ENGINEER PROJECTS
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved a pair of permits for extension of fiber optics to rural residents. Premier Communications requested the permits to extend fiber along Noble Ave and 280th Street. These are residents that were missed when the company extended cable to rural residences in the area. Also, the Supervisors approved the purchase of right of way for a culvert project on 270th St, 1.5 miles west of K64.
Engineer Tom Rohe said there were also two culvert projects that were being completed in the next, the last two which were left over from the previous construction season.
BIG TRUCK
It won’t be a long drive, but it will take up most of the two southbound lanes of US Highway 75 at Hinton. Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe told the Supervisors yesterday that a large transformer will be moved by truck from the rail tracks at Hinton to the Western Area Power Administration station. The power station is located two miles south from the Hinton rail crossing. Rohe says the transport company will make the transfer sometime between May 30 and June 2. This is a 370-thousand pound transformer, pulled by a 198 foot tractor-trailer rig. There will be one tractor in front and another pushing from the back. The total weight of the vehicle is estimated at 670-thousand pounds.
GOP CANDIDATES VISIT IOWA
The pace of the current G-O-P presidential campaign hasn’t reached the level of the last one eight years ago, but South Carolina Senator Tim Scott entered the race Tuesday and will be in Sioux City today (Wednesday). Former Vice President Mike Pence is making stops in Des Moines and Ottumwa. Pence has said he hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll run for president, but during a Polk County G-O-P fundraiser Tuesday night, Pence urged the crowd to ask hard questions of the people who are official candidates.
STATE AUDITOR
State Auditor Rob Sand says a bill sent to the governor that would limit the auditor’s access to some confidential information could lead to a lot of extra time in court.
Sand, who is the only Democrat holding a statewide office, spoke to the Sioux City Rotary Club and later held a town hall in Onawa. He says the bill has been a hot topic.
Governor Kim Reynolds says she hasn’t made a final decision on a bill to limit State Auditor Rob Sand’s access to some information, but Reynolds says Sand — the lone Democrat in statewide office — has gone too far in some of his investigations.
The bill would prohibit the auditor from accessing things a person would expect to be kept private, like medical records or police reports. Sand says if the bill is signed into law, he’ll let the public know whenever state officials refuse to turn over records.
Governor Reynolds says there’s an arbitration process in the bill that would let three people appointed by her, by Sand and by the agency involved decide if records should be turned over.
The bill would also prevent the auditor’s office from seeking a court order to get access to documents from another statewide officeholder, like the governor, or a state agency. Sand says taxpayers should be concerned about the potential information the panel could allow to stay hidden.
Sand says the bill’s arbitration process gives the governor’s office the final word on access to information because it prevents the courts from determining if any denials are justified.
Reynolds says her model fits the private sector use of arbitration.
STORM LAKE CLERK CHARGED
Two teenagers have been charged with stealing 100 dollars worth of alcohol from a Storm Lake gas station — and a clerk at the station faces charges for allegedly running into one of them with an S-U-V. Storm Lake Police have filed fifth-degree theft charges against a 16 and a 17 year old. The 16-year-old has also been charged in connection with a burglary to a vehicle. The 16 year old has been transferred to a juvenile detention facility. The 17 year old has been released to a parent. The clerk accused of hitting the 17 year old with a vehicle faces a number of charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon.
