Home News KLEM News for Saturday, November 26

KLEM News for Saturday, November 26

HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS

Le Mars celebrates a Hometown Christmas today.  Margaret Catton, speaking on the What Now program, says a host of activities take place this morning.

There are several new events this season.

And there’s plenty of things for kids and their parents to do.

The day closes out with an evening concert.

Hometown Christmas actually began last night, with a movie screened at Total Motors, the site of the old Le Mars Drive-in Theatre.  To find a complete list of activities for today, check the front page of the KLEM website.

 

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

Locally-owned merchants across Iowa are hoping for a big boost today. Jayne Armstrong, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office, says Small Business Saturday is a crucial day for the state’s consumers to “Be Loyal, Buy Local.”

If you’d like to support Iowa’s wealth of merchants who are outside of your immediate area, dozens of businesses are now offering their wares at shop-iowa-dot-com, which Armstrong says makes it easy to patronize even more hometown heroes in -other- Iowa towns.

The website covers a wide array of goods, including artwork, furniture, food, toys, t-shirts, beauty care products, jewelry and more, all crafted in the Hawkeye State.

 

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Carroll County Attorney John Werden is urging congress to approve spending on youth programs designed to support at-risk kids and, hopefully, keep them out of the criminal justice system when they’re adults. Werden is on the executive board of a non-partisan group representing sheriffs, chiefs of police and prosecutors from all 50 states. The group “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids” was formed in 1996. Wergen and other leaders of the group were recently in Washington, D.C. to lobby for increased funding of a federal program that provides home visits for new parents in high-risk areas. Under current funding levels, Werden says only three percent of the households that qualify for the program are getting at home visits. The group is also asking congress to reauthorize another program that provides federal funding for state facilitiies that house juveniles who’ve been arrested and charged with a crime. At the local level, members of the group focus on combating truancy.

 

RACING STUDY

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is reviewing two proposals to conduct a study of the horse racing industry in the state. Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilkoh (Oh-reel-koh) says they hope to make a selection in January and the study will run throughout the rest of the winter into spring. The plan is to have the survey presented in the summer of 2023. Ohorilkoh says they hope the study will give them some insight into the issues facing the industry.