HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS IN LE MARS
Christmas in Hometown Le Mars, an all-day celebration, is going on in downtown Le Mars Saturday. It begins with Santa and Mrs. Santa at Habitue Coffeehouse at 8-30 AM. Margaret Catton described the event on KLEM’s What Now program.
Exact times and locations for events can be found online
There is a new addition to the Hometown Christmas in Le Mars
The day comes to and end with a grand celebration at the Olson Cultural Center.
Majority of events free and family friendly. For ticketed events, there will be ticket stations on the north and south ends of Central Avenue downtown. It is a day packed full of events. Go to ChristmasinLe Mars.com to learn all the details.
IT’S SMALL BUSINESSES SATURDAY IN IOWA
Retailers nationwide braced for a shopping extravaganza on Black Friday. Today, locally-owned merchants across Iowa are hoping for a bigger boost on Small Business Saturday. Jayne Armstrong, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office, says Small Business Saturday is a crucial day for the state’s consumers to “Be Loyal, Buy Local.”
Armstrong says 97-percent of Iowa’s businesses are small businesses and embracing them improves the backbone of our state.
If you’d like to support Iowa’s wealth of merchants who are outside of your immediate area, dozens of businesses are offering their wares at shop-iowa-dot-com, which Armstrong says makes it easy to patronize even more hometown heroes in -other- Iowa towns.
The website covers a wide array of goods, including artwork, furniture, food, toys, t-shirts, beauty care products, jewelry and more, all crafted in the Hawkeye State.
BIODIESEL TAX CREDIT WILL EXPIRE THIS YEAR, COULD BE REVIVED IN 2025
A tax credit for biodiesel production expires at the end of this year and Senator Chuck Grassley says congress is unlikely to address the issue in December.
However, early next year Republicans in congress are hoping to extend a package of tax cuts approved in 2017 and Grassley says it’s possible the biodiesel production tax credit could be inserted in that bill.
Iowa is the largest U-S producer of biodiesel. The state’s nine biodiesel plants produced about 350 million gallons of the soybean-based fuel last year. The biodiesel tax credit was established in 2005 and has been extended several times. Grassley says the U-S Treasury Department and Environmental Protection Agency rulings on the scope of other tax breaks for renewable fuels should have been made long ago.
In February, the E-P-A approved the sale of a 15 percent ethanol blend at gas pumps in Iowa and seven other Midwest states year round, but the higher blend of ethanol still cannot be sold in other states during the summer months. The agency has long cited concerns that E-15 can cause smog during hotter weather.
LOOK FOR EARLY SIGNS OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN FAMILY MEMBERS
If it’s been a while since you’ve seen an older relative or friend, you may be noticing some concerning signs over the Thanksgiving weekend. Megan Benzing of the Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association says Thanksgiving is a joyful time to gather with family and friends, but it’s also an opportunity to take note of potential warning signs, like changes in someone’s thinking, behavhior and memory. Some of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s, especially early on, include forgetting recently-learned information, challenges planning or solving problems, and difficulty completing familiar tasks.
