Former Postal Employee Found Guilty Of Mail Theft
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former U.S. Postal Service worker in northwestern Iowa has been sentenced to probation for stealing items from the mail he was supposed to deliver.
Federal prosecutors say 42-year-old Kirk Baird, of Sergeant Bluff, was sentenced in a Sioux City federal court Friday.
He pleaded guilty in March to one count of theft of mail by a postal service employee. At his plea hearing, Baird admitted that from August to October, he removed cash and gift cards from items in the mail at least 22
times.
Baird had originally faced up to five years in prison without the
possibility of parole.
Sioux County Authorities Investigate Highway 10 Accident
(Orange City) — The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office investigated a motor vehicle accident that occurred Thursday afternoon, May 18th. That accident happened about a mile west of Orange City on Highway 10. 63-year old Deb Stevens of Paullina was driving a 1998 Honda Accord heading westbound on Highway 10.
Following Stevens, also heading westbound on Highway 10 was 40-year old Keith Scholten driving a 2014 Ford F150 pick-up truck. Justine Van Sloten, age 20, of Maurice was heading eastbound on Highway 10 and driving a 2001 Oldsmobile
Intrigue. Stevens crossed the center of the roadway and struck Van Sloten. As a result of the collision, Van Sloten’s vehicle rolled onto its top on the roadway, and Scholten drove into the south ditch to avoid striking the vehicles.
Stevens and Van Sloten were both trapped in their vehicles and required extrication using the “Jaws of Life” by the Orange City Fire Department. Both Stevens and Van Sloten were transported by the Orange City Ambulance to the Orange City Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Van Sloten was later flown to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and then on to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Stevens’ vehicle sustained approximately $5,000 in damage. Van Sloten’s Oldsmobile sustained an estimated $3,000 in damage and the Ford pick-up truck had approximately $50 in damage. The Sioux County
Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Orange City Fire Department, Orange City Ambulance, Orange City Police Department and the Iowa Department of Transportation. Stevens was given a citation for failing to yield half the roadway.
Iowa’s Unemployment Rate Holds Steady
(Des Moines) — Iowa’s unemployment rate for April remained at three-point-one percent.
That’s Cory Kelly, a spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development. Kelly says there are very few hints as to what long-term trends may be in Iowa’s economy, but the state is CLOSE to “full employment.”
The agency reports about 52-thousand Iowans remain unemployed and the NUMBER of Iowans in the workforce declined last month. The construction industry was in a
hiring boom a year ago and the data shows the construction sector shed about 15 -hundred jobs last month.
However, Kelly’s agency reports “anemic” job growth in companies that make products and Iowa businesses, in general, seem to be “a little more apprehensive” about hiring.
About 700 workers were laid off in Iowa’s manufacturing sector last month. Iowa governments, particularly at the local level, are cutting jobs, too, with 500 people who work in public sector losing their jobs. The state saw job gains in health care, education, financial services and in the leisure and hospitality
industry.
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Memorial Day Weekend May See Heavy Traffic On Iowa Roads
(Des Moines) — Next weekend’s holiday marks the -unofficial- start of summer and the -official- start of summer vacation season. Gail Weinholzer, at Triple-A-Iowa, predicts it’ll be the busiest Memorial Day for travel in more than a decade.
The boost in travel numbers can be attributed to several things.
Before taking off on a three-day weekend road trip, she suggests spending a little time on car care.
A rise in the number of travelers on the highways means a rise in the risks for having a fender bender, or worse.
Gas prices in Iowa are averaging $2.25 a gallon, that’s up four cents from a year ago and is a dime below the national average.
