KLEM NEWS FOR MAY 5, 2025
KINGSLEY ROAD CONSTRUCTION
Construction is to begin this week on a paving project in southeast Plymouth County. Four miles of L14, south from Kingsley, will be paved. Part of the project includes work on an abutment to a bridge along the paved portion of the road. That portion of L14 will be closed during construction. A detour will extend mainly into Woodbury County, from Iowa 140 east on D12, then north on L21, and west on Plymouth County Road C66. The project is to be completed by the end of June.
LE MARS COUNCIL TO CONSIDER BUDGET AMENDMENT
The Le Mars city council will consider setting a public hearing on a budget amendment for the current fiscal year. City staff has been studying the budget to consider where expenditures exceeded budgeted amounts. The city has seen more spending on public safety due to staffing changes. There have been several public works projects approved in this fiscal year, which required higher expenditures. Another area of the budget that saw higher spending included capital projects, where 2024 flood damages required additional expenditures. The council will consider setting a hearing to adjust the budget at their meeting on Tuesday.
HOUSE BILL AIMS TO STUDY IOWA’S PRISONS
A bill that’s cleared an Iowa House subcommittee would set up a “prison infrastructure fund” and launch a study of Iowa’s nine state-run prisons. Representative Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant, cited the latest data showing Iowa prisons are holding nearly 25% more inmates than they were designed to house — and he wants the bill to spark a conversation about how the state should respond. There are over 8600 inmates in the general prison population today. Concerns about overcrowding in Iowa prisons were heightened after two Anamosa State Penitentiary staff members were killed in 2021 by inmates trying to escape through the prison infirmary. The Anamosa State Penitentiary was built in 1899. The prison infrastructure fund outlined in the bill would be filled with yearly installments that have been paying off state-issued bonds. Those bonds funded the construction of the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. Inmates moved into the Fort Madison facility in 2015.
GOVERNOR REYNOLDS’ PLAN TO REDIRECT ELECTRONIC BENEFITS
Federal officials are reviewing Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ plan to redirect electronic benefits to help Iowa families buy groceries in the summer. The plan would redirect electronic benefits for families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. The Biden administration twice rejected the governor’s plan to instead have the state make bulk purchases of healthy food and provide boxes of groceries to families in the summer. Reynolds and her staff presented the Trump administration with three other waiver requests in February. Reynolds asked for the authority to roll federal funds designated for a variety of education programs into one block grant and let Iowa officials determine how the money is distributed. Reynolds is also awaiting word on a waiver to let the state change what products can be purchased with federal food benefits as well as a plan to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to show they work 100 hours a month. Congress is considering a similar change for all state Medicaid programs.
THIRTY IMMIGRANTS BECOME CITIZENS IN SIOUX CITY
Thirty candidates from numerous countries took the last step toward United States citizenship at an oath ceremony Thursday afternoon at the Mary J. Treglia Community House.
Safi Mashima was born in the Congo, grew up in Kenya, and came to the United States with her mother and siblings:
safi1 oc…to go through.” :18
Safi is majoring in social work at the University of South Dakota and said this was the best day ever for her.
Barb Newhouse, executive director of the Mary Treglia Community House, says all of those who achieved that goal Thursday have been working hard in their communities and contributing to the local economy and tax base:
barbn1 oc……they are residing.” :20
Federal Judge Kelly Mahoney administered the oath to the new citizens.
