Rescue Units Respond To One-Vehicle Accident
(Le Mars) — Emergency rescue units responded to a one-vehicle roll-over accident that occurred Thursday evening at approximately 7:10 p.m. The accident happened on Lake Avenue at about 165th Street, nearly two miles northwest of Le Mars. According to Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputies on the scene, they say the driver and passenger informed them that apparently a deer had crossed the path of the vehicle, and when the driver hit the deer, the driver had lost control of the vehicle on the gravel road and ended up on the west side of the road in the ditch. The vehicle had rolled once and ended up on its wheels. Airbags had deployed inside the vehicle. The accident victims had suffered only minor injuries, and refused transport to the Floyd Valley Healthcare at Le Mars. Responding to the accident were the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department, Le Mars Police, and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office.
Pheasants Forever Banquet Scheduled For Saturday Evening
(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.
Iowa State University Extension And Outreach To Host 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.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Auxiliary To Offer Scholarships
(Le Mars) — The Floyd Valley Auxiliary will be awarding two “tuition only” $1,000.00 scholarships to area students this spring. To be eligible, the applicant must be a resident of the Floyd Valley Healthcare service area, accepted at an accredited school and pursuing a health-related career (including pre-med, nursing, technologist, therapist and medical records professionals).
Interested students may obtain the necessary application form with complete qualifying information from their high school guidance counselor, pick up at Auxiliary gift shop, or print copy off on-line at FloydValley.org under the Auxiliary. Applications and support information must be returned to Diane Dreckman, by April 2, 2022; instructions are on the form.
“The Auxiliary Board has designated these two scholarships to be awarded to residents in the Floyd Valley Healthcare service area. Applicants may either be a high school graduate or an adult returning to school. We are excited to be able to provide these scholarships to students pursuing healthcare degrees.” stated Auxiliary Scholarship Co-Chairs Diane Dreckman and Vicki Dixon.
Senator Ernst Wants To Send Military Hardware 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.
Governor Signs Bill Banning Transgender Athletes From Girls’-Women’s Sports
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports in Iowa. The legislation just passed the Iowa Senate Wednesday. Reynolds had started advocating for the move last April. It goes into effect immediately. Athletes who were identified on their birth certificates as male must be kicked off sports teams Thursday. Opponents say the law is discriminatory and targets a group of people who already face isolation and bullying.
Man Accused Of Killing Iowa State Patrol Trooper Goes On Trial In May
(Webster City, IA) — The 42-year-old man accused of killing Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith will go on trial in May. Michael Lang is charged with shooting Smith to death during a confrontation at Lang’s home in Grundy Center last year. Lang is charged with murder, attempted murder, and assaulting a police officer. His trial has been moved to Hamilton County District Court in Webster City by a change of venue order. Smith was a 27-year member of the Iowa State Patrol when he was killed.
Victim’s Daughter Worries Driver Accused In Crash That Killed Her Is Avoiding Trial
(Des Moines, IA) — A man accused of causing a double-fatal crash in Des Moines last year has stopped showing up for hearings in the case. An arrest warrant has been issued for 29-year-old Quntonio Herron. Fifty-one-year-old Jerry Coles and 47-year-old Kristy Hyde died in the May accident involving two motorcycles and a vehicle. Herron was arrested three days later, posted bail, and attended some hearings – then quit showing up. Hyde’s daughter says the trial was supposed to be held this month but now it isn’t clear when that will happen. Herron faces several charges including homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.
Illinois Businessman Admits Ripping Off Iowa Hospital
(Chicago, IL) — A 45-year-old suburban Chicago man will be sentenced in May for stealing two-and-a-half-million dollars from an Iowa hospital. Dennis W. Haggerty Junior pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge earlier this week. Haggerty and two partners formed a company called At Diagnostics in March 2020. They reached a deal with the Iowa hospital to sell it a half-million N-95 respirator masks – then never delivered. Investigators say Haggerty admitted spending part of the money for his own personal benefit – including buying three high-end vehicles and paying almost 189-thousand dollars in credit card bills.
Consultant Hired to Study Expanding US 30 to Four Lanes
(Davenport, IA) — A coalition of Iowa cities along U-S Highway 30 has hired a consultant to study the economic impact of widening the highway to four lanes in congested areas. The U-S Highway 30 Coalition is hoping a study of traffic flow from DeWitt to the edge of Cedar Rapids and from Ogden to Carroll could convince state officials to add lanes in those areas. Andy Sokolovich (so-KO-lo-vitch), interim C-E-O of the Clinton Regional Development Corporation, says there’s a lot of truck traffic between Clinton and Cedar Rapids and additional lanes makes sense. Communities in northern Iowa lobbied for years to make Highway 20 a four-lane expressway from Sioux City to Dubuque. The first four-lane stretch of Highway 20 was completed in 1958 and in 2018 — 60 years later — the project was done.
Iowa Business Council Praises Signing of Tax Cuts
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Business Council has released its Competitive Dashboard for 2022, perspectives from executives at Iowa’s 22 largest companies on how the state is competing in the national marketplace. It shows economic growth remaining mostly steady but points out that the state’s population growth does not meet businesses’ needs for growth. Council chairman Tim Yaggi (YAY-ghee), president and C-E-O of Pella Corporation, applauds state lawmakers and the governor for the latest tax reforms, which he says should make Iowa a “much more attractive” place to potentially relocate businesses and attract new talent. On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill which will flatten Iowa’s personal income tax rate to three-point-nine percent by 2026.
