Home News Friday Afternoon News, September 17th

Friday Afternoon News, September 17th

List Of Candidates Are Set For The November Election Ballot

(Le Mars) — Candidates seeking to run for office as a city council member, mayor, hospital trustee, or school board director had until Thursday afternoon to submit their nomination papers and be listed on the ballot for the November 2nd election.  In Le Mars, Insurance agent Rob Bixenman is the only person to have filed papers indicating an interest in running for mayor.  For the position of council member for Ward I, long-time council member Ken Nelson will face Brian Bruns for the position.  Nelson had previously served the residents of Ward 3, until he had moved to another home outside the district, for which he had to resign his position on the city council.  City councilman Clark Goodchild who is currently the council member representing Ward I, is now seeking the At-large council position.  Two people have stepped up and submitted nomination papers seeking the council position to represent Ward 3. Daniel Dembrinski and Mark Sturgeon will try for the seat left vacant by Ken Nelson and currently held by appointed council member Wayne Schipper.  Two people are running for election to serve as a trustee for Floyd Valley Healthcare.  Craig Bauerly is seeking re-election, while Kelli Flack will running for the first time.  Flack currently serves on the Floyd Valley Healthcare Board of Trustees, but was appointed to fill the vacancy of retiring director, Bill Young.

As for the election to the Le Mars Community Board of Education, voters will need to decide among four candidates seeking the District 1 position that will be open due to Todd Lancaster’s decision not to seek re-election.  The four include: Ashley Knapp, Mary Milder, Lorraine DeJong, and Gina Vacura.  District 2 has only one candidate.  Aaron Tolzin is the only person to file nomination papers. Makenzie Lang is hoping to make a return to the local school board.  Lang is a candidate for District 4, along with Wanda Wichers.  As for District 5, Jill Feuerhelm is seeking the position.  Feuerhelm was appointed to the school board after Lang needed to resign since moving away from the represented district.

 

 

 

Akron Ready To Host Annual Scarecrow Fall Festival

(Akron) — The Great Akron Scarecrow Festival returns to the Akron City Park on Saturday for its 21st annual event.  The family-friendly tradition will feature a scarecrow decorating contest, homemade food and baked goods, kids’ games and activities, along with petting zoo and craft vendors.  Leann Philips serves on the committee that oversees the annual scarecrow festival.  She says it is not too late to enter a scarecrow.

Philips says the creation of a scarecrow entry is left up to the individual’s imagination.

Philips says funds generated by the annual scarecrow contest go back into the Akron community.

There is no fee to attend the Akron Scarecrow Festival.  Philips tells how the local festival got its start.

All activities, food stands and vendors will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Unchanged in August at 4.1 %

(Des Moines, IA)  —  Iowa’s unemployment rate remained at four-point-one percent in August for the second straight month.  Employers in the state shed 65-hundred jobs last month following two months of job gains.  Leisure and hospitality led all sectors with 74-hundred lost jobs.   Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says Iowa’s economy remains resilient despite ongoing ripples from COVID-19.  The number of unemployed Iowans increased by 300 in August to 67-thousand-900 – but that number is 18-thousand-100 lower that August of 2020.  The national jobless rate was five-point-two percent last month.

 

 

 

 Iowa Department of Corrections Director on Anamosa Prison Murder Sentences

(Des Moines, IA)  —  The director of the Iowa Department of Corrections says the guilty pleas of two inmates in the murders of an Anamosa corrections officer and nurse are one step in the process of recovery.  Corrections director Beth Skinner says Michael Dutcher and Thomas Woodard have been sentenced and have left the state — “and we are still grieving — with our families and our staff. This is something that is going to take a very long time.”  The two men admitted to killing officer Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte during an escape attempt in March.  She says along with the grieving comes the effort to make sure this doesn’t happen again.  Skinner vows to make the prisons as safe as they can be.  That effort includes the hiring of more staff members, and a review of the prison operations that is underway.

 

 

 

Fire Destroys Windsor Heights Townhomes, Injures 1 Resident

(Windsor Heights, IA)  —  Fire officials in Windsor Heights are investigating an early morning (Friday) fire that destroyed four condos and injured one person.  Crews were called to the Windsor Park Townhomes around 2:30 a-m.  A neighbor told police she thought she heard what sounded like gunshots before seeing it was a massive fire.  The building and two garages are considered a total loss and some cars were damaged.  No word on the condition of the injured victim.  MidAmerican shut off power to neighboring homes while firefighters battled the flames.  The cause of the fire is unknown.

 

 

 

Kossuth County Passes Resolution Declaring 2nd Amendment Sanctuary

(Algona, IA)  —  A county in northwest Iowa is the 15th in the state to become a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary.  The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution this week.  Sheriff Roger Fisher says it shows elected officials in the county support for the U-S Constitution.  Fisher said, “so if there was ever an imposement coming upon Kossuth County from the federal government on the Second Amendment, I would not support it and that’s just because of the oath I took to uphold the Constitution.”  The Iowa Firearms Coalition says Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions at the county level do not supersede federal law, but would prevent county resources from being used to enforce gun restrictions that are at odds with the U-S Constitution.  Opponents say the resolutions are purely symbolic and carry no legal weight.