TAX FUNDING AWARDED TO LE MARS CHAMBER
The Plymouth County Pioneer Village Christmas, Inc. benefitted from proceeds of the city’s hotel/motel sales tax receipts. They received some 25-hundred dollars to help stage the event, which was taken over by the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce in November. Funds were used to run the Pioneer Village Winter Wonderland Event this year. Thousands of people from Le Mars, and the surrounding area stopped out to experience the merriment of this event. Chamber Executive Director Lori French estimates about 4000 people attended the event.
Funding recommendations of the CVB Tourism Committee were approved by the Le Mars City Council earlier this year. The mission of the CVB Tourism Committee is to attempt to fund as many qualifying projects with enough money to be useful toward completion of the project goal. Priority is given to projects that encourage growth of tourism to the City of Le Mars.
VAN VOORST ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Sioux County Sheriff Jamie Van Voorst Thursday announced his campaign for election. Van Voorst was appointed by the Sioux County Board of Supervisors to the office in 2022, after former sheriff Dan Altena retired. Van Voorst says he pledged that public safety in the county would always be his highest priority. Community protection, up to date training and equipment for deputies, and transparency were his other goals.
During the past year, the Sheriffs Office added two more deputies. A mental health unit was created, and enhanced mental health training was provided to staff. A second school resource officer, and a crisis/therapy canine were added. Van Voorst also wants to focus on employee wellness and provide support to the families behind the deputies.
IOWA DROUGHT EXTENDS INTO 188TH WEEK
Current data indicates the current drought in Iowa is the longest since the 1950s, with abnormally dry and drought conditions extending into the 188th consecutive week.
November was the 16th driest on record, and so far in December, precipitation is 60% of average. Parts of southeast Iowa recorded above normal rainfall for the month, leaving most of the state with below average precipitation.
December could finish with average levels This would help stabilize, but not improve, drought conditions.
The dry winter months will make drought recovery challenging. January is normally the driest month of the year in the state, with an average of less than one inch of moisture.
IOWA CONGRESSMEN BLAST TEXAS RAIL CLOSINGS
The six Republicans who represent Iowa in the U-S House and Senate are calling on the Biden Administration to reopen rail crossings in Texas. The U-S Border Patrol suspended rail operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso on Monday to shift agents to process migrants crossing the border. Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant says those two rail crossings are critical to getting Iowa grain and agricultural exports to Mexico.
U.S Representative Randy Feenstra of Hull said “Instead of finishing the border wall, destroying the drug cartels, and deporting illegal immigrants, the Biden administration opted to close major railway crossings that facilitate trade – including the sale of Iowa agricultural products – between the United States and Mexico. This is just another attack on American farmers who are already facing WOTUS regulations, inflation, and high energy costs,”
IOWA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ROSE IN NOVEMBER
Iowa’s unemployment rate increased to three-point-three percent in November. That’s six-tenths of a percent higher than it was in July and the fourth consecutive month it has inched up. There were about a thousand job losses in Iowa’s professional and business services sector in November — including a reduction in administrative support staff — and 67-hundred people dropped out of the workforce between October and November. The most job growth in November came in Iowa’s construction industry, which added 1800 jobs.
