Former Westfield Clerk Pleads Not Guilty To Theft
WESTFIELD, Iowa (AP) – A former city clerk accused of stealing from a northwest Iowa community has pleaded not guilty.
50-year-old Angela Sorensen filed a written plea Thursday in Plymouth County District Court. The charges: theft and ongoing criminal conduct.
Sorensen had been clerk in Westfield from May 25, 2013, until she quit in August 2017. A special state audit of the city books shows auditors identified nearly $40,000 of utility payments to the city that were never deposited.
Auditors also said Sorensen was overpaid by more than $13,000 during the 4 1/2 years and said she wrote herself about $4,300 worth of unauthorized checks.
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Fatal Stabbing In Sioux City
(Sioux City) — One man is dead and a second man injured following a double stabbing Thursday evening on Sioux City’s westside.
Police were dispatched to the 1700 block of Geneva Street shortly before 7pm. for a report of man that had been cut with a knife.
Officers found two men in the vicinity, each with numerous lacerations that police believe resulted from a physical confrontation between them.
Both were taken to local hospitals.
45-year-old Eleazar Lopez-Martinez of Sioux City would later be pronounced dead at the hospital from apparent knife wounds.
The other man , who has not been identified, was treated for several non-life threatening lacerations and released from the hospital.
No charges have been filed in the case at this time and police say the investigation is ongoing.
Hospers Man Convicted Of Sexual Abuse On A Child
(Orange City) — A Sioux County jury has declared a Hospers man guilty of child sexual abuse. Sioux County Attorney, Thomas Kunstle has announced that 64 year old Michael Montgomery was convicted Thursday in Sioux County District Court. The case arose in May of 2018 when a child at school reported their grandfather had sexually touched them. A police investigation
revealed the child had previously disclosed the touching to peers and the child’s mother at least two years earlier. During the investigation, a friend of Montgomery’s confronted him about the allegations, and Montgomery replied he didn’t do anything the child didn’t initiate first.
Montgomery had pled not guilty, and the cas proceeded to trial on July 9th. Montgomery was convicted of sexual abuse in the second degree, but acquitted him of lascivious acts with a child. Montgomery was immediately taken into custody, pending the scheduling of a later sentencing hearing.
Construction At Sioux Gateway Airport Forces 185th To Temporary Re-locate
(Sioux City) — Runway construction and repairs at Sioux Gateway Airport is already affecting Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard refueling wing.
Colonel Mark Muckey, the base commander, says they have had to move their giant refueling planes to another base.
Until the longest runway is available for the unit’s refueling planes, The 185th also has been using Omaha’s Offutt Air Force Base for some operations.
Muckey says maintenance crews have moved parts to the other locations, plus the air crews have relocated.
Even though the massive planes have been moved, personnel at the 185th are preparing for an upcoming mission overseas — to Guam.
Colonel Muckey took over as the 185th’s commander a few weeks ago and he says shifting planes and getting airmen ready for deployment are just part of the job.
The Sioux Gateway Airport will close temporarily during three time periods in August and September. The first planned closure will begin Thursday, August 15th at 8:00am and run through Sunday, August 18th, at 8:00pm. Sioux Gateway Airport will also close the following weekend from Friday, August 23rd through Sunday, August 25th. The final closure will run from Saturday and Sunday, September 14th and 15th. The F-A-A is financing 90 percent of the runway improvements.
West Nile Detected In Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials have reported the state’s first confirmed human case of West Nile virus.
The Iowa Public Health Department said Friday the man lives in Audubon County, is 61 to 80 years old and has recovered.
Dr. Caitlin Pedati is the department’s medical director and Pedati says that until the state’s first hard frost, being outside means there’s a risk for West Nile virus infection from mosquitoes.
Experts say most people who are infected have no symptoms or experience only mild, flu-like symptoms. The most vulnerable people are those who are at least 50 or have weakened immune systems.
State records say 104 Iowans were diagnosed with West Nile virus last year and nine died. More information about the virus is available online.
