Supervisors To Canvas School Votes
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will get started with their meeting this morning at 9:30 from the County Courthouse Board Room. The county governing board will canvas the recent votes held at the Remsen-Union school district as well as the Akron-Westfield special school vote. The board of supervisors will hear from Dolf Ivener as he will appear to discuss graveling Elk Avenue. Surveyor, Al Fagan will appear before the county board to seek approval of Crooked Fence, a subdivision located in Hancock Township. Scholtfeldt Engineering will also appear before the county board of supervisors seeking approval of a subdivision within Boever Addition within Remsen Township. County Engineer Tom Rohe will appear before the supervisors to submit construction permits for Southern Sioux Water Association for Johnson Township and Portland Township. Rohe will also discuss with the county board some culvert installation projects.
Pheasants Forever Raise $45,000
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Pheasants Forever raised $45,000 during the auctions held Saturday evening as part of their annual banquet. President Bob Puetz says he and the Pheasants Forever board of directors are most appreciative of the support from the community for the local Pheasants Forever chapter. During the annual banquet, Pheasants Forever presented the Service To Wildlife Award to Dave Klohs. Klohs was not able to be present to accept the honor, but in his place, were some of his family members that accepted the honor on behalf of Klohs. The Service to Youth Award was presented to Keith and Jen Copenhaver, and the Pheasants Forever scholarship was given to Jaelyn Riemenscheider of Kingsley.
One Dead After Shooting Outside Des Moines High School
(Des Moines, IA) — Des Moines police say they have a possible suspect in custody after a 15-year-old boy was shot and died outside of East High School. Police say he was not a student at the school, and no charges have been filed. Two teenage female East High students were also shot and are in a critical condition at local hospitals. Des Moines police say the shots appeared to have come from a passing car.
Law Changing Insurance Appraisals Raises Concern
(Des Moines, IA) — Appraisers and the insurance industry disagree about a bill that would adjust some rules for the evaluation of damaged property in Iowa. The Iowa House has unanimously approved the changes, but the bill is in limbo in the Senate. The bill would change the current process that lets a property owner ask a neutral umpire to resolve a dispute over insurance claims when appraisers for the insurance company and the property owner do not agree. The insurance industry’s lobbyist says that option will remain, but appraisers will no longer be able to judge what caused the damage if the bill becomes law.
Requests For Low Income Heating Assistance Increase
(Des Moines, IA) — The program planner for Iowa’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP (LY-heep), says he’s seen about a 20-percent increase in applications from last winter. Bill Marquess (mar-QWESS) says higher natural gas prices, along with colder temperatures, have hit those already struggling and facing financial hardships. He says new federal funding has allowed them to issue supplemental payments of 40 percent of what the first payment was. He says they also have financial assistance for crises, like when a furnace needs to be replaced.
Bill Would License Midwives in Iowa
(Des Moines, IA) — Thirty-seven states license midwives and, if a bill that cleared the Iowa House becomes law, Iowa would join that group. Bethany Gates of Vinton is a certified professional midwife, one of about a dozen working in Iowa. She says midwives are leaving Iowa because there are a lot more states that offer licensure, allowing them to practice within their “full scope” – which would include administering certain medications and ordering ultrasounds and lab work. A recent study found mothers and babies in states which have integrated midwives into the health care system had better outcomes compared to the states that strongly restrict midwifery. Iowa’s major medical groups have opposed similar legislation in the past.
National Weather Service: Winterset Tornado was EF-4, On Ground For 70 Miles
(Winterset, IA) — The National Weather Service now says the tornado that hit Winterset Saturday was an E-F-4 and it was on the ground for almost 70 miles. Four tornadoes ripped through Iowa over the weekend, killing seven people, and damaging dozens of structures. The Winterset tornado is the first E-F-4 in Iowa since 2013 and its path is the second longest in the state in the last 42 years. Recovery efforts are being slowed in some areas because there were four-to-five inches of snow on the ground that fell late Sunday and into Monday.
Second Case Of Bird Flu Identified
(Buena Vista County, IA) — A second outbreak of the bird flu has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in northwest Iowa’s Buena Vista County. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig (Like egg), says all 50-thousand birds were destroyed. The disease was first discovered in a backyard flock of chickens and ducks in southwest Iowa’s Pottawattamie County last week. Naig says they are better prepared than they were for the bird flu outbreak in 2015 which cost Iowa poultry producers one billion dollars and saw thousands of birds destroyed. A six-mile quarantine area has been set up around the farm.
Farm Groups’ Opposition Delays New Iowa Rules On Livestock Care
(Des Moines, IA) — Opposition from farm groups has delayed the implementation of new Iowa rules on livestock care. The new rule would have required veterinarians to examine animals that they are prescribing drugs for – or, at least visit the site where the animals are being raised once a year. The new rules were supposed to go into effect April 1st. Now, the Legislature’s Administration Rules Review Committee has voted to delay implementation for 70 days.
Passengers Held On Plane From North Carolina For 2 Hours After Landing
(Des Moines, IA) — Passengers on a plane from North Carolina say they were not allowed to get off for two hours after landing at Des Moines International Airport. W-H-O Television reports the plane from Charlotte touched down at 12:30 a-m Monday. An overnight snowfall was blamed for the delay. Passengers were getting frustrated saying their families were sitting in cars on a cold winter night while all were “held hostage by this ground crew.” Another passenger offered praise for staff members who passed out food and drink and helped those stuck on the plane get comfortable.
