SCHOOL OPENING
Today is the first day of school in Le Mars, and many other Iowa districts.
Motorists are being warned to slow down and stay alert for darting kids and for school buses.
Hamilton County Supervisor Rick Young of Jewell says there’s been a recent rash of bad behavior from behind the wheel.
Speeding on gravel roads can be very risky, especially if a school bus is making a stop over the next hill, or as you’re approaching a rural intersection that’s partly obscured by crops.
The Iowa legislature unanimously passed Kadyn’s (KAY-dinz) Law in 2012, targeting motorists who pass a stopped school bus with the stop arm extended. On the first offense, a conviction could bring a fine of up to 675 dollars, up to 30 days in jail, and a 30-day suspension of the driver’s license.
In Sioux City alone, police report issuing 32 citations last school year to motorists who passed a parked school bus with its stop sign extended.
HEAT STROKE VS HEAT EXHAUSTION
The First day of School in Iowa is taking place during the hottest stretch of the year. An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday. Hospitals across the state are bracing to handle an influx of heat-related cases. Emergency medicine specialist Dr. Luke Wood with the Mayo Clinic says the risks of heat exhaustion and heat stroke rise with the forecast highs.
Symptoms of heat exhaustion include headache, dizziness, and profuse sweating, while symptoms of the more serious heat stroke include confusion or altered mental status and clammy skin, plus, you might stop sweating.
Young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The heat index is a calculation based on temperatures and humidity levels, what some call the misery index. Wood says says high humidity can cause heat-related health issues, too, especially if you’re not drinking enough water. If symptoms develop, get the person out of the sun. Find shade. Get them to drink cool water, and seek medical help if you suspect heat stroke.
WELLS ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION
Wells Enterprises Chief Operating Officers Mark Meyer said Tuesday the company will take on a major expansion of their Dunkirk, New York facility. Meyer says a plan has been in the works since the Dunkirk plant was acquired four years ago.
Meyer says the expansion will more than double the facility’s current production, and add 200 new jobs to the local workforce.
This will aid the company’s plans for growth in novelty and packaged ice cream, and enable future innovation.
Meyer was asked how will this expansion impact operations in Le Mars.
Construction on the new facility will begin in the fall of this year. Groundbreaking will take place in early 2024, and the project is expected to be operational in 2025.
PIPELINE TESTIMONY
Landowners who object to letting the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline run through their properties are making their case to state utility regulators. The Iowa Utilities Board’s hearing on the company’s application for a pipeline permit began Tuesday morning.
Nelva Huitink (NELL-vuh HOYT-ink) of Hospers says her family put a plan to build an automated milking facility on hold after learning Summit’s pipeline might run through their farm.
Huitink says the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline already occupies seven percent of her farm, drainage tile has been damaged and a sinkhole opened up a month ago.
Marcia Langner of Ayrshire spent an hour and a half testifying about her concerns about the proposed pipeline route through her Clay County farm.
Langner says developers are using scare tactics when they say corn prices will tank if the pipeline isn’t built.
Jessica Marson was the other landowner who testified on the hearing’s opening day. Her family farm is near Rockford, in Floyd County. She says Summit’s easement contract isn’t just for where the pipeline is buried, it would give the company access to the entire farm.
Marson says the Iowa Utilities Board should put Summit’s application on hold because North Dakota regulators haven’t approved the company’s plan to take liquid carbon to that state for underground storage.
The hearing will resume at 8:30 a.m. today (Wednesday) and ten more pipeline opponents are scheduled to testify. The hearing is expected to last for several weeks, perhaps to the end of September.
Critics of the project held a rally in Fort Dodge just before the hearing Tuesday. The company is asking regulators to grant it eminent domain authority to force unwilling property owners to sign easements. The chairman of the Shelby County Supervisors says the land and livelihoods of those who object to the pipeline shouldn’t be compromised for greed or politics. The company’s says the project will provide a financial boost to the ethanol and agricultural sectors.
USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOANS
U-S-D-A is sending Rural Development loans and grants to four projects in Sioux, Pocahontas, Appanoose and Winneshiek County. State Rural Development Director, Theresa Greenfield, says they provide money to the local rural electric cooperatives, or the city municipal cooperative or the telecoms to use for loans.
The Hawarden Municipal Utilities received a 124-thousand dollar grant to expand a revolving loan fund. This project will provide financing through the city of Hawarden to five businesses with the hopes of increasing local employment opportunities.
The Corn Belt Power Cooperative received a loan of more than one-point-two million dollars for the Pocahontas Community Hospital. The hospital plans to renovate 12 patient exam rooms, the pharmacy, reception areas and build an addition for a new public restroom and reception room.
The other is a nearly 13 million dollar loan and one million dollar grant to Aase Haugen Homes in Decorah to build a nursing home with assisted living and dementia care units.
A two-million-dollar loan is going to the Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative to fund a material flow system for animal and human products at a facility in Centerville, Iowa.
Greenfield says Iowa has nearly 40 cooperatives across the state that they partner with.
GRASSLEY CRITICIZES PAYMENT TO IRAN
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is joining the chorus of critics accusing the Biden Administration of releasing six-billion dollars to Iran in order to secure the release of five Americans being held hostage. Grassley and fellow Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina have sent a letter, asking the White House about what they’re calling a “secret deal” with Iran.
Grassley says such a move would promote the taking of more hostages, saying, “it puts a dollar on the head of every American who’s traveling.”
According to the Times, Biden administration officials have declined to comment or to confirm details about the agreement. Grassley is incensed the U-S would negotiate with Iran, which he says is negotiating with terrorists.
Grassley made the comments in a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning.
He calls Iran “the leading country promoting terrorism around the world.” A New York Times report says Biden administration officials have declined to comment or to confirm details about the agreement.
