Home News KLEM News for Thursday, April 13

KLEM News for Thursday, April 13

INCREASED FIRE DANGER

A Red Flag Warning is in effect today from noon to 8 p.m. for all of northwest Iowa, including Plymouth County.  Strong winds and low relative humidity will create an environment conducive to the spread of fires.  Winds of 25 to 30 mph, gusting to 40 mph, and humidity as low as 18 percent are in the forecast for today and early this evening.  Any fires that develop will likely spread quickly.  Outdoor burning is not recommended.  Conditions are expected to improve Friday, as a cold front enters the region.

 

PLYMOUTH COUNTY SALARIES AND BUDGET
Salaries for elected officials, and a new budget, have been approved by the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors. At their session Tuesday, the supervisors approved 6.5% increase plus a longevity payment, for all county elected officials, save for the Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors receive a 4.5% increase and no longevity payment. Supervisors will be paid 37, 300 dollars in the next fiscal year. Elected officials salaries will range from nearly 86-thousand dollars for the Auditor, Recorder and Treasurer, up to 158-thousand dollars for the county attorney.

The Supervisors also approved their fiscal year 2023-24 budget. General basic spending is estimated at 10.2 million dollares, up 811-thousand, or 8.57%, from the current budget. Rural basic spending is just over 5 million dollars, and the secondary road fund budget is some 16.2 million. 11.5 million dollars in taxes will be raised – 6.9 million dollars will be raised by taxation for the general basic fund, and 4.66 million, for the rural basic fund. The budget will be sent to the State Department of Revenue to be certified. It goes into effect July 1 of this year.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Mrs. Janet Van Boven has been selected as the Le Mars Community Schools’ 2023 Teacher of
the Year. She was awarded the annual Decades of Excellence Crystal Bell award.
Mrs. Van Boven has served as a special education teacher at Franklin Elementary since joining
the Le Mars Community School District ten years ago. In addition, she is currently a
member of Franklin Elementary’s CARE team committee and the district’s MTSS team (MultiTiered Systems of Support). Mrs. Van Boven is involved in the community as a leader in her church and in promoting the work of the Parent/Teacher Organization. Mrs. Van Boven resides in Le Mars with her husband Sean and their two children; Melanie, a 5th grader, and Jacoby, a 2nd grader at Franklin Elementary.

Mrs. Van Boven was nominated for this award by her colleagues, friends, and family. The
Decades of Excellence Crystal Bell award is co-sponsored by the LCSD Foundation and the
LCS Alumni Association. The award is presented annually to honor outstanding teachers who
have dedicated their careers to the education of our children.

Mrs. Van Boven will be honored at the Foundation Banquet on Wednesday, April 26, at
6:30 p.m. in the lower level of the Le Mars Convention Center.

 

VINTAGE JET

A vintage F-80 fighter jet from the 1950’s is back at Camp Dodge following a complete paint restoration by members of the 185th Air National Guard in Sioux City.

The jet was brought to the 185th last September and has the markings of the 174th Fighter Intercepter Squadron that was the predecessor to the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City.

Lt Colonel Brandon East is the commander of the 185th’s Maintenance Group that restored the plane.

An Iowa Army National Guard CH-47 helicopter delivered the plane to Sioux City from Camp Dodge, where it has been on static display.

A helicopter arrived Tuesday morning to take the jet back to Des Moines.

Colonel East says it took some geometric calculations to rig the plane to the helicopter.

Colonel East says the plane looks brand new.

The 1st generation F-80 fighter jet was assigned to the Iowa Air Guard after the 174th returned to Sioux City following their activation in 1951.

Photos by S.Sgt. Vince DeGroot

WOTUS RULES BLOCKED
The U-S District Court for the District of North Dakota has granted a preliminary injunction, stopping the Biden Administration’s new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule for Iowa and 23 other states. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement saying the ruling is a huge win for Iowa farmers, builders and landowners. She says the new rule expands the definition of “WOTUS” under the Clean Water Act and would impose additional federal regulations to as much as 97 percent of Iowa’s land. Bird says that would likely raise costs and cause delays for infrastructure projects.

DELAYED TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
The Iowa Transportation Commission is considering delaying some projects in its five-year construction plan as inflation and other factors impact the costs of building and maintaining state roadways. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says they’ve been analyzing a lot of data as they prepare the plan for a June vote. He says the cost increases come as state and federal revenue is relatively flat as there is no additional revenue from the federal infrastructure bill. He says the D-O-T presented the Commission with some options that include delaying around one dozen projects by a year. The D-O-T will release its draft five-year improvement plan in May, and then the Transportation Commission will vote on the final plan in June.

 

LCSD CONTRACTS

There were many employee contracts considered by the Le Mars Community School District this week.  The board, at its meeting Tuesday, approved contracts for non-teacher employees.  On recommendation of the district’s Meet and Confer Committee, these employees received pay and benefit increases totaling 3.48 percent.  The total cost to the school district is 185-thousand dollars in the next fiscal year.  The board also approved resignations from twelve employees who served as bus drivers, food service, coaches, and in Curriculum and Institutional Assessment.  There were seven contracts approved for new teachers and coaches.  One employee, Karlton Hector, resigned as middle school assistant principal and activities director, and was hired as middle school industrial tech teacher and assistant football coach.

 

ROAD AND BRIDGE PROJECTS

Plymouth County’s Supervisors reviewed the county’s five year secondary road and bridge construction program.  In the next fiscal year, one paving project is planned, from K18 to Merrill on C44.  There are four bridge replacements, 11 culvert replacements, and two grading projects.  The total cost of this list of projects is an estimated 9 million, 75-thousand dollars.  The county’s share is 3.8 million.  The rest are a combination of federal or state funds.  The two grading projects are for erosion control, and paving of about a mile of K64 at C30.  Some of that funding will come from the Hungry Canyons Alliance, NRCS and State Safety funding.

 

DOG BREED BANS

The Iowa House has voted to forbid cities and counties from having ordinances that ban certain breeds of dogs, like pit bulls. Representative Jacob Bossman, a Republican from Sioux City, says the bill will hopefully turn the focus to responsible dog ownership.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says breed specific bans can give communities a false sense of security. The group says any dog can become aggressive and bite if they are unsupervised or not trained in how to interact with other dogs and humans.

Bossman is from Sioux City, where an ordinance banned pit bulls from city limits for 11 years. The ordinance was repealed in 2019.

The bill passed the House on an 82-to-16 vote.  One opponent said it dilutes the authority of local officials to respond to local concerns. Dozens of Iowa cities have ordinances that either ban certain breeds of dogs or label specific breeds as dangerous or vicious.

 

RISK POOL INVESTIGATION

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the state auditor does not have the authority to investigate an insurance risk pool for 75 counties as well as hundreds of other cities and taxpayer funded local government entities. The Iowa Communities Assurance Pool provides property and casualty insurance coverage. State Auditor Rob Sand had filed a subpeona seeking records about annual meetings the risk pool’s board of directors held at out of state resorts. The state’s highest court has ruled the risk pool was formed under a section of Iowa law that does not fall under the oversight of the state auditor’s office. Sand says the Supreme Court pointed out it might be good to subject local government risk pools that are entirely funded by tax dollars to some oversight and he is asking legislators to take that step. Three Republican state senators say the ruling may show the auditor has abused his subpoena power and their bill to restrict what Sand can investigate is needed.

 

MAIL-IN CAUCUS BALLOTS

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says the Iowa Democratic Party is unwilling to accept that a mail-in system of ballots for their 2024 Caucuses is akin to a primary — and that jeopardizes the first-in-the-nation status for both parties’ Caucuses. A bill that’s cleared a subcommittee in the Iowa House would require that participants in Iowa’s Republican and Democratic Party Caucuses attend the events in person. Representative Austin Harris of Moulton is the former political director for the Iowa Republican Party. He predicts New Hampshire will schedule its presidential primary ahead of Iowa’s Caucuses if Iowa Democrats are allowed to follow through with their plan. Harris says the whole purpose of a Caucus is to have a closed door meeting to conduct party business. Democrats say they’re trying to extend access to Iowans who cannot attend in person on Caucus Night.