HINTON RUNOFF ELECTION
There will be a runoff election in Hinton Tuesday, for two open city council seats. On November 7, there were 3 at-large seats up for vote in Hinton. Incumbent councilman Jeffrey Johnson was reelected, but no other candidates filed for candidacy. There were 142 write-in votes. The three people who received the most write-in votes – Brooke Smith, Lee Adams, and Chris Zeller – filed afadavits of candidacy. The runoff vote, to take place tomorrow, will determine which two of the three candidates will be elected to the city council. Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 am to 8 pm.
TRIPLE BOX FIRE
The cause of the fire last week at the Triple Box, an event center in rural Orange City, has not been determined. Orange City Fire Chief Dennis Vander Wel says he and an investigator from the state fire marshal’s office inspected the scene last week, and today an insurance investigator will do the same. Vander Wel says that due to such extreme damage to the building, it will be left up to the insurer to determine an exact cause for the fire). Last Thursday, a passerby reported the fire around 2-30 a.m. Vander Wel said by the time their units arrived, most of the roof was already aflame. He says the fire started in the east end of the building. The kitchen area is located in the opposite end of the structure. The building, which was a repurposed hog shed, was completely destroyed in the fire. Damage is estimated at over 1 million dollars.
IDA GROVE WOMAN CHARGED IN THE DEATH OF HER SON
An Ida Grove woman is charged with child endangerment resulting in death following an investigation into the death of her son in May. Information from the D-C-I says 23-year-old Billy Mosier is charged in the death of her three-year-old son Jordan Reed. An ambulance crew was called to a home in Battle Creek on May 4th and found Jordan was not breathing. He died the next day at the hospital. Charges were filed after the D-C-I and State Medical Examiner completed an investigation of the death. Mosier turned herself in at the Ida County Sheriff’s Office and was released after posting bond.
EPA SETS TIMELINE FOR LEAD PIPE REMOVAL
New rules proposed by the E-P-A would require most cities in the country to replace lead pipes within ten years. Corey McCoid oversees the Iowa D-N-R’s drinking water program. McCoid says they may need more than ten years. McCoid says the challenge is going to be the cost, the time and the workforce needed to do it. He says this is just the first crack at it and the final rule will come out next year. Iowa’s Bipartisan Infrastructure funding is providing 162 million dollars in grants through 2026 to address the issue of safe drinking water. Several Iowa cities have already requested funding to help replace lead pipes in their communities. The U-S banned the use of lead pipes in 1988.
STREET CLOSING
Starting tonday , The Le Mars Street Department will be closing 3rd Ave. S.W. between 7th St. S.W. and 8th St. S.W. to tear out and replace a bad sanitary sewer manhole ring and cover . This should be reopened to traffic by Dec. 8th.
LE MARS FIRE RESCUE REPORT
Le Mars Fire Rescue reported 146 service calls for November. There were 15 fire rescue calls, 111 city and rural calls, and transfers in and out of Le Mars. The department had three training sessions for fire equipment and a CPR refresher course. Le Mars Fire Rescue also provided CPR training for the Le Mars Police and the Merrill Fire Department.
REMSEN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS
The community of Remsen will have their annual celebration, “Old Fashioned Christmas,” tonight. The evening kicks off with the “Blessing of the Season” at 6 p.m. by the Christmas Tree in Town Square. Santa Claus will arrive at 6:15 to light the tree. Santa will then head to the Remsen Heritage Museum. Activities include kiddie train rides and horse-drawn wagon rides. Remsen businesses will be open offering refreshments. The VFW building is the location for a cookie exchange by church groups. Area children are invited to purchase items and wrap a gift at the “Kid’s Korner” in the Beer City Party Room. Gifts range from one to twenty dollars and are donated by area businesses.
The Happy Siesta Festival of Trees is also being held tonight from four until eight p.m. in the Avalon Ballroom featuring the auction of trees, a silent auction. bake sale, and local entertainment.
FEENSTRA BILL ADDED TO FEDERAL BUDGET
Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra says any federal regulation that would impact over half of American farmland should be approved by congress. The U-S House has voted to insert Feenstra’s proposal in a budget bill for the Department of the Interior. Feenstra says American farmland belongs to American farmers, not unelected bureaucrats.
A U-S Supreme Court ruling this past May limited the authority of the E-P-A to regulate wetlands, ruling the agency may only regulate wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to other bodies of water, like streams, rivers or lakes.
THREE PERSON INJURED IN SIOUX COUNTY ACCIDENT
Three persons were injured in an accident Friday evening, a mile east of Sioux Center. The Sioux County Sheriffs Office says a vehicle driven by Cara Van Den Top, 26, of Hull, slowed her SUV to avoid hitting a deer in the roadway. Hope Johnson, 35, of Orange City came from behind and struck the rear of Van Den Top’s vehicle. The collision caused Johnson’s vehicle to roll into a ditch. Johnson and two passengers were taken by Sioux Center Ambulance to Sioux Center Health for treatment of minor injury.
GOSS SEES HINTS OF RECESSION UNDERWAY
Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss says it appears the region’s manufacturing sector is entering recession territory.
Goss surveys manufacturing supply managers in Iowa and eight other states monthly.
Goss uses those responses and other data to come up with a Mid-America Business Index. He says the REGION’S index is the lowest its been since June, 2020 — at the beginning of the pandemic. He says in Iowa, business conditions weakened from October to November, although Iowa’s manufacturing sector grew by 26-hundred jobs over the past 12 months.
If that should move into territory above $80 toward $90, that would be a problem because that’s going to put upward pressure on inflation.” Goss made his comments during a video briefing earlier today (Friday).
MEMORIALS FOR UNMARKED GRAVES IN SPENCER
There are thousands of unmarked graves in Iowa — and two retired northwest Iowa men have embarked on a project to honor nearly two dozen people buried decades ago in unmarked graves in Spencer. The graves are in an area of Riverside Cemetery in Spencer called Potter’s Field where unknown or indigent people were buried between 1922 and 1954. Bob Rose, who was the long-time director of Spencer’s Chamber of Commerce, and retired Clay County Deputy Sheriff Mark Harleman are heading up the project.
Harleman has drawn up plans for a memorial.
The price tag for the memorial is just over 11-thousand dollars and the two men are raising money to cover the cost. There are other volunteer efforts around the state to acknowledge people buried in unmarked graves. This summer, a group identified the graves of 28 black Iowans in a Cedar Rapids cemetery. Two volunteers in central Iowa have identified and put new markers on the graves of dozens of veterans buried in the oldest cemetery in Des Moines.
