FLOYD VALLEY HEALTHCARE – UPDATE
The Floyd Valley Healthcare Board of Trustees this morning approved the purchase of property along Holton Drive for a Retail Center project. They plan a 65-hundred square foot building that would house three businesses: Floyd Valley Urgent Care, Floyd Valley Home Health and Avera Home Medical Equipment. Currently, Urgent Care and Home Health are located at Floyd Valley Healthcare, while Avera Medical Equipment is located on Business 75 near Plymouth Street. There will be a public hearing on these plans next Tuesday before the Le Mars city council. Floyd Valley Healthcare will also begin taking construction bids on the project.
PLYMOUTH COUNTY SUPERVISORS – UPDATE
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors today approved a final plan for a road construction project at Kingsley. This involves pavement widening and resurfacing of L14, from the Woodbury County Line to the junction of Iowa Highway 140. This construction will be concrete over asphalt, and include bridge work on L14. The estimated cost of the project is 1.9 million dollars. A contract letting will take place before the Board of Supervisors on November 19. Construction will take place in 2025.
The Supervisors also approved an application for Iowa Department of Transportation funds for a paving project near Brunsville. This application would be for widening and repaving one mile of K42, from Iowa Highway 3 north one mile to Brunsville. This is described as a busy farm to market road. Over 1-thousand vehicles use that one mile stretch each day, according to the latest traffic counts. The main safety factor is a narrow roadway. It was graded to 1950s standards, with a narrower right of way and shoulders. The plan would widen the roadway and widen the shoulders. This would require the purchase of addtional right of way. The application estimates that one mile improvement to cost 1.15 million dollars. The county will request 500-thousand dollars from the DOT. This project is part of a longer resurfacing project along K42 that will take place in 2026.
CROP REPORT
Dry conditions and cool temperatures last week allowed Iowa farmers 6.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Field activities included harvesting oats for grain, cutting and baling hay, and preparing for the fall harvest.
Topsoil moisture condition rated 23 percent short to very short, 72 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 19 percent short to very short, 77 percent adequate and 4 percent surplus.
Corn condition was rated 77 percent good to excellent. Soybean condition rated 77 percent good to excellent. Ninety-three percent of oats have been harvested, 1 day ahead of last year and 4 days ahead of average.
Hay condition rated 75 percent good to excellent. Pasture condition rated 63 percent good to excellent.
WEATHER SUMMARY
State Climatologist Justin Glisan says a stable weather pattern dominated Iowa for most of the reporting period with unseasonably cool temperatures. In northwest Iowa, a couple of days late last week brought temperatures as low as the 40s. Last week Saturday, the statewide average low temperature was 49 degrees, 13 degrees below normal. Rainfall was limited to northern and southwestern Iowa with dry conditions in between.
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MELTON TALKS IMMIGRATION POLICY AT STATE FAIR
Ryan Melton, the Democrat running in Iowa’s fourth congressional district, says Republicans like his opponent, Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull, it’s ridiculous to identify immigration as the top concern of voters.
Melton says there is no invasion and immigrants are giving new life to places like Hawarden, Storm Lake, Marshalltown, Denison and Carroll.
Melton says the hollowing out of rural Iowa is the issue that comes up over and over as he speaks with voters in the 36 counties that make up the fourth congressional district. He says low paying jobs, attacks on public education and a lack of access to health care and child care are the root causes.
Melton made his comments during an appearance on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Feenstra declined the Register’s invitation to speak at the same spot on the fairgrounds. Melton ran against Feenstra in 2022 and lost by 37 percent in a district with a sizable voter registration edge for Republicans.
IOWA STATE FAIR BLOGGER CONTINUES TO FIND NEW THINGS TO LOVE
Hundreds of thousands of Iowans hit the Iowa State Fair at least once a year, but very few go as many times as Connie Taylor of West Des Moines. Taylor and her daughter, Stephanie, will make a pilgrimage to the fairgrounds all 11 days this year, and they’ve attended at least seven days of every state fair, every year, for the past 19 years. Taylor writes about their daily exploits online and has amassed a wide audience, especially when it comes to her fair food reviews. The best corn dog, she says, is from the Coney Corner by the Horse Barn. Taylor says she always manages to find new things to see and do, or new ways to enjoy what’s already familiar. She says “The fair changes every minute.”
LOTTERY SALES BREAK RECORD IN LAST FISCAL YEAR
The Iowa Lottery reports sales hit a record of nearly 489-point-nine million dollars for the fiscal year that ended in June. Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says they also set a record for payouts to players of nearly 313 million dollars. as players claimed 14 prizes of at least 500-thousand during fiscal year 2024, including three prizes of two million dollars. she says. The Lottery sales for the fiscal year that ended June 30th were one-point-seven percent above last year.
