LOG CABIN DAY
The Plymouth County Historical Museum hosts “Log Cabin Day on Saturday. Director Judy Bowman speaking earlier this week on KLEM’s “What Now” program, says they are celebrating the two log cabins on the museum grounds.
Activities will be moved indoors Saturday because of expected weather conditions.
Pioneer artisans will be on hand, throughout the museum.
Weber Log Cabin, dating back to the 1860s, is thought to be the first log cabin built in Plymouth County. the Joy Hollow Log Cabin was built in Sioux City in the 1890s. The cabin has been moved four times, and was at one time located at the Job Hollow Girl Scout Camp in Plymouth County. The cabins will be open to tours Saturday at 1 pm.
MOOSE DETECTED NEAR SIOUX CENTER
A video appeared Thursday on Facebook of what appears to be a young bull moose crossing an empty field in northwest Iowa, and Sioux Center’s Police Chief issued a warning that the moose was near Dordt University Friday morning. This is D-N-R Regional Conservation Officer John Sells, who has seen photos of the moose.
Sells says moose sightings are not as unusual as you would think.
He says if moose come this far south, it’s usually because of one thing.
Sells says moose are a protected species in Iowa, you cannot shoot or hunt them, and if you see a moose, you should stay clear
Sells says moose can travel five to ten miles a day, and have been known to travel up to 100 miles a week. Sioux County Conservation Board Biologist Sunday Ford says there’s been an increase of unusual wildlife recently spotted in the area. She cites a report of a wild bull Elk in Plymouth County this week, and an Armadillo near Hospers in August.
INVASIVE PLANT TREATED AT WEST OKOBOJI
State officials have treated a 19 acre section of the state’s deepest natural lake to kill a fast-spreading, invasive plant. Mike Hawkins, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says Eurasian watermilfoil was discovered in three canals on West Okoboji Lake this summer.
State officials spent a few weeks making sure all rules and guidelines were met before applying herbicide in the lake, which has a special designation.
A fast-acting herbicide which targets a few invasive plants was applied Tuesday.
Hawkins says a far larger, 23-hundred acre area of East Okoboji Lake was treated by a different herbicide a year ago and it appears to have wiped out that infestation.
The plant forms thick mats in the water, blocking out sunlight and killing off underwater plants that are food for fish. Boats and trailers carrying fragments of Eurasian watermilfoil are introducing the invasive plant to lakes and Hawkins says that’s why it’s important to either wash off boats, trailers and fishing wells in the boat at a car wash that has hot water or park boats and trailers for at least five days on dry land.
MOTIVATIONAL POSTERS MAY NOT MOTIVATE
A University of Iowa College of Business professor says motivational posters with inspirational messages that adorn many of our workplace walls often do little to motivate or inspire employees. Ken Brown, a U-I professor of management and entrepreneurship, says for a poster like that to have real impact, it has to be bundled with what managers are actually doing day-to-day to keep members of their staff working toward common goals. Brown says some workers may mock the posters as confirmation their leaders are completely disconnected from what’s really going on in the workplace. He notes, some people like the posters, with photos of pole vaulters or pouncing panthers, but a there’s now an entire line of de-motivational posters that exist solely to make fun of the originals.
GRASSLEY AND GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says he’d support a bill that would essentially outlaw government shutdowns. The law would automatically extend spending if an agreement isn’t reached by midnight on September 30th when the federal fiscal year ends — and eventually it would force Congress to work seven days a week until they come up with a budget plan. A small group of House Republicans are refusing to support a short-term spending bill and are ready to force a government shutdown to secure deeper cuts in the federal budget. Grassley says it costs money to close the government down. And Grassley warns spending critics didn’t achieve their goals in previous shutdowns before public pressure led to a deal to reopen the government.
POLICE SHOOTING SUSPECT EXTRADITED
A judge has set a cash bond of two million-dollars for the man accused of killing an Algona police officer last week. 43-year-old Kyle Lou Ricke of Algona is accused of shooting Officer Kevin Cram to death early on Wednesday, September 13th as Cram was attempting to serve a warrant for Ricke’s arrest. Ricke, who’s been charged with first degree murder, made his initial appearance in Kossuth County District Court Thursday afternoon via video conference. Prosecutors say the gun used in this case hasn’t been recovered and they asked that Ricke be required to pay five million dollars in cash before he’d be released from jail. The judge settled on a two-million dollar cash bond.
SHARE THE ROAD DURING HARVEST
Autumn arrives Saturday but many Iowa farmers are already starting the fall harvest, and motorists in rural areas will need to share the roads with large, slow-moving farm equipment for the next several weeks. Franklin County Sheriff Aaron Dodd says he’s already spotted drivers taking big chances when they shouldn’t, like trying to pass tractors on a hill. Dodd says that action puts everyone involved at risk and it could result in a collision — or at least a citation. From 2017 through June 30th, 2022, the Iowa Department of Transportation reports 30 people died in crashes involving farm equipment in the state.
