HINTON SCHOOLS SPECIAL ELECTION
Voters in the Hinton Community School district will be casting ballots in a special election tomorrow (Tuesday). There are two questions on the ballot:
The first ballot question would establish a special debt service levy on property owners in the district. This levy would be between 2 dollars, 70 cents and 4 dollars, 5 cents per thousand property value. Funds raised by the levy would be used to pay off bonds issued by the school district for school improvements.
The second ballot question would establish a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, or PPEL, of up to 1 dollar, 34 cents per thousand value. This would raise funds for purchase of property, or building construction, or equipment for the school.
The polling place Tuesday is the Hinton Community Center, and voting will take place between 7 am and 8 pm. Voters must show a valid picture identification in order to be eligible to vote.
DPS DIRECTOR MAKES STATEMENT ON ISU GAMBLING CASES
The head of the Iowa Department of Public Safety issued a statement following the decision of the Story County Attorney’s Office to drop the prosecution of sports betting cases against four Iowa State University athletes. D-P-S Commissioner Stephen Bayens says in the statement the decision to drop the cases is disappointing, as he says Story County repeatedly shared with the Department their belief that the D- C-I’s actions were legal. The statement says the D-C-I used geo-location as part of their duty to regulate the sports betting industry, and agents obtained subpoenas after anomalies were observed at athletic facilities. Bayens statement says he “understand why this investigation and the resulting charges have generated so much attention and such strong opinions. We love our college sports here in Iowa, myself included. Had this situation not involved college athletes, the public perception may have been entirely different.”
SMOKE AT LE MARS RESIDENCE
Le Mars Fire Rescue was called early Saturday evening to an apartment on 3rd Ave. NW. Smoke was reportedly coming from the ceiling of the structure. The smoke was caused by an issue in the building’s furnace. Firefighters cleared the smoke from the building, and the renters were allowed to return. A plumber was called to fix the furnace.
TAX DEADLINES
The Plymouth County Treasurer reminds residents that real estate and mobile home taxes are due on April 1. Typically, the deadline is March 31, but Shelly Sitzmann says this year, March 31 falls on a weekend, so the deadline is April 1. Taxes are delinquent after April 2. Online payment of property taxes is an option. This can be done at iowatreasurers.org. Online payment can be done up until midnight, April 1, without penalty.
LOST WINTER’ WRAPS UP WITH IOWA’S 2ND WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD
The calendar says spring doesn’t arrive until March 19th, but meteorological winter actually ended Thursday, making today the first day of meteorological spring. State climatologist Justin Glisan says it was cold and snowy, sure, but it really wasn’t much of a winter.
As for the just-ended month of February, Glisan says what little snow fell didn’t stick around long.
The statewide average for precipitation during February was only two-tenths of an inch, making it Iowa’s third-driest February on record. Glisan says forecast models predict March will be warmer than normal, with good chances for increased precipitation.
SEWING DAYS PLANNED AS WORK RESUMES ON LARGE-SCALE SIOUX CITY ART PROJECT
Artist Amanda Browder has returned to the Sioux City Art Center to resume her “Razzle Dazzle” project, a massive textile sculpture that will be suspended from different areas of the art center’s buildings in August. Browder is back to lead a new series of “Sewing Days” throughout the metro area during the month of March.
The Sewing Days are events during which volunteers spend time pinning together long stripes of similarly colored fabrics and then sew them together. She says no previous experience with textiles or sewing is required for the project that will debut just before Artsplash this summer.
Browder says they could use more colorful fabric.
More Sewing Day locations are being added continually to the art center’s website.
JUDGES MAY BE GETTING A PAY BOOST
State Representative Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant, is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that drafts a budget for the the state’s court system. He says raising the salaries of district court judges is a goal he hopes to achieve this year, but lawmakers haven’t settled on a number yet. Iowa district court judges are paid less than judges in every state that touches Iowa. While the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice has recommended a more than six percent salary hike for Iowa judges, that still won’t bring their pay in line with any surrounding state. Chief Justice Susan Christensen told lawmakers in January Iowa district court judges have gone without pay raises in 10 of the last 15 years and they now make 16-thousand dollars less per year than South Dakota judges and 38-thousand dollars less than judges in Nebraska.
HOUSE VOTES FOR TWICE A YEAR BRIEFING OF NURSING HOME STAFF ABOUT CITATIONS
A bill that’s cleared the Iowa House would require state inspectors to conduct twice-a-year training sessions for Iowa nursing home staff to review the most common citations issued against nursing homes. The bill also changes the timelines for when inspectors from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing conduct site visits to review operations or investigate complaints. Representative Tom Moore, a Republican from Griswold, says the bill creates a collaboration between the state agency and our nursing homes that will hopefully reduce citations. Representative Megan Srinivas, a Democrat from Des Moines, says everyone agrees Iowa nursing homes are in trouble, but this bill isn’t the answer. She says the state needs to hire more nursing home inspectors and quit paying private companies to investigate complaints.
