ICE CREAM DAYS
The four-day celebration that is Ice Cream Days begins today in Le Mars.
Margaret Catton, a member of the Executive Committee, says it takes a village put on Ice Cream Days.
Not to mention the business and volunteers who take part.
Catton says they are always looking for new things to add to the celebration.
Catton describes some of the new things added this year.
A Chamber Coffee at the Wells Welcome Center and Ice Cream Parlor kicked off the celebration. Catton runs down the events for the rest of today.
Momentum builds during Ice Cream Days, with more activities Thursday and Friday, and a full slate of events all day Saturday. Most of the activities will be centered at the Olson Events Center downtown.
SOYBEAN VOTE
Voting is underway for the Iowa Soybean Association Board.
The board consists of nine district directors, and two at-large members.
District One includes Plymouth County, and 11 other counties to the north and east.
Chuck White of Spencer is the current Director. There are two candidates for District 1 Director. They include Randy Kroksh of Akron, a former ag education and FFA leader in the Akron-Westfieldl Schools. The other candidate is Paul Kassel of Spencer, a former Extension agronomist. The Iowa Soybean Association is a policy-forming group. It also determines the use of soybean checkoff funds in Iowa. Ballots must be postmarked by July 31. Producers who market at least 250 bushels of soybeans annually are eligible to vote.
MICRO-SURFACING
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors hired a St Paul, Minnesota firm to micro-surface over ten miles of county roads this summer. The lone bid for the project came from ASTECH, at 618-thousand dollars. The firm will microsurface two segments of county road L14, north and south of Remsen, and a segment of C38, west of K49. County Engineer Tom Rohe says the 10.6 miles of micro-paving carry a cost of 58-thousand, 400 dollars per mile. Last year, the county paved 12.7 miles of county road at a cost of 58-thousand, 150 dollars per mile, a difference of less than 300 dollars per mile.
SIOUX COUNTY SCAM
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office is urging caution concerning a “home improvement” scam operating in the county and the surrounding area.
There was a recent incident in Sioux County, in which the suspect offered to paint a building on a farm property. The suspect then claimed to have run out of paint and said they would be back the following day to finish the job, but wanted to be paid that day. After receiving payment in full for the job, the subjects left and never completed the job and left the building in sub-par condition.
The sheriff’s office says this is a common scam that occurs, and typically involves subjects from out of the area going “door-to-door,” attempting to solicit work in paving, painting, roofing, landscaping and other outdoor tasks. The subjects will then typically perform sub-par work for a higher than normal rate, or not complete the job.
People are urged to ask for references and do a check on them before agreeing to have any work done… get a written estimate and tell them you will respond later… It may also be a good idea to compare bids from local contractors before committing to a job.
The best advice is to know who you are dealing with. In many cases, you are safer dealing with a contractor that has local ties to the community. When in doubt, don’t agree to any services. If the company pressures you or begins work without your permission, contact your local law enforcement agency.
SPIRIT LAKE SCHOOL MASCOT
The Spirit Lake School Board has voted to keep its longstanding Indian mascot. Earlier this year, the Spirit Lake Tribal Council in North Dakota sent the district a letter, saying the mascot is offensive and calling for its removal. Vicky Larson is among the area residents who spoke at the board’s Monday night meeting. She favors keeping the Indian mascot for Spirit Lake teams.
Kate Mendenhall told the board indigenous people do not feel Indian mascots honor them.
Jeromy Mouw, the newest member of the Spirit Lake School Board, says his vote to keep the Indian mascot is based on community feedback.
The board voted four-to-one to keep the Indian mascot. Greta Gruys was the board member who voted no, suggesting the board should collect more feedback before making a final decision.
In 2021, the Camanche School District changed its mascot to “the Storm” after Camanche sports teams had been known as The Indians for 60 years.
CLERK INVESTIGATION
A special investigation by the state auditor’s office has found the former city clerk in the small western Iowa town of Cumberland was responsible for 58-thousand dollars of improper spending. The special investigation has found former Cumberland City Clerk Grace Thomsen also failed to collect or bill 30-thousand dollars of utility charges and fees in the town of 250 residents. State Auditor Rob Sand, says Thomsen admitted in an interview she had not paid her own water and sewage service bills for a few years. The other 58-thousand dollars of improper spending flagged by auditors includes unauthorized pay and reimbursements to Thomsen and other city employes as well as penalties, interest and late fees on other transactions. Cumberland’s mayor told the state auditor’s office Thomsen admitted to taking two-thousand dollars in city money to feed her family and resigned in mid-2021.
IOWA SENATORS CLAIM DOUBLE STANDARD
The two Republicans who represent Iowa in the United States Senate say Tuesday’s arraignment of former President Trump in Miami shows there are two standards for justice in America. Senator Chuck Grassley says it comes as the F-B-I is denying House Republicans’ request for more information about an investigation of Hunter and Joe Biden in 2020.
Senator Joni Ernst says since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn’t face federal charges after using a private email server for official communications, then Trump shouldn’t face charges for taking classified documents when he left the White House.
Ernst says Trump was careless and those classified documents should be kept in a secure location — but Ernst says Trump should not be charged.
Ernst made her comments during a debate series sponsored by the Edward Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate that will be broadcast Sunday night on the Fox News Channel.
NO RAGBRAI RECORD ATTEMPT
The Des Moines Register has announced it’s dropping plans to shoot for a world record number of cyclists during the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa next month.
This year’s RAGBRAI is the 50th year bicyclists will make the week long, statewide trek from the Missouri River to the Mississippi.
RAGBRAI organizers had hoped to set a Guinness World Record mark for largest parade of bicycles on the day riders bike from Ames to Des Moines.
However, the newspaper says new criteria from the publisher of Guinness World Records make it impossible.
RAGBRAI will start in Sioux City on Sunday, July 23rd and end 500 miles later in Davenport on Saturday, July 29th.
AURELIA ANNIVERSARY
A northwest Iowa community of nearly a thousand residents will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding this weekend. Aurelia was named for the daughter of the man who owned the Illinois Central Railroad that had tracks running through the town. The school in Aurelia will be open Saturday morning so returning residents can reminisce and reconnect. Until the 1990s, the Aurelia Community School District was the only one in the state that had unique names for its boys and girls teams. Aurelia boys teams were known as the Bulldogs. Girls teams from Aurelia were known as the Atoms. Alta and Aurelia districts began sharing grades in the 1990s and voted to merge in 2017.