Le Mars Ambulance Releases Quarterly Report
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Ambulance Service has issued its quarterly call volume report for the period between September 1st and November 30th. The community ambulance service responded to 254 calls during the three month time span. That is a decrease of eight calls, or three percent from the same period one year ago. So far, in 2017 the Le Mars Ambulance has had 855 calls from January 1, 2017 until November 30th. Overall call volume has seen a drop in the number of calls by 39 calls, or a 4.4 percent decrease from the previous year.
Sioux Center Teacher Accused Of Sexual Contact With Minors Released On Bond
(Orange City) — The Sioux Center Christian teacher accused of having sexual contact with more than a dozen children has been released from custody. 36 year old Curtis Van Dam posted ten percent of the $150,000 bond and was released from
Sioux County Jail. Van Dam has pleaded not guilty to 146 charges related to sexual contact with at least 13 children between August of 2014 and this past October. As part of the bond release, Van Dam promises to appear for future
court hearings. There were several provisions initiated as a condition of Van Dam’s release. He cannot be within 100 yards of a child care facility or educational building. He cannot have any contact with any child under the age of 15, and he cannot leave the state of Iowa. The court also ordered Van Dam to wear an electronic monitoring tracking device.
Local FBI Agent Among Law Enforcement Officials That Received National Honor
(Le Mars) –The conclusion of a five-year investigation into a robbery and shooting death of a Sioux City man resulted in several law enforcement officials, including an FBI agent from Plymouth County, to be recognized and given a national honor for their diligence. John Moeller, who resides near
Kingsley, says solving the murder of Tony “T-Bone” Canfield was like putting together a puzzle without having any pieces of that puzzle. Canfield was shot to death on his front lawn in 2011.
photo contributed.
Moeller, along with two Sioux City Police Detectives, and a Sheriff’s deputy from South Dakota’s Minnehaha County were recently presented the Group Achievement Award from the Federal Law Enforcement Association. Moeller says it
took some time, but eventually, three people were sentenced to prison for their role in the robbery-murder case.
Moeller says the case was able to be resolved thanks to the assistance of many people from several law enforcement agencies, including the Le Mars Police Department and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office. Moeller says once individuals were identified as having a role in the robbery and murder, than a timeline was developed.
The FBI agent says once they identified the possible suspects, it was then a process of matching those suspect’s timelines together.
Moeller says he got involved with the investigation of the robbery-murder case because it involved interstate commerce.
Three men were eventually sentenced for the crime. The three were from Sioux City, Georgia, and Florida.
Fire Injures Electrical Worker and Cancels Council Bluffs School
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A fire that injured an electrical worker forced cancellation of classes at a parochial school in Council Bluffs.
Authorities say the fire began around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Albert Catholic School while the man was doing routine maintenance. Assistant Fire Chief Jim Wheat says the man was taken to an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital for treatment.
The fire was confined to the electrical equipment. School activities later Wednesday night were canceled, as well as classes on Thursday and Friday.
Teenager Testifies Against Mother In Trial Of Dead Daughter
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa teenager has testified in the murder trial of his adoptive mother, telling jurors she refused to feed his sister days before she starved to death.
Forty-three-year-old Nicole Finn has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the Oct. 24 death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn. She’s also accused of abusing two of her other adopted children, who investigators say were severely malnourished and living in squalid conditions in the family’s home.
The Des Moines Register reports that Jaden Finn told a Polk County jury on Wednesday that Natalie had become too weak to get up to eat. He told jurors his mother told his sister she wouldn’t feed her if she wouldn’t get up.
Jaden also testified that their mother forced them to ask permission to eat, bathe or leave their room.
—
