Clark Elementary Teacher Associate Honored With School District’s “Employee of the Month” Award
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Community School District honored a teacher’s associate Tuesday morning as being the latest “Employee of the Month” recipient. Jen Rosener is in her fourth year as a Special Education Para Professional at Clark Elementary school. Janelle Bixenman with the Le Mars School District Foundation read the nomination that was submitted by several people. Rosener’s family gathered for the award ceremony. She was accompanied by her husband, Matthew, a teacher at Franklin Elementary, and their four daughters. Her son was in Moorehead, Minnesota, but was viewing the program through Facebook video streaming. Lyn Candor, Sue Irwin, Deb Anthony, Molly Beauchene, Katie Pick and Principal Neil Utetsch all submitted the nomination. Portions of the nomination reads: “Excellent addition to Clark. Always willing to pitch in where needed, and brings a smile each day with her during her work.” Other comments include: “She goes above and beyond to make our students day wonderful. She has been a huge asset to our school. She is patient and flexible, and wants our students to achieve success.” Our congratulations go to Jen Rosener for being named the Le Mars Community School District “Employee of the Month.”
Election Day Voting Will Take Place At Usual Polling Locations
(Le Mars) — Election day is scheduled for next Tuesday, and Plymouth County Auditor, Stacey Feldman, says people will vote at their usual polling location. For all Le Mars residents, voting will take place at the lower level of the Le Mars Convention Center on Tuesday. Voters will report to their respective precinct and tell of their address, and a ballot will be then given to the voters. The ballots will reflect the appropriate city council and mayor elections, as well as the appropriate school board elections. For rural residents, the ballot will only feature the respective school board elections.
Total Motors To Again Host Pumpkin Races
(Le Mars) — Several activities are being planned for this coming Saturday with the All Saints Parish celebration, the Chamber of Commerce Trick and Treat event, and later in the evening Remsen’s annual Octoberfest celebration. However, the busy day will begin with pumpkin races to be held at Total Motors in Le Mars. Mitch Christoffel of Total Motors says this will mark the fourth year for the popular Halloween holiday event.
Christoffel says the races will be divided based on the participating children’s ages. He suggests that participants pre-register.
Christoffel says the pumpkin races are free to all participants. He says there are some specific set of instructions that are available.
The pumpkin races will start at 9:00 a.m. but Christoffel asks contestants to arrive by 8:30 a.m. in order to complete registration. There will be other games available during the pumpkin races.
Funeral For Iowa State Trooper in Waukon
(Waukon, IA) –– The funeral for Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ted Benda is today (Wednesday) at 11:00 a-m at the Waukon High School. Benda’s squad car crashed on October 14th as he was on his way to assist the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office with a wanted suspect. He died six days later in the hospital. Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson spoke about Benda’s death on the floor of the U-S House Tuesday. Hinson said “This is a devastating loss of a father, husband, son, friend, mentor, and dedicated public servant who made it his life’s mission to keep his community safe in Iowa.”
Officials Seeking $771K For New Windows at UI Children’s Hospital
(Iowa City, IA) — The University of Iowa will ask the Board of Regents to approve thousands of dollars in emergency spending for the windows at the U-I Children’s Hospital. The U-I is asking for approval to spend 771-thousand dollars with an Iowa City company which is applying safety film to various windows of the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The school says the film needs to be applied to 77 windows that are experiencing delamination as a safety precaution. The hospital was been plagued by cost overruns and construction issues when it was built.
Clarion Working on Sister City Agreement With Kosovo
(Clarion, IA) — The Wright County community of Clarion is in the process of becoming a sister city to a community in the southeastern European nation of Kosovo. Clarion Mayor Duane Asbe (AS-be) says the agreement was passed last week by the city council. While Clarion is the county seat, it’s a rural community of only 28-hundred. Asbe is hoping officials in Kosovo will match them up with a similar-sized town. Kosovo’s minister of agriculture visited Clarion this past summer. The name of the sister city will be announced at a later date. A delegation of Iowans plans to visit Kosovo next spring.
Winnebago Industries Plans to Achieve Net-Zero Greenhouse Emissions by 2050
(Forest City, IA) — Forest City-based Winnebago Industries is setting a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century. C-E-O Michael Happe (HAP’-ee) says the company is making the pledge through a campaign led by the Science-Based Targets Initiative. Happe says the company which makes campers and trailers has goals that include: zero waste to landfills, with 90 percent diversion of waste by 2030; net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Winnebago Industries last week reported a record fiscal year with a profit of almost 282 million dollars.
Judge Rules Against Limits On Deere Strikers In Ankeny
(Ankeny, IA) — A ruling by a Polk County judge today (Tuesday) says John Deere has failed to prove the striking U-A-W workers have engaged in unlawful activity at the Des Moines Works plant in Ankeny. The judge denied Deere’s request to limit the actions of strikers. This ruling comes after a Scott County district court judge granted a preliminary injunction that bars striking workers outside John Deere’s Davenport Works from having chairs or fires in barrels and no more than four may be positioned at entry gates.
Grassley Talks With GE About Buying Blades
(Washington, DC) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s “pleaded” with General Electric to reconsider plans to buy wind turbine blades from a company in Denmark instead of its long-time partner in Iowa. G-E’s plan to shift production overseas has resulted in T-P-I Composites of Newton announcing the plant’s shutdown in December, eliminating more than 700 jobs. Grassley says G-E listened to his case said they would look into it — but gave no guarantees. G-E bought a Denmark-based wind turbine blade maker in 2017 and has placed no orders with T-P-I for 2022.
FOI Leader Hopes Legislature Will Act On Ruling On Doctor Information
(Des Moines, IA) — The leader of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council is hoping the Iowa Legislature takes action after a recent Iowa Supreme Court said the state Board of Medical Examiners could not release preliminary information on the investigations of complaints of doctors. F-O-I executive director, Randy Evans, says there are some 600 accusations each year against the 66-hundred physicians in the state — and only 25 to 30 cases end up with disciplinary charges. He says that indicates the medical board and its staff of investigators are doing a pretty thorough job of vetting the accusations to ensure they are not simply someone who dislikes a particular physician, or that has a vendetta. Evans says the F-O-I Council supports the legislature looking at the issue and he says it’s likely the medical board will pursue action with the legislature.
Book Says Suspect in Villisca Ax Murders May’ve Been Overlooked
(Ames, IA) — A true-crime book argues the infamous 1912 ax murders in the southwest Iowa town of Villisca were committed by a previously overlooked serial killer. Rachel McCarthy James, who co-wrote the book with her father, Bill James, says they did extensive research into dozens of similar slayings, all around the turn of the last century and found other crimes that are very similar. James says it’s possible one man committed dozens of murders over several years in multiple states. His name was Paul Mueller and he was connected to the slaying of a family in Massachusetts in 1897. The authors of the book will give a lecture in Ames today (Wednesday) at 7 P-M at Iowa State University’s Memorial Union Great Hall.
