Knights of Columbus gives $55,890 to Life Skills after KC Phonathon
The Le Mars Knights of Columbus Council presented a check to Life Skills Training Center on Tuesday morning, giving $55,890 to the organization following the group’s annual KC Phonathon.
The annual fundraising event was held back in September, and raised a record-breaking $62,100. Of that total, 10% was donated to the Iowa Special Olympics, and the remaining amount was presented to Life Skills yesterday at KC Hall. In a Facebook post, the Knights of Columbus stated that they were “grateful for the continued support and dedication that make this impact possible,” and that the funds given to Life Skills will remain local to “support individuals and families right here in Le Mars.”
Held every September, the Knights stated in the post that they were looking forward to next year’s event, hoping to surpass $2 million raised in total for Life Skills.
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City council holds first meeting of 2026
The Le Mars city council held their first meeting of 2026, going over several agenda items yesterday afternoon.
During the meeting, the council approved giving design direction on the Business Highway 75 reconstruction project, directing DGR Engineering to keep the highway at 4-lanes instead of 3-lanes. Several councilmembers mentioned the feedback received from members of the public as being strongly in favor of keeping the highway at 4-lanes. The council also discussed the elimination of 6th Street SW access, but tabled a decision for later.
The council also approved a services agreement with ISG concerning an update to the Community Development Plan based on feedback from members of the public, and approved a final plat of Crossroads Commons alongside a public hearing. The next meeting of the council will take place on January 20th at noon inside of City Hall.
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Fire-Rescue shares December reports
Le Mars Fire-Rescue answered 107 calls for service during the last month of 2025, according to their monthly report.
The department responded to 76 9-1-1 calls within Le Mars and the surrounding area. 14 investigation calls were answered, 19 special operation calls were received, and 5 requests for services were made to the department. 8 all staff Fire-Rescue calls were made in total.
During December, the department responded to two house fires over the Christmas holiday, received a new ambulance, inspected all Le Mars Community and Gehlen school buildings, hosted a department kids Christmas party, and presented their quarterly report to city administration.
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Sioux City School Board accepts superintendent Cordova’s resignation
The Sioux City School Board has voted to accept the resignation of school superintendent Dr. Juan Cordova, voting unanimously on Monday evening following a closed session. School Board President Jan George read a statement following the vote in open session.
George says the school board will soon start the process to hire a new superintendent.
He says Associate Superintendent Angela Bemis will oversee the district’s daily operations during the search for a new superintendent.
Cordova had worked at schools in Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida and got a temporary state license for school administrators when he started in Sioux City on July 1st. The Iowa Department of Education issued Cordova an initial Iowa Administrator’s license on the day school started in Sioux City. The Sioux City School Board had granted Cordova a leave of absence in August and he missed the first few days of the school year. He was placed on paid administrative leave by the School Board on November 6th.
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