Saturday in honor and of remembrance of former Clinton Mayor LaMetta Wynn.
Wynn was Iowa’s first African-American female mayor and recently died at age 87. She was elected mayor of Clinton in 1995 and served three terms.
Governor Kim Reynolds said in a statement, “serving as a mayor, school board members, and role model for the community, LaMetta Wynn’s life was dedicated to helping others.” There’s a visitation for Wynn today (4-8p-m) at the Church of the Open Door in Clinton. Her funeral is tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 p-m with burial at Springdale Cemetery.
Fort Dodge Faces Life Prison Sentence For Wife’s Shooting Death
(Boone, IA) — A Fort Dodge man is facing a mandatory life prison sentence for the killing of his wife. Justin Hurdel was convicted this week of the first-degree murder of 38-year-old Maggie Hurdel last August. Prosecutors say Hurdel shot and killed his estranged wife before attempting to take his own
life. Police said Hurdel violated a no-contact on the same day of the shooting after a domestic assault and spitting in his wife’s face. Hurdel will be sentenced on August 9th.
Iowa Firefighters Urge Fireworks Safety Over 4th of July Weekend
(Johnston, IA) — The ability to use fireworks in Iowa is controlled by local jurisdictions and varies widely — but the concern about safely handling them is the same anywhere you go. Lieutenant Nick Hutchinson of the Johnston-Grimes Fire Department says you can avoid problems overall by taking
some time before lighting things up. He says to follow the directions on them, stay a safe distance back if you are going to use them, and be careful.
Hutchinson says you shouldn’t leave kids alone with sparklers or anything else. The safety concerns continue after the fireworks are used. He says important to properly dispose of them. Hutchinson says putting hot fireworks in a garbage can is a big issue – and can catch the garage and house on fire.
He recommends checking with your local government to find the times when fireworks are legal to use.
