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Marshalltown woman charged in courthouse bomb threat

July 16, 2009 By

The Marshall County Sheriff’s office has arrested a Marshalltown woman in connection with a June 29th bomb threat at the county courthouse.

On the afternoon of June 29th, Marshall County authorities evacuated the courthouse after receiving a phone call that stated there was a bomb inside the building. Marshalltown police and sheriff’s deputies searched the courthouse, finding nothing.

The investigation resulted in compiling information that lead to search warrants in Marshall and Franklin counties. Wednesday, deputies arrested 24-year-old Kayti Ingebritson of Marshalltown.

She was booked at the Marshall County Jail and released under $750 bond with an initial court appearance pending. The investigation is continuing with additional arrests pending.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Gambling regulators will take aps for new casinos

July 16, 2009 By

At least five Iowa counties will get the chance to make their case for new casinos.

The five-member Racing and Gaming Commission has decided to accept applications for new casinos in the state. It’s likely the five counties, which have already approved gambling referendums, will apply to get casinos in their areas.

During a meeting this morning in Altoona, Commission chairman Greg Seyfer of Cedar Rapids warned the communities that Iowans don’t want widespread gambling in the state.

"We’ve all received hundreds and hundreds of letters and emails and maybe I’m the only one, but I have not received one bit of correspondence from anyone outside of one of the counties that’s passed a referendum that’s asking for new casinos," Seyfer said.

Representatives from Lyon, Webster, Tama, Wapello and Franklin counties spoke briefly before the commission this morning, making a pitch for their projects. The commission’s chairman warned the casino boosters there are no guarantees.

"There’s a consensus, a unanimous concensus of the commission that it is time to accept new applications," Seyfer said. "Personally, I think it’s an uphill battle for anyone who’s going to apply now. I think from the studies, from the information we have, it’s a very tough time."

Seyfer and the other commissioners warned they’ll be "very protective" of existing casinos in the state, and pointed to studies which found each of the five proposed casinos would eat into the profits of casinos already operating in Iowa.

Applications for new casino licenses are due October 1st.

You can listen to all of the commissioner’s comments by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Commissioners speak…MP3 17 min

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Legal issues delay sale of Agriprocessors plant

July 16, 2009 By

The sale of the embattled Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville may take awhile. A judge could have approved the sale in federal bankruptcy court Wednesday, but trustee Joe Sarachek says legal issues are causing delays. "It’s really a technical issue having to do with how this sale was done, which was through the purchase of two pieces of debt," Sarachek said.

If the technical legal issues are resolved, the sale could be completed as early as today. "Subject to an acceptable order, the court is considering approving the sale," Saracheck said. First Bank and Met Life Insurance hold multi-million dollar liens on the plant and they must agree to the sale before it can be approved. The judge could approve the sale to a newly formed Iowa company called SHF Industries. If the sale goes through, SHF is slated to take control of the plant on August 3. An attorney for the proposed buyer says the company is getting weary of the ongoing proceedings but does not intend to walk away from the deal.

Agriprocessors was the site of an immigration raid last May where nearly 400 people were arrested. The company filed for bankruptcy in November.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business

Debate begins on new casino licenses

July 16, 2009 By

At this hour, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has begun debating whether to grant new state licenses for casinos.

Just before the debate among commissioners, folks from five counties who want a casino in their area made a last-minute pitch. They stressed the jobs that would come with the casinos, as well as the side businesses like restaurants and hotels.

There were also critics. Sioux City officials argued the market is saturated in northwest Iowa and a new Lyon County casino would hurt the boat in Sioux City.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Harkin applauds panel’s passage of health care reform bill

July 16, 2009 By

Legislation that promises sweeping reform of the nation’s health care system crossed its first hurdle in the U-S Senate on Wednesday, what Iowa Senator Tom Harkin calls a "historic day." Harkin, a Democrat, says the far-reaching measure was the product of intense bipartisan labor before it passed in committee 13-to-10, without a single "yes" vote coming from a Republican.

"I don’t think it signals much of a problem," Harkin says. "It was a bipartisan approach. Let’s keep in mind, the American people voted for Democrats to take the lead last fall and that’s what we’re doing. That doesn’t mean we dictate everything. We had this bill in open process. We took 13 days, 54 hours — no Republican was denied the opportunity to offer an amendment."

Harkin says members of the G-O-P were involved throughout the effort to craft the massive bill. "They offered 210 amendments and 161 were accepted," Harkin says. "To me, that is bipartisan. What would not be bipartisan is if we came out with a bill and everybody had to rubber stamp it without anybody being able to amend it or modify it. At some point, Republicans are going to have to decide — do they want to keep the present system we have or do they want to vote for a change?"

Harkin says the American people have already made it clear, they want a change. He says this is a "landmark" bill, which he says comes after nearly seven decades of failed efforts to bring reform to the country’s health care system. Harkin says the measure that passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee takes a four-way approach.

"It will reduce health costs," Harkin says. "It will create a strong public option while protecting individuals’ choice of doctors and plans. It will assure quality, affordable coverage for nearly every American. And by putting a sharp new emphasis on wellness and prevention, it will begin to transform our current sick care system into a genuine health care system."

A different health care reform bill is also now before the U-S House. One estimate says the Senate version could end up costing one-trillion dollars.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With: , ,

Man charged after I-29 pedestrian death

July 16, 2009 By

An arrest has been made in connection with Tuesday’s discovery of a body on Interstate 29 in western Iowa’s Monona County.

Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation say 31-year-old Jermaine Jerome Finley faces several charges, including leaving the scene of a fatal accident and making a false report to law enforcement.

The body of 46-year-old John Charles Wakefield was found about four miles north of Whiting on northbound I-29 at around 1:45 AM Tuesday. Witnesses said Wakefield had been hit by a semi that was unable to swerve or slow to miss him.

An investigation revealed Wakefield had been traveling with Finely, when Wakefield requested they take a short stop on the side of the road. When Wakefield was hit by the semi, Finely fled the scene. He is currently being held in the Woodbury County Jail.

Authorities are asking anyone who might have information concerning the incident, to contact the Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 800-859-1414, or the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 712-252-0507.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Team Archaeology to teach history while riding RAGBRAI

July 16, 2009 By

Team Archeology As thousands of bicyclists challenge their bodies with the statewide bike ride starting this weekend, they’ll also be able to expand their brains and learn about Iowa’s distant past. Lynn Alex, at the state archaeologist’s office, says members of Team Archaeology will also be pedaling along the entire 472-mile ride, talking to other riders and folks in the dozens of communities about the amazing sites nearby.

"We’re telling them about archaeology and early history in Iowa," Alex says. "We’re passing out wrist bands that have our website on it. We’re having outreach exhibits in five different locations across the state during the week, generally, getting the word out about Iowa archaeology."

RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, begins on Sunday morning in the southwest Iowa city of Council Bluffs. Alex says there are some incredible historic sites in that area of the Loess Hills — and the hills themselves were created by glaciers tens of thousands of years ago.

"One of the things we’ll be telling people about are some 900-year-old earth lodge village sites that Native American people created," Alex says. "There are over 300 examples of those sites, particularly in Mills County, Iowa." In addition to the team of archaeologists riding on RAGBRAI, she says she and several other staff members will be setting up exhibits in about a half-dozen of the communities where the 15-thousand bikers will be overnighting.

"We’re going to have a collection of very early Native American artifacts that were discovered in the 1960s," Alex says. "More recently, Dr. Matt Hill at Iowa State University, has taken a look at this collection and identified them as Ice Age artifacts and that is a pretty exciting discovery for Iowa." Some of those items, like stone tools, were found in Warren County and may be 11-thousand years old. Bones and teeth of mammoths and mastodons have been found in all 99 Iowa counties.

Outreach exhibits will be set up in Henderson, Milo, Moravia, Packwood and at the end of the ride next weekend in Burlington. For more information, visit www.iowaarchaeology.org .

Filed Under: Education, Human Interest Tagged With:
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