LE MARS HIT AND RUN UNDER INVESTIGATION
Le Mars Police are asking for help in identifying the driver of a pickup truck involved in a hit and run accident, where a pedestrian was struck. Le Mars Police say the incident occurred at 7-05 p.m. last night (Sunday) at the intersection of 4th Street and 6th Avenue SW. A red Chevy extended cab pickup was travelling south on 6th when the vehicle struck a pedestrian crossing at 4th Street SW. The driver failed to stop after the collision and accelerated southbound. The pedestrian, was transported to Floyd Valley Healthcare, and was later airlifted to Mercy Medical in Sioux City. Police are reviewing business cameras near the scene, which may reveal the suspects identity.
TWO SEMIS COLLIDE – NOON UPDATE
Iowa Highway 60 north has reopened, after a semi-crash closed it earlier today. The accident occurred around 7-30 a.m., at the intersection of Iowa 60 north and 150th Street. A semi pulling a livestock trailer came from the west on 150th, and collided with a northbound tanker truck. The tanker went into the median, the trailer turning onto its side. One person was injured and was taken to Floyd Valley Healthcare. A hazmat team was called to deal with the contents of the tanker. Traffic along Iowa 60 north was detoured north on U.S. 75, but it’s now been reopened, and traffic is flowing normally.
Authorities are investigating an accident on Iowa Highway 60 north of Le Mars this morning. Two semis collided at the intersection of Iowa 60 northbound and 150th. One person was injured and taken to Floyd Valley Healthcare. One of the semis, a tanker, turned on its side and came to rest in the median. Northbound traffic on Iowa 60 is being detoured to US 75 north until the accident scene is cleared.
LE MARS REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
The first projects under Le Mar’s new development plant are underway. City Economic Development Director Mark Gaul says the action comes after the council approved the plan last month.
work has begun at the site.
This project can be found in the Le Mars development plan, on line at the city website.
Gaul describes what’s going to be built at Erdmanville.
Apartments are just one type of housing needed in Le Mars. Gaul says this 25-year plan will include a number of different types of housing developments.
Erdmanville is part of an urban renewal area that the city council recreated to help develop properties. This Business 75 corridor will focus on residential, commercial, industrial, and retail development.
One retail lot on Business 75 near 12th Street SW is already under construction.
IOWA HHS IS SELLING PORTIONS OF ITS PROPERTY
In Cherokee, housing property is becoming available in an unusual way. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services plans to sell some of its land at the mental health institution at Cherokee, as well as its other five properties in the state. The HHS Director says one of the reasons they are selling some of the Cherokee property is to help address that community’s housing crisis. There will be a town hall meeting in Cherokee Wednesday to discuss the sale. The land has already been surveyed, and will be up for sale soon.
IOWA EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM RANK
A conservative think tank is recognizing Iowa for offering state-funding directly to parents, to cover private school expenses for their children. The Heritage Foundation’s annual Educational Freedom Report Card ranked Iowa 22nd among the states last year — but Iowa jumped to ninth this year. Governor Kim Reynolds, who spoke at a Heritage Foundation event in Des Moines, says she is pleased with the response to the state’s Education Savings Accounts program in its first year. Nearly 19-thousand state-funded Education Savings Accounts were approved for students this fall, but the state has not announced how many of those students successfully enrolled in private schools.
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN ATTACK ON FORMER U.S. SENATOR
Police have arrested the suspect in the alleged assault of a former U.S. senator and retired U-S Air Force colonel as she was running late Wednesday morning in a Council Bluffs park along the Missouri River. Former U.S. Senator Martha McSally of Arizona posted a video on Instagram yesterday (Thursday), saying a man came up behind her as she was running in Council Bluffs, put her in a bear hug and began molesting her. McSally says she fought him off, chased him into some brush and called 9-1-1. Council Bluffs police released surveillance images of the alleged attacker from cameras in the park and identified him as a 25-year-old Nebraska man. He was arrested this (Friday) morning in Omaha and charged with assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse.
BILL HELPS SMALL TELECOMS REMOVE CHINESE EQUIPMENT
Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is co-sponsoring a bill that would shift three BILLION dollars in unused COVID-19 funds to help U-S telecommunications companies replace Chinese-made equipment. Hinson says it’s a privacy issue for Americans and national security issue as well because equipment made by two firms connected to the Chinese government can intercept commercial cell traffic AND the highly restricted airwaves used by the U.S. military. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, is among a bipartisan group in the House co-sponsoring a bill called the Defend Our Networks Act. A similar bill in the U.S. has bipartisan backing.
