Pheasants Forever Banquet Scheduled For Saturday At Fairgrounds
(Le Mars) — Saturday, the Plymouth County chapter of Pheasants Forever will hold its annual banquet. That banquet will be held at the Century Hall at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. Bob Puetz is the president of the local chapter of Pheasants Forever. He says doors will open at 5:00 p.m. and he explains what will take place during this year’s banquet.
Plymouth County Pheasants Forever has traditionally been an active chapter, and has been recognized nationally for its achievements and projects. Puetz says that is again the case for this year. He says the Plymouth County Pheasants Forever has been securing habitat for wildlife, as well as provide an area for hunting.
Puetz continues to tell of the many other activities involving the Plymouth County Pheasants Forever.
Puetz says local Pheasants Forever officials will discuss the national recognition during the annual banquet. Each year, the Pheasants Forever holds both a silent and live auctions as part of their fund raising activities. This year, according to Puetz, as has been the case in past years, there will be raffles for shotguns, and rifles, and an array of artwork will be auctioned. Puetz says there will also be several vacation excursions that will be up for auction.
Tickets for the Pheasants Forever banquet are selling at $60 for members and $20 for the spouse. The Pheasants Forever president says social hour will begin at 5:00 p.m. with the dinner to begin at 6:00 p.m. and the auction to start at around 7:00 p.m.
(pheasant photos courtesy of Don Poggensee.)
Iowa State University Extension And Outreach To Hold Soil Fertility Workshop
(Le Mars) — With the high price of commercial fertilizer, and in some instances as much as a 300 percent increase over last year, farmers are wanting to review their options and to maximize their soil fertility costs. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will be hosting a soil fertility workshop scheduled for March 17th at the Le Mars Convention Center. Joel DeJong, crops specialist for northwest Iowa will lead that seminar.
DeJong continues to explain what will be covered during the soil fertility workshop.
The Iowa State University agronomist says fortunately, many farmers were able to complete their fertilizer applications before the price hike. However, DeJong believes it may be some time, before the price of commercial fertilizer will come back down, and he wants farmers to be thinking about the future. DeJong suggests farmers to bring their calculators as the workshop will be a “hands-on” program.
Interested farmers will need to contact the Plymouth County Extension offices at (712) 546-7835.
”Cashless” Sports Betting Heads to Iowa Senate
(Des Moines, IA) — Casinos in Iowa would be able to offer its customers “cashless” wagering on sporting events under a bill on its way to the State Senate. The House passed the bill 71-to-28 on Wednesday. If it becomes law, casino customers with digital wallets on their smartphones would be able to place bets on all sorts of sporting events, including e-sports events where the contestants are playing video games against each other. Wagering on such events as the N-F-L draft would also be allowed. Representative Chris Hall, a Democrat, says he’s supported Iowa’s gambling industry in the past — including the casino in his hometown of Sioux City — but cashless wagering may be a step too far after the explosion of sports betting. He voted “no.”
Additional Western Iowa Counties Impose Burn Bans
(Shenandoah, IA) — Emergency management officials in western Iowa are reminding residents that open burning is currently banned in Pottawattamie County. Fire fighters in the area had to put out six different outdoor fires on Monday. Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Specialist Michell Bose says 12 of the 15 departments in the county were dispatched and deputies from the sheriff’s office and county conservation officers had to assist. Bose says conditions are so dry that fires can get out of control very quickly. The State Fire Marshal’s Office shows open burning is currently banned in nine Iowa counties.
(HERE’S the list: Plymouth, Woodbury, Monona, Crawford, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Mills, Warren, Clarke)
State Archery Tournament Set for This Weekend
(Des Moines, IA) –– Basketball isn’t the only sport with its state finals in Des Moines this week. The National Archery in the Schools Program is holding its state-level tournament Saturday and Sunday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Zach Benttine (BEN-teen), the Iowa D-N-R’s archery coordinator, says hundreds of students from all corners of the state will be taking part in what’s now the largest youth archery tournament in Iowa. There’s around 18-hundred competitors for bullseye and 660 for 3-D. Benttine says some kids will participate in both but they’re factoring about 21-hundred different archers will be competing and representing about 110 schools. Almost 20-thousand dollars in scholarships and prize money will be given out.
(photo contributed.)
Bettendorf Man Gets 50 Years for Child Pornography
(Davenport, IA) — A federal judge has sentenced an eastern Iowa man to 50 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography. According to a news release from the U-S Attorney’s Office, 37-year-old Justin Treanton of Bettendorf was caught when he sent disturbing images to an undercover policeman in New Zealand. Court records indicate the material depicted Treanton sexually abusing a four-year-old child he was babysitting. Federal prosecutors say a warrant led to a search of Treanton’s cell phone where other images of child pornography involving infants and toddlers was found. Treanton was initially charged in state court, but that sex abuse charge was dropped after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the fall of 2020.
Senator Ernst Asks Administration To Approve Sending Unused U-S Military Hardware And Arms To Ukraine
(Washington) — Republican U-S Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa is encouraging the Biden Administration to approve a measure in which unused U-S military arms and hardware from the war at Iraq and Afghanistan be shipped to Ukraine to be used against the Russian invasion. Ernst spoke of her idea on the Senate floor Thursday.
Ernst says the equipment can and should be moved to the Ukraine people post haste.
Ernst claims the Biden Administration, in their efforts for appeasement, have given more military arms to the Taliban than to our ally nation of Ukraine. The Iowa senator says each senator took an oath to protect the United States, as well as our allies.
Ernst says the oath dictates the Senate is to stand for freedom around the world. She says the United States should take immediate action to assist the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion.
