LOCAL STATE SENATORS LOSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP
(Sioux City) — The state senator that represents Le Mars and most of PlymoutCounty, has been replaced as chairman of the Senate Chamber committee.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix has named Jake Chapman of Adel as the new leader of the Commerce Committee, replacing Bill Anderson of Pierson.
Anderson’s remaining committee assignments still include a spot on the Ways and Means committee as well as Transportation, State Government and Natural Resources and Environment.
Dix has also replaced State Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City fromchairing his senate committee.
Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City has lost his chairmanship of theTransportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee.
Freshman Senator Craig Johnson of Independence replaces Bertrand, who no longer serves on any appropriations subcommittee.
Senate records show Bertrand was absent on more of the legislature’s 77 working days than any other senator during the just ended legislative session, missing floor votes on 12 days.
Both senators are up for re-election in 2018.
FIRE CONSUMES HOG BARN NEAR KINGSLEY
More than 24-hundred hogs died in a fire at a hog confinement in northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County. Dennis Morrice reports fire fighters from five communities fought the blaze.
SIOUX CITY WOMAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for forcing another vehicle off the road and stealing the occupant’s purse, as well as passing forged checks. 42-year-old Stephanie Dunscomb pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree theft and forgery. Police say Dunscomb used her vehicle to force another vehicle off the road in Sioux City on May 5, then stole the victim’s purse. Police say she also stole and forged checks in November.
DES MOINES POLICE ANNOUNCE MURDER CHARGES AGAINST TWO PEOPLE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police have announced murder charges against two people already being held on other charges in connection with the January killing of a Des Moines man.
Des Moines police say 50-year-old Ricky Hascall and 26-year-old Monica Fagan were each charged Friday with first-degree murder in the January death of 31-year-old Michael Huckleberry. Hascall and Fagan have been jailed since February on robbery charges in connection with Huckleberry’s death.
Huckleberry’s body was found Jan. 29 by a neighborhood who noticed his apartment window had been left open for days.
