SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TODAY
The Le Mars Community School Board of Education has scheduled a special Special Meeting This afternoon at 5 pm at the Education Service Center. The Board will hear the Le Mars Education Association Initial Bargaining Proposal for a 2025-26 Contract.
TRAFFIC SIGNAL PROJECT
After a public hearing, the Le Mars city council approved plans for modernized traffic signals downtown.
The intersections include Plymouth and Central, Plymouth and 1st Street, and Central and 1st Street.
The repairs include new fiber optic cables between the intersections.
The base bid for the project will include comp;lete replacement of equipment at the Plymouth Street intersections, and partial repair of the 1st Street intersection. An alternate bid would include comp;lete replacement of Central and 1st Street equipment.
The estimated cost of the project is 865-thousnd dollars, paid through the city’s Local Option Sales Tax proceeds.
STREET CLOSURE PLANNED
The Le Mars Street Department says they will close two blocks of 1st Street downtown later this month for a street resurfacing project..
On Friday April 25th starting at Central Ave NW/NE the Street Dept. will close1st St. starting at Central going one block west and one block going east.
A conractor, Barkley Asphalt, will be milling the road down so they can put a new layer of asphalt down The road will be closed during the milling process and then will be reopened when they are done for the weekend. It will be closed again the next week, April 28th during the resurface process .
KNOXVILLE MAN ANNOUNCES U.S. SENATE ELECTION CAMPAIGN
An Army and Marine Corps veteran who’s executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce is launching a campaign for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2026 nomination for the U-S Senate. Nathan Sage, a native of Mason City, did three tours of duty in the Iraq war. Sage says he’s running to fight for working class Iowans.
Sage says Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who’s also a veteran, hasn’t done enough to push back against Veterans Administration cuts devised by Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Sage also faults Ernst for voting to confirm Pete Hegseth as U-S Defense Secretary.
Sage used his G-I benefits to earn a journalism degree from Kansas State University and got a job as an overnight announcer at radio stations in Knoxville and Indianola, working his way up to station management.
He was hired to lead the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce in May of 2023. Sage says his work with small businesses and working Iowans prompted him to consider and now launch a campaign for the U-S Senate.
Sage’s dad was a factory worker, his mom was a day care teacher and his family lived in a trailer park in Mason City. Sage says his parents tried their best for their four children, but it was a hard life and he joined the Marines in 2003.
LCSD BOARD CHOOSES CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AT RISK
The Le Mars Community School Board has chosen a Sioux Falls firm as the construction manager at risk for the new elementary school project. Hausmann Construction of Sioux Falls was chosen out of 14 initial applicants. Seven of the firms were asked to come back for interviews on April 1. School Superintendent Dr. Steven Webner, three board members, three members of consulting firm ISG, and the school district attorney spent the day interviewing representatives of the seven firms. The seven were ranked, with Hausmann ranked highest. Their cost proposal was also the lowest of the candidates.
BOND ELECTION FOR NEW FIRE STATION
Le Mars city staff Tuesday were authorized to begin preparing documents for a bond issue election in November, for a new fire station. Two years ago, the city purchased two lots, 2.14 acres, on 12th Street SW as the site of a fire station. The project would be paid for through the issuance of General Obligation Bonds. An election must take place before a bond issue can move forward. The issue is to be placed on the November election ballot. City administrator Jason Vacura says there need to be concept drawings for the public to consider before the vote, but there does not need to be formal construction plans.
STREET DEPARTMENT WILL CLOSE 1ST STREET DOWNTOWN
On Friday April 25th at 5 a.m. starting at Central Ave NW/NE the Le Mars Street Dept. will close 1st St. starting at Central going one block west and one block going east. Barkley Asphalt will be milling the road down so they can put a new layer of asphalt down . Friday the road will be closed during the milling process and then will be reopened when they are done for the weekend. It close again the next week of April 28th during the resurface process .
U.S. 75 REOPENS AFTER RAIL CROSSING REPAIRS
A project between the Iowa DOT and BNSF Railroad, which required the full closure of U.S. 75 in both directions at the BNSF railroad crossing south of Merrill has been completed three days ahead of schedule and is now open. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 3 Office in Sioux City, said this was done in part to coincide with the first stages of U.S. 75 reconstruction of the southbound lanes between Hinton and Merrill. The project includes new grading and paving, replacement of bridges and culvert extensions. Traffic will be in a head to head pattern in the northbound lanes of the highway. The project will be completed for the winter shutdown in November, and will carry over into 2026. This will be the last of six phases of U.S. 75 reconstruction which started in 2017.
REYNOLDS REQUEST DISASTER DECLARATION FOR MARCH STORM
Governor kim reynolds has requested a presidential disaster declaration for four western iowa counties due to significant severe weather conditions that occurred on march 19th.
Reynolds requested funding under the federal emergency management agency’s public assistance program for woodbury, monona, crawford and harrison counties for significant damage to public infrastructure and private property caused by the severe weather.
Following a joint federal, state, and local damage assessment of the affected counties, it was estimated the severe weather resulted in more than $8 million worth of damage that could be eligible under the fema public assistance program.
The program provides funds that can be used for restoration of damaged utilities, debris removal, and other emergency protective measures including but not limited to sheltering, essential needs, and movement of emergency supplies.
IOWA SENATE ADVANCES PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON TAXES
Iowa voters are likely to decide in the 2026 election if Iowa’s constitution has a new amendment setting a higher threshold for future state income tax increases. The Iowa Senate has given its final approval to a proposed amendment to present to voters. It would require two-thirds “super majorities” of at least 34 state senators and 67 representatives approve any future increases in the individual income tax or the state’s corporate tax. Senator Rocky DeWitt of Lawton says raising taxes on anything should be hard and he predicts Iowa voters will approve it. Democrats oppose the concept, saying it will force future legislatures to significantly raise the state sales tax if there’s a dip in state revenue during an economic downturn.
