Voting for Le Mars to be “America’s Favorite Small Town” wrapping up
The city of Le Mars is in the running to be named one of “America’s Favorite Small Towns,” and the chance for residents to vote Le Mars into the next round ends next week.
The honor is awarded by Parade magazine, who runs the annual competition, and celebrates vibrant but small communities across the country. Voting started back in November, with semifinalists to be announced next Wednesday, January 21st. National finalists will be announced early this Spring, with state and national winners to be announced in June.
Kristen Heimgartner, the executive director of the Hometown Le Mars Heritage Foundation, says the group entered the contest to better promote Le Mars.
Heimgartner says winning the competition would give Le Mars opportunities and exposure.
Finalists will be featured in a special print issue of Parade, and the winning town will host a special event on the Fourth of July, featuring “potential celebrity involvement”, sponsor giveaways, and national media coverage. Heimgartner encourages residents to vote and interact with the Heritage Foundation’s social media posts.
For a link to vote, click here. National semifinalists will be announced after January 21st.
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Northwest Iowa Republicans accuse Klimesh of retaliation over eminent domain debate
Republican leaders in Northwest Iowa are accusing Senate Republican Leader Mike Klimesh of retaliation against Republican senator Doug Campbell of Mason City.
The Plymouth County Republican Central Committee in Le Mars unanimously passed a formal resolution Tuesday censuring Klimesh for stripping Campbell of all his committee assignments for the 2026 legislative session.
Don Kass is chairman of the Plymouth County Republicans and says Campbell was punished for his action last year with other senators to block the state budget bill from being passed because they opposed eminent domain from being used against landowners opposed to a carbon capture pipeline on their properties.
Kass says he and other Republicans are upset over bills by those 12 senators that he says Klimesh killed debate for, in retaliation for their opposition to eminent domain.
The resolution condemns the “brazen act of political retribution” that stripped senator Campbell of all committee assignments.
Bruce Rastetter is the founder of Summit Carbon Solutions.
Senator Campbell requested a point of personal privilege Wednesday to address his fellow senators.
Campbell did not directly mention being stripped of all of his committee assignments as he concluded his two minute speech.
State senator Kevin Alons, who represents part of Plymouth County, as well as Woodbury and Monona counties, also voted with Campbell and 10 other senators last session.
Alons has been stripped of his vice chairmanship of the Senate Technology Committee and removed from the State Government, Workforce and Agriculture committees.
He has been reassigned to Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Local Government.
Kass says the Sioux County Republican Central Committee passed the same resolution to censure Klimesh, and says other county Republican committees are considering the same move.
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Monthly Northwest Iowa Genealogical Society meeting focuses on newspapers, family research
The monthly meeting of the Northwest Iowa Genealogical Society will take place tomorrow afternoon, and during the meeting, an interactive program will be given focused on using newspapers in family research.
Given by valued member Susan Moller, the program will explain how to gain access to newspaper archives, and how to use them to find information about relatives. Moller, who’s used her skills as a researcher to investigate family histories for nearly 50 years, says using old newspaper stories has helped her rebuild entire families and to make connections that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.
Moller intends to give examples during the program by doing quick research for attendees willing to participate. For anyone interested in doing so, she asks to bring as much information as possible, including names, locations, and dates.
The event is free and open to the public, with light refreshments served. The meeting will take place Saturday at 1:30pm in the fourth floor Study Hall of the Plymouth County Historical Museum.
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