Harvest season starting to wrap up
With the arrival of cooler weather, harvest season across northwest Iowa is beginning to wrap up, with average to above-average yield projections so far.
ISU extension field agronomist Leah Ten Napel told KLEM that most soybean and corn harvesting in the area is complete.
Harvest season this year has brought some challenges and pests for farmers. With warmer and wetter weather lasting later in the year, southern rust has become the biggest issue farmers have had to face.
Ten Napel says that waterhemp was a big problem for soybeans during the growing season.
Ten Napel says that soybeans have had average to above-average yields, while she says that corn yields have been much more variable so far.
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City Council tables contract awarding for new pretreatment facility
The Le Mars City Council has tabled the awarding of a contract for a new wastewater pretreatment facility until at least November 4th.
The motion to table the award was made during the City Council’s regular meeting yesterday afternoon. Six bids were received for the project, with the estimate coming out to roughly $34.7 million. However, five of the six bids came short of the estimate, with the lowest coming out to $30.1 million. Engineering firm Bolton & Menk requested more time to meet and to verify the bids.
During yesterday’s meeting, the Council approved a second and final reading of rezoning the Floyd Valley Apartments from single-family to multi-family residences, and amended an agreement with Dogwood Properties regarding additional concrete paving. The Council also heard from Le Mars citizens on topics such as crime, city policies, and construction on Highway 75.
The Council will next meet on Election Day, November 4th, at noon in City Hall.
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Siouxland-area track star looking for Olympics return
Sioux City’s Shelby Houlihan is still running and hopes to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in 2028.
Houlihan, who is now 32 years old, is a middle distance runner who is a world record holder in the 4×1500 meter relay and took part in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, where she finished 11th in the 5000 meter final at age 23.
A positive test for a banned substance in 2020 resulted in a suspension from the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. Houlihan says the substance likely came from tainted food.
She tried to prove it was tainted pork, but the International Olympic Committee rejected that and banned her for four years.
Houlihan was banned four years and turned down a plea deal, insisting she had not knowingly done anything illegal.
Houlihan was forced by the ruling to train alone during her suspension, and she spent $250,000 trying to prove her innocence and battled through depression.
She then decided this was not how her running career would end.
At age 32, she returned to U.S. track and field and won an event in August, and then in September took part in the World Championships in Tokyo and finished 4th.
Houlihan is a 13 time U.S. national champion, winning seven indoor and six outdoor middle distance events.
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