Sioux City Council To Vote On Settlement With Accident Victim
(Sioux City) — The Sioux City Journal is reporting the city of Sioux City plans to extend a settlement and release agreement worth $7.5 million dollars to the victim of a November 2016 accident involving a city bus. The Sioux City Council will vote on Monday on the agreement with Chad and Rosanne Plante, of rural Hinton. The city’s legal department has recommended
approval following mediation talks with the couple. Chad Plante sustained severe injuries including two broken legs and a brain injury following a November 15th crash at the intersection of Lewis Boulevard and Outer Drive.
The accident occurred around 5:40 a.m. that day when a turning Sioux City Transit bus failed to yield at the intersection and struck his 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe. Plante had to be mechanically extricated from the vehicle and spent several weeks in a coma, followed by months of rehabilitation. The driver of the transit bus, Jamie Pica, was cited for failure to obey a traffic control
device, and failure to wear a seat belt in connection with the incident.
Pica was dismissed as a city employee, shortly after the accident occurred.
In January of 2017, the city agreed to pay the Plantes’ out-of-pocket expenses, health insurance premiums, lost wages, and other requested expenses. Those payments had totaled nearly $180,000 through June of this year, according to city documents. The Plantes and the city entered mediation in May to arrive at the settlement terms. The Plantes have not filed any litigation to date. If approved on Monday, the settlement and release would settle all claims to be made against the city and Pica. The
settlement will be above and beyond what the city has already paid in costs and expenses. The city of Sioux City will be responsible for paying $210,941.90 and the city’s insurance will cover the rest.
Sales Tax Holiday For Clothing Is Today and Saturday
(Des Moines) — Iowans can save some money if they’re doing back-to-school shopping this weekend — or for themselves if they don’t have kids — with the annual Sales Tax Holiday. John Fuller, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Revenue, says this is the 20th year for the holiday, which runs tomorrow
(Friday) and Saturday.
There is often some confusion about what is — and isn’t — covered during the holiday.
There’s an online resource that should clear up all questions.
Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Kristina Wiltgen (WILT-jin) says this holiday is particularly important for communities on Iowa’s northern border.
Iowa’s Sales Tax Holiday began at 12:01 A-M Friday and ends at 11:59 P-M on Saturday.
JBS To Donate $1 Million Dollars To Marshalltown
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Marshalltown’s largest employer has announced $1 million in aid to its employees and the community as they recover from the July 19 tornado that tore through the city.
JBS USA employs 2,300 people at its Marshalltown pork facility.
The tornado that hit Marshalltown was among a flurry of twisters that swept through central Iowa, injuring at least 17 people and flattening buildings in three cities
Martin Dooley is president and chief operating officer of JBS USA Pork, and he says he’s lived and worked in Marshalltown for several years, “so this devastating event resonates with me personally.”
The Des Moines Register reports that the company donated $200,000 to Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc., a nonprofit that serves children and families in vulnerable situations, and $200,000 to the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund.
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Mother Of Missing Girl Ask For Her Safe Return
BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) – The mother of a missing Iowa college student is pleading for anyone who may have abducted her daughter to let her go and claim a fast-growing pot of reward money.
Laura Calderwood said Thursday that she believes her daughter, 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, is alive and may have been kidnapped. She said that it’s the family’s greatest hope that whoever may have Tibbetts lets her go and claims the “money we have raised for her freedom.”
Tibbetts hasn’t been seen since July 18, when she went for a run in her small hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Investigators have reached no conclusions about why she has disappeared.
Calderwood announced at a news conference that $172,000 and counting had been raised for a new “Bring Mollie Tibbetts Home Safe” reward fund. She said the money would be paid to anyone who provides information to Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa that leads to Tibbetts’ safety.
Crime Stoppers is promising to protect the anonymity of tipsters.
Waterloo Holds Vigil For Missing People
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – More than 200 people filled an amphitheater in Waterloo to draw attention to missing persons cases and demand justice for the slain.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Wednesday’s vigil was organized by the Family and Children’s Council of Black Hawk County. It aimed to bring awareness to missing and unsolved crimes involving young people.
Heather Collins is the mother of 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins, who disappeared with her cousin Lyric Cook Morrissey in July 2012. The girls were later found dead. Collins says she’s alarmed by the number of youths reported missing.
To assist with the growing number, Democratic Sen. Jeff Danielson spoke about pursuing a state Amber Alert-type system that could provide immediate notification through social media and other channels. He says the system wouldn’t have the same rigid criteria required for an Amber Alert.
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Winnabago Industries Announces Lay-offs
FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Winnebago Industries spokesman has confirmed cutbacks at the company’s northern Iowa plant in Forest City.
Chad Reece said Thursday that fewer than 35 people were dismissed at the end of July. He wouldn’t provide a more precise number but did say the cutbacks were permanent. He says the company constantly refines its staffing to meet production demands and future business needs.
He says Winnebago employs 2,600 to 2,700 people at the plant, which is more than half of the company’s total workforce. The company makes motor homes and other outdoor products.
Invasive Weed Detected In Iowa
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) – Officials have confirmed that an invasive Asian weed has reached south-central Iowa.
Persicaria perfoliata, or mile-a-minute weed, was known to be in the mid-Atlantic states, Indiana and in Oregon. Experts say the plant can grow 6 inches (15 centimeters) a day and quickly smother native vegetation.
Iowa State Extension says the weed is suspected to have become permanently established following introduction to a Pennsylvania plant nursery in the 1930s or 1940s.
Iowa State Extension says a Marion County resident who’d been battling the weed contacted the Marion County Extension Office, and the plant subsequently was confirmed as the mile-a-minute weed. It’s unknown how far the weed has spread in Iowa, if at all.
It can grow up to 20 feet long and has light green, triangular leaves and downward-curving spines on the stem and other plant parts.
The extension service says the weed isn’t considered a threat to agricultural fields.
