RENTAL AGREEMENT
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved an amended lease for a commercial business in the 2nd Ave. Services Building. TN Rentals leased space in the building as of February 1. The lease ends at the end of the fiscal year, and rent increases 3% each year the lease is renewed. There are five entities renting space at the 2nd Ave. Services Building.
COUNTY BUILDING PERMITS
There were three building permitys approved in Plymouth County last month. Zoning Director Stephen Chapman reports there was one permity for a livestock shed, and two building permits for new houses in the county. Total value of the permits is nearly one million dollars.
LE MARS CSD AWARDED CHILD CARE GRANT
Iowa Department of Education awards nearly $600,000 to nine school districts, including the Le Mars Community School District, in a new round of Credentials to Child Care Careers grants.
The grants support districts in aligning family and consumer science programs with student attainment of a national child development credential.
The Credentials to Child Care Careers grant creates school and community partnerships to expand access to child care, while supporting high school students earning a Child Development Associate credential.
Besides the Le Mars Community School District, the Central Lyon School District was among the nine awarded grants in the latest round.
SUPERVISORS MEET
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors meet this morning. The CEO of Sioux Rivers Mental Health will be before the board to discuss the transition from the current regional mental health model to a state plan. The Plymouth County weed commissioner will review their new fiscal year budget. Later the Supervisors will go into closed session to discuss their collective bargaining position.
LE MARS COUNCIL
The Le Mars city council meets today. The meeting will begin with a hearing on rezoning two parcels of property adjacent to Parkview Terrace Mobile Home Park. Action items on today’s agenda include an agreement for removal of asbestos at Centennial Hall. There will be an application for a state transportation grant on two paving projects along 4th Avenue SE. The council will also decide on a public hearing for a sewer extension project to service four lots in the Le Mars Industrial Park.
LE MARS FIRE RESCUE REPORT
Le Mars Fire Rescue ended the month of January with a high number of calls, and a burn ban. For the month, there were 159 total calls for service. Most of these, 120, were for 911 calls, ambulance transfers and 2nd calls. There were 12 fire/rescue calls in January, 15 calls for investigations, and 10 operation calls. Some of the other highlights for the month include regular high school EMT classes; passed ambulance inspections; re-inspected all school buildings; helped host Plymouth County EMS day at Floyd Valley Healthcare. On the last day of the month, a burn ban was declared in Plymouth County, due to several grass fires late in the month. The ban is in effect until further notice.
SPENCER MAN SENTENCED IN DRUG INVESTIGATION
A Spencer man, Oscar Navarro-Zepeda, 43, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. Navarro-Zepeda was convicted by a jury last August 22, 2024, after a 3 ½ day trial in federal court in Sioux City.
Navarro-Zepeda was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of firearm by prohibited person; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Evidence at the trial showed that between April 2021 and April 2023, Navarro-Zepeda was involved in a conspiracy that distributed more than 31 kilograms of methamphetamine. A search warrant served at the suspect’s residence uncovered approximately 33 pounds of methamphetamine, packaged for distribution. Officers also seized $17,932; an AR-15 style rifle, two loaded magazines, other ammunition, as well as various items of drug distribution and use paraphernalia.
In addition to the 17 years sentence, the defendant must serve five years of supervised release after imprisonment.
SENATE GOP PROPOSES 2% PER PUPIL SPENDING BOOST
Republicans in the Iowa Senate are proposing a two percent increase in state per pupil funding for pubic schools, the same level Governor Reynolds proposed last month. It would amount to about 79-hundred dollars per student — and the parents of private school students who’ve signed up for state tuition assistance would get that amount, too. Senate President Amy Sinclair says the goal is to get the plan enacted by late next week.
School districts must hold public hearings on budget plans and school boards must adopt a budget for the next academic year by April 30th. Republicans in the Iowa House, led by Speaker Pat Grassley, have not released a proposal on per pupil funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1st.
Grassley suggests House Republicans may propose additional state funding for rural school districts with long bus routes. Democrats say schools should get a five percent boost in per pupil spending. Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner (WY-ner) says due to the state’s per pupil funding formula, schools with declining enrollment will take a hit.
Democrats say schools need a five percent increase in per pupil funding. Weiner says that would be a 315 MILLION dollar increase — the same amount the state sent this year to the Education Savings Accounts for private school students.
BILL TO REQUIRE IOWA SCHOOLS REFER TO MT. DENALI, GULF OF AMERICA IN CLASSROOM HANDOUTS
Republicans on a House subcommittee have approved a bill to require any handouts in Iowa classrooms adhere to President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming two landmarks. Trump in January renamed Mount Denali in Alaska as Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Representative Bob Henderson, a Republican from Sioux City who’s a retired math teacher, says it’s just a matter of pointing out to schools those are the new names. He says the bill does not require the purchase of new textbooks or wall maps with these name changes, but would apply to anything handed out — including tests. Representative Mary Lee Madison of Des Moines, the only Democrat on the subcommittee, voted against the bill and criticized the name changes Trump has ordered. The bill’s sponsor is the chairman of the education committee in the Iowa House.