Transportation And Shipping

All aboard: Steam engine roars into Le Mars (10/02/08)
History came to town on the rail Wednesday Chugging and steaming and tooting the whistle, all one million pounds of the steam engine Challenger rolled into Le Mars for a whistle stop on its five-state tour. Dozens of people gathered at the tracks to catch a look at the 1943 Union Pacific (UP) locomotive...

Minnesota woman escapes serious injury in truck, building collision (09/29/08)
A medical condition caused Stephanie Kay Allen to lose control of her pickup and crash it into the Meylor Chiropractic building Friday afternoon, police said. The 39-year-old woman, of Silver Lake, Minn., who was wearing her seat belt, suffered non-life threatening injuries during the 12:45 p.m. accident...

Minnesota woman escapes serious injury in truck, building collision (09/26/08)

City works with IML Container to prepare for expansion (09/05/08)
The Le Mars City Council approved buying a piece of railroad equipment to assist an expanding Le Mars business that relies on rail for shipments. IML Containers is currently depending on rail to bring in materials for their planned expansion in southern Le Mars, according to City Administrator Scott Langel...

Plymouth County cracks down on drunk drivers (08/15/08)
The Plymouth County Sheriff's Office announced it will join other police agencies throughout the country in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving now through September 1. "The state has several times they do these things," said Chief Deputy Craig Bartolozzi. "Labor Day is one of the worst holidays for this kind of thing because of last minute vacationers and such."...

Construction marches forward on new Remsen Medical Clinic (08/13/08)
June rain delays can't stop construction of the new Remsen Medical Clinic. The clinic on Second Street west of the post office is expected to be completed Dec. 1, said Daryl Friedenbach, director of financial services at Floyd Valley Hospital (FVH)...

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...

Three injured in Merrill accident (08/12/08)
Three passengers and one driver were injured Sunday when a Sioux City man failed to stop for a car on Highway 75 in Merrill. Peter Volodja Boe, 70, of Sioux City was westbound on C-44 at 7:45 p.m. and came to the stop sign at Highway 75 in Merrill, according to the Plymouth County Sheriff's report...

Street closings approved for Scoop da Loop event (08/07/08)
The Le Mars City Council on Tuesday granted the request by the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce/Main Street for closing streets for the 11th annual Scoop da Loop event set for Aug. 20 in Le Mars. The areas to be closed for the event are the Olson Cultural Event Center and Postal Playhouse parking lots and First Street and First Avenue surrounding the cultural center. The closings will be effective from 5 p.m. to 10 p. m...

More Business 75 sidewalks may get another look (08/06/08)
Council members could, at some point in the near future, be re-walking the topic of sidewalks for business areas along Business Highway 75 south. Council member Delana Ihrke raised the likelihood of the walkways during Tuesday's council session having observed the increased pedestrian traffic in that area, she told fellow council members...

2008 fair truck recognizes Belgian owners and beef show (07/23/08)
The ninth annual edition of the Plymouth County Fair collectible truck recognizes the beef show, a longtime tradition, and Dr. John and Barbara Conley and their team of Belgian draft horses. The series of trucks is designed to recognize activities and scenes that make up the Plymouth County Fair...

Officials say crippled highway system won't affect northwest Iowa (07/09/08)
The closest northwest Iowa got to this summer's flooding was photos and video clips in the news. But this region of the state is linked to the flood ravaged areas via a vital connection -- the state highway system. Now the already financially strapped Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) is hustling to fix the bridges and roads destroyed by floodwaters in central and eastern Iowa...

Smoking in most public places will be extinguished Tuesday (06/30/08)
No Smoking signs started going up last week in preparation for the Iowa Smokefree Air Act which goes into effect Tuesday. Lally's East Side Restaurant, in Le Mars, sported homemade signs Friday telling customers the establishment, which previously allowed smoking, will be smoke free July 1...

Flood damaged Iowa (06/19/08)
AMES, Iowa - June 18, 2008 - Ignoring or moving barricades and attempting to travel on closed roads can be extremely dangerous to motorists. The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is receiving reports of motorists moving road blocks to travel on highways that may...

SRTS considering 'fuel -saving' designated bus routes for Le Mars (06/18/08)
Le Mars residents could, if interest warrants, find themselves with a new fuel-saving transportation option in the future. Bill Cole, assistant city administrator, Tuesday shared with city council members that among "new ideas" under discussion by the Siouxland Regional Transportation System (SRTS) is the consideration of possible designated routes throughout the city. Such routes, Cole said, is being looked at as a means of continuing to increase SRTS usage...

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...

Delivery pains: Trucking industry crunch hits home (06/05/08)
High fuel prices are taking semis off the road. With diesel surpassing $4 a gallon, trucking operations as small as one person and as large as 1,000 drivers are closing down and parking their semis. "In the first quarter of 2008, more than 1,000 companies declared bankruptcy," said Steve Schuster, the president of trucking company Schuster Co. in Le Mars...

Local business reacts to scam artists (06/02/08)
There's a new sign at the Le Mars Truck Stop cash register. "We are NOT a bank." General Manager Kent Hanstein posted it after a scam artist asking for change walked away with $90. A quick thinking clerk caught the man's license plates and tipped off the police, who arrested the man and a friend...

Two caught after scam at truck stop (06/02/08)
Two Minnesota men were caught for scamming a Le Mars business just hours after pulling a similar scam on a Sheldon store Thursday, May 29. Scott Richard Coxworth, 30, of Houston, Minn. and Christopher Wayne Swinger, 24, of Minneapolis, Minn. pulled a scam at the Le Mars Truck Stop, stealing $90, before heading out of Le Mars...

Two men caught after scamming Le Mars Truck Stop (05/30/08)
Two Minnesota men were caught for scamming a Le Mars business just hours after pulling a similar scam on a Sheldon store Thursday, May 29...

Feenstra says focus on results would drive his work as senator (05/29/08)
Randy Feenstra traces his path to politics back to selling candy. Feenstra, of Hull, is running unopposed in the June 3 primary for the Republican nomination to the Iowa Senate seat vacated by Dave Mulder. The Dordt College graduate, now the Sioux County Treasurer, worked seven years as the head of sales at the Foreign Candy Company...

Kingsley teen dies in crash (05/20/08)
A 15-year-old girl from Kingsley was killed in a one-vehicle accident north of Moville Monday. Monica Tejeda was thrown from the passenger seat of a vehicle when its driver, 17-year-old Jade Lalumendre, of Kingsley, apparently lost control of the vehicle, according to the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office...

Le Mars man injured in one-vehicle crash (05/20/08)
A 22-year-old from Le Mars was thrown from his car in a single-vehicle accident on Sunday. Charles Levi Hinh was driving on Highway 60 near 150th Street when his vehicle entered the median, rolled twice, and came to rest on its top on the highway. Hinh was ejected from the car...

Kingsley resident dies in one-vehicle crash (05/13/08)
A driver from Kingsley was killed in a one-car accident Monday afternoon on Highway 140 south of Kingsley. Aaron Ronald Foster, 29, lost control of his pickup for unknown reasons and it veered into the west ditch, colliding with a utility pole about a mile from Kingsley at 12:38 p.m...

Rural roads see more fatal teen accidents (05/12/08)
A recent study found that teens driving on rural roads are more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than teens driving in metropolitan areas. Allstate Insurance Company's study analyzed federal crash statistics and their company's claims data to identify hotspots where fatal teen crashes are higher than others...

Dull residence on Historic Tour of Homes (05/05/08)
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series featuring the stops on Le Mars' annual Tour of Historic Homes. This year's annual Tour of Historic Homes, sponsored by the Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission, features four homes bordering the Foster Park Historic District...

New truck owners will pay higher registration fees (04/22/08)
People buying pickups trucks 2010 models or newer will be paying more to improve Iowa's roads. According to a new bill passed by Iowa legislators last week, registration fees for owners of those new trucks will jump -- one of several vehicle registration changes that would take effect Jan. 1, 2009. Governor Chet Culver is expected to sign the bill into law this week...

A bump in the road: Council faces Plymouth Street decision (04/21/08)
Decorative bricks set into the intersection of Central Avenue and Plymouth Street in downtown Le Mars are turning into a road hazard. Now the city council is looking into options to replace the bricks, factoring in cost, eye appeal and the prospect of detouring the thousands of cars and trucks that drive through on Plymouth Street -- also Highway 3 -- each day...

Not just a number: Drivers choose message with specialized plates (04/21/08)
GODLVSU, SKI BUG, 3 LTL PGS, MAN CAVE, HUMMMMR -- they're all license plates with meaning. Personalized and specialized license plates allow drivers to express themselves, support a cause or send others a message. Duane McLay, owner of Emily's Home Furnishings in Le Mars, drives a car with GODLVSU, which translates into "God Loves You," license plates for almost 20 years...

Aerial seeding along bypass begins Monday (03/24/08)
Motorists driving on Iowa Highway 75 Le Mars bypass will need to watch for roadworkers as permanent seeding on that section of highway is scheduled to begin today (Monday) according to the Iowa Department of Transportation's Sioux City Construction Office...