Home News Monday Afternoon News, October 29th

Monday Afternoon News, October 29th

Orange City Library Deciding What To Do Following Burned Books

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) – Library officials in Orange City are deciding how to respond after a religious activist burned four LGBTQ children’s books.
Orange City library director Amanda Vazquez says that officials aren’t sure if they’ll replace the destroyed books, which include David Levithan’s “Two Boys Kissing.”
Paul Dorr is the director of religious group Rescue the Perishing. He released a nearly 30 minute video on Facebook Live where he denounced the library for having the LGBTQ books and threw them in a burning barrel. The video was made on Oct. 19, the first day of the city’s gay pride festival.
Vazquez says the library will follow official policy regarding stolen
or lost books.
Dorr could be charged with misdemeanor fifth-degree theft if he doesn’t respond to the library’s fine.

 

 

Accused Bank Robber Trial To Begin December 3rd

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A trial is scheduled to start Dec. 3 for a man accused of robbing a bank in the northwest Iowa community of Moville.
Court records show that 43-year-old Brendon Reed pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to bank robbery. Authorities say he robbed United Bank of Iowa in Moville of nearly $14,000 on March 30. He was apprehended later that day after crashing a stolen car during a chase by officers near Salix.
He’s pleaded guilty to stealing the car and has been sentenced to 10 years in an Iowa prison.

 

 

Naig Visits Northwest Iowa

(Des Moines) — Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, is making a couple of visits in northwest Iowa today. Naig is scheduled to speak at the Cherokee Rotary Club at 12:00 noon, then later this afternoon, he will tour the AGP soybean processing facility near Sergeant Bluff. Naig is scheduled
to visit the Sue Bee Honey company on Tuesday morning. Naig is seeking to be elected to his first four-year term. He was named Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture following Bill Northey’s departure to Washington D.C. He is being opposed by Democrat Tim Gannon, and Libertarian candidate Rick Stewart.

 

 

Father Accused Of Killing Child Requests A Different Jury

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) – Attorneys for an Iowa father charged in the death of his infant son are challenging the potential makeup of the jury.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Zachary Koehn is charged with murder and child endangerment. Police say officers found the maggot-infested body of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn in an infant swing on Aug. 30 last year at the couple’s Alta Vista apartment. The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is having a separate trial. His trial was moved to Henry County because of pretrial publicity in Chickasaw County .
Defense attorney Steven Drahozal asked the court last week to reconsider the jury pool because of an under-representation of Latino or Hispanic people. Drahozal says Koehn has a Hispanic or Latin background and is entitled to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. The attorney says that of the 82 people who indicated their race on the jury questionnaire, only 2.4 percent marked Hispanic or Latino.

 

 

Omaha Tribal Member Sentenced To Probation

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A former Omaha Tribal official who admitted using federal funds to give himself a bonus has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Former council member Doran Morris Jr. was given five years of probation at his sentencing Friday in U.S. District Court in Omaha. Morris was ordered to pay restitution of
more than $13,400. He’d pleaded guilty to misapplication of health care benefit program funds.
Prosecutors say nine former and current officials misused federal
funds by awarding themselves nearly $389,000 in bonuses. Officials say the bonuses were paid from Indian Health Service funds meant to provide health care to members of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, who reside on the Omaha Reservation in Macy in northeastern Nebraska and in western Iowa.

 

 

Davenport School District Superintendent To Resign

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – An eastern Iowa school superintendent says he intends to resign this week, saying he’s failed to adequately address issues regarding minority students.
Davenport Superintendent Art Tate also said Friday that he’d become a liability in the district’s dealings with the state.
The district is under state supervision because a disproportionate
number of minority students have been identified for special education and subject to disciplinary actions. Also, the Iowa Board of Education Examiners reprimanded Tate in August for intentionally overspending. He’s said was trying to make up for discrepancies in the state per-pupil funding.
Last week the district received unwelcome attention following a
report that one of its elementary teachers wore blackface to a public Halloween party.
In April Tate announced his intention to retire next June .