Sioux City Police Offers Update On Fatal Stabbing Incident
(Sioux City) — Sioux City Police have identified the victim from Sunday’s fatal stabbing on the city’s west side. 24-year old Kenia Alverez-Flores died from numerous stab wounds inflected outside her residence in the 1200 block of West 14th Street. Detective Nick Thompson says within minutes after arriving at the scene, police located and stopped a vehicle at 16th and Douglas, and arrested the suspect, 20-year old Melissa Camargo-Flores of Dakota City, Nebraska.
Thompson says after Camargo-Flores was treated and released from Unity Point Health-St. Luke’s, she was booked into the Woodbury County Jail on a charge of first degree murder.
Thompson declined to comment on a possible motive, but he says the two women had multiple issues with each other, but the two are not related to one another. Police believe Camargo-Flores accidentally stabbed herself in the alleged attack. It is the sixth homicide of the year for Sioux City. Camargo-Flores is being held at the Woodbury County Jail on a half a million dollar bond.
Okoboji Councilman Arrested For DWI
OKOBOJI, Iowa (AP) – A city councilman in northwest Iowa says he’s contemplating leaving his post because he’s been charged with driving while under the influence.
Court records say 59-year-old Bill Huse (hyooz) also is charged with possession of a dangerous weapon while under the influence. Okoboji police arrested Huse around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Huse said Monday that he’s “very distraught about the whole situation” and is thinking about resigning from the Milford City Council. He called the situation “an embarrassment to the city.”
Huse also said he didn’t know yet how he’ll plead to the charges. Court records don’t list a date for his next hearing.
Man Pleads Guilty To Providing Alcohol To Woman Who Hits Tree
OSAGE, Iowa (AP) – A man has pleaded not guilty to supplying alcohol to a woman who authorities say was driving drunk when her vehicle hit a tree in northern Iowa, killing her.
Mitchell County District Court records say the plea was entered last month for 22-year-old Justin Slaichert, of St. Ansgar. His arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 24. The charge: supply alcohol to an underage person, resulting in the person’s death.
Authorities say Slaichert’s girlfriend, 19-year-old Hanna Pfeifer, died when her vehicle rammed a tree Jan. 6 in St. Ansgar. Tests showed her blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.
Court documents say Slaichert told officers he’d bought three beers for Pfeifer.
Iowa D-O-T Officials Announces Road Construction Projects
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa transportation officials plan to make a near record $779 million of statewide road improvements for the upcoming construction season.
The Des Moines Register reports that the largest project involves widening a 40-mile, two-lane section of U.S. Highway 20 in northwest Iowa to four lanes. The $286 million project is expected to be completed this fall.
The Des Moines area, Ames, Council Bluffs, the Quad Cities and Waterloo are among the areas that will also see road work.
Stuart Anderson is the director of the state Department of Transportation’s Planning, Programming and Modal Division. He says a dime-per-gallon state tax increase on gasoline and diesel fuel that took effect in 2015 has generated an additional $200 million annually for Iowa road projects.
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Minority Labor Workforce Is Declining
(Des Moines) — Immigrant populations are starting to fall in rural labor markets, according to an Iowa State University study commissioned by the National Pork Producers Council. I-S-U economist Chris Boessen (BESS-en), one of the
study’s authors, says the pork industry is making gradual yet major shifts.
Boessen says the study shows the labor market has
changed in Iowa and across the region.
The change in U-S immigration policy has contributed to a shortage of foreign ag workers, but Boessen says it’s more than just that.
As conditions improve elsewhere, he says immigrants have less motivation to come to the U-S. N-P-P-C officials say in
addition to this study, data compiled by U-S-D-A’s Economic Research Service shows a reduction in the foreign-born workforce prompted by a change in immigration policy would not be offset by native born workers and permanent residents. The council is backing Congressional legislation calling for an H-2-C
visa to allow non-seasonal foreign ag workers to stay in the U-S for up to three years.
