News

Primghar, Iowa — It’s the holiday season. Many people are making Christmas plans this time of year, but for some people they just hope to be able to survive as a family from day-to-day.

Upper Des Moines Opportunity sponsors and runs a program every year in O’Brien County called “Adopt-A-Family”. We talked to UDMO’s Amber Jederberg. She says it’s a program that lets community members and groups or organizations provide holiday gifts for low-income families.

She says needy families have until November 13th to apply to be adopted. Meanwhile the list is already starting to take shape. For the list of O’Brien County families, you can click here, and then call Upper Des Moines at 957-1023 to adopt a family. Jederberg says they will continue to update the list with new families and will indicate on the list when a certain family number has been adopted.

She says that they hope to have all the families adopted by “Black Friday” so that the donors can get some good buys on their gifts, and hope to have all the gifts taken care of by the middle of December.

She says the turnout last year was great and they’re hoping this year turns out the same.

Again, the list of families can be found here. Pick your family and then call Upper Des Moines to adopt them. If your family or one you know of is needy and would like to apply to be “adopted,” contact Upper Des Moines in Primghar at 957-1023.

Sheldon, Iowa — The just ended month of October was warmer and drier than normal across Iowa. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says the statewide average rainfall total for the month was one-and-three-quarters inches (1.75 inches), about one inch less than usual for October.

Hillaker said this was the 52nd driest October in Iowa in 143 years of record keeping. Most of the month was ideal for farmers who were working to complete the harvest.

Hillaker said many areas of central and southern Iowa have yet to record a hard freeze this fall. There was a range of 72 degrees between temperature “extremes” across Iowa last month.

While Sheldon didn’t get as warm as Sioux City, we did experience a high of 85-degrees on October 11th, with the lowest temperature measured at the KIWA Weather Center being 28-degrees, which came a week later.

Hillaker says the month of November is starting off dry and warm — as highs are forecast to reach the 70s again today and tomorrow. Showers and much cooler conditions are expected to push into the state Thursday and Friday.