SEVERE WEATHER
Damage assessment teams from the National Weather Service are being dispatched to multiple locations in western Iowa after severe thunderstorms last night spun off at least three suspected tornadoes. Tornadoes are believed to have touched down near Macedonia, Sidney and Thurman, while a funnel cloud was also spotted in the skies near Kiron, though it may not have reached the ground. Dylan Dodson, at the weather service office in metro Des Moines, says there are scattered hail reports from Sioux City all the way across Iowa to Dubuque, while baseball-sized hail dinged roofs, shattered windows, destroyed siding and wrecked vehicles in Crawford County.
Last night, between 7-45 and 8-45 pm, storms produced 1 inch hail at several locations, near Westfield, Merrill, Sioux City, and North Sioux City. 1.5 inch hail was reported at Elk Point, at Cleghorn in Cherokee County, and Doon in Lyon County. Rainfall amounts totaled 2.6 inches in Remsen, 2 inches at the KLEM studios, .63 at Cherokee, .60 at Alton, .40 in Orange City, and .36 in Sioux City.
SHERIFFS REPORT
Plymouth County Sheriff Jeff Te Brink presented the latest quarterly report of activity at the Sheriffs Office. Total receipts for January through March was nearly 17-thousand dollars. County Jail receipts for the first quarter of 2023 were 107-thousand dollars, 94-thousand of which came from the U.S. Marshal’s Service for housing federal inmates. There were 298 inmated booked in the last quarter. The jail population was 117, and the jail served over 9-thousand meals from January to March. There were 522 ambulance calls, and 108 fire calls in the county during that first quarter. Total e-911 calls were 1,674, with 1,361 Sheriff’s Office complaints.
SPENCER DRUG BUST
A Spencer man faces drug trafficking charges after police found a large amount of methamphetamine in an apartment in downtown Spencer. According to the Clay County Attorney’s Office several law enforcement agencies, including an Iowa State Patrol tactial unit, participated in the investigation, finding more than 33 pounds of methamphetamine in the apartment. That’s more than half a million dollars worth of meth, according to the county attorney’s office, and several thousand dollars in cash was in the apartment, too. Oscar Navarro-Zepeda was taken into custody at the scene and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Navarro-Zepeda made his initial court appearance on Wednesday and is being held in the Clay County Jail on 750-thousand dollars bond. If convicted, he faces up to fifty years behind bars and a one million dollar fine.
PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
The Iowa Senate and House have approved competing property tax relief plans. The Senate approach is focused on eliminating some property tax levies, consolidating others and converting property tax credits for veterans and seniors to more lucrative exemptions. Senate Republicans say it would amount to a roughly 100 million dollars reduction in property taxes. The House approach would provide 200 million dollars in state money each year to replace local property taxes that go to public schools. The House bill would also limit increases in property tax BILLS to three percent. Both bills passed with nearly unanimous support from Republians and Democrats. Just one Republican in the House and one Democrat in the Senate voted no.
UIHC INVESTS IN SIOUX CITY
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics received approval Wednesday to lease a building in Sioux City as part of an effort to keep a program that produces doctors. David Kieft told the Board of Regents that the building houses the Siouxland Medical Education Foundation family medicine practice and its three-year residency program.
Keift says the program has been highly collaborative with the University of Iowa Family Medicine Residency.
Keift says they hope the University of Iowa intervention will keep the Siouxland program from closing. Two other programs have closed in the past three years, resulting in 12 fewer family physicians in Iowa per year. The U-I-H-C will pay all operating costs of the building and has the first option to buy it. The initial lease term would commence in June 2023 and end on June 30, 2033. There are two five-year renewal options.
CULVERT PROJECTS
The Plymouth County Engineers Office is preparing for another season of bridge replacement projects. Engineer Tom Rohe brought a series of right of way purchases to the Board of Supervisors for their approval. This includes four projects in Henry Township, where bridges will be replaced with culverts. The total cost of the right of ways are 66-hundred dollars. The Board of Supervisors also approved rural water extension permits for properties in Marion and Union townships, and fiber optic extension into parts of Hungerford township.
LE MARS TENNIS COURTS
Supporters of tennis in Le Mars spoke to the city council about the need to maintain the twelve courts that are located at three sites in the city. During the citizens input portion of the city council meeting this week, five people stood to urge the council to properly maintain the tennis courts. They were responding to a report that the courts might be done away with, for lack of use. Council members assured the group that was not the case. One of the speakers, Le Mars High School tennis coach Tiffany Wright told the council that the courts are well used, especially during the months of May through June. Once speaker, Scott Ihrke, urged the council to hire a contractor who specializes in tennis courts. Le Mars has courts at Le Mars High School, at the former Westmar College and at Willow Creek Golf Club.
EL NINO LOOMING
The La Nina weather pattern is gone, and the National Climate Prediction Center anticipates an El Nino will develop within a few months, which could be welcome news for Iowa farmers. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub — based in Ames, says El Ninos typically mean a decent growing season for our region, while the extra rainfall could help to knock down the long-running drought.
While the La Nina lasted for three years, he say the switch to an El Nino pattern is coming on much faster than expected.
Wide areas of Iowa have suffered with drought, and this weather shift could provide some much-needed relief.
Northwest Iowa’s Monona and Woodbury counties are in the worst category — exceptional drought, while much of Iowa’s western half is either rated in moderate, severe or extreme drought, while broad sections of central and eastern Iowa are listed as abnormally dry.
WELLS ANNOUNCES NEW FROZEN TREATS
Wells Blue Bunny has announced the development of a new frozen treat. They are collaborating with Stuff Puffs Filled Marshmallows, to create a frozen dairy dessert that is being distributed this month. It comes in three flavors – S’mores, Cookies ‘N Crème, and Birthday Cake. They will also create these treats as sandwiches. Stuffed Puff Marshmallows are filled with milk chocolate. When used for S’mores, they melt from the inside out. The company makes other flavors for fillings in the marshmallows. The new product is being distributed at groceries and Walmart.
FENTANYL PENALTIES
The legislature has approved the governor’s recommendation that sentences be hiked for fentanyl-related crimes. The bill passed the House four weeks ago on a 91-to-three and this week the Senate approved it — 41-to-nine. Those convicted of a crime with 50 or more grams of fentanyl or a related substance could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison. The bill also significantly increases the penalty for making or supply drugs that lead to a fatal overdose. Senator Jeff Reichman (RIKE-man), a Republican from Montrose, says fentanyl is now the leading cause of overdoses in America and opioid-involved deaths in Iowa have increased by 45 percent since 2019. Senator Janice Weiner (WY-ner), a Democrat from Iowa City who voted against the bill, says increasing helping Iowans struggling with an opioid addiction should be the focus.
