(Le Mars) – A trip to the Netherlands last week provided information about a waste renewal facility and Eco-Park proposed for the City of Le Mars.
Le Mars businessman John Grosenheider and his partner Andre’ Middlekoop, an engineer from the Netherlands, met with CIty Administrator Scott Langel and Waste Water Superintendant Ron Kayser in the Netherland community of Appledoorn. Grosenheider explains what took place.
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So, what is the next step?
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The proposed plant could produce biodiesel, ethanol and possibly jet fuel.
(Orange City) — A Boyden man has been convicted of identity theft. Wilmer Uriel Ramos-Vicente, age 22, was sentenced Monday in Sioux County District Court. In addition to the identity theft, Ramos-Vicente was also sentenced for obstruction of prosecution or defense, and two counts of forgery, all are aggrevated misdemeanors.
The case arose in May when the defendant was stopped by a Sioux County Deputy for speeding. At the time of the traffic stop, Ramos-Vicente presented the deputy sheriff an out-of-state identification card, but the deputy grew suspicious when the Defendant gave the officer a different birth date than what was shown on the identification card and, when questioned, he could not identify the city of his birth in Texas.
Ramos-Vicente was arrested and further investigation revealed he had possessed a forged and fraudulent identification card and a forged and fraudulent Social Security card which he used to commit identity theft by using the forged documents to fraudulently secure employment at SIG International in Boyden. Ramos-Vicente is a native of Guatemala, and is not legally authorized to be employed in the United States.
He was sentenced to two years in prison on the identity theft charge and to 55 days in jail on each of the other charges, with the sentences to run concurrently. The two-year prison term was suspended; however, Ramos-Vicente must actually serve the 55 days in jail. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or (ICE) has placed a hold on the him and, upon the expiration of his prison term, ICE will take custody of Defendant and begin deportation proceedings.
(Orange City) — A Sioux Center man was sentenced to three years of prision for indecent contact with a five-year old child, and for a count of serious assault. Calixto Niz-Niz a/k/a Crispin Morales-Morales, age 20, of Sioux Center was found guilty Monday of the serious misdemeanors.
Niz-Niz was originally charged as a juvenile since he told authorities he was fifteen. However, after an investigation was issued, the Sioux Center police department determined Niz-Niz, a native of Guatemala, was actually 20 years of age, and therefore was charged as an adult. Records show that Niz-Niz had been deported six times in the past.
The defendant was turned over to the custody of the Iowa Department of Corrections. After serving his sentence, Niz-Niz will then be placed in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings.
Branstad signs economic development overhaul
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Private businesses will get a greater say in shaping Iowa’s economic development efforts, thanks to legislation that Gov. Terry Branstad has signed into law.
The measure the governor signed Monday even changes the name of the main state agency that does economic development, the Department of Economic Development.
That agency will now be known as the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress. Backers say that name better reflects the structure of the new agency.
When he campaigned for governor, Branstad frequently criticized the state’s economic development agency.
Sioux City man dies in construction accident
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) An investigation is under way into an accident that authorities say killed a man working on a construction project in downtown Sioux City.
Police say 23-year-old Michael Birdsell, of Sioux City, was working on a piece of equipment for a private contractor Monday morning when he was caught in an auger and severely injured.
Birdsell was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Bachmann criticizes black farmer settlement
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says farmers who are worried about flood damage from the Missouri River and possible cuts to federal agriculture programs need leaders who will cut wasteful government spending.
Bachmann spoke Monday after a tour of flooding along the river with Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa. They pointed to one program in particular as wasteful: a multibillion dollar settlement paid to black farmers who say the Agriculture Department discriminated against them when awarding loans and other aid.
Bachmann says there’s “proof-positive of fraud” in the settlement and the money would better used to help flooded farmers.
The president of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd, calls the remarks unfair and says they show Bachmann looks at black farmers “in a very negative way.”
Iowa ask court to reconsider Neb. man’s statement
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Iowa prosecutors want a judge to reconsider suppressing a Nebraska man’s statements to investigators after he was arrested for killing a maintenance worker at an Interstate 80 rest stop near Victor.
Peter Riggs, of Columbus, Neb., is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jeffrey McAdam in May 2010. His trial is set for Oct. 17 in Davenport, where it was moved because of pretrial publicity.
A judge last month granted a defense request to suppress Riggs’ statements, saying an investigator didn’t do enough to ensure that Riggs understood his legal rights.
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids says that during a hearing on Monday, prosecutors argued the statements were ambiguous. Defense attorneys say the court made the appropriate ruling.
The judge did not issue an immediate decision.
Information from: The Gazette, https://www.gazetteonline.com/
More Iowa soldiers returning home
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa is welcoming home more Iowa National Guard soldiers this week.
The guard says homecoming ceremonies will be on Tuesday in Grimes and Shenandoah for about 190 soldiers returning from a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. The soldiers are with Companies B and C, 1st Battalion of the 168th Infantry.
About 80 soldiers from Company C will be greeted at 11:30 a.m. at the Dallas Center-Grimes High School. Another ceremony for 110 soldiers of Company B is set for 3:30 p.m. at Shenandoah High School.
Homecoming ceremonies have been held across state since last week. Nearly 3,000 soldiers were sent to Afghanistan last year in the largest single deployment of Iowa National Guard troops since World War II.
Rep. Boswell describes weekend attack at home
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell says his instincts as a father led him to tackle a man with a gun who entered his home and attacked his daughter.
Boswell says the man burst into his home near Lamoni late Saturday, grabbed his daughter and demanded money. The 77-year old Boswell says he rushed to grab the intruder, but he broke away and accosted Boswell’s wife, Dody.
Speaking Monday with reporters, Boswell says his 22-year-old grandson, Mitchell Brown, loaded a shotgun and threatened the intruder. The man, who was wearing a ski mask, then ran away.
Decatur County Sheriff Herbert Muir says police are treating the case as a home invasion. He declined to say if they have suspects.
Boswell says the scuffle left him with sore ribs, minor scrapes and bruises.
Former care worker charged with adult abuse
DENISON, Iowa (AP) An Iowa woman who used to work at a care center for the mentally disabled has been charged with felony dependant adult abuse.
Officials say that Denison police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation began looking into questionable financial expenditures by 40-year-old Wendy Mosier of Denison in December.
Mosier, who worked for WESCON industries from 2005 until January, was responsible for buying items for WESCO clients by using their money.
Officials arrested Mosier Friday. They’ve also charged Mosier with ongoing criminal conduct and two counts of felony forgery.
Van Mosier, Wendy’s husband, was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and methamphetamine possession after a search warrant was executed at their home.
Online court records showed no attorney listed for Wendy Mosier.
Iowa honors soldier killed in Afghanistan
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Hundreds of people came out for the funeral of an Iowa Army National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Thirty-nine-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Terryl Pasker, of Cedar Rapids, was killed July 9 while going through a routine security checkpoint in an armored vehicle. The guard says an Afghan National Directorate security officer opened fired. Master Sgt. Todd Eipperle, of Marshalltown, fired back, killing the security officer.
Eipperle, who was wounded, was among those who attended Pasker’s funeral on Monday at the River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids.
The Des Moines Register says Jeff Timmerman told family and friends that Pasker couldn’t stand the thought of his Iowa unit returning to Afghanistan without him. Pasker’s family says in a statement he was the “most steady, dependable person you could know.”
Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
