Le Mars Public Library announces “Beat the Blues Challenge”
The Le Mars Public Library has announced their “Beat the Blues Challenge”, with weekly challenges starting from next week until March.
The challenges are designed as a simple and free way to combat the long weeks of winter. While the daylight has been diminishing noticeably since late fall, the busyness of holidays and family gatherings can mask the effects of less sunlight until the quiet, long days of January. In a news release, library director Shirley Taylor notes that “winters in Iowa means longer periods of darkness and many days without bright sunshine”.
Each week between January 12th and March 6th, the library will have a simple weekly task for adults and teens designed to lift the Winter Blues. The first challenge will be available next Monday, focusing on journaling. Participants can pick up a free journaling kit for the first challenge, and a punch card to track completion of future challenges.
In addition to the first challenge this week, the library will hold an information session, “Winter Blues vs. SAD”, presented by Rosanne Kertles from Senior Life Solutions, on January 14th at 5:30pm.
If you’re feeling blue this winter, and if the feelings last for several weeks, talk to a healthcare provider. If you or someone you know is in immediate distress, call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline by dialing 988.
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Annual Le Mars Bridal Expo takes place tomorrow
The annual Le Mars Bridal Expo will take place tomorrow evening at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.
Nearly 40 vendors will be in attendance at the show, covering wedding needs such as attire, catering, DJ’s, travel, and flowers. Visitors to the expo can taste food samples, watch the fashion show, and enter to win over 30 door prizes. A giveaway for $500 in Bridal Bucks, which can be used with any vendor at the show, will also take place.
The Bridal Expo is free to attend, and will take place at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds from 5pm to 8:30pm tomorrow evening. For questions about the expo, call 712-540-6187 or visit the expo’s Facebook page.
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Iowa A.G. calls for new victim-centered law changes
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is calling on the legislature to pass a law requiring the collection of D-N-A from adults arrested for felonies or aggravated misdemeanors.
All 50 states require D-N-A testing of adults convicted of felonies. Over 30 states have also passed D-N-A collection requirements from those arrested for violent crimes. They’re all named “Katie’s Law,” for a 22-year-old woman who was brutally attacked and murdered in New Mexico. Suzana Martinez, the former governor of New Mexico, joined Bird at a statehouse news conference Tuesday.
Martinez was the district attorney who tried the case against the man who killed Katie Sepich — once the D-N-A he submitted following a conviction for a different crime matched the D-N-A material found under Katie Sepich’s fingernails. Martinez says by requiring D-N-A collection at the time of an arrest, Katie’s Law turns every booking station into a doorway to justice for a cold case.
Bird’s also proposing a bill that would let children and adults who are victims of sex crimes get a lifetime no-contact order.
Under current law, criminal no-contact orders usually last a year. Bird’s also seeking a tougher felony charge against some accused of threatening an Iowa judge or their family.
(Story via Radio Iowa)
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