No Bomb Found After Threat At Remsen-Union School
(Remsen) — Remsen-Union students will be returning to classes today following a day of anxiety on Monday when a bomb threat was received. Law enforcement officials, including two K-9 bomb sniffing dogs from the Omaha Police Department, searched the school premises and found no bomb. School Superintendent Ken Howard says after the threat came to the attention of school officials, students and staff were evaculated to a “safe” designation, and later dismissed. Howard wouldn’t say as to how the bomb threat was received, saying that is part of the on-going investigation.
Grass And Leaf Disposal Site Closes
(Le Mars) — City officials have announced the grass, leaf, and twig disposal site, located on the west edge of town, is now closed until next April. City officials have also announced the refrigerator magnets indicating the garbage/recycling schedule for 2014 are now available at the city hall offices.
Supervisors To Hold Hearing Regarding Vacating 212th Street
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Supervisors are holding a public hearing today at 10:00 a.m. at the County Courthouse Board room to gather input regarding 212th Street. The supervisors have proposed vacating the small stretch of road that lies to the south of the Northern Iowa Power Cooperative, and Smith and Company dump truck manufacturing. The road serves as an access road only and does not connect to other county roads.
Hawarden Man Given Jail Time After Shooting At A Salesman
HAWARDEN, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa man has been given jail time for shooting at a vacuum salesperson in September.
The Sioux County Attorney’s Office says 50-year-old Samuel Harrison, of Hawarden, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison and extensive jail time involving at least a year. All but 45 days of jail was suspended.
Harrison was charged with a felony of going armed with intent, and aggravated misdemeanors of aggravated assault and operating while intoxicated.
Authorities say Harrison discharged gunshot rounds following a dispute with a door-to-door vacuum salesperson in September. Harrison gave the salesperson permission to enter his home but eventually told the salesperson to leave. He said he shot his weapon to scare the salesperson, who was not injured.
Harrison’s sentence includes probation and use of an alcohol-sensing bracelet.
Cherokee Man Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder
CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa man has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges in connection with an attack last month.
34-year-old Joseph Kosiba entered his written plea Monday in Cherokee County District Court.
Kosiba is charged with two counts of attempted murder and other charges including first-degree burglary and willful injury resulting in bodily injury.
Court documents say Kosiba had a claw hammer when he kicked in a woman’s door on Nov. 12. Kosiba is accused of chasing the woman through her home, before she locked herself and her child inside a bathroom. Police say Kosiba hit a man with the hammer after he was confronted inside the home.
The newspaper reports a trial date has not been set.
Judge Rose Faces Trial
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A jury has been seated in a trial to decide whether a former top federal prosecutor in Iowa discriminated against one of her lawyers.
Stephanie Rose, now a federal judge, was U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa at the time of the alleged discrimination against then-assistant U.S. Attorney Martha Fagg.
Fagg has sued the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that Rose discriminated against her because of her mental and physical conditions. She also claims Rose discriminated against older employees.
The the eight-member jury hearing the case was seated Monday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.
The jury will decide the disability portion of the lawsuit. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf will rule on Fagg’s age discrimination claim.
—
Former Fire Fighter Convicted Of Setting Fires
BOONE, Iowa (AP) – A former volunteer convicted of setting two more fires in Iowa has been given 10 more years in prison.
20-year-old Brett Graham was sentenced Monday in Story County. In July Graham, of Kelley, Iowa was given 10 years for arson in Boone County. He’d been convicted of setting a fire there that killed a dozen horses.
Graham was a volunteer firefighter for the Kelley Fire Department, where his father is a firefighter.
—
Parole Board Considering Granting Parole To Juvenile Convicted Murderer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Parole Board is scheduled to review a bid for freedom for a dying inmate who was 15 when she entered prison.
On Tuesday the board will consider parole for 33-year-old Kristina Fetters. A jury convicted Fetters of first-degree murder in 1995 in the death of her great-aunt, Arlene Klehm.
Her attorney says Fetters has inoperable Stage 4 breast cancer and wants to die outside prison walls.
A Polk County judge recently resentenced Fetters and recommended parole. If the Iowa Board of Parole approves it, Fetters would be the first Iowa inmate sentenced to life in prison as a juvenile to be released after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The high court said life sentences without parole are unconstitutional for juveniles.
Two Men Face Prison Terms Following Drug Sting
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Prosecutors are seeking prison terms for two drug-dealing suspects involved in an undercover sting in which an investigator shot and killed one of their associates in Iowa City.
John Mulbah and Norman Dudley will be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Davenport. They’ve pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine base.
The men were arrested in August 2012 after an Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement action at an Iowa City trailer park.
Prosecutors say undercover DNE agent Daniel Stepleton was ambushed by armed men after entering the trailer to buy drugs. He managed to push Ivan Hardemon’s gun away, grab his own, and open fire, killing Hardemon.
Dudley and Mulbah were arrested later. Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 135 months for Mulbah and 63 months for Dudley.
State To Pay $71,000 To Inmate For Lawsuit Settlement
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa must pay $71,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former inmate who alleged sexual harassment at her prison job.
The Iowa Appeal Board approved the settlement Monday involving 43-year-old Melissa Lee Renda. She will receive $25,000 and her attorney will get $46,000.
Renda is a former inmate at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility and worked as a discharge clerk. She filed a complaint in 2007 with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission that alleged sexual harassment from a corrections officer and retaliation.
The commission closed the case and said a prisoner did not have employee protections under Iowa law. A district court affirmed the conclusion, but the Iowa Supreme Court in 2010 disagreed and allowed the case to move forward.
—
