The Le Mars City Council meets today (Tuesday, August 5) at 12 noon. Three public hearings are on the agenda. This includes a hearing on the annexation of Dogwood properties, 37.55 acres located south of the city limits, a hearing on the O’Toole Park Improvement Project, and another on a pavement replacement on 12th Street Southeast from 2nd Avenue to 4th Avenue.
The Council is expected to take action on a number of items, including amending the Urban Revitalization plan and they will consider awarding the 2026 Business Highway 75 Reconstruction Project to DGR Engineering.
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will not be meeting today (August 5.). The Supervisor’s next meeting will be at 9:30 am next Tuesday, August 12th.
Sioux Center Linemen Assist Communities After Storm
With an underground electric system that sustained only minor impact from the recent storm, Sioux Center Municipal sent linemen to help restore power in two neighboring communities.
The July 28 storm uprooted trees, damaged buildings, and snapped electric poles as it swept through the region, but Sioux Center Municipal Utilities customers only had about a four-minute interruption of power.
With minimal impact to the Sioux Center Municipal Utilities’ electric system other than a rural line impacted by a fallen shed, the linemen were available to assist fellow municipal utilities Alton and Paullina with storm recovery.
The night of the storm, Alton requested mutual aid to help repair a transmission line. The Sioux Center crew was joined by Orange City linemen and provided technical assistance in repairing the affected pole and line to restore power within several hours.
After returning to Sioux Center for a short night, the electric department received a second request for mutual aid. The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities was requesting crews with a bucket truck and digger truck to restore power in Paullina. Three Sioux Center linemen traveled there with two trucks to help restore power.
National Night Out in Remsen
Remsen’s National Night Out festivities will take place tonight (Tuesday evening, August 5th) from 5 till 8 p.m. in downtown Remsen. The event will feature BINGO, Train Rides, Inflatables, a dunk tank, and miniature Highlander cows.
At 5:15 p.m. Tuesday the landing of the Wings Helicopter is planned and there will be a Foam Party from 5:30 till 7:30. The Remsen Community Action Club will sponsor Burger Night for a free will donation, with proceeds going to projects at Sunrise Park. Residents are invited to spend the evening with neighbors and members of local law enforcement agencies, emergency services, and the fire department.
Le Mars will hold their National Night Out Event on October 7th at the Le Mars Police Department featuring food, fun, and games from 5 till 7 p.m. that evening.
U.S. Senate Candidate Scholten Unveils Farm Platform
Sioux City Democratic candidate for Joni Ernst’s Senate Seat J.D. Scholten yesterday (Monday, August 4th) called for some bold changes in U.S. farm policy. Scholten said it was time to “bust up the monopolies” that control America’s food supply and drive small and medium farmers out of business.
Scholten says the vast majority of Iowa hog farmers have gone out of business. He added that the federal government should have never allowed pork producer Smithfield to be purchased by a Chinese company or allowed Brazil-based J-B-S to buy Swift and other meatpacking companies. Scholten is calling for more federal support of on-farm conservation practices and locally grown food.
Scholten says he’s frustrated the Obama Administration didn’t do more to address monopolies in the agricultural sector. And he objects to the first Trump Administration’s decision to move the country’s main anti-monopoly enforcers into the agency they’re supposed to police.
Latest Iowa Crop Report
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released yesterday (Monday, August 4th) by the USDA.
Naig said above-average rainfalls throughout the month means this month will go down as the second wettest July on record with statewide rainfalls averaging over nine inches. However, he added that the active weather pattern included a derecho that brought damaging winds to northern and eastern Iowa that damaged trees, buildings and vehicles, crops and livestock. However Naig said the Canadian wildfire smoke has been clearing out and there will be seasonal temperatures for the opening days of the Iowa State Fair.
The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.
