FAIR CLOSES
Attendance at the 2024 Plymouth County Fair exceeded last year. A total of 125,700 was tabulated for the 2024 version of the Five Best Days of Summer.
Fair Board President John Ahlers says rain hampered attendance on Sunday, but the moisture let up before evening, and crowds swelled the fairgrounds.
The rain held back activities for a while Sunday afternoon, but after the rain stopped, the crowds came back.
A little sloppy at the fairgrounds today, after another rain early this morning.
Ahler’s ooverall impression – a great fair with few glitches…
Already talking about plans for next year’s Plymouth County Fair.
While the 2024 Plymouth County Fair is now history, there’s still some work to do at the fairgrounds. Livestock and Statec Exhibits were released this morning. The Livestock Ribbon Auction took place at the Livestock Arena. This afternoon, State Fair Static Exhibits are to be dropped off at the fair office. 4-H Exhibit Building exhibits will be released late today. Fairground cleanup will take place Wednesday night.
Daily attendance:
Wednesday 14,900
Thursday 19,000
Friday 31,800
Saturday 32,400
Sunday 27,600
Total: 125,700
AGRICULTURE RECOVERY CENTER
There will be a one-day Agriculture Recovery Center tomorrow in Sioux Center. This will showcase information to help address flood damages not covered by FEMA or the state of Iowa. The resource fair will be held Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. at the Dordt University Agriculture Stewardship Center on U.S. Highway 75 north of Sioux Center. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, State Insurance and other state government agencies, and farm groups will have representatives on hand to help farmers with flood recovery.
IOWA KIDS MAY SOON SEE CIGARETTE-STYLE WARNINGS ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
The U-S surgeon general is urging Congress to pass legislation requiring warning labels on social media, an idea that’s gaining traction among some mental health professionals in Iowa who treat teenagers. Jeff Reiland, a child and family therapist, says a host of studies confirm too much social media can poison a child’s wellbeing. Reiland says the problem is getting worse, and one report shows kids who spend more than three hours on social media daily are twice as likely to experience depression. Putting a warning label on social media won’t magically fix the problem, Rieland says, but it may be a good first step. Just like with tobacco products, he says a label would raise awareness to kids — and parents — that social media may cause problems if used in excess.
ABORTION LAW TAKES EFFECT TODAY
A law banning most abortions in Iowa will take effect at 8 o’clock this morning. The so-called heartbeat law bans abortion as soon as cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy. Maggie DeWitte is executive director of the Pro Life group called Pulse Life Advocates. She says during the years of legal battles over abortion, she wasn’t sure if the law would ever be enforced in Iowa. DeWitte says she’ll keep pushing Iowa lawmakers to ban abortion from the moment of conception. The deputy director at the Chicago Abortion Access Fund, Qudsiyyah Shariyf says they’ve partnered with the Iowa Abortion Fund to give people financial and logistical support to get abortions in anticipation of Iowa’s law going into effect. She says they’ve already gotten 60 requests from Iowans for support. The law does allow exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies, and fetal abnormalities that are incompatible with life.
VP HARRIS CRITICIZES IOWA’S ABORTION BAN
Vice President Kamala Harris is making an Iowa law that took effect this morning part of her campaign against former President Donald Trump. “Today Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban,” Harris said in a campaign video, “and this ban is going to take effect before many women even know they’re pregnant.”
Iowa’s law bans abortion after fetal activity can be detected, which is around the sixth week of a pregnancy.
Trump held a rally in Minnesota on Saturday and called Harris “an absolute radical on abortion.” Trump appointed three of the six U-S Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade in 2022 and Trump has said the ruling leaves it up to states to decide abortion policy. For the past 40 years, the G-O-P’s national platform had called for federal restrictions on abortion, but Trump’s campaign led development of the party platform for 2024 that says the abortion issue should be left to the states.
POTENTIAL KAMALA HARRIS RUNNING MATE RALLIES WITH IOWA DEMOCRATS
Iowa Democratic Party leaders say having Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket will be a game changer in the final 99 days of the 2024 campaign. Iowa Democratic chair Rita Hart says the one word she’s heard over and over this past week is excitement. The leader of Democrats in the Iowa Senate says having President Biden step aside and endorse Harris is having a trickle down effect on legislative races. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (buh-SHEER) — a potential running mate for Harris — was the closer at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser this weekend. Beshear told the crowd Harris will be a unifier for the country. A spokesman for the Iowa Republican Party called Beshear an out of touch governor with an awful track record.
LE MARS STREET CLOSURES
The Le Mars Street Dept. will be closing 6th Ave. S.W. between 7th St. S.W. and 8th St. S.W. on Tuesday July 30th, 2024, at 8 a.m. to take two ash trees down . Once that is completed, we will reopen that section and then we will close a section of 4th St. S.W. down between 2nd Ave. S.W. and 3rd Ave. S.W. to take another tree down .