Gambling Facilities

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...

Merrill industry is model for Iowa's future, Judge says (03/09/10)
If Iowa is going to recover from the recession that has plagued the nation, recovery is going to come from the ground up. That's what Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Monday during a visit to the Plymouth Oil, a food-grade corn oil plant just north of Merrill...

Ice cream parlor will bring life to historic Le Mars building (02/25/10)

From field to table: Plymouth Oil begins production (02/22/10)
The food-grade corn oil plant just north of Merrill is making liquid gold. After weather and financial delays, the $30 million Plymouth Oil plant is completely constructed and pumping out gallons of crude corn oil, according to Dave Hoffman, chairman of the Plymouth Oil Company board...

Ten Le Mars scouts honored with Pope Pius XII emblem (02/08/10)
Ten local boys will be receiving the highest emblem in Catholic boy scouting. Michael Brandenburg, Tim Burwitz, Mitchel Christoffel, Preston Freking, Matt Klein, Kyle Mangerson, Zack Nemmers, Jonathan Puhl, Ryan Sitzmann and Andrew Theisen were honored Sunday at a Mass in Le Mars for earning the Pope Pius XII Emblem...

Groomer keeps dogs happy in 'puppy salon' (01/29/10)
Tails wag with happiness as dogs get their pampering trim from Tricia Pippett, owner of Tail Trends, a new dog grooming business in Le Mars. Pippett opened her business Dec. 1, sharing space at Town and Country Veterinary Clinic, but has been doing grooming in Le Mars for 10 years...

Adults play BINGO, win prizes for library reading challenge (01/21/10)
BINGO: that's the name of the game for the second annual Adult Winter Reading Challenge, which begins Monday, Jan. 25 at the Le Mars Public Library. The challenge, which ends on March 28, is open to ages 18 and older. "We wanted to provide a challenge for people during the winter; we wanted to have them do something they don't normally do," said Sue Kroesche, Director of the Le Mars Public Library...

Plymouth Oil safe after fire call (01/18/10)
It was probably the best-case scenario for a fire at Plymouth Oil near Merrill. There was minimal damage and no one was injured. Fire crews were called to the corn oil plant at 4:30 p.m. Saturday after plant manager Jim Cobb noticed smoldering corn germ in a building...

City leases Willow Creek Bar and Grill to Fiddelke (01/13/10)
In a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the Le Mars City Council chose Mike Fiddelke, of Orange City, to lease the bar and grill at Willow Creek Golf Course for 2010. The lease, at a rate of $30,000 per year, is tentatively set to begin March 1. The other candidate seeking the lease was Kathy Schwader, of Le Mars, who had been recommended for the lease by the Le Mars Park Committee at last week's city council meeting...

Akron senior living apartments to close (01/12/10)
An eight-plex of senior living apartments in Akron is closing. The Senior Village North Apartments, under the umbrella of the Akron Care Center, will be closed by the end of February due to a lack of interest and the money it would take to upgrade it for assisted living...

Highway 3 west widening, city signs on 2010 project list (01/08/10)
Adding a lane to Highway 3 west of Le Mars will likely be one of the City of Le Mars' top projects in the works in the new year. Le Mars City Administrator Scott Langel sketched out the 2010 priority projects with the Daily Sentinel this week, noting the finalized list is yet to come...

Council delays Willow Creek Bar and Grill decision (01/06/10)
Le Mars City Council members delayed until next week a decision as to who will operate the Willow Creek Bar and Grill at the golf course. The delay followed a 2-2 split vote to authorize completion of final details for lease of the facility by Kathy Schwader -- the recommendation from the Le Mars Parks Committee...

Remembering the decade: At home and beyond (01/04/10)
Ten years ago, as the decade turned, we were waiting to see if the Y2K threat was real. While that turned out to be the biggest non-news event of the Aughts (the first decade of the 2000s), there was plenty of headline material to come, tragedy and triumph alike...

Rewind 2009: The good, the bad and the blizzard (12/30/09)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories recapping 2009's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. Mother Nature put a wet (or white) blanket on Plymouth County's Christmastime plans, nailing northwest Iowa with more than a foot of snow and winds that lowered visibility and drifted roads shut. ...

BoDeans expands production, adds more than 50 jobs (11/23/09)
A Le Mars ice cream cone and wafer baking company is upping production with a $12 million investment and adding close to 60 new jobs. BoDeans Baking Company is in the process of expanding both it's cone and wafer production at its facilities in the Le Mars industrial park, according to co-owner Dean Jacobson...

Couple shares child's birth in hospitals miles apart (11/20/09)
Joe DeLashmutt was a patient at Mercy Medical Center the day his second son was born at Floyd Valley Hospital about 30 miles away -- but he didn't miss a moment of the birth. With the help of cameras, a laptop computer, television screen and an Internet connection, Joe, from his Sioux City hospital room, was able to at his wife Melissa's side -- in a virtual reality sense -- three weeks ago in Le Mars during their son, Alex's birth...

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...

Ethanol outlook: Where is the industry headed? (10/21/09)
Editor's note: This story is part two of a pair of stories looking deeper at the ethanol industry and Plymouth Energy's recent quest to raise $10 million for the ethanol plant. In the past decade, ethanol has been both a golden egg and a rotten one...

Plymouth Energy seeks $10 million to position for future (10/20/09)

Quilters cut and stitch for wounded military personnel (10/06/09)
A one-time quilt project turned into a bit more for Becky Wiersma and a group of quilters from the Le Mars area. In May, 30 quilt tops were shown as part of the Red, White and Blue Challenge's American Hero Quilts project. Wiersma had heard of the project, which provides quilts for injured soldiers at Fort Lewis' Madigan Medical Hospital in Washington state and other military hospitals, from quilting friends on the Internet...

LCS board looks at Camp Quest financial implications (09/16/09)
The Le Mars Community School Board is mulling over what to do with 18.60 acres of property east of Le Mars owned by the school district known as Camp Quest. At the June 8 board meeting, a citizen asked the board to sell the property as it was no longer used by the school district...

Council approves work on Business 75 north, Blue Diamond Drive (09/16/09)
Le Mars City Council members continued with the next step for two city road projects: curb and gutter along Business Highway 75 north and the creation of Blue Diamond Drive. The first project, improving current curb and gutter problems along Business Highway 75 from Highway 3 north to the Floyd River Bridge, is scheduled to get underway next year...

Plymouth Life facility work on hold (09/09/09)
The Plymouth County Supervisors will further discuss tuckpointing the Plymouth Life residential care facility with a bidder Friday. The supervisors decided a conference call with a Karr Tuckpointing representative is needed before they can approve a $63,436 contract with the company to do tuckpointing repairs at the care facility...

Hinton voters to decide fate of proposed elementary (09/03/09)
Hinton Community School is bursting at the seams with students and increasing enrollment trends indicate that's not going to change. "We have run out of room particularly in the elementary classroom area," said Rob Held, Hinton School Board president...

Rent pays the bills at LCS Education Services Center (07/29/09)
Operational costs at the Le Mars Community Schools Education Service Center are being paid with money received in lease payments by tenants in the building. At the July 13 board meeting, LCS Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt gave school board members an update on the expenses since the district purchased the former Wells' Dairy Corporate office building at 940 Lincoln St. S.W. in late 2007...

Ordination, consecration service set for new Lutheran clergy (07/10/09)
Three Lutheran congregations will celebrate together as their newly called pastor and diaconal minister will be ordained and consecrated in a 3 p.m. service Sunday, July 12, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Craig. Sarah and Joel Nye have accepted a call to serve the three congregations of the newly-formed Plymouth Ministries. This includes St. John Evangelical Lutheran, rural Akron, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran, Craig, and St. John Lutheran Church, Merrill...

Ethanol plant garners grain dealer license (06/16/09)
Plymouth Energy is back in the grain dealing business. On June 10, Plymouth Energy Grain, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plymouth Energy, obtained a grain dealer license, which gives it the ability to purchase corn for the Plymouth Energy ethanol plant just north of Merrill...

Ethanol plant grand opening draws curiosity, praise (06/05/09)
Hundreds of visitors donned hard hats Thursday to watch a plant just north of Merrill do its thing: produce ethanol at the rate of 103 gallons per minute. "You read about these things, but you don't actually get to see them up close," said one Le Mars woman, waiting in line for a tour of the Plymouth Energy Ethanol plant during its grand opening...

Dean Foods ramping up for more volume (06/04/09)
A local dairy plant is adding employees to handle increased production volume. Plant manager Joe Leedom said during a Le Mars City Council meeting he anticipates 15-25 new employees will be hired. "Dean Foods has determined to transfer volume to our plant," Leedom said later. "It's a good-sized addition."...

The prairie returns: Pheasants Forever seeds Remsen habitat (05/20/09)
Seed by seed, row by row, a field just north of Remsen was transformed Tuesday. Land used to grow field corn last year has a new purpose: to provide habitat and help keep Remsen water clean. About 60 acres near the Remsen wells were tilled under and seeded as prairie Tuesday, thanks to a joint effort between the City of Remsen and Pheasants Forever. Local farmers donated time and equipment to help plant the seed...

Dean Foods closes Lincoln plant, plans to relocate production (04/16/09)
A Dean Foods dairy plant in Lincoln is closing this fall, and the corporation may use the Le Mars dairy plant to help pick up the slack. Meadow Gold's downtown Lincoln dairy production plant, which employs 70-100 people, will close in September, according to Dean Foods spokeswoman Marguerite Copel...

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...

Wells' Dairy expands nationwide voluntary recall due to possible health risk (02/24/09)
In response to the ongoing investigations of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and its Texas facility, Wells' Dairy, Inc., is expanding its recall and response to include a nationwide recall of select Blue Bunny, Great Value, Hy-Vee, Sysco, Fastco, Shurfresh, and Country Rich ice cream products because they may contain peanuts that have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella...

Nor-Am finalizes purchase of Harker's plant (02/18/09)
Nor-Am Cold Storage is the new owner of the former Harker's plant in Le Mars. Greg Brandt, Nor-Am president and CEO, said today (Wednesday) the company will be using the plant to repackage and manufacture some products serving area food companies. Opening day is not far for the new Nor-Am facility...

Wells' Dairy builds new station to monitor pH (02/16/09)
A $550,000 pH monitoring station is going up at 910 Prospect Street south of Wells' Dairy's south ice cream plant. The station will help prevent highly acidic or highly alkaline water from flowing into the City of Le Mars' wastewater plant. "If the pH swings too far, it could wreak havoc on the plant," said Le Mars Wastewater Superintendent Ron Kayser. "It could eat pipes, eat away cement and actually be a safety concern"...

Milk by any other name... Dean Foods heads into logo change (01/12/09)
The bunny is disappearing from the milk coolers in the grocery stores. Blue Bunny logos on milk and cultured dairy products from the Le Mars milk plant are being phased out. Dean Foods purchased the milk plant in January 2008 from Wells' Dairy, Inc. Wells' Dairy officials chose not to sell the Blue Bunny logo, however...

More budget requests on table for supervisors (01/12/09)
Plains Area Mental Health Center and Plymouth County emergency management officials requested increased budgets for 2009-10 Tuesday. Patrick Schmitz, Plains Area Mental Health Center's executive director, presented a 4.8 percent increase to the center's budget. The increase comes from an increase in services offered to county clientele...

2008 in review: Hellos and goodbyes (12/31/08)
Editor's note: This is the second of two stories recapping 2008's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. 5. Iowa begins Smokefree Air Act Indoor smoking, except in people's homes, became a rarity after the Smokefree Air Act went into effect in Iowa July 1. ...

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. ...

Doctors on screen coming to Plains Area (12/23/08)
Wait time to see a psychiatrist or clinician at Plains Area Mental Health Center could be shortened thanks to a new teleconferencing system. It's called Telehealth and it will allow a physician to be in one location while a client is is in another. "By giving us more face-to-face time with a psychiatrist, it should reduce patient wait time, the time it takes to get an appointment," said Patrick Schmitz, Plains Area Mental Health Center's executive director...

Floyd Valley Hospital wins national top performer Award (12/08/08)
Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars has been named a 2008 Summit Award Winner by Press Ganey Associates, Inc. Press Ganey currently partners with more than 7,000 health care facilities -- including more than 40 percent of U.S. hospitals -- to measure and improve the quality of their care. The company's databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark results against peer organizations...

Great American Smokeout - an opportunity to quit (11/20/08)
There may be a few less cigarettes lit today. That's because today, Nov. 20, is the 33rd annual Great American Smokeout, a day designated by the American Cancer Society as a time to quit smoking. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking cigarettes tops the list as the most preventable major risk factor of the nation's number one killer --heart and blood vessel disease...

Hike in city sewage rates forthcoming (11/20/08)
Le Mars city sewer rates are expected to increase for residential and industrial users. The Le Mars City Council will hold a first reading of a new ordinance initiating the rate changes Dec. 2. The rate hike, effective Feb. 1, 2009, is projected at 20 percent for residential users and a corresponding 5 percent increase for industrial users...

City accepts partial Harker's debt payment (11/07/08)
Harker's Distribution, Inc. officials will pay a lump sum to the City of Le Mars to free up the mortgage on a piece of its property to sell to developers of a truck wash and care facility. The Le Mars City Council, following a closed session Tuesday, agreed to accept $60,000 from Harker's Distribution Inc. as partial payment on its nearly $300,000 debt to the city...

Le Mars Area Dialysis focus is on fundraising, renovation (10/01/08)
Le Mars Area Dialysis Services is stepping up its fundraising efforts. Currently the not-for-profit group has two main focuses -- one is to continue raising money, and the other is to plan renovation of its newly acquired building in downtown Le Mars...

Wells' Dairy pays back $1.2 million to state (09/29/08)
Wells' Dairy has been asked to pay back $1.25 million of a nearly $3 million state award after they missed a job creation and retention goal by about 150 jobs. The debt to the state has already been paid, according to a statement from the Le Mars ice cream and frozen novelty producer's CEO Mike Wells...

Negotiations begin on new Wells' Dairy labor contract (09/22/08)
Negotiations are underway on a contract that impacts about 1,400 hourly manufacturing employees at Wells' Dairy in Le Mars. "A corporate team is sitting down and meeting with an employee team," said Dave Smetter, spokesman for the ice cream and novelty company...

Supervisors delay decision to repair floors at Pride Group home (09/17/08)
The Plymouth County Supervisors put the matter of restroom floor repairs at a residential facility operated by Pride Group Inc. on hold Tuesday. The supervisors directed Mike Porter, CEO of Pride Group, to obtain a firm cost estimate to fix floors in four showers and two bathrooms at the residential care facility (RCF) on Highway 3...

IML Container to expand in industrial park (09/09/08)
A Le Mars manufacturer that makes plastic containers for products like ice cream and butter will have its own permanent home in the industrial park. IML Containers Iowa, which has been leasing space in Le Mars since it began operation in 2006, is planning to build a 63,000-square-foot facility...

Farm Bureau honors Conley with Service to Ag award (09/03/08)
A longtime Le Mars area veterinarian was honored with the Plymouth County Farm Bureau's "Service to Agriculture" award Tuesday evening at the organization's 90th annual meeting. Dr. John Conley and his wife, Barbara, of rural Merrill, were called to the stage by President Mark Loutsch, who explained the award is given to those in Plymouth County who have contributed much of their lives toward the helping and development of agriculture...

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