HIGHWAY 3 PAVING
Plymouth Street in Le Mars remains closed, as a resurfacing project wraps up. This week, road repairs will shift east to Iowa Highway 3, from 1st St NE, past Floyd Valley Healthcare, to 14th Avenue. That portion of the highway will be resurfaced this week, Traffic will be restricted to one lane during construction, with a pilot car leading vehicles through the work site. The resurfacing should be completed by Saturday.
IOWA PARENTS NEED TO REGULATE STUDENT INFORMATION
Classes resume in most Iowa schools in the next week or two, and Iowa parents are being warned to be careful with what they share online about their children. Jim Temmer, with the Better Business Bureau, says those cute social media posts about your kid’s first day in their new grade give away a lot of key details of their lives that could be misused.
That could mean basic identity theft, or even using that information to gain your child’s trust.
Temmer says if you are going to share those pictures on social media, make sure they’re only going out to actual friends.
LEMARS SCHOOL BOARD MEETS
The Board of Directors of Le Mars Community Schools meets this evening in their regular monthly session.
Their agenda tonight includes the Superintendent’s annual report for the 2023-2 school year. Under personnel items, there’s a list of resignations and contracts for the board to consider. Legally-mandated changes in the districts’ truancy policy will be brought before the board for their action. Public comment will be taken on the second reading of the Le Mars district’s Parent and Family Engagement policy.
The Board and Superintendent will also develop superintendent’s goals as part of his evaluation process.
Tonight’s meeting begins at 6 p.m.
CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR FUEL THEFT
A California man was arrested by Sioux County authorities Friday on a theft charge. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office arrested Zohrab Zoro Hovhannisyan, 47, of Glendale, CA.
The arrest resulted from an investigation that began on June 10. At that time, the sheriff’s office received a report from a Hospers fuel station (OK One Stop) that someone was using fraudulent credit card numbers to steal fuel.
During their investigation, deputies discovered that Hovhannisyan, a truck driver picking up loads in the area, had been using the fraudulent credit card numbers to purchase diesel fuel totaling $998.
Hovhannisyan was transported to the Sioux County Jail where he was charged with theft.
PROGRAM SEEKS TO BOOST CERTIFIED COURT REPORTERS IN IOWA
The State of Iowa will be launching incentives to try to encourage more Iowans to complete the training to become certified shorthand court reporters. State Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant is also an attorney.
About 25 percent of court reporter positions in Iowa’s judicial system are vacant. Lohse says the cost of training to be a certified shorthand reporter is a major barrier.
A state law that took effect July 1st contains 100-thousand dollars for grants and forgivable loans for newly licensed court reporters.
Court reporters use steno machines that type syllables instead of letters, so they can type well over 200 words a minute. While some trials are recorded, judges rely on court reporters to immediately be able to read back testimony when questions are raised during court proceedings. Last November, in an effort to expand the number of court reporters in Iowa, the state Supreme Court changed administrative guidelines to let certified voice writers work in Iowa courtrooms. Voice writers speak into a microphone inside a mask, repeating what’s said in court, and the dialogue is converted into text.
PETITIONS PRESENTED OVER IOWA’S ‘SUMMER EBT’ PROGRAM
Representatives from the Iowa Hunger Coalition have met with state officials, hoping to convince Governor Kim Reynolds Iowa should participate in a federal program next summer that provides extra food for kids in low-income households. The program provides an extra 120 dollars in summertime federal food assistance for each child who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch at school. Reynolds cited administrative costs when she turned down the federal funds for the so-called “Summer E-B-T” program THIS summer. Luke Elzinga, a spokesman for the coalition, says the U-S-D-A has announced it will provide grants to states, to cover technology expenses associated with the benefits. The Iowa Hunger Coalition delivered a petition to the governor’s office this week that was signed by over 35-hundred Iowans, urging Reynolds to accept the extra federal food benefits next summer.
GROUP SEEKING CHANGE POINTS CITES IOWA TAX CREDIT FOR JOHN DEERE
Iowans for Tax Relief president Chris Hagenow is optimistic Iowa lawmakers will be open to making changes in a state tax break for big corporations. It’s called the “research activities” tax credit — it’s refundable — and the state is required to cut the corporation a check for any amount above what the company owes in taxes. Hagenow says the latest data from the state of Iowa shows John Deere received over 19 million dollars in tax credits for research activities last year — the most of any corporation — and he says Iowans may find that worrisome given recent layoffs at Deere facilities in Iowa, as well as the company’s plan to build a plant in Mexico. In tax year 2023, about 350 corporations filed for the state research activities tax credit — with claims totalling 77 million dollars. Backers of the credit say it keeps companies in Iowa that are doing high value research — with highly paid staff.
47 CHILDREN WILL BECOME U.S. CITIZENS TODAY AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR
America will gain about four dozen new, young citizens today at a special ceremony at the Iowa State Fair. Officials from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are holding a citizenship ceremony on the state fair’s MidAmerican Energy Stage. A total of 47 children will be taking the Oath of Allegiance, then they’ll be presented with their citizenship certificate. The children range in age from 10 to 18 and they come from 17 countries around the globe, from Brazil and Burma to Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The ceremony is designed to recognize and celebrate the naturalization of immigrants who have derived citizenship through their naturalized parents or adoption.
