LE MARS CITY COUNCIL
The Le Mars City Council today passed first reading of an ordinance to amend rules concerning cemeteries in the city’s code. The amendment sets aside a veterans section at Memorial Cemetery. That section include burial of qualified military veterans, including reservists and national guard members. Three readings are required before passage.
The council also approved the purchase of a seventh police vehicle, at a cost of 64-thousand dollars. Those funds could come from American Rescue Plan Act funds. Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says the 6 fully marked police vehicles put on 160-thousand miles per year. The department is often short on patrol cars because of downtime for repairs and maintenance. A seventh vehicle would extend the life of the other vehicles. The Department is also considering the addition of a second K9, This unit will be assigned to the officer as a take home car.
The city council tabled a recommendation that the YMCA Annex Building be demolished. The building is in need of a new roof, and the YMCA stopped using the building for programs. The issue was tabled by the council on a voice vote, so that city staff could determine if the building could serve some other use.
PLYMOUTH COUNTY SUPERVISORS
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors this morning approved of a couple of projects using ARPA funds. The county had set aside two-hundred fifty thousand dollars to replace an electric generator at the courthouse, but their plans have changed some. Installation of a single switch to replace the one outside the courthouse would require closing the courthouse for three days. Instead, two independent switches will be installed…one in the basement of the courthouse annex, another in the basement of the courthouse. It will cost a bit more, but will only take one day to install. The total cost of the project is now 266-thousand dollars. The Supervisors approved the project, with the extra 16-thousand dollars paid out of the General Fund. The Supervisors also heard a request from the Marcus fire department to contribute to the cost of a grain vaccuum that is going to be purchased by the Marcus fire department, and will make available to fire departments in Plymouth and Cherokee Counties. The vaccuum is to be used in case of grain bin rescues. The cost of the vaccuum is some 50 to 60-thousand dollars. Cherokee County’s Supervisors have contributed 20-thousand to the purchase, and
other firms are being approached to help pay for the equipment. Plymouith County’s Supervisors approved a 5-thousand dollars contribution to the grain vaccuum.
GOVERNOR DEBATE
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear outlined diverging paths on taxes, abortion and carbon pipelines during their debate last night on Iowa P-B-S. Reynolds said eminent domain should be a last resort for pipelines that would ship carbon out of Iowa ethanol plants and she supports current rules for how developers may get authority to seize property along the pipeline routes from unwilling landowners.
DeJear said she opposes the use of eminent domain for the pipelines.
DeJear called the individual income tax cuts Reynolds signed into law in March shortsighed.
The two candidates had an extended and sometimes tense discussion about abortion. Reynolds declined to say whether she’d seek new restrictions beyond the 2018 law to ban abortions after about the sixth week of pregnancy, a law that’s in limbo due to a lawsuit.
DeJear said Roe v Wade had provided reasonable restrictions with exceptions and that policy should become Iowa law.
DeJear said. DeJear said politicians shouldn’t inject themselves in conversations women have with doctors about a pregnancy.
The hour-long debate was the only face-to-face meeting between Reynolds and DeJear before the November 8th General Election. A debate tonight (Tuesday) between Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson and Liz Mathis, the Democratic challenger in Iowa’s second congressional district, has been cancelled. Hinson was admitted to a Cedar Rapids hospital on Sunday night for treatment of a kidney infection. Monday night, her chief of staff says Hinson is feeling better, but was still in the hospital undergoing treatment.
FATAL CRASH
There was a fatal crash between a car and a semi Monday morning in Sioux County. The Iowa State Patrol says a head-on collision occurred between a car and a semi on US Highway 18 and Marsh Ave. west of Sheldon. A car driven by 17 year old Manuel Garcia Calachij of Worthington, Minnesota, veered across the centerline and struck a semi pulling a grain trailer. The semi and trailer jackknifed across US 18, blocking both lanes of traffic. The four occupants of the car were from Worthington. They had to be extricated from the wreckage. One passenger, 44 year old Samuel Garcia Ruiz, died from injuries suffered in the crash. He was not wearing a seatbelt. The others, all 17 year old juveniles, were taken to Sheldon hospital for treatment. The driver was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. The other two passengers, a male and a female, had serious injuries. The driver of the semi, 54 year old Kris Marra of Sioux Center, was not seriously injured.
WALKAWAY
Authorities are looking for a man who walked away from a residential treatment facility. Nevitt Joseph Taylor, convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other crimes in Woodbury County, failed to report back to the Sioux City Residential Treatment Facility as required Sunday..
Taylor is a 21-year-old Native American male, height 5’8″, and weighs 230 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on October 10, 2022.
Persons with information on Taylor’s whereabouts should contact local police.
DROUGHT EXPANDS
The Iowa Drought Monitor now rates the entire state as either abnormally dry or in some level of drought. At this time last year, three-fourths of the state was abnormally dry. Dennis Todey (TAH-dee) — director of the Midwest Climate Hub in Ames — says relief isn’t likely any time soon.
Extreme drought conditions are expanding in northwest Iowa, with a sliver of Woodbury County rated in exceptional drought – the most severe classification. More than half of the state is classified under moderate drought. Todey says that these conditions come with fire risks.
Most of northwest Iowa, including Plymouth County, is under an open burning ban. It’s been nine years since drought conditions were this severe in Iowa.
CONGRESSWOMAN HOSPITALIZED
Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion has been hospitalized for treatment of a kidney infection. Jimmy Peacock, Hinson’s chief of staff, released a statement announcing Hinson was admitted to a Cedar Rapids hospital Sunday evening. Peacock said Hinson appreciates all of the prayers and well wishes and is looking forward to being back on the road soon, but did not give a time frame for her doctor’ treatment plan. Hinson, who is 39, was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020 and is running for reelection in Iowa’s new second congressional district. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s second congressional district, said she’s sorry to learn of Hinson’s hospitalization and is wishing her a speedy recovery from her illness. Tomorrow night’s debate between the two candidates on Iowa P-B-S has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
WAGE THEFT
A new study suggests Iowa workers are underpaid by at least 900 million dollars a year. Common Good Iowa, the group issuing the report, calls that wage theft. Sean Finn, the report’s author, says an estimated 250-thousand Iowans are impacted. By his calculation that means one in every seven workers is losing out on three-hundred dollars in pay per week. Finn describes wage theft as when workers are not paid the overtime they’re owed or their employers fails to follow minimum wage laws. Other full-time workers are misclassified as a independent contractor. Finn says these moves impact responsible businesses that lose out on contracts or have to compete with a retailer charging less for goods because they’re paying employees less than they’re owed.
