RESURFACING PROJECT
A repaving project west of Merrill will close a Plymouth County road for most of the construction season.
The Plymouth County Road Department says that starting Tuesday, May 28, County Road C44, from Merrill to the junction of K18, will be closed for repaving. Work will begin at Merrill and continue to the west. The road will be closed ten weeks for construction. A detour will extend from Merrill north on K42, West on C38 and south on K18 to C44.
This project was held over from last year’s construction plan. Henningson Construction of Atlantic, Iowa, is the contractor. Their construction bid was 2.8 million dollars This project will be paid for through the DOT’s Farm to Market road fund. C44 will reopen in mid-August.
SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE REPORT LEADS TO TWO ARRESTS
A suspicious vehicle report led to the arrest of two Granville residents in Sioux County.
The Sheriffs Office says they were called early Monday morning to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle at the US 75 – Iowa 10 intersection north of Maurice.
The investigating deputy discovered that one of the men, Marvin Cax-Agueda, 39 of Granville, had an outstanding warrant from the year 2020 for sexual assault. The other occupant of the vehicle, Alma Barrios, 38, provided false information to the deputy.
Both were arrested and booked into the county jail. Barrios was later released, while Cax-Agueda remains in custody on charges of 3rd degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child.. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be filed.
CAMPGROUND PROJECT
The Le Mars City council this week approved an engineering agreement for work on the Campground North Electric Project. The Willow Creek Campground underwent an expansion in 2017. The electric project restores that portion of the project that was taken out in 2017. The agreement with JEO for engineering services totals over 26-thousand dollars. It will be paid for through Local Option Sales Tax proceeds.
CHANGE ORDER LOWERS CONTRACT PRICE AT WASTE TREATMENT PLANT
The Le Mars city council this week approved the first change order for the 2022 Ultraviolet Disinfection Project. The construction contract for the 5.8 million dollars project includes 250-thousand dollars in construction allowance. 104-thousand dollars of that allowance has not been used, and has been dropped from the contract.
FOUR DEATHS, DOZENS OF INJURIES FROM GREENFIELD TORNADO
The Iowa Department of Public Safety Joint Unified Command says there were four fatalities and at least 35 injuries were the result of the tornado that impacted the Greenfield, Adair County, Iowa area Tuesday afternoon.
The names and ages of those killed in the severe weather event are not being released at this time pending notification of next of kin.
It is believed that the number of those injured is likely higher, but these numbers reflect only those patients treated for their injuries at designated alternate care sites. At least 14 patients were transported to out-of-county medical facilities by various EMS Services.
GOVERNOR SAYS DAMAGE IN GREENFIELD IS ‘HORRIFIC’
Governor Kim Reynolds says debris in Greenfield needs to be stabilized before volunteers will be able to enter the town to help residents recover from Tuesday’s tornado strike. The governor is hoping to have damage estimates completed by today (Thursday), so she can submit a request for a presidential disaster declaration that would trigger federal aid.
The governor says four injured people were flown out of Greenfield on helicopters to area hospitals Tuesday night, but she cannot confirm the number of people who were killed or injurie.
There’s a 10 a.m. to 7 a.m. curfew in Greenfield and people have to show proof they have a Greenfield address in order to enter the community. John Cooper, Adair County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, says that’s an element of their coordinated search to confirm injuries and deaths in the community.
MORE COUNTIES ADDED TO STATE DISASTER LIST
The governor has issued a state disaster proclamation for 17 additional counties for Tuesday’s severe weather. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and Disaster Case Advocacy Program for Black Hawk, Buena Vista, Butler, Cedar, Clinton, Dubuque, Fayette, Franklin, Hancock, Humboldt, Iowa, Jackson, Mills, Muscatine, O’Brien, Polk and Story. A disaster proclamation was previously issued on May 21 for Adair, Adams, Cass, Clay, Hardin, Harrison, Jasper, Kossuth, Marshall, Montgomery, Page, Palo Alto, Pottawattamie, Tama, and Warren Counties.
FARM BILL IS FINALLY INTRODUCED IN THE US HOUSE
After months of delays, the Farm Bill was introduced today (Wednesday) in the U-S House. It’s more than one thousand pages long and it’s estimated to cost one-and-a-half TRILLION dollars over ten years. Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra, who serves on the House Agricultural Committee, says the massive piece of legislation is vital to protecting livestock and commodity farmers in Iowa and nationwide. Feenstra says the safety net includes crop insurance, in addition to improving exports and preventing animal illnesses. The package includes cuts to the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and overturns California’s Proposition 12 mandates.
CHANGE OF VENUE FOR SUSPECT IN ALGONA POLICE OFFICER’S MURDER
The man accused of killing an Algona policeman last fall is now scheduled to stand trial in Dickinson County in late June. Attorneys for Kyle Lou Ricke filed a motion to move the trial out of Kossuth County, arguing pretrial publicity would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the county where Police Officer Kevin Cram had lived. Prosecutors asked that if the trial were moved, it be held in a county with similar demographics and not be too far, as to make travel difficult for witnesses and family members. The judge who granted the change of venue request said Dickinson County’s population is similar to Kossuth County and the travel distance from Algona to Spirit Lake is reasonable.
NEAR-RECORD IOWA TRAVEL NUMBERS FORECAST FOR UPCOMING HOLIDAY WEEKEND
With Memorial Day weekend just ahead, it’s predicted travelers from Iowa will be on the roads in record or near-record numbers. Brian Ortner, with Triple-A Iowa, says the motor club is forecasting more than three-point-six million people across the Midwest will be traveling 50 miles or more during the long weekend, which is up 136-thousand travelers from last year. Ortner says it’ll be the second-highest level of Memorial Day holiday travel since they began tracking those numbers in 2000. The vast majority of vacationers will be traveling by car, and Ortner says gasoline prices in Iowa are more than a dime a gallon cheaper than a year ago.
