Fires

AmeriCorps team preps Loess Hills for bison (09/11/08)
Men and women ages 18-24 from across the nation are building fences, restoring grasslands and helping with research in the Loess Hills through Oct. 2. The 10-member AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team, has been working in the Broken Kettle Grasslands and Five Ridge Prairie in Plymouth County since August...

Fire chief asks for flags at half-staff Sept. 11 (09/10/08)
The Le Mars Fire Chief is asking citizens to fly flags at half-staff Thursday, Sept. 11 in memory of those that died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "We're trying to honor those that gave their lives, respect those who died," Schipper said. "I think it's vital that we continue a remembrance."...

Music festival uses hotel/motel tax grant to bring people to Le Mars (08/28/08)
A Hotel/Motel Sales Tax grant is paying off for Le Mars. More than $6,000 of the 5 percent sales tax revenue from hotel and motel rooms rented in town was given to a group advertising the 33rd annual National Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival, held this year in Le Mars for the first time...

Bypass interchange work may light up next council agenda (08/21/08)
The probability of lighting the Highway 75 Bypass interchanges into Le Mars may well be among agenda items in the near future for the Le Mars City Council. Councilman Rex Knapp Tuesday shared with fellow council members the issue, which the joint urban renewal board addressed at its meeting earlier this week...

Akron man receives lifesaving award (08/12/08)
An 18-year-old Akron man was honored by Iowa's governor at the state fair on Friday for risking his own life to save another's. Shawn Milbrodt received a 2008 Governor's Lifesaving Award for helping save a 19-year-old's life last July. On July 20, 2007, Jason Bumsted, 19, was involved in a head on collision with another vehicle where both cars caught fire. Shawn Milbrodt and Grant Krentz, 21, of Sioux City, drove upon the accident shortly thereafter...

Rain doesn't dampen enthusiasm for fair (07/28/08)
Despite a burned extension cord at the Round Barn and a rainy start, the Plymouth County Fair went off without a hitch. Terry Reuter, fair board president, said there was a minor incident Friday at the Round Barn when an outside extension cord hanging in front of a spotlight lens heated up...

Pride Group fire in Primghar (07/18/08)
One man was injured after starting a fire near a Pride Group home for mentally ill individuals in Primghar, according to Pride Group CEO Mike Porter. The facility is owned and managed by Pride Group of Le Mars. The fire, according to Porter, was started with gasoline in a outbuilding near the group home, which houses 34 people. O'Brien County owns the outbuilding, Porter added...

Remsen man injured in grain explosion in Alton (07/10/08)
ALTON, Iowa (AP) -- One person has been injured in a fiery explosion at a grain elevator in Alton in northwest Iowa. Officials say Matthew Galles, 31, of Remsen, was unloading grain at the Midwest Farmers Cooperative on Wednesday when the explosion occurred about 3:15 p.m...

Council delays action on fire truck replacement (06/18/08)
Le Mars City Council members are expected to, as Mayor Kick Kirchoff put it, "meet at the trough" at their next meeting to discuss the city fire department's need for a new fire truck to replace an existing 1985 truck. Members voted to table the matter until Councilmen John Rexwinkel and Rex Knapp, absent at Tuesday's session, could be present to join in the discussions...

Blaze burned part of rural Westfield home (05/20/08)
A house fire in rural Westfield put a family out of their home on Sunday. Melissa Marlin called in the second-story fire at the home of her family of five at 3:51 p.m. Sunday. "The family was out working in the yard and noticed it," said Akron Fire Chief Shane Coyle. "There were no injuries."...

Schoenherr named Fireman of the Year (05/16/08)
Leonard Schoenherr loves being a fire fighter. Schoenherr was named Fireman of the Year for 2008 because of his work ethic, willingness to lend a hand and ambition. He started with Le Mars Fire Department as a reserve member in 2006 and even then began to shine...