REP FEENSTRA HELPS NOR-AM COLD STORAGE
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra announced today that his office helped Nor-Am Cold Storage receive approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to ship refrigerated products – including Iowa-raised meat – to the European Union.
Nor-Am’s facility in Cherokee represents a significant investment in Northwest Iowa and sustains more than fifty jobs.
Rep. Feenstra said he had earlier toured the Nor-Am facility in Le Mars, and came to appreciate the company’s investment in the rural community.
Feenstra has authored the FRIDGE Act, which seeks to expand cold storage in foreign ports, which in turn sets the stage for expanded U.S. agriculture exports.
HANDS-FREE DRIVING BILL
A Plymouth County lawmaker says his House Transportation Committee – got a visit from Reps of the Iowa State Patrol, urging the committee to pass a hands-free driving bill. State Representative Tom Jeneary of Le Mars says such a bill has been passed in two neighboring states.
Rep. Jeneary talked with people whose family members died in accidents caused by distracted drivers.
Elected officials who are in law enforcement are behind the bill.
Besides the hands-free bill, is a bill which redefines tailgating. Rep Jeneary says both will keep highways safer for drivers.
The bill would make it illegal to use a cell phone while driving, unless it is voice-activated or hands-free.
BUENA VISTA COUNTY FATAL ACCIDENT
One person died and two others were injured in a head on collision early Sunday in Buena Vista County. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident occurred around 5 am on U.S. Highway 71. 27-year-old Derren Mauricio of Alta was driving north on the highway, when, for an unknown reason, crossed the center line and struck a southbound vehicle driven by 21 year old Estevan Rodriguez of Alta. Mauricio was pronounced dead at the scene. Rodriguez and a passenger, 30-year-old Lucero Martinez-Juarez of Early, were injured, and transported to Buena Vista Regional Hospital in Storm Lake. The State Patrol says fog was present at the time of the crash. The accident remains under investigation.
LEARN ABOUT PRESERVING POLLINATORS AT FREE WORKSHOPS
A series of workshops will be launched this week that are designed to teach you how to extend the habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Iowa Learning Farms outreach specialist Liz Ripley, on the Iowa State University campus says the four workshops will be held in four different areas of the state during February and March — and they’re all free. Ripley says they hope to teach farmers, landowners and urban residents how to create more habitat, as she says pollinators help ensure the world eats. Studies find about 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on pollinators. Workshops will be held February 6th in Ames, February 11th at Storm Lake, March 11th in Fairfield, and March 18th in Coralville.
BIRD FLU CONFIRMED IN NW IA FLOCK
State and federal officials this weekend announced bird flu had been confirmed i a commercial flock of 240-thousand layer hens in O’Brien County. Governor Kim Reynolds has recommended an additional half a million dollars in state spending to support development of vaccines for bird flu and other foreign animal diseases. The current outbreak of avian influenza began three years ago and the first human case of bird flu in the United States was identified in April of last year. In December, state officials reported the first human case in Iowa, in a person who worked in a commercial poultry operation.
FEDERAL PRISONERS WILL HELP WOODBURY COUNTY PAY FOR NEW JAIL
Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan is helping pay for the new county jail by taking in more federal prisoners. Sheehan is asking the county supervisors for funds to hire eight more officers to help handle and transport the federal prisoners from North Dakota. Sheehan says it will cost 650-thousand dollars to hire the new staff and that would be paid for with revenue from taking care of 18 federal inmates from North Dakota. Sheehan expects to hold some 40 federal inmates from North Dakota and they would generate nearly one-and-a-half million dollars. He says additional staff would allow them to handle more than 100 federal inmates various states. The additional revenue from holding the federal inmates would be used to pay down the new law enforcement center. Sheehan says they are not expecting to be holding inmates arrested by ICE as illegal immigrants.
