(Harlan) — A Harlan Iowa restaurant, with a Le Mars connection, has been named one of ten finalists for a statewide burger contest.
The Iowa Beef Industry Council–in conjunction with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association–has announced the top-10 restaurants for the 13th Annual Iowa’s Best Burger Contest. Among those surviving the competition is the Victoria Station restaurant in Harlan. The Victoria Station is owned by former Le Mars residents Richard & Angela Buman
Spokesperson Kylie Peterson says the contest looks to find the best uses of beef throughout the state. Peterson says restaurants like Victoria Station can feature burgers ranging from having the simplest burger or creating more innovative masterpieces. With the contest whittled down to 10, Peterson says a secret panel of judges will visit the finalists and try their burgers before announcing the winner on May 2nd to kick off May Beef Month in Iowa.
The Buman’s are no strangers to having their restaurant involved in contests. The Victoria Station was named home to the Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich by the Iowa Pork Producers Association in 2021.
BIRD FLU
There are now 14 cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the state, including two in northwest Iowa.
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says two new cases were reported Saturday, in Sac and Humboldt counties.
On Thursday, breakouts were noted in a Cherokee County commercial turkey facility and an Osceola County commercial laying chicken facility .
12 of the 14 cases are among commercial chicken or turkey facilities. Two cases involve backyard flocks.
SENTINEL SALE
The Le Mars Daily Sentinel and its shopping guide has been sold.
Rust Communications of Missouri announced Friday it sold a number of northwest Iowa newspapers and shoppers, including the Sentinel, to Hallmark II of Charles City, Iowa.
The purchase includes newspapers and shoppers in Cherokee, Storm Lake, Spencer, and Dickinson County.
Hallmark then sold the Storm Lake Paper, the Pilot-Tribune, to it’s competitor, The Storm Lake Times. The two papers will be merged.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
SD DISTRICTS
Reapportionment has led to new legislative districts, and in southeast South Dakota, that will mean a newly drawn district in the southeast corner of the state.
A new District 17 will cover southern Union county. The District will include Dakota Dunes, North Sioux City, and Elk Point.
State Senator Sydney Davis of Burbank finds he lives in the new 17th District. He previously represented the 16th. He has filed for re-election, with no other opponents filing before the deadline.
FORTENBERRY SENTENCE
A former Nebraska Congressman will be sentenced on the same day his successor is chosen in a special election.
Jeff Fortenberry resigned after he was convicted of lying about an illegal campaign contribution. He was convicted last month of concealing information, and two counts of making false statements to authorities. He faces multi-year prison terms and fines on each count.
Sentencing will be June 28. Nebraska’s Governor announced that June 28 is the day a special election to replace Fortenberry will take place.
Whoever is elected will fill the remainder of Fortenberry’s term.
MERRILL 150TH
Merrill, Iowa, will celebrate the 150th year since its founding this summer.
The event will coincide with the community’s second annual Merrill Days on Friday and Saturday, July 22 and 23.
An ice cream social, hosted by Merrill’s churches, will highlight activities on the evening of July 22nd. A parade will be take place on July 23.
There will also be a bar-be-que contest, vendor fair, car show and kids parade. It’s all topped off with a dance.
The city of Merrill has put out a call for volunteers to help with the festivities.
Naig bird flu
Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says bird flu continues to take a toll on the state’s poultry producers.
Naig says nearly 13 million poultry animals have been killed in iowa so far to try to prevent the spread of avian flu:
Naig says in the bird flu outbreak of 2015, the virus spread from facility to facility, but it appears bio-security measures at large operations are working — and officials believe this year’s round of bird flu is being spread by the spring migration of wild birds.
Naig says there’s still a steady supply of eggs, chicken and turkey in grocery stores, but it appears to be shrinking a bit.
The latest Iowa cases are at a commercial site in cherokee county with 88-thousand turkeys and at an egg-laying facility in osceola county with five-point-three million hens.
Naig made his comments on “Iowa Press on Iowa Public Television.
Kidnap Rogers
A Sioux City man is facing numerous charges including kidnapping following incidents late Saturday afternoon.
Police say they responded to a shots fired call shortly after 4 p.m. in the 1800 block of Jackson Street.
They found a vehicle with the front passenger window shot out, a bullet hole in the hood and several impact holes in the garage at 1808 Jackson.
The investigation led to 1812 Jackson where a male suspect and his girlfriend were inside. the woman was suffering from multiple injuries.
The suspect, 34-year-old Capri Rogers, was arrested and charged with 1st degree kidnapping, felon in possession of a firearm, felony domestic assault, intimidation with a dangerous weapon and reckless use of a firearm.
A shotgun and a 22 caliber revolver were found in the residence.
Rogers is being held in the Woodbury County jail on $75,000 bond.
Obed sentenced
A man who burglarized the Siouxland Federal Credit Union in the Dakota City Tyson plant in 2021 has been sentenced to prison.
22-year-old Mike Akeen Obed of the Federated States of Micronesia, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for entering a federal credit union with the intent to commit a felony.
Dakota County authorities responded to an alarm at the credit union last June 11th and found a virtual teller machine had been damaged and a piece of the ceiling in the vault room had been removed.
Law enforcement heard a sound in the ceiling and found Obed hiding there.
They also recovered a bag containing approximately $218,000 in cash, the same amount that was missing from the credit union’s safe.
USS Iowa funds (s)
Last week we told you about the U.S. Navy’s proposal to decommision the U.S.S. Sioux City along with 23 other ships.
Now, there IS a controversy brewing over the Navy wanting to use some state funds to launch the U.S.S. Iowa, a new nuclear powered submarine later this year. An Iowa Senate committee has scaled back a statehouse plan to provide 200-thousand dollars in state tax money to launch the U-S-S Iowa
Republicans on the senate appropriations committee have voted to reduce the state contribution to 150-thousand — and half of that would be withdrawn from the Iowa Veterans license plate fund.
Senator Bill Dotzler from Waterloo, says veterans groups strongly oppose the move and it taints the excitement of having a new sub named in honor of our state.
The state commander of the V-F-W says the money in that fund should be used for veterans who live in Iowa, not on a christening ceremony or Iowa-themed furnishings for a submarine.
But Senator Mark Lofgren from Muscatine, says it doesn’t seem outrageous to use some of that money for the U-S-S Iowa.
Money in the Iowa Veterans license plate fund is distributed by the Iowa Commission on Veterans Affairs.
