SPM News

After three public hearings, this week the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors this week approve a new commercial wind farm ordinance that does not exclude the Loess Hills area. Board member Mark Monson had requested that the Loess Hills be a restricted area and that change was made after the first hearing. That restriction was removed Tuesday night. Several community members said restricting wind farm construction would violate land owner’s rights. Sioux City property owner Tom Bride sits on

Thousands of people gathered at Grandview Park in Sioux City, Iowa on July 2-3, 2021 to watch more than 20 artists on two different stages after a year off due to COVID-19. Saturday in the Park brought a chance for performers to finally play in front of a live audience after the intensity of the pandemic. Veterans and new fans alike enjoyed fun under a warm sun with diverse music, unity, and solidarity. The following show chronicles two days of music and memories with recording captured by

The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 is ticking up, though the raw numbers are close to what they were at the start of pandemic last year. That uptick in hospitalizations comes as public health officials warn that the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading in Iowa , according to the Des Moines Register. The Iowa Department of Public Health said that 85 people were hospitalized in Iowa with the disease today, after briefly falling to 50 two weeks before that.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he will work with his colleagues to restore the 15% ethanol fuel blend for sale year-round. On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the rule enacted by the EPA that allowed E-15 to be sold between June and September, a move that was encouraged by then-President Trump. The decision to allow E-15 to be sold year-round put that blend on a par with the popular 10-percent ethanol blend, which has been available for sale all

State officials say Adventureland’s Raging River Ride has received five years of satisfactory inspection reports. An 11-year old boy died after a fatal accident this weekend on the ride. The Raging River ride was inspected last Friday. The inspector found “no code violations at this time,” according to a notation at the bottom of the inspection report. The father of 11-year old Michael Jaramillo told ABC News that his son and other family members were trapped by the ride’s seat belts when the

Despite a bit of rain, Iowa's drought worsened in the past month, according to the director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Midwest Climate Hub. Dennis Todey says prospects for the rest of the summer are hard to forecast. At best, Iowa would get enough rain to hold off an even worse drought, he predicted. Todey says the drought is the worst in 20 years, and the long-term forecasts don't call for much rain in the Midwest in the next week.

The Mardi Gras Parade kicked off Saturday in the Park festivities in downtown Sioux city last night. SPM's Sheila Brummer shares a few highlights. The grand marshals of the parade were Siouxland District Health’s Kevin Grieme and Tyler Brock. They were honored for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Saturday in the Park starts tonight at 5 p.m. at Grandview Park and continues Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Even with the deluges of rain, hail, and thunderstorms that brought severe flash flooding to parts of Iowa, June wrapped up with below-normal rainfall statewide. State experts tell Radio Iowa the first half of the month was in the top ten for warmth. The second half of June brought storms and plenty of them for other regions of the state, with up to 11 inches in southeastern Iowa. Despite the long-running drought, the state overall was still lacking rainfall, including northwest Iowa. The U.S.

Iowa’s new permit-less gun law is in effect as of today. Iowans no longer need a permit to carry or purchase a handgun. Sgt. Jeremy McClure is a spokesperson for the Sioux City Police Department. “What hasn’t changed though is when you are carrying a concealed weapon, you can’t take them into schools, or certain businesses. And, you can’t have a gun if you are intoxicated. So, it’s important people know those laws before they carry a concealed weapon in Iowa.” Iowans still have to get a

Nebraska plans to stop reporting coronavirus numbers online after Wednesday. The state Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that it plans to retire the online dashboard that it has used to report statistics on the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year. The current state virus emergency also is set to expire on Wednesday, and along with that Nebraska will eliminate the last few social distancing guidelines that remain in place. As of its final update Wednesday, the state had