BURN BAN LIFTED
As of noon today, the burn ban in Plymouth County has been lifted.
Le Mars Fire Rescue Chief Dave Schipper requested the ban be lifted.
The ban was put in place January 31, because of dry and windy conditions, which triggered a series of grass fires in the area.
TWO VEHICLE CRASH ON IOWA 60 INJURES TWO
Two people were injured in a two vehicle crash along Iowa Highway 60 yesterday. The Plymouth County Sheriffs Office was called to the accident scene south of Seney around 2:50 p.m. 43 year old Andrew Petty of Hartley was travelling south on Iowa 60. He stated that he had a coughing fit, and crossed the median, into the path of a northbound vehicle driven by 47 year old Jacobo Ramirez of Sioux City. Both drivers were transported to Floyd Valley Healthcare for treatment of minor injuries. The Petty vehicle sustained 65-hundred dollars in damages, and the Ramirez vehicle sustained about 75-hundred dollars in damages.
LCSD BOARD ACTS ON BOND SALE
The Board of Directors for the Le Mars Community School District has approved a resolution authorizing the sale of up to 49.9 million dollars in General Obligation School Bonds, for construction of the new elementary campus. The resolution also levies taxes to property owners to pay for the bonds.
The board also approved a contract for Piper Sandler and Co. of Des Moines to serve as financial advisor for the bond issue. An agreement for legal council for the bond sale was approved with the firm of Ahlers and Cooney Law Office.
Today is the deadline to receive qualifications for construction manager for the school project. Those qualifications will be reviewed. Those who qualify will be invited to submit proposals to serve as construction manager for the project.
Those who submit proposals will be interviewed by members of the board and consultant ISG on April 1. Board Chair Aaron Tolzin, Zach Lancaster, and Zach Davis volunteered to interview the candidates.
LCSD TEACHER CONTRACTS
The Le Mars Community School Board approved contracts for four new teachers at their meeting this week.
They include Jaylen Bork for 7th grade science, Tom Cronin, middle school instrumental music, Rebecca Platano, 5th grade teacher at Kluckhohn School, and Jayden Wiltgen, special ed at Clark School.
Supt. Dr. Steven Webner says there is one teacher position remaining to be filled, in the talented and gifted program. Interviews for that position are to take place this week.
NEW BISHOP FOR SIOUX CITY DIOCESE
The Sioux City Catholic Diocese will soon have a new bishop.
Pope Francis has accepted the request for retirement of Bishop Walker Nickless and has appointed Father John Keehner of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio as the eighth biship of the Diocese of Sioux City.
Bishop Nickless has served the Diocese of Sioux City since January of 2006. He formally submitted his resignation and request for retirement to the Holy Father on May 28, 20212, on his 75th birthday, as is required of bishops by canon law.
Father Keehner is 59 years old and a native of Youngstown, Ohio.
He will be ordained as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City on May 1st at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City.
IOWA HOUSE BILL CALLS FOR EXPELLING FOREIGN STUDENTS WHO ARE ‘TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS’
A subcommittee in the Iowa House has advanced a bill called the “Combating Terrorist Sympathizers Act.” It calls for suspending, expelling or firing students and employees at Iowa colleges and universities who are here on a student or work visa and express support for terrorist activities or a terrorist organization. They’d likely have to leave the country. Representative John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake, says it’s a response to campus protests against Israel.
Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Birmingham, says he supports the direction of the bill, but he has questions about how the policy would be applied in real life.
Representative Ross Wilburn, a Democrat from Ames, opposes the bill.
As written, the bill calls for the sanctions to apply for espousing terrorism any time, anywhere — meaning a visa holder could be expelled or fired from an Iowa college or university for actions or statements made in another state or another country. Last month, President Trump said he would cancel visas and deport foreign students who are Hamas sympathizers.
CULVERT PROJECTS
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved five local culvert projects to take place in the next fiscal year. Two of the projects are west of Struble; Two are north of Remsen, and a fifth is seven miles south of Le Mars. In each case, timber bridges will be removed, and replaced by concrete box culverts. The total cost of the five projects are estimated at 1.4 million dollars. The Supervisors passed a resolution approving of the projects, and contracts for the five will be awarded at the Supervisors meeting of March 11.
LAWMAKERS URGED TO CAP INTEREST PAYMENTS ON MEDICAL BILLS
A group of cancer patients, survivors and advocates is urging the Iowa legislature to cap the amount of interest than can be charged on medical debt. John Buntsma of Orange City says he talked last weekend with a man who had cancer — and had to declare bankruptcy because of his medical debts.
A recent American Cancer Society survey found nearly half of cancer patients and survivors have had medical debt. Over 60 percent of personal bankruptcies are due to unpaid medical bills.
Tuesday was the American Cancer Society’s annual Cancer Action Day at the Iowa Capitol. According to the Iowa Cancer Registry, about 21-thousand Iowans were diagnosed with cancer in 2024. Iowa is the only state where cancer rates are growing.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ACCIDENT
Monday evening, the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office investigated a commercial motor vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of Marsh Ave. and 490th Street, three miles south of Granville, IA.
Gary Ponder, 24, of Wakonda, SD was driving a semi-tractor pulling a tank trailer westbound on 490th Street. While Ponder was attempting to turn northbound onto Marsh Avenue, the rear trailer tires entered the ditch, causing the the trailer to roll into the ditch onto its side. The trailer severed electrical powerline pole support wires; poles were not damaged and no power outages were reported. No injuries were reported.
The Peterbilt and trailer sustained an estimated $75,000 in damage. Ponder was cited for failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle. The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Granville Fire Department and Granville Ambulance.
IOWA SENATE, APPROVES 2% HIKE IN GENERAL STATE PER PUPIL SPENDING
A plan to provide a two percent increase in the state’s per pupil spending on Iowa’s K-through-12 public and private schools has cleared the Senate with the support of 29 Republicans. It amounts to nearly eight-thousand dollars per pupil in public schools and the same amount for parents who’ve signed up for an Educational Savings Account to cover private school expenses for their child. Senator Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia, is a retired superintendent.
Senate Democrats proposed a five percent increase. Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott, a Democrat from Waukee, says two percent per pupil growth in state support isn’t enough for school districts with slow or no enrollment growth.
Three Republican senators who represent rural school districts joined 15 Senate Democrats in opposing the bill. Republicans in the House have proposed a 2.25 percent increase in the state spending level for K-through-12 students, including a one time 22-point-six million dollar infusion to help schools deal with inflationary costs.
IOWA ATTORNEY GENERAL SEEKS BIG BUDGET BOOST TO HIRE MORE ATTORNEYS
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is asking legislators for a more than one-point-six MILLION dollar budget boost so she can hire seven more attorneys. If approved, Bird would hire one prosecutor to investigate financial crimes and other types of consumer scams. The attorney general would add four more full time staff attorneys to the civil division in her office to handle lawsuits filed against the state, many of them from people trying to get a criminal conviction overturned. Half a million dollars in Bird’s budget request would go to hiring two attorneys and a paralegal to primarily deal with high profile lawsuits seeking to overturn state laws.
