DISASTER DECLARATION FOR PLYMOUTH COUNTY, THREE OTHERS
Governor Kim Reynolds issued a disaster declaration for four Iowa counties, including Plymouth, in response to severe weather that occurred early Friday, April 17. Governor Reynolds’ proclamation covers Plymouth and Buena Vista counties in northwest Iowa, and Fremont, and Page Counties in southwest Iowa. The declaration allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Advocacy Program for those counties. The proclamation is effective immediately and expires on May 18, 2025.
The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants up to $7,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of personal property or food, and temporary housing expenses. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management website: homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/assistance.
Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to apply.
There were several reports of large hail in severe thunderstorms which struck Plymouth County early Friday morning. Hail up to 2.5 inches in diameter struck Hinton; Kingsley received 1.25 inch hail; and Le Mars received one inch hail.
The city of Storm Lake was hit with strong winds in the storms. Aimee Barritt, the Buena Vista County emergency management coordinator, says thousands of MidAmerican Energy customers in Storm Lake are without power after a severe thunderstorm hit about 1 A-M. The Storm Lake Police Department released photos showing toppled concrete walls, flipped semis, and damage to apartment buildings and stores.
LE MARS DRIVER INVOLVED IN NEBRASKA CRASH
There was a fatal accident in Cedar County Nebraska, Thursday. One of the drivers was a Le Mars resident. A news release from the Cedar County Sheriffs Office says a car-truck accident occurred around 8:45 that evening at the intersection of state highways 59 and 15, four miles north of Laurel, Nebraska. An eastbound semi driven by 25 year old Jasper Vander Plas of Le Mars struck a car driven by 70 year old Charles Potosnyak of Coleridge, Nebraska. Potosnyak was making a left turn onto Highway 59 into the path of the Vander Plas semi. Potosnyak died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt.
MARCH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE UP SLIGHTLY
Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says the March unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percent to three-point-four percent.
Townsend says Iowa firms lost 15-hundred jobs in March, mostly in private service industries.
Townsend says the additional workers kept the workforce participation rate the same in March. The construction, education and health services, trade, transportation and utilities areas added 15-hundred jobs.
GOVERNOR APPROVES LOWERING AGE FOR POSSESSING A HANDGUN TO 18
Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that will lower the legal age for possessing a handgun in Iowa from 21 to 18. The law goes into effect July 1st. After a 2022 U-S Supreme Court ruling on gun rights, some federal judges have overturned state laws that bar 18, 19 and 20 year olds from owning or possessing a pistol or revolver. Iowans under the age of 21 will still be prohibited from buying a handgun from a licensed federal dealer. Under the new law, a parent or guardian who lets a child under the age of 15 possess a handgun could be liable for any damages the child might cause.
ATTORNEY GENERAL HOPES COLD CASE CARDS WILL LEAD TO INFORMATION
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird this week announced the release of Iowa Cold Case playing cards. Bird says the decks of 52 cards include information on some of the people in the cold cases and will go primarily to prisons and jails because people in those facilities might know or have heard something about a cold case. Bird says a special committee reviewed the more than 400 Iowa cold cases to select the ones to go on the cards. They hope the cards will start a conversation or bring out some memories that could lead to solving a cold case. Other states have had some success with using cold case cards, Connecticut, for example, has used the cards for approximately a decade, and they’ve solved 20 cold cases.
