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News for Friday, October 28

HOUSING PROJECT

The company that restored Sioux City’s downtown Warrior Hotel has been honored for that project and announced plans for a new downtown housing project.
Amrit Gill of Restoration St Louis says his company will expand the one story building at 614 Pierce St. into a new multifamily apartment building called the Warrior Lofts.

Those 32 united will consist of 24 studio units, four 1-bedroom units and four 2-bedroom units. Most of them will feature balconies on the 2nd and 3rd floors, along with a leasing office on the ground floor. The 2nd floor will have a sundeck and communal grill and residents will also have access to the Warrior Hotel amenities such as the pool, bowling alley and restaurants.

Gill says a groundbreaking will take place in late March or early April, and he hopes to have the project completed within a year after that.
Gill and his wife Amy received the Growing Sioux City Award, acknowledging the company’s investment in downtown Sioux City.

Restoration St Louis has invested $77.5 million in downtown Sioux City, to rehabilitate the Warrior Hotel and Davidson Buildings.
A new tree will also be planted to signify the company’s commitment towards the growth of Sioux City.

 

PARKING ORDINANCE

You know winter is coming when Le Mars invokes its parking ordinance. The city’s police and street departments are reminding residents that the Odd/Even Parking ordinance will be in effect from next Tuesday, November 1, to April first. On street parking will alternate each day, depending on your street number. The daily switch occurs at 6 pm each evening. The alternate parking rules are intended to aid street crews during snow removal.

WALDORF OWNERSHIP

The ownership of Waldorf University in Forest City may change before the end of the year. A family-owned company in Alabama called Columbia Southern Educational Group bought Waldorf in 2010 and converted it into a for-profit institution. However, plans are in the works to transition the ownership to the Waldorf Lutheran College Foundation. The change is expected to take place in December. Waldorf University President Robert Alsop says the current owners initiated the change.

The foundation has been supporting the university for the past 15 years by providing scholarships for students and sponsoring other activities.

Alsop says students shouldn’t see any changes in university operations after the ownership change is made.

Alsop is hopeful the closing date on the sale will be in the first week of December.

Alsop expects enrollment growth after the change.

Waldorf was founded in 1903. Its current enrollment is around 45-hundred students.

 

DOT TRUCKS

Snow is not in the forecast — but several big orange D-O-T trucks have been out on the highway with their sprayers going. D-O-T winter operations director, Craig Bargfrede says they are spraying plain water, not salt brine.

He says all of the trucks are outfitted with a G-P-S system that is connected to the spreader controllers.

Bargfrede says most of the treatment they do now is a salt brine.  They may sometimes put down some wet salt,  but only for certain conditions. Bargfrede says they have developed a guide for the plow drivers for setting the material that is deployed.

He says they started earlier this month to get everything ready for when there’s actual winter weather.

Bargfrede says.  Bargfrede says there is some early indication they may be busy.

Bargfrede says they will have the equipment ready — whatever Mother Nature throws their way.

 

TRUMPETER SWAN NESTS

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has identified a record number of trumpeter swan nests. The agency reintroduced the species in Iowa in 1993 — 139 years after the last wild trumpeter swan nest was found near Belmond. D-N-R waterfowl biologist Orrin Jones says the population has been slowly recovering over the past three decades. The latest count indicates there are at least 135 pairs of adult nesting swans in Iowa. Jones says the birds nest in wetland areas, especially in the so-called Prairie Pothole region of north central and northwest Iowa.

 

DEMONSTRATION FARM

John Deere is partnering with Iowa State University to create a demonstration farm near the Ames campus to field-test ag equipment and various farming practices in real-world conditions. Senior Deere engineer, Andy Greenlee, says the 80-acre tract is divided into eight fields where they’ll test sustainable solutions for corn and bean production systems. Greenlee says the farm is designed to give Deere the same uncertainties and challenges as its customers, so they can test and identify which methods work — and which don’t.  The farm is being run by a combination of Deere employees and I-S-U faculty and staff who are using an array of John Deere equipment.

 

ACCESSIBLE PARK

Ground was broken Wednesday on what is hoped to be the most universally accessible park in the country.  The park is on the north shore of Easter Lake in Polk County. Polk County Conservation director, Richard Leopold, says the idea came as they discussed ways to improve the area and address the needs of veterans, and expanded to include all those with some type of disability. The Iowa Economic Development Authority provided two-and-a-half million dollars for the eight-point-one million dollar project  The park should be completed in the spring of 2024.

 

TREAT PRICES

Some Iowans will leave their porch lights off to keep the trick-or-treaters away this season because candy prices are, in a word, scary. Anne Villamil (VIL-ah-mil), an economics professor at the University of Iowa, says the latest Consumer Price Index report shows candy prices are up 13-percent from last Halloween, well above the inflation rate of about eight-percent, which is a 40-year high. Labor costs are up, as are input costs, things like sugar, milk and flour, and she says “elasticity” is also playing a significant role in candy costs, basically what a consumer is willing to pay. People are expected to spend about 100 dollars on average this Halloween, including candy, costumes and decorations.