News

Hull, Iowa — The Boyden-Hull Community School District and the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office are teaming up to host an informational presentation about digital communication and social media.

Lisa Rensink, School Counselor at Boyden-Hull Elementary says it’s scheduled for Wednesday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. in Hull at the Boyden-Hull High School Auditorium.

She says we are increasingly connected to the world through digital communication and social media. Our children are growing up in a time where learning how to connect safely and responsibly through digital and social media can be difficult and overwhelming. Seemingly anonymous applications have added to the difficulty of helping our kids grow up safely and responsibly using social media. As parents it can be difficult to know how to be involved, how to set limits, and where those limits should be with digital communication and social media.

Wednesday night’s event will offer information about some of the applications kids are using and the potential impact they may have on the ways kids interact in the digital world and potential problems with social networking and safety, she says.

Rensink says Dr. Brandon Nutting, a professor of media and journalism at the University of South Dakota, will serve as the keynote speaker for the event. An interactive panel discussion will follow the speech, in which the audience is encouraged to ask questions of him and a panel of guests. She tells us the panel will consist of school administration, a technology integrationist, a prosecuting attorney, and law enforcement from around the area to better understand the information and help us all be more aware of some of the applications, how they are being used, the real-life and potential problems that the use of these applications have caused or may cause in the life of kids and students, and ways we can be involved in our children’s digital life and set safe and appropriate limits.

The presentation is open to the public.

Northwest Iowa — It’s spring in northwest Iowa, and with spring come the outdoor projects.  But if you’re planning improvements around the house that involve digging, Ashton Newman of MidAmerican Energy says you’ll need to call Iowa One-Call at least 48-hours in advance so you avoid disturbing underground utilities.

You might think that a call to Iowa One-Call would only be necessary for a major excavation project.  Newman says you’d be wrong.

She says calling Iowa One-Call is important for several reasons.

Newman talks about how to use the Iowa One-Call service.

She says that, since some utilities are buried only a few inches underground, it is important to call EVERY time before you dig.  You can reach Iowa One-Call by dialing 8-1-1.

Rock Rapids, Iowa — About 250 bales were destroyed in a fire on Saturday, April 9, 2016 near Rock Rapids.

According to Rock Rapids Fire Chief Ed Reck, about 6:00 PM, the Rock Rapids Fire Department was called to the report of round bales on fire at 3468 Highway 9, about two and a half miles east of the east Rock Rapids water tower. That’s the cattle feeding operation of Ordel Harberts, says Reck.

The chief says the fire department saw lots of fire and smoke from numerous round bales as they approached the scene. He says several farmers came with tractor-mounted loaders, pay-loaders, and disks to help out. They hauled the bales out to a nearby field, pulled them apart and doused them with water to put out the fire.

Reck says no injuries were reported.

The fire department was assisted by the George and Little Rock Fire Departments, the Lyon County Ambulance crew and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office.

He says the cause of the fire appeared to be an outdoor wood burner.

Chief Reck reports that all 250 bales were destroyed.

He says they used at least 20,000 gallons of water to fight the fire, and crews were on scene until 9:30 PM.