Both Republican and Democratic parties of Woodbury County will hold special nominating conventions this week to select nominees to compete in the August special election for an Iowa Senate seat.
A state Democratic Party official told Siouxland Public Media News on Monday that the nominating convention will be held in Sioux City at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown Sioux City Public Library.
The Republican Party special convention will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, also at the downtown library.
After those two meetings, it will be known who will be on the ballot August 26 for the Iowa Senate District 1 seat.
The special election is needed because of the late June death of state senator Rocky DeWitt, a Republican of Lawton, at age 66.
*Additionally, Sioux City parks officials are continuing work towards completing the southmost of three segments that will form the Plywood Recreational Trail from Sioux City to Le Mars, Iowa.
Sioux City Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore told Siouxland Public Media on Monday that the portion from the north edge of Sioux City to Le Mars will be done by this fall. He added that some miles of the trail within city limits are part of a different contract that will take longer, into early fall 2026.
The Sioux City Council in their 4 p.m. Monday meeting will be asked to approve about $42,000 for a crossing of a railroad near the Plywood and Floyd Riverfront trails in the Leeds area of the city.
Salvatore said, “The trail itself is looking great. The contractor has been working around a lot of weather. I am happy on how everything is shaping up. We are looking forward to completing this long stretch of trail all the way to Hinton.”
The northmost section of the PlyWood Trail from Le Mars to Merrill officially opened in March, and the Hinton and Merrill segment is about one year away.
The PlyWood Trail is named after the two counties it connects, Plymouth and Woodbury. The trail costing at least $23 million is being funded with grants and private contributions, and much of it is in proximity to U.S. Highway 75.
*The Iowa Department of Administrative Services is closing the Centennial Building in Iowa City because of an $800,000 dollar budget shortfall. The center will fully close next year.
Mary Bennett is a retired special collections coordinator in Iowa City. She worked for the State Historical Society for almost 50 years.
Now, Bennett says state administrators are desecrating the archives she worked to build.
“If you think about taxpayers paying 168 years to make sure this treasure was kept safe and sound and intact, and then now, as I said in the board meeting, it is a joke that for less than a million dollars, you're going to take the thing down,” Bennett said.
She says the Des Moines facility can only take 40 percent of Iowa City’s collection. The rest would be privatized or destroyed.
*In other news, South Dakota’s average annual number of reported tornadoes has decreased over the past 35 years.
The state over the last 20 years has been struck by an average of 28 tornadoes, which ranks 20th in the nation for tornadoes annually, according to data through 2022.
Texas is first with 124. Iowa received an average 53 tornadoes per year over that most recent 20-year benchmark, and Minnesota got 46.
Tornadoes have decreased in South Dakota compared to 1991-2010, when the state saw an average of 36 annually, according to South Dakota News Watch.
South Dakota has historically been included in “Tornado Alley,” a geographic area that extends from Texas into South Dakota and includes states most at risk for tornadoes.
Scientific American reported that the parts of Tornado Alley have recently shifted east, as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama are much more likely to receive outbreaks than they were 30 years ago.
