CLASS C ROAD
Plymouth County’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution designating the county’s first class c road. 1420 feet of 310th Street in Perry Township will have restricted access and minimum maintenance under the Class C ordinance. The road will be closed with a gate or chain or cable barrier and padlocked. The adjacent landowner will control the barrier. The Class C road begins just past the lone farm entrance along that section of 310th Street. The actual Class C ordinance has not yet passed the Board of Supervisors. A final vote will take place on June 22.
WAHLS SAYS DEMOCRATS NEED CHANGE
Former Iowa Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says Senate Democrats voted him out of his leadership position because he fired two longtime staffers. Senate Democrats met late last week and voted to replace Wahls and have Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque be their floor leader. Wahls did not issue a public statement then, but he’s written a blog post this week. Wahls says the two employees of the Senate Democratic Caucus that he fired did not share his vision for change. Wahls says he stands by that decision because Iowa Democrats desperately need a new direction and leaders who will chart that course. Wahls says it’s critical for the well-being of the state to get more Democrats elected to office and he’s pledging to work with his fellow Democrats to accomplish that goal.
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE
Some Iowa cities set record low temperatures Monday morning. The National Weather Service received a report that the temperature fell to 35 in Elkader in northeast Iowa. There was a record low in Cedar Rapids of 40 degrees. It dipped to 41 in Mason City and Ottumwa, also records for June 12. The record low for June 12th in Iowa was set in 1903 when a 30 degree low was recorded in Fayette.
APARTMENT BUILDING DEMOLITION
Demolition has begun on the apartment building in Davenport that partially collapsed 14 days ago, killing three residents and injuring several others. Monday morning, a judge ordered the building’s owner to pay a three-hundred-95 dollar civil fine. Davenport’s city attorney says the fine prevents building owner Andrew Wold from transferring the property and avoiding costs related to its demolition. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has confirmed agents were dispatched to northwest Iowa last week for investigative follow up related to the Davenport building collapse, but neither police in Le Mars or the D-C-I will say who or what may be under investigation in Plymouth County.
SUPERVISORS
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors meet this morning. Their agenda includes a review of the county’s FY 2021-22 financial report. The county engineer will have several action items for the Supervisors, including water connection permits, a resolution concerning road classification, and quotes on three micro-surfacing projects.
CHRISTMAS ACRES DONATION
It’s a long way to Christmas, but the people behind Christmas Acres have decided where donations will be given this year. Usually, Rob Scheitler’s family gave donations to the lighting display to the Christian Needs Center. But with that organization closing this year, Scheitler says they’ve decided where this year’s donations will go.
Scheitler appreciates the work these groups are doing in the Le Mars community.
Christmas Acres donations over the past 11 years have become a significant contribution to the Christian Needs Center.
Christmas Acres has been collecting donations for 11 years, and they’ve done a lot of good in the area.
The display grows every year, and Schietler expects this year to be no different.
Their decision for donating this year’s proceeds has been accepted favorably by the community.
Over the past 11 years, Christmas Acres has donated nearly 150-thousand dollars to the Christian Needs Center. Scheitler says this year, donations will be evenly split between Le Mars Fire Rescue and Wet Nose Pet Rescue. This year, Christmas Acres will open from Friday, November 17, to Sunday, December 31st.
I-ABLE PROGRAM EXPANSION
State Treasurer Roby (like “Robbie”) Smith sees room for expansion of the I-ABLE program his office manages for Iowans with disabilities. The money deposited in a tax-free I-ABLE account may be used to cover expenses related to a disability and the spending does NOT affect the person’s eligibility for government assistance programs like Medicaid or Social Security.
U-S Census data indicates nearly 400-thousand Iowans have some sort of a disability. I-ABLE accounts can accrue interest and help Iowans living with a disability cover expenses like housing, transportation and job training as well as in-home support services.
Smith recently made a presentation about I-ABLE in Pella and the treasurer’s office hosted a webinar with the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council this spring.
An Iowan with a disability may open their own account — or accounts may be opened by relatives, legal guardians or conservators who act on behalf of an Iowan with a disability. The yearly contribution limit is 17-thousand dollars. Forty-nine states now offer the program after congress established the tax-free benefit for an Achieving a Better Life Experience or ABLE accounts in 2014. Iowa lawmakers created the I-ABLE program here the following year.
IOWA TOPSOIL MOISTURE 60% SHORT
This week’s Iowa Crop and Weather report from the U-S-D-A rates 60 percent of Iowa topsoil either short or very short of moisture. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says abnormally dry conditions have expanded in the past two weeks. By last Thursday, 99 percent of the state reached some stage of drought or has been abnormally dry for 30 to 60 days according to the U-S-D-A’s Iowa Drought Monitor. However, Glisan says it appears surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean are rising — and that means a change in the weather pattern for thunderstorms that form over the ocean and later sweep into Iowa. Glisan says that means good news is on the horizon.
