Veterans Affairs

Law would take away guns from domestic violence offenders (03/18/10)
Convicted domestic violence offenders in Iowa could lose their right to own guns and ammunition if the governor signs a bill into law Monday. A person accused of domestic violence who has a protective order placed against them can be required to relinquish their firearms temporarily, the bill states...

Spaghetti supper, service and quilt auction benefit LCS music students (03/17/10)
Le Mars Community School Music Boosters will hold its annual Spaghetti Supper and Auction Friday, March 19. The spaghetti supper will be served from 5-7 p.m. in the Le Mars Community High School cafeteria. On the menu is spaghetti with choice of sauce: red with meat or without, and alfredo, along with lettuce salad, garlic bread, ice cream and beverages...

Principals work on transitions for Kissinger students, staff (03/16/10)
Le Mars Community Schools elementary principals are preparing for Kindergarten Round-Up and the transition from Kissinger Elementary in Merrill to attendance centers in Le Mars. Dave Horken and Scott Parry gave an update to the school board of education members at last week's board meeting...

Optimist Club impacts 25 years worth of children (03/12/10)
Twenty-five years ago this week, a group of locals came together to make a difference for youth. Since then, thousands of young people in Le Mars have been reached by the Le Mars Optimist Club. "We've made an impact," said Jerry Haack, founding president of the club. "Over the past 20-some years, we've touched every kid in this town in a positive way."...

College information night set for juniors (03/12/10)
It's not too early for high school juniors to be thinking about college plans. Le Mars Community High School will host a post-high school information night Monday, March 22, to help students and parents fill in the blanks to their questions. A presenter from College Planning Center will be available to give students and parents pertinent information regarding the decision-making process for the student's future choice...

2010 census: Step up and be counted, officials urge (03/11/10)
Participating in the 2010 U.S. Census could save thousands of dollars, services and programs -- when numbers of people matter. Local and state officials are asking residents to be diligent in filling out census forms and mailing them back by the April 1 deadline so an accurate population count can be obtained...

Stelzer leads charge to gather donations for Haiti orphanage (03/11/10)
The congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church in Le Mars and member Kathy Stelzer are hoping they can make a difference for an orphanage in Haiti destroyed by the January earthquake. "After the earthquake, I wanted to find an orphanage in Haiti that needed some help," said Stelzer...

LCMS students bring musical 'Honk! Jr.' to Le Mars stage (03/10/10)
The Le Mars Community Middle School Vocal Department will present "Honk" Junior," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Middle School Auditorium under the direction of Nancy Ewing. "Honk! Junior" is a contemporary, comic adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling."...

Plymouth County schools find ways to make cuts (03/10/10)
Editor's note: This is the second of two stories looking at budget cuts for Plymouth County schools. Plymouth County school districts are trying to figure out ways to reduce already lean budgets. Because Legislators haven't decided whether or not to cut the 2 percent allowable growth, each school district does not know yet if it will receive state funding...

LCS board will budget on anticipated allowable growth money (03/09/10)
Le Mars Community School Board of Education members gave their approval to a budget timeline that will culminate in a certified 2010-11 budget to be filed with the state by April 15, 2010. The board directed Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt to develop the 2010-11 budget working under the assumption of a 2 percent allowable growth in state funding and a Cash Reserve Levy of $750,000...

Museum to preview all-school reunion (03/09/10)
"Decades of Excellence," a preview of the Le Mars Community High School All-School Reunion, will be 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Carolyn Vance, director of the Le Mars Community School District's Alumni Association, will share details of the coming reunion. Some reminiscing by alumni is also planned...

Kessenich family calls Kissinger second home (03/08/10)

Plymouth County's lean school budgets may receive another chop (03/08/10)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories looking at budget cuts for area schools. Lean school budgets throughout Plymouth County may receive yet another cut from the State of Iowa. And the possible cut -- taking away the 2 percent allowable growth -- would be deep...

Volunteers bring new life to daycare bathrooms with murals (03/08/10)
A part of the Le Mars Day Care just became a little more kid-friendly. Dinosaurs, the sun (wearing sunglasses) and a giant butterfly have made their home on the walls of the bathrooms at the day care. The giant murals are a dramatic change, said Ashley Swenson, who teaches preschool at the center...

Nominations sought for LCS Teacher of the Year (03/08/10)
The Le Mars Community School District Foundation and the Le Mars community School Alumni Association are seeking nominations for "Teacher of the Year." According to the two groups, the award is given to represent the many great teachers who exemplify the school districts and their educational goals...

Gehlen student removed from school after e-threat (03/04/10)
An 18-year-old Gehlen Catholic Schools student who allegedly authored a message threatening other Gehlen students was removed from the school immediately Thursday. The student, an 18-year-old female, sent the alleged message via an electronic communication, according to the Le Mars Police...

Apartments officially on national historic register (03/04/10)
A building which first was home to a hospital and is now apartments is Le Mars' newest listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Floyd Valley Apartments, at 110 Sixth Ave. N.E. has been named to the National Register of Historic Places. That confirmation was made Feb. 3, 2010, according to Iris Hemmingson, president of the Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission...

Man takes grandson's plight to heart in 226-mile horse trek (03/03/10)
A man who's been servicing business phone and Internet lines in Le Mars for years is turning time back to the Pony Express. Steve Van Vliet, a Frontier Communications employee, is planning a 10-day, 226-mile horseback ride halfway across Iowa at the end of March to raise awareness and money for children and adults with special needs...

City approves Historic Preservation grant match request (03/03/10)
Le Mars City Council members Tuesday agreed to give the local Historic Preservation Commission $10,000 throughout two years to help place portions of downtown Le Mars on the National Register of Historic Places. The money, which will be paid $5,000 per year in 2011 and 2012, will be the local match of a grant...

Local students excel at IE speech contest Saturday (03/02/10)
Le Mars Community High School and Gehlen High School students have advanced to the state level following competition in the Individual Event District Speech Contest Saturday. The district contest was held at Akron-Westfield High School in Akron, one of 16 sites in Iowa...

Budget cuts limit low income housing for Plymouth County (03/01/10)
Assistance for low income housing in Plymouth County and surrounding areas will be cut back in 2010. It's a result of lower budgets for the Siouxland Regional Housing Authority (SRHA) which provides low income housing support for Plymouth, rural Woodbury, Cherokee and Manona counties, and the area north of Highway 20 in Ida county...

LCS Winter concert set for Tuesday (03/01/10)
The High School Vocal Music Department will present its annual Winter Concert in the Middle School Auditorium Tuesday. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for students and will be collected at the door. In addition, passes will be honored...

Sievert is guest speaker for local World Day of Prayer (03/01/10)
A local celebration for World Day of Prayer will be 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 5, at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Le Mars. Featured speaker will be Dick Sievert who will share about the Kids Against Hunger project. Kids Against Hunger, which now has an outpost in Le Mars, is an organization that packs and ships meals to starving and malnourished children around the globe...

Work could begin in August on new Hinton elementary school (02/25/10)
Plans for Hinton Community School District's new pre-kindergarten through third grade elementary school are on track. "We would hope physical construction of the building would begin sometime in August with an eye for it being completed a year from then in August 2011," said Larry Williams, Hinton's interim superintendent...

Kids take the gold in Kissinger Olympics (02/24/10)
More than 1,350 miles away from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, another Olympic flame is "burning." The students at Kissinger Elementary School in Merrill are competing in their own Olympic games, complete with a torch made out of a lamp and construction paper...

LCHS dance exhibition Friday (02/24/10)
Dozens of dancers will light up the floor in the Le Mars Community Schools Dance Exhibition Friday. The exhibition will be held at the Le Mars Community High School Gymnasium. The show will include performances of the LCS dance team's dances from this year, a co-ed dance with boys from the high school, solos performed at the state solo contest, and dances from four other teams...

LCS board votes to close Kissinger, cut $1 million (02/23/10)
Kissinger Elementary School in Merrill will close its doors to students at the end of the 2009-10 school year, after school board members voted Monday night to close the school. The decision was part of a $1 million budget reduction for the 2010-11 school year...

American Cancer Society holds Daffodil Days (02/23/10)
Spring is coming early this year -- and so is the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days! Plymouth County residents have until Feb. 25, to place their orders for daffodils. "With Daffodil Days, the hope goes beyond the symbol of the flowers -- you know that with every bouquet you order, you're making an actual difference in the lives of real people fighting cancer," according to June Muth, Plymouth County Daffodil Days co-chair...

Students' move saves R-U dollars, increases teaching days (02/22/10)
Remsen-Union middle schoolers' move more than a year ago has saved the district thousands of dollars. Middle schoolers moved from their three-story building on Fulton Street in Remsen onto R-U Community School's main campus, at 511 Roosevelt St., in September 2008...

Few comment at LCS public meeting on budget cuts (02/19/10)
Only a handful of the 40 people attending the public meeting on proposed budget cuts for Le Mars Community Schools spoke to the Board of Education members Thursday night. Board president Patrick Murphy opened the meeting by explaining the areas where cuts have been proposed to meet the board's goal of cutting $1 million from the 2010-11 school year budget...

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...

Relay For Life team kick-off is Monday in Remsen (02/19/10)
Get ready for Relay For Life of Plymouth County 2010. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Plymouth County will hold a community and team kick-off open house in Remsen Monday, Feb. 22. The open house will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Remsen's VFW, 207 S. Washington St...

Fifth graders aim to help the world -- one penny at a time (02/18/10)

Merrill residents apprehensive on proposed Kissinger closure (02/18/10)
Final decision time is nearing on the question of whether to close Kissinger Elementary School in Merrill. The Le Mars Community Schools Board is holding a special meeting 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday) for public input and comments regarding proposed budget cuts, which include shuttering the Merrill elementary...

Johnson, Albus prepare for Nigeria mission trip (02/16/10)
A commitment to global missions by members of United Methodist Church of Le Mars (UMCL) will be realized this summer as two members travel to Nigeria. Barb Johnson of Merrill and Chelsea Albus, 18, of Le Mars will be part of the Iowa United Methodist Conference's Iowa Volunteers in Mission group in June, working in a southern area of Nigeria in partnership with the United Methodist Church there...

Teaming at LCS: What it is and what it will mean to lose it (02/16/10)
A concept that teams middle school teachers at Le Mars Community Schools may be in its last year, due to budget cuts. In 2002, the LCS middle school teachers switched to "teaming." That means the students are divided into teams and each team has its own set of teachers: one each for math, one each for science, etc...

Museum plans 'Spring Preview of Authors (02/16/10)
"Spring Preview of Authors" will put the spotlight on Kingsley during the Plymouth County Historical Museum's first 2010 program Sunday, Feb. 21. The book signing and program will begin at 2 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor. Doors to the museum will be open from 1-5 p.m...

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...

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...

Trees Please! Grant awards $2,000 for Le Mars trees (02/15/10)
Le Mars is receiving $2,000 worth of trees thanks to a donation from MidAmerican Energy. "We'll use it to plant trees along the rec. trail and in the city cemeteries to replace some of the dying spruces," said Steve Hansen, Le Mars public works superintendent...

Public employee bargaining: The reasons behind the raises (02/12/10)
(Editor's note: This story is the second of two stories taking a closer look at public employees' bargaining.) Le Mars City Employees Bargaining Unit: Pay freeze for six months, 3 percent raise starting in January 2011. Plymouth County Secondary Roads Bargaining Unit: 3 percent raise for each year of a three-year contract...

Peters pays it forward with Habitat for Humanity homes (02/11/10)
Rob Peters knows how much a Habitat for Humanity house means to a family. He and his three children moved into their home, the first built by Habitat for Humanity in Le Mars, just before Christmas 2006. Now he's even more involved and paying forward what he has received, serving as construction foreman for Habitat houses going up in the Riverside area of Sioux City...

Public employee bargaining: Designed to protect citizens (02/11/10)
(Editor's note: This story is the first of two stories taking a closer look at public employees' bargaining.) In the business world, salaries and benefits of a business' employees are somewhat dependent on how well the business is doing. However, in the public sector, employees like teachers and city workers are given the chance to organize and bargain collectively based on Iowa Code Chapter 20...

Fourteen and on the job: Le Mars schools implement career planning at eighth grade level (02/10/10)
I have a plan, a career plan. That's the goal for each eighth grader in Le Mars due to the State of Iowa mandate that all schools must have a career plan in place. To fulfill this mandate, the state requires Le Mars Community Middle School (LCMS) to implement a web-based program called IHaveaPlanIowa.gov to aid eighth grade students in their career planning for high school and beyond...

Vander Plaats ready to put government on chopping block (02/09/10)
Gubernatorial hopeful Vander Plaats thinks he has some answers for Iowa's troubled economy -- and the top one is shrinking the government. Vander Plaats spoke Monday to about a dozen people at the Le Mars Pizza Ranch during a tour hitting all 99 of Iowa's counties...

Snow days adding up for Le Mars Community and Gehlen Schools (02/08/10)

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...

Officials seek residents with yardsticks and rain gauges (02/08/10)
Needed: volunteers to measure snowfall, rainfall and other precipitation daily. In Plymouth County there are two National Weather Service Cooperative Observer stations, in Le Mars and Akron, where volunteers measure precipitation and temperatures daily...

R-U fourth graders go back in time to the Middle Ages (02/04/10)
Sometimes to understand why we do the things we do today, we have to learn about the past. That's exactly what the fourth grade Talented and Gifted (TAG) students at Remsen-Union Community School have been doing. TAG instructor Vickie Hemmingson feels it is important to immerse students in a subject as much as possible in hands-on activities...

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