Fiscal Policy

MidAmerican customers may help finance nuclear study (03/16/10)
The 7,184 MidAmerican Electric Company customers in Plymouth County may see a monthly increase in their payment due to a proposed law. The increase would come if Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signs a bill to allow MidAmerican to boost electric consumer payments throughout the state by $15 million to study the possibility of bringing a second nuclear plant to Iowa...

Branstad says it's time to clean house, Iowa (02/19/10)
Former Gov. Terry Branstad is OK with ice cream for breakfast, but he's not OK with Iowa's government the way it is now. That's what he told the crowd at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars Thursday morning on a campaign stop for the 2010 governor's race...

LCS board plans public comment meeting Thursday (02/15/10)
The Le Mars Community School Board of Education will hold a special public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Education Service Center, 940 Lincoln St. S.W. The meeting is a time for the board to receive public input/comment on expenditure reductions recommended for 2010-11 budget...

Steve King says time to stop spending (02/08/10)
U.S. Rep. Steve King thinks the biggest problem in government right now is overspending. He also doesn't believe President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan is working as it was set out to do. Neither does he favor a government-run national health care program...

A second stimulus could help local roads (01/25/10)
If there is a second federal stimulus, Plymouth County and Le Mars are lined up for a piece of the pie. Local planners found out last Thursday that, should the U.S. government approve a second stimulus bill, the Plymouth County roads department may receive $900,000 and the City of Le Mars $450,000 for road projects...

Budget time: Money sought for park ranger, emergency management, WIC (12/31/09)
County conservation, emergency management and Mid-Sioux Opportunities' directors made 2010-11 budgets requests Tuesday. The Plymouth County Supervisors did not make any decisions stating, instead, they will discuss all department's requests next week when they begin digging into budget preparation...

LCS board proposes no teacher salary increase for 2010-11 (12/22/09)
No increase in base salary. No step movement on the salary schedule. No changes in contract language other than date changes. That's the opening proposal put forth by the Le Mars Community Schools board of education negotiating team in response to contract talks with the Le Mars Community Education Association (LCED) for the 2010-11 teachers' contract...

The stimulus dollars and you: Have you been touched by recovery money? (12/10/09)
More than $8 million worth of federal stimulus dollars has been quietly sliding through the IV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and into Plymouth County's veins. That injection meant some schools could keep a teacher one more year. It meant replacing a worn bridge and repaving some roads. It meant some families will have money to weatherize their homes...

School enrollment issues felt across Iowa (12/04/09)
"Over the years we have seen many changes in our state, including shifts in population and demographics. Education does not happen in a vacuum, but within the context of these changes," said Judy Jeffrey, director, Iowa Department of Education Director...

LCS board begins process to cut $1 million from FY11 budget (11/11/09)
With a goal of cutting $1 million from the 2010-11 school year budget, Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education members approved timelines and processes for expense and elementary section cuts. "Administratively, we have been working on potential expenditure reductions already," Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt told the board at their Monday meeting...

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...

Le Mars native's camera work hits Fox news (09/04/09)
How many of us can say they made it on national television? Twenty-year old Le Mars native Steve Faber sure can. The Le Mars Community High School 2008 graduate is a sophomore at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa., pursuing a degree in cinema and digital arts...

Answers not easy in paying for Iowa's roads (07/24/09)
The cost of maintaining Iowa's road system is rising, and the dollars available to pay for it can't keep up. That's according to Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe. "The dollars are coming in but the buying power -- what we can buy with those dollars -- has seen a big decrease in the last four or five years," he explained...

Plymouth Energy hearing for grain dealer license postponed (06/11/09)
The Merrill ethanol plant has another 2 1/2 months to make their financial system comply with state standards. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) temporarily revoked Plymouth Energy's license to purchase grain as a dealer in early May because of "deficiencies" in the company's financial system and accounting with grain transactions, according to Rich Wahl, of the IDALS...

Out with unhealthy and in with healthy foods in Iowa schools (05/08/09)
Iowa schools have another year to take junk food out of the hands of students. Plymouth County schools are already ahead of that game or close. The Iowa Board of Education in April adopted amended rules in the Healthy Kids Act, a state law passed in 2008 to set nutritional standards for food or beverages sold or provided to students on school grounds during the school day...

DREAM Act may help local student fight for residency (04/17/09)
Attending college. Joining the military. Training for a career. These are possible dreams for most U.S. high school graduates. Yet, for one upperclassman at Le Mars Community School, there is only one option: returning to Mexico. She would join the group of nearly 65,000 immigrant high school students each year who do not have the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the United States with their peers...

Stimulus package could help pay for local law enforcement (03/10/09)
The Le Mars Police Department and the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office could be eligible receive a total of more than $30,000 in economic stimulus dollars, according to a release from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin's office last week. The Le Mars Police Department is set to receive $20,390 and the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office is set to receive $11,069...

LCS board weighs options for ISL election (02/06/09)
Le Mars Community Schools board of education will make a decision on whether to proceed with an election on the Instructional Support Levy (ISL) resolution Monday evening following receipt of a petition with 1,572 signatures asking for a public vote on the issue...

Federal stimulus money could help with county projects (01/12/09)
Potentially free federal money could mean grants for local infrastructure projects in Plymouth County. Dennis Sohl, Plymouth County conservation director, told the Plymouth County supervisors Tuesday that economic stimulus money may be coming from the government...

Outside review of information refutes allegations against school board (12/16/08)
A letter to the office of the State Auditor of Iowa with allegations against the Le Mars Community School District Board of Education by a district resident was addressed at the Dec. 8 board meeting. Jeffrey Peters, a certified public accountant with Williams & Company, in Le Mars, presented his findings to the board after receiving the information from the state auditor's office...

S.D., Iowa reach school border agreement (12/15/08)
The Secretaries of Education of Iowa and South Dakota have signed an agreement that will allow students from either state to cross state lines to attend school. The Iowa and South Dakota Tuition Agreement, which goes into effect January 1, 2009 for the 2009-10 school year, will allow students from the Greater Scott and Greater Hoyt school districts to continue attending school in Hawarden and Akron-Westfield. It will also allow Iowa students to attend school in South Dakota...

LCS board adds limits to ISL draft resolution (12/10/08)
Since receiving the certified enrollment numbers in October, Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education members have been grappling with budget figures for the 2009-10 school year. At Monday's meeting, the board again discussed the Instructional Support Levy and its potential use as a way to increase revenue for the district's general fund...

School board, LCEA set first contract negotiation dates (11/12/08)
The Le Mars Community School Board of Education and the Le Mars Community Education Association have set dates to begin the opening rounds of contract negotiations for the 2009-2010 master contract. In a letter to board president Dr. Mark Stelzer, LCEA president Robbin Hermsen suggested the first bargaining session be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the board room. At that meeting, the LCEA will make its initial proposal...

School board candidates share views heading into election (09/02/08)
The Le Mars Community School District has two open seats on the board of education. The election to fill the District 3 and 5 seats will be Sept. 9. Joe Cain and incumbent Dan Smith are running for the District 5 spot, and Mark Hemmingson is running a write-in campaign for the District 3 spot, which no one filed papers to fill. To get to know the candidates more, the Daily Sentinel asked each one eight questions, which are printed below with their answers.

LCS students ahead of No Child Left Behind curve (08/14/08)
LCS students' math and reading proficiency 2007 In the math area, LCS students exceeded the state proficiency levels as follows: Grade 3-5 Grade 6-8 Grade 11 LCS students also exceeded the state proficiency levels in reading: Grades 3-5 Grades 6-8 Grade 11...

Grassley gives his take on fuel crunch at Le Mars meeting (07/01/08)
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley praised ethanol and drilling for more oil in the United States during his stop at a Le Mars town hall meeting where concern about energy and food prices was the prevailing mood. Speaking to a crowd of about 50 people at the American Bank Monday, Grassley responded to questions about fuel prices by presenting his idea for an energy program...

Mayor observes School Board Recognition Week (05/16/08)
With May 11-17 set as Iowa School Board Recognition Week, Le Mars Mayor Dick Kirchoff made sure he did his part to honor the local school boards. On Monday, May 12, he signed and presented a proclamation to members of the Le Mars Community Schools board of education. This year's theme --"Helping Students Reach New Heights" -- recognizes that Iowa's volunteer school board members are local leaders working to help students succeed...

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