School has started and so far it hasn’t been so warm that they were out of school earlier. At the present time, parking is a problem. When you look back at all the cars that were in the school parking lot that cannot be used now, it is hard to imagine how all those cars are going to find a place.
The first football game was at Cherokee on Friday night. MMCRU came home with a victory! May they continue with this success.
It was August 14 when the stop sign on June Pallesen’s corner was broken off at ground level. Later, the post and sign were picked up and are probably decorating the destroyer’s garage or bedroom. So far, nothing has been there to even indicate that there should be a stop sign.
A few years ago in Florida, some teenagers took down a stop sign and an accident happened where people were killed. What they thought was funny, was not. They were to be tried as adults, but of course their families were fighting this. With the stop sign missing on our corner, there are kids that ride their bikes on the street. Would it take a serious accident to replace the sign? Maybe there is a shortage on posts or even the red sign??
When Nathan was a little squirt, he had a friend overnight. They were riding their bikes down the street (by my house) when one of them lost control and of course, the one behind also fell over. Just then an elevator truck was coming down the street and slammed on his brakes. After seeing no one was hurt, he continued on his way. I came out and was crying over what could have happened. Nathan went home and told his mother that “Grandma was crying and said we should be glad we didn’t end up like Sammy Squirrel (that had been run over not far from them) where his mother will never see him again.”
Over in Plymouth County, Linda Mohning’s husband was returning to their farm that was just around the corner where he had been mowing with the lawn mower. He never made it as a vehicle ‘rear-ended’ him. He was lucky that he had bruises, etc. to show for what happened. The vehicle driver must have been busy with “something” else if he didn’t see a slow-moving lawn mower going down the road. I’m sure this isn’t over with yet.
We have had some moisture that was badly needed. For the time being, the grass has returned to some of its green color.
The street (Swimming Pool street) has been shut off to traffic because of two areas of patching the street. The original area was taken out and replaced with new cement. I don’t know if these areas were “sink holes” or not.
Steve is back to delivering the newspapers. In that area, he has some walking to do. After two weeks of answering the phone in the 2 o’clock range that the “papers are in”, I’m still awake and until 5 a.m. when the two that delivered them arrived home. During this time, I do get something done so all is not lost!
There is quite a discussion on college loans being paid or at least some of it. Those who have paid their loans are not happy about this at all. Where is this money to pay these coming from? When I went to NCC, there were students that abused the money they received. They really didn’t care if they were in class or not. I might have been the oldest student in any one class, but at least I did care about why I was there. How do you figure out which students will be glad when they receive this money? Will those who take it and maybe quit—will they have to pay it back? Good luck with that! I can see where there is going to be a lot of discussion on this subject.
I don’t know if the article on college at San Quentin is going to make it in the paper this week. At last the government is finding out that to house these prisoners is not cheap. If in anyway they can be there for a shorter time but be released with a job they can find, that is a plus for them. Not all of them can want to learn, but for those who do, it can shorten their stay. At least they have something to look forward to instead of nothing but gang wars, etc.
After 18 years, Lisa Boss has been released to a place in Des Moines. She is the person that helped husband Donald Boss kill one of their adopted boys and bury him in a basement in a house in Remsen. He will never get out but if she was just as guilty as he was, she is out. She says that he was abusive to her and she had to help him. She was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, which both carry sentences of life in prison, but entered a plea agreement and plead guilty to reduced charges of attempted murder, voluntary manslaughter, child endangerment and willful injury. She changed her name to Lisa Green after her jailhouse marriage to another inmate. At her plea hearing, she emphasized she was being charged only with aiding and abetting in Timothy’s death. She had been denied parole twice before now.
Husband Donald, was found guilty of first-degree murder and is serving his sentence of life in prison without parole in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Lisa was required to serve 70% of 17.5 years of her sentence before she could be eligible for parole. She will remain on supervised release until her sentence is discharged on Sept. 22, 2035. Timothy Boss (special needs child) had been strapped to a metal folding chair and beaten to death. Boss and husband Donald buried Timothy’s body under their basement floor.
The Donald and Lisa Boss case was one of the more notorious murder cases in Northwest Iowa history, gaining wide-spread media attention. It began on Jan. 2, 2002 when relatives in Michigan asked Plymouth County authorities to check on Timothy, who hadn’t been seen in months. Donald was arrested that day, but Lisa left Remsen with their children. Timothy and three of the boss’ 10 children were special-needs children the Boss’ adopted while living in Michigan. Lisa was found three days later in Montana, was returned to Iowa, was held as a material witness, but did not testify against her husband. Timothy’s remains were found Feb. 27, 2002 after Donald told authorities “where” he was buried.
I don’t know how Lisa can think that she will not need a canteen filled with ice water where she is going when a judge greater than an earthly judge judges her.
How about the Omaha man who bound a Sioux City couple in their home and poured gasoline on them and now had a 20 year prison sentence reduced to two years’ probation? Polak pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and second-degree arson and had charges reduced from first-degree burglary and first-degree arson as part of a plea agreement.
Polak and Jayme Powell concealed their faces with ski masks when they entered the Sioux City home on Dec. 16, 2020, struck the male resident in the head with a pipe, causing a large laceration, bound the man and woman with zip ties and poured gas on them. They ransacked the house, stealing the man’s wallet, but were unsuccessful in stealing the man’s truck. Polak made more than $1,500 in withdrawals using the victim’s debit card.
Polak was linked to the crimes through DNA evidence. Powell was later sentenced to 54 years in prison for trying to kill Polak by running over him while driving his motorcycle on Interstate 29. She got the prison term and he got probation—how is that for justice?
I am still having trouble with this computer. The two stories I submitted this week, I hope haven’t been in before. The file that would tell me this, I cannot get to. Bear with me!
The interim superintendent Rod Earleywine for Sioux City Community School District, spoke to students and teachers about new school policies the first day of school. At the elementary level, students are not allowed any kind of mobile phone, smartwatch or headphones during the school day. At the middle school level, students are not allowed the same devices during the day. If they have good behavior, the school principal can decide to allow the devices during non-instructional time.
At the high school level, students are allowed to use their devices during the non-instructional time, such as passing periods, lunch and before or after school. West High School students were talked to on Monday about the policy. Most were against it. Earleywine said he knew students weren’t going to like the new rules, but the district needs to focus on student engagement. Students need to be actively involved in lessons when in a classroom and cell phones are distracting.
During passing periods, students are allowed to use their phones, but once the bell rings, they cannot. When students were asked to put their phone away after the bell rang, they said they were using it to look at their schedule to find their next class.
Students comments: Students should be allowed to use their phones when they complete their work, especially during study halls and other periods. The policy is horrible and teachers only like it because it benefits them, while it punishes students who are successful in class. Teachers tell students to get on their computers (instead of phones) and there is nothing to do on the computer. When asked “why” they don’t have any school work to do—they can complete work earlier and have nothing to do (but go to phone).
A substitute teacher added that another district had students check their phones in at beginning of the class where this policy made a huge difference in student’s attention.
Discipline for violating the rule varies on how many offenses the students have. First offense and second offense they are given verbal redirection and a call to their parents, if they don’t cooperate; they are given a one-day suspension. On the third offense, they are given one day of in-school suspension or a two-day suspension if they do not cooperate. On the fourth offense, they are given three days of suspension and on the fifth offense, they will receive a five-day suspension at the Sioux City Alternative School. When asked if changes will be made to the policy, Earleywine said it was unlikely but wants students to understand just why this policy is important.
It was in July that the school board approved a more restrictive mobile phone policy after a district behavior survey.
Remember in your thoughts and prayers those who have recently lost loved ones to death, had their lives changed, have health problems with some being terminal, have a job but are still struggling to make ends meet, and be with those who are still trying to shorten the distance between family/friends by building a bridge instead of a wall.
I will leave you with his quote from Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish writer: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”