Firefighters Had A Busy Weekend Responding To Fires
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department had a busy weekend, answering several calls that occurred on Saturday. Firefighters responded to 53 Highland Drive, on the west edge of town for a car that had caught on fire. The car was parked on a driveway near a garage, and firefighters had to push the burning car away from the garage so it wouldn’t catch the structure on fire. The engine had caught on fire. Firefighters were at the scene for approximately a half an hour. The vehicle fire was reported at about 2:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Firefighters were also called to a leaf pile that was set on fire Saturday afternoon. Firefighters quickly extinguished that fire. Then at approximately 4:55 p.m. firefighters responded to a home located on the 500 block of 13th Street south that was filled with smoke. Apparently, an item was placed in the microwave oven that had caught on fire and quickly filled the home with smoke. Firefighters were able to use fans to help ventilate the smoke from the home. They were at the scene for approximately half an hour.
(vehicle fire photo contributed.)
Plymouth County Historical Museum To Feature “Ethnic Food Fair”
(Le Mars) — Anyone wishing to sample flavors of the world will be in luck at the Ethnic Food Fair offered by the Plymouth County Historical Museum on Sunday, November 14th. The event is scheduled to begin at the “Old Central Gym” starting at 2:00 p.m. Judy Stokesberry, a museum board member from Remsen, will open the afternoon program in the museum’s Music Room with a sequel to her first program in March: “Where in the world is Luxembourg?” Stokesberry traveled to Luxembourg in September, and will present the program, “Reconnecting: Now I Know Where Luxembourg Is.” Following the program, participants may attend the Ethnic Food Fair in the gym from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. This year’s confirmed ethnic food fair offerings include:
Two Dutch booths featuring Deb Krienert and Eva Mouw.
Two German booths with Angel Anderson and Judy Bowman.
Marge Dull will feature Italian food.
There will be three offerings from Luxembourg with Ethel Heidisch, Jean Nilles, and Judy Stokesberry.
Elizabeth Gorcznski will serve a Polish dish, and Elizabeth Makuei will feature a Sudanese food item.
More ethnic dishes are expected by the event scheduled for November 14th.
The Ethnic Food Fair is the continuation of the Museum’s 2020 program year, “Cultures and Cuisine” which was interrupted by the pandemic. Food from only two countries was shared in 2020 before the pandemic closed the Museum. In January, the focus was on Chinese foods, and February featured Mexican foods.
Former Director Of Iowa Department Of Human Services Dies
(Des Moines, IA) –– A two-time former director of the Iowa Department of Human Services has died. The announcement of the death of Charles Palmer was made Sunday. Palmer was chosen to head the massive state agency twice by former Governor Terry Branstad. He served as D-H-S director from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2011 until his retirement in 2017. Before those years, Palmer served as administrator of the Division of Mental Health. Current D-H-S Director Kelly Garcia remembered him as “a great public servant, leader, and friend.”
Vigil Held For Murdered Fairfield Spanish Teacher Nohema Graber
(Fairfield, IA) — Several hundred people gathered outside the Fairfield high school gym Friday to remember Nohema Graber (no-AY-muh GRAY-ber). The 66-year-old Spanish teacher’s body was found Wednesday in a park. Police arrested two 16-year-old Fairfield High students — Willard Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale — on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder in Graber’s death. They are charged as adults — and there have been few answers about why they may have killed Graber. They are scheduled to have court hearings on the 12th.
Chair Of Iowa City Ad Hoc Truth And Reconciliation Commission Arrested
(Iowa City, IA) — Iowa City police issued a statement after the chair of the Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission was arrested shortly after the group’s meeting Thursday. An Iowa City Police officer noticed Commission chair Mohamed Traore and knew he had an active warrant for his arrest related to a 2019 second offense operating while intoxicated charge. The city notes the officers acted in accordance with the law — but acknowledged “this situation could have been addressed in a more private manner removed from the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission meeting.” The commission’s website says the city council established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission “to bear witness to the truth of racial injustice in Iowa City and to carry out restorative justice, through the collection of testimony and public hearings.”
Iowa Congresswoman Says Infrastructure Bill Could Create 770K Jobs By 2025
(Washington, DC) — Democrat U-S Representative Cindy Axne is touting the infrastructure bill saying it is projected to create more than 770-thousand jobs by 2025. Axne says thousands of those jobs would be created in Iowa. Republican Representative Ashley Hinson says there would have been wide, bipartisan support in Congress for a package that responsibly invested in infrastructure and respected taxpayers. But she says this one-point-two trillion dollar bill was tacked onto the multi-trillion budget reconciliation package amid an inflation crisis caused by massive overspending in the first place.
