Thursday News, July 5th

Hinton Fire Department Respond To Two Fires

(Le Mars) -- It was a relatively quiet Independence Day, other than the Hinton Fire Department having to respond to two separate small fires.  The first fire was a mattress that was on fire in the back of a pickup truck.  That fire was reported at about 4:45 p.m. on Highway 75, just a mile north of Hinton.  The second fire was a grass fire that occured at about 10:30 p.m. at 31844 West Loop Road. 

Thousands View Sky Show Fireworks Display

(Le Mars) -- Thousands of people gathered at and around the Plymouth County Fair grounds Wednesday evening for the annual Sky Show Fireworks Display.  The show lasted a little more than 22 minutes with plenty of "oohs and ahhs" heard from the crowd, as the sky was illuminated with various colors from the fireworks.  Near the finale, emergency crews responded to the area near the Armory as a woman who had been dehydrated.  Fire crews had to extinguish a few small grass fires as a result of the fireworks fallout.  In general, the show was a success with very few problems. 

Father Told To Remove Sign

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - A proud Iowa father who placed a huge sign on his property to congratulate his seven children for graduating from high school has been ordered to take it down.  Clayton Mace of Sioux City erected the 24-foot-wide sign with his children's names and the years they graduated from West High School on the hill behind his house, which is visible fromInterstate 29.  City officials told Mace the sign violates city zoning laws and he hascagreed to remove it.  City official Jeff Hanson says code only allows small political signs and those for home-based businesses in residential areas.  He says Mace's sign "is one of the largest ones we've encountered."  Mace says he didn't mean to break the law. --- 

Branstad Sent To Hospital After Choking Incident

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has been released from a California hospital after choking on food during a ceremony for the re-dedication of the USS Iowa battleship in Los Angeles.  Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said Wednesday the governor choked on a carrot at some point during the event and vomited.  He says the governor was taken to a nearby hospital out of an abundance of caution, went through a series of tests and was quickly released after "everything turned out fine."  He says Branstad was in good spirits.  He says the governor had planned to visit his uncle who lives in the area and watch fireworks before returning to Iowa on Thursday.  The USS Iowa is a World War II-era battleship that has being turned into a museum. 

Iowa Tax Revenue More Than Estimated

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Preliminary estimates show that tax collections in Iowa grew by 5 percent in the budget year that ended last week, a much larger increase than originally projected.  The figures from the Legislative Services Agency show the growth was nearly double the 2.6 percent increase projected by a state panel.  Tax collections for the year that ended June 30 totaled more than $6.1 billion, up from $5.8 billion last year.  Collections for personal income taxes and sales taxes rose modestly, whilecorporate income tax receipts jumped by 32 percent.  Gov. Terry Branstad says there is no question it was a good year and the state's financial outlook is encouraging.  He says the state's cash reserve and economic emergency fund are also fullyfunded. 

Boat Crash Charges

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Authorities have charged an Iowa boa tdriver with vehicular homicide for his involvement in a fatal Father's Day crash on the Des Moines River. 

46-year-old Tony Starrett was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail Wednesday morning.  He was being held on a $100,000 bond.  Starrett is the brother of 49-year-old Kelly Starrett, a passenger who was killed in the June 17 crash.  Both Tony Starrett and the driver of the other boat, 54-year-old Steven Mayo, were previously charged with boating while intoxicated.  Authorities say Mayo's blood alcohol level was .129, while Starrett's was .172.  The legal limit for operating a boat in Iowa is .08.