Man Dies From South Sioux City Grain Elevator Explosion
SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a man injured in an explosion at a northeast Nebraska grain elevator has died.
The Meyer Brothers Funeral Homes said Thursday that 55-year-old Maurice “Maury” Kellogg died Monday. He’d been injured May 29 when the blast blew a gaping hole in the Andersen Farms elevator in South Sioux City.
Residents of 26 houses nearby were evacuated. Fears of the elevator collapsing kept many away until June 11, when the elevator top was dismantled.
The cause of the explosion is being investigated.
Sioux City Man Given Probation From Arson Charges
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A man accused of setting fire to a Sioux City house has been given probation.
33-year-old Jesse Bigeagle pleaded guilty Thursday to an arson charge after prosecutors dropped charges of burglary and criminal mischief. He was given four years of probation and a
suspended 10-year prison sentence.
Woodbury County District Court records say Bigeagle entered the home early on Sept. 19, went to the basement and started a fire there before leaving.
No injuries were reported. The records say Bigeagle had lived at the house.
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Man Dies From Construction Crane Collapsing
CHESTER, Iowa (AP) – A sheriff says a man installing a boom extension on an old, truck-mounted construction crane in northern Iowa was crushed to death when the boom fell on him.
Fifty-seven-year-old Timothy Brandau was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday in Chester. An autopsy has been ordered.
Howard County Sheriff Mike Miner said Friday that Brandau told acquaintances that he needed the extra boom length for a construction job. Miner says Brandau hadn’t set up any safety support and was struck when the top part of the boom suddenly fell after he knocked out a connection pin.
Miner says Brandau was working alone.
Brandau bought, sold and repaired construction equipment at his property in Chester, a town of about 125 people that sits on the Minnesota state line.
Grain Bin Company Founder Dies
SHEFFIELD, Iowa (AP) – The founder of a grain bin and dryer company in northern Iowa has died. Retz Funeral Home in Sheffield says Eugene Sukup died Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Mason City. He was 89. Sukup and his wife, Mary, founded Sukup Manufacturing in 1963 in a welding shop in Sheffield. His first patent was for grain stirring equipment to keep corn from spoiling in a bin. The company employs a little over 600 people in Sheffield. He was born in northeast Nebraska.
