(SIOUX CENTER)–Officers from the Le Mars Police and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office helped end a standoff with a Sioux City man early last night.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s office was called to a house about five miles northwest of Ireton when a shooting was reported at 2271 420th Street just after five Thursday afternoon.
Officers found a man had fired at another person with a shotgun and was still in the house.
A standoff began and the Plymouth-Sioux SWAT unit with officers from the two counties’ Sheriff’s Offices and Le Mars Police responded.
Forty-year-old Kevin Busch was arrested about two hours later when officers were able to talk Busch into coming out of the house.
Busch is charged with felony going armed with intent and aggravated assault. He is on the online Sioux County Sheriff’s Office Jail Inmate list this morning.
The person who was in the home when the shotgun was fired was not injured.
The Sheriff’s Department was also assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Hawarden and Sioux Center Police Departments.
Council to review performance of management staff today
(LE MARS)–Performance reviews of the City of Le Mars management team are the only business for the City Council’s meeting at noon today.
The agenda for the meeting lists meetings closed to the public as being requested by City Attorney Joe Flannery, Assistant City Administrator Bill Cole and Administrator Scott Langel for their performance evaluations.
Potential action after the meetings closed to the public are approval of pay and mileage for Langel and Cole. No potential action is listed for Flannery.
The meeting today is in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
Northwest Iowa students are top achievers at History Day
(AKRON)–A trio of Akron-Westfield students took top honors at the National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland.
Danika Tindall, Ann Hedlund and Bailey Davis won for their exhibit “Wisconsin versus Yoder: Successful Debate of Freedom of Education.” They competed in the junior group exhibit category.
Their instructors are Val Philips and Colleen Westergard.
Anastasia Hoffer finished fourth in Junior Individual Performance with “The Debate of the S-S- St. Louis leads to Tragic Consequences” entry. She is also an Akron-Westfield student.
A third entry, Desi Oltmanns, Cali Westergard, Lexi Hageman, Hannah Koele and Jessen Wood finished seventh in performance in the junior competition. “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” was their entry on the topic of “The Debate Between the Wets and the Drys”
More than 27-hundred students competed at the national contest.
David Barker of Le Mars Community finished ninth in the Junior Individual Documentary with his project, “Britain’s Abolition Debate: Ending the Vile Trafficking in Human Flesh.”
Jeanne Rust of Le Mars Community is the instructor for Barker and middle school student Ellen Meis. Meis placed fourth in the Junior Individual Web Site. Meis’ project was “Tinker versus Des Moines: Tinkering with the Limits of Student Rights.”
Kellen “thanked” with Chamber honor
(LE MARS)–An employee whose employer says never expects a thank you is the latest Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce “Employee of the Month.”
Mary Jane Kellen is being honored as an employee of Plymouth Manor for the past 35 years.
The nomination for Kellen used words from Plymouth Manor residents to describe her. The include kind, warm smile, good attitude, cheerful, respectful, and putting others before herself. The common word residents used was friend.
Kellen is the July “Chamber Employee of the Month.”
Area near Missouri River in SW Iowa evacuated
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) More residents of southwest Iowa who live in a rural area near the swollen Missouri River are being evacuated as a precaution.
Mills County officials ordered everyone who lives between Interstate 29 and the river to evacuate an area from north of Glenwood south to Fremont County. Earlier this week, Fremont County evacuated the area between I-29 and the river because of concern that the levee may be overtopped.
Mills County officials say there is no immediate threat of a levee breach Thursday, but seeping groundwater had risen behind the levee and blocked some roads.
Residents are being urged to leave the area before 4 p.m. Friday. The Red Cross set up a shelter in Malvern for anyone who needs a temporary place to stay.
CR officer investigated for being at bar off force
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Cedar Rapids police say an K-9 officer who was being investigated for driving his squad car to a bar in Marion is no longer on the force.
The officer, who was off-duty at the time, was seen at the VIP Lounge on May 5. Witnesses said the officer was intoxicated. Someone at the bar took the officer’s picture.
Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said the officer, who wasn’t identified, didn’t face criminal charges, but would face an internal investigation.
KGAN-TV in Cedar Rapids says Thursday that Hamblin says the investigation is complete. She says the officer is no longer with the police department. She declined to say whether the officer quit or was fired.
Jury finds MN man guilty in Iowa store slaying
CARROLL, Iowa (AP) A Carroll County jury has found a Minnesota man guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a northern Iowa convenience store clerk last fall.
The Des Moines Register is reporting that jurors deliberated for less than an hour Thursday afternoon before finding 18-year-old Michael Swanson guilty in the Nov. 15, 2010, death of Shelia Myers at the Kum Go store in Humboldt.
Romney supporters launch independent finance group
WASHINGTON (AP) Republican strategists with close ties to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney have launched an independent fundraising group aimed at boosting Romney’s candidacy.
The group, called Restore Our Future, plans to air ads promoting the former Massachusetts governor in both the primary campaign and the general election if he becomes the nominee. The group is also expected to deflect attacks from Democratic-leaning independent groups like Priorities USA, founded by two former aides to President Barack Obama.
Priorities USA aired ads criticizing Romney in South Carolina last month.
So far Romney has out-fundraised a field that includes former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Texas Congressman Ron Paul and Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann. But many GOP insiders have criticized Romney for signing an individual mandate into law to buy health insurance in Massachusetts.
6 Republicans bid for August Iowa straw poll space
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Six GOP presidential candidates are spending thousands to compete in the Iowa straw poll in August.
Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter bid at least $15,000 on Thursday for plots near Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum for the event.
GOP officials would only say six campaigns bid for space at a meeting Thursday at party headquarters in Des Moines. Bachmann adviser Kent Sorenson confirmed the line-up to The Associated Press. The 2007 straw poll winner, Mitt Romney, is running for president but won’t compete in the Aug. 13 event.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman also is seeking the GOP nomination but won’t compete in the straw poll.
Berry Plastics unveils $8.8M expansion in Dubuque
PEOSTA, Iowa (AP) Berry Plastics Corp. has unveiled its new $8.8 million expansion in Peosta (pee-AH-stuh), a project that added more than 70,000 square-feet to its current facility.
The Telegraph Herald in Dubuque says the Evansville, Ind.-based company held a ceremony Thursday morning with local leaders and company officials.
The company announced the project last fall, saying it will create 12 new jobs. The plant makes plastic bottles for the health care, food and personal care markets.
Iowa attorney acquitted in client assault case
AMES, Iowa (AP) An Ames attorney accused of assaulting a female client has been acquitted.
The Ames Tribune reports that the jury took only a few hours on Wednesday to return a verdict of not guilty on Gerald Moothart. He was charged with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.
The client who was 22 at the time told police she hired Moothart in January 2010 to represent her in a drunken-driving case.
Iowa State running back Nealy suspended
AMES, Iowa (AP) Freshman running back DeVondrick Nealy has been suspended from the Iowa State football team for what school athletic officials say was a violation of team rules.
The Tribune in Ames reported Nealy’s suspension Wednesday.
Nealy, from Monticello, Fla., was cited for public intoxication early Saturday after police responded to a report of a group carrying a weapon and shooting things on campus.
Police say a BB gun was found on Nealy.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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