Eco-friendly Practices

City, county to seek energy efficiency grants (03/03/10)
Energy efficiency was on the front burner Tuesday for members of the Le Mars City Council and the Plymouth County Supervisors. Members of both entities applying for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) for projects that will save energy and enhance economic development by creating local jobs...

"Cash for Appliance" rebate money runs out in 24 hours (03/02/10)
Nearly $2.7 million came and went in Iowa Monday for the "Cash for Appliances" rebate program. The day kicked off with the State of Iowa's program offering $100 to $500 in rebates to encourage Iowans to trade in old appliances and upgrade to new energy efficiency Energy Star rated ones...

County reminds recyclers to keep it clean (02/18/10)
Plymouth County citizens are being reminded to use the large metal recycling bin at the Plymouth County Courthouse responsibly. The large metal recycling bin on the Plymouth County Courthouse block is provided for the rural citizen of Plymouth County to deposit their recyclable materials...

Earth-friendly ECO Center may be finished within year (02/15/10)
The architect for the planned Education Conservation Opportunities (ECO) Center at Hillview Park near Hinton is getting down to the nuts and bolts. With ground-breaking slated for late spring, representatives from M Plus Architects are telling the Plymouth County Conservation Department it could be using the building for meetings, education and other purposes as soon as Jan. 1, 2011...

Remember to recycle after Christmas (12/26/09)
Christmas wrap, cardboard boxes, holiday cards and envelopes -- they're all recyclable. "The residents of Le Mars can place it all in their blue containers and or blue bags," said Mark Kunkel, Plymouth County Landfill manager. Rural residents can take their Christmas recyclables to the landfill or put their blue bags in the dumpster at the Plymouth County Courthouse, Kunkel said...

Counterfeit $100 bills reported locally (11/11/09)
Three reports of people trying to pay at Le Mars businesses with fake $100 bills popped up in the last month. According to the Le Mars Police, one man attempted to pass a $100 bill at one Le Mars business, but the clerk wouldn't accept it. Within 24 hours, the same man used the false bill at another local business, which accepted it, according to the police...

Local electric providers: We're for cap, but not trade (10/23/09)
Under proposed energy legislation often called "cap and trade," the Midwest would get burned, according to representatives from local electricity providers. MidAmerican Energy representative Mark Reinders explained his company's take on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a comprehensive energy bill proposed by U.S. Representatives...

Recycle open house educates Le Mars residents (10/20/09)
Le Mars residents will have an opportunity to learn about recycling options during a Chamber of Commerce "After 5" event Thursday, from 5 to 6 p.m. at city hall. The "Recycle Open House" is a way to encourage Le Mars residents to recycle garbage items in an environmentally safe way, according to city staff members...

Paper Collection (09/04/09)
Newspapers, magazines and computer paper for recycling by Le Mars Elementary School students. Paper will be picked up at the following times and locations: 8-9 a.m. dropoff available at Kissinger Elementary School, Merrill; 8-10 a.m. dropoff available at O'Toole Park drop point, 415 First Avenue N.E., Le Mars; 8:30 a.m. ...

City will offer free December trash pickup (09/02/09)
Le Mars Solid Waste Committee members are providing early news of a "Christmas present" for local residents, according to Assistant City Administrator Bill Cole. The gift, revealed during Tuesday's Le Mars City Council session, is a free trash pickup for the month of December...

Kehms' green project exceeds expectations (07/27/09)
Sometimes -- albeit rarely -- everything that can possibly go right does. Sometimes donations pour in and you get all three grants for which you apply. Such is the case for Le Mars Community senior-to-be Brian Kehm. Kehm and his sister Sarah, who will be a freshman at Iowa State this fall, have been hard at work with their 4-H club since last fall securing donations and grant money to help make the Plymouth County Fair a greener place...

Code Green: Recycling program takes off at FVH (04/22/09)
Floyd Valley Hospital is "going green" on Earth Day. The hospital is kicking off a new recycling program today (Wednesday). Tim Paul, FVH's chief engineer who also heads up the hospital's "Green Committee," said it's fitting to start the hospital's recycling program on Earth Day...

Ethanol debate: Is your car ready for E-15? (03/12/09)
Currently, government rules allow non-flex-fuel vehicles to use only 10 percent ethanol in their gasoline. Politicians from Iowa are pushing for that to change. Earlier this week, newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, spoke in support of allowing higher blends -- 15 percent...

Developers look at piping methane from wastewater plant (03/11/09)
Waste not. That could be the motto of Le Mars' wastewater plant. The plant already makes 100 percent of what comes in into usable products. Now officials are talking with a local renewable energy developer about using the wastewater plant's methane to help fuel the Plymouth Energy ethanol and corn oil plants north of Merrill...

Recycling on the rise, city residents fill totes (03/06/09)
City of Le Mars residents want to recycle. That's why city solid waste officials decided, starting Jan. 1, to add a second pickup day allowing residents to empty their blue recycling totes twice a month. "We were getting a lot of requests for that. People were filling up their blue recycle tote and wanting them to get emptied and start over," said Bill Cole, city administrator. "We saw a need based on consumer requests."...

Siblings look to "go green" at the Plymouth County Fair (02/18/09)
Choosing to forgo a traditional sibling rivalry, Sarah and Brian Kehm have decided to team up instead. And their parents are not the only beneficiaries of their partnership. All of Plymouth County stands to gain from the collaboration, as Sarah, a senior at Le Mars Community Schools (LCS) and Brian, a LCS junior, are using a 4-H project to help make the Plymouth County Fair a greener place...

Winning voices: More than 100 FFA students to compete in Le Mars (02/13/09)
On Tuesday at Le Mars Community School, senior Jacob Conley will make a radio ag. broadcast, junior Angie Breuer will speak on the pros and cons of ethanol, and senior Zerick Kuecker will do a job interview. This is all part of the FFA Leadership Contests...

Le Mars takes going green seriously (01/20/09)
It could cover a football field about 3 or 4 feet deep, according to Mark Kunkel of the Plymouth County Sanitary landfill. He's referring to the 324 tons of cardboard, paper, plastic, metal and other materials Plymouth County residents recycled in 2008...

A year to remember: Top stories of 2008 (12/30/08)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories recapping 2008's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. 10. O'Keefe stabs, kills a man A butcher knife to the chest led to the death of Sam Toliver, 32, Jan. 24, 2008. Jody O'Keefe, 35, most recently of Le Mars, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other charges and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. ...

Going green: Tree huggers might want a real tree this Christmas (12/17/08)
It seems weird, but chopping down a real tree for Christmas could be the most earth-friendly way to celebrate. "The tree is renewable," said Sue Muth, co-owner of T & S Nursery in rural Plymouth County. "A plastic tree is non-biodegradable. But a real tree won't sit in the landfill forever."...

Supervisors give stamp of a approval to Merrill urban renewal (11/19/08)
An urban renewal area around and in Merrill became a reality Tuesday. Following a public hearing, the Plymouth County Supervisors approved an urban renewal district to encompass the entire city of Merrill and around Plymouth Energy ethanol plant, Plymouth Oil, a food-grade oil plant and Midwest PMS, the liquid cattle feed mill...

Wind blows Texas oilman in to Le Mars to talk energy (08/15/08)
He may be 80 but an audience member still called T. Boone Pickens a "rockstar." The Texas oilman and billionaire landed his jet at the Le Mars airport Thursday afternoon to spin to Iowans his plan for reducing U.S. dependency on foreign oil. His idea: shift to using more wind energy and natural gas -- two things in which the nation is rich...

Sen. Harkin suggests alternatives to combat oil prices facing country (08/07/08)
Americans are addicted to oil. Sen. Tom Harkin told Plymouth County residents gathered Wednesday at Lally's Eastside Restaurant that addiction is the reason for the continued increase in oil prices. "When you're addicted to something, you just continue to feed the addiction," Harkin said...

Plymouth Oil may receive $1.2 million in tax benefits (07/22/08)
The State of Iowa pledged about $1.2 million in tax incentives to a plant near Merrill that will make corn oil for food and cooking. The $30 million Plymouth Oil plant is planned next to the 50-million-gallon Plymouth Energy LLC ethanol plant near Merrill. The projected completion date is July 31, 2013, according to an Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) spokesperson...

Awareness keeps recycling trend on the rise (06/17/08)
Education. That's the reason about 10,000 more pounds have been recycled this year compared to last year, city and county officials said. In Le Mars, as of the end of May,132,060 pounds were recycled compared with 85,000 in May 2007. When the recycling program began in 2005 during this same time period 61,680 pounds were recycled...

Earth Day: Learning what it means to save the planet (04/23/08)
Saving the world doesn't necessarily require wearing a cape and blue tights. That's what elementary students from Hinton learned while tromping around Hillview Park Tuesday in honor of the 38th annual Earth Day. At one station, students picking chocolate chips out of a cookie to learn about how coal is mined. ...

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