Bank Robbery At Holstein Bank
(Holstein) — Ida County officials are investigating an armed bank robbery that happened Thursday afternoon. Authorities say the United Bank of Iowa in Holstein was robbed at gunpoint about 4:05 p.m. An African-American male entered the bank displaying a firearm and demanded money from the tellers. The suspect left on foot with an undisclosed amount of US currency. Law enforcement officials say the male suspect is in his 20’s stands nearly six feet tall, and weighs approximately 180 pounds, and was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt. The Ida County Sheriff’s Office was assisted on the scene by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, Sac County Sheriff’s office and the Storm Lake Police Department. The investigation is ongoing and anyone that has information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the Ida County Sheriff’s office.
Thursday Fair Attendance At 19,000
(Le Mars) — Today is the third day of the “Best Five Days of Summer” of the Plymouth County Fair. The showers from yesterday didn’t seem to keep people from attending the fair. Fair Officials say yesterday’s attendance was at 19,000. A year ago, Thursday’s attendance was marked at 17,100. You may recall it had rained on that Thursday as well, having to postpone the grandstand event. The 4-H and FFA Dog Show will begin today at 8:30, as does the 4-H and FFA Breeding Beef and Market Beef Show. As for tonight’s entertainment, Impact Wrestling will make its debut at the Plymouth County Fair. That will happen in the covered arena, at Pioneer Village will be both the musical group Savanah Jack and the hypnotist Mr. Wunder, and the tractors will be billowing the smoke at the grandstand as the Tractor and mini-rod pull begins at 6:30.
Northey To Visit Plymouth County Fair
(Des Moines) — The Plymouth County Fair will have a special visitor today. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has announced he will be visiting the fair between 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Northey says he wants to tour the fairgrounds and to observe the “a ROUND the farm in the BARN” agricultural education exhibit located within the famous round barn. This will be Northey’s second visit to the fair that promotes itself as being the “best five days of summer”, but it is his first time since being elected Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.
Biofuels Mobile Education Center To Appear At Fair
(Le Mars) — People attending the Plymouth County Fair on Sunday, July 27th, will have the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of ethanol as the Biofuels Mobile Education Center will make an appearance at the fair. The unit will be next to the famous round barn, and will allow people to enter the trailer and observe how corn is processed into ethanol.
Paul Jacobson, chairman of the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Agriculture committee, says the ethanol trailer will showcase how the renewable fuel of corn-based ethanol is a clean burning fuel. Jacobson says the biofuels mobile education center is an interactive display allowing people to learn more about ethanol, and it follows the goals of the “a ROUND the farm in the BARN” exhibit focussing on agricultural education.
The Biofuels Mobile Education Center is being sponsored by Plymouth Energy L.L.C. of Merrill, Iowa.
Conference To Address Livestock Odors
AMES, Iowa (AP) – The latest technology designed to reduce the odor from hog manure will be the focus of a conference next month at Iowa State University.
The Biofilter Conference on Aug. 20 is aimed at producers and managers of animal feeding operations and others interested in learning about development of the latest equipment.
ISU agricultural and biosystems engineering professor Steve Hoff says biofilters can be an effective means to reduce odor and other gas emissions from ventilated animal and manure storage facilities. He says the conference will outline costs, effectiveness, management and other details, and provide sources of science-based information on biofilters.
A demonstration of biofilter operation with an Iowa State biofilter mobile unit is planned.
Sioux City Bicyclist Dies On RAGBRAI Ride
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – A RAGBRAI participant from Sioux City has been found dead in his tent in Mason City in the second death during the weeklong bicycling event.
The Des Moines Register reports 74-year-old George “Frank” Brinkerhoff was found dead inside his tent Thursday morning at Parker’s Woods Campground.
Mason City police Sgt. Greg Scott ways Brinkerhoff was participating in the Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa. Scott didn’t know if Brinkerhoff was riding alone or with a group.
Scott says Brinkerhoff appeared to die of natural causes, but a medical examiner who responded hasn’t determined the cause of death.
On Monday, 62-year-old Tom Teesdale, of West Branch, had a heart attack and died at a hospital in Emmetsburg.
There have been 30 deaths during RAGBRAI’s 42 years.
Branstad Wants Government To Notify State Of Illegal Immigrant Children Placed In Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants the federal government to notify state officials about any immigrant children placed in Iowa.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said this week that 122 children who entered the country illegally and alone were sent to Iowa in the first half of the year. Branstad learned of the placements from a news reporter.
In a letter sent Thursday to President Barack Obama, Branstad asked that the state be alerted to future placements. He also said immigrant children are getting the wrong message due to “a lack of a secure border and sound immigration policy.”
More than 57,000 youths, mostly from Central America, have crossed into the U.S. illegally since October.
Jury Convicts Man Of Murdering His Wife After Third Trial
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – A jury has convicted an Iowa man of killing his pregnant wife after the third trial in the case.
Jurors agreed Thursday that Seth Techel was guilty of first-degree murder and nonconsensual termination of a human pregnancy. The 23-year-old who once hoped to become a police officer faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors argued that Seth Techel killed 23-year-old Lisa Techel on May 26, 2012, in their trailer in Agency, Iowa. Lisa Techel, a county jail employee and reserve sheriff’s deputy, was 17 weeks pregnant with their first child. Techel told police he was in the shower when an unknown intruder killed his wife.
Jurors at two previous trials had been unable to agree on whether Techel was guilty.
Inmate Escapes Work Release Center
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Department of Corrections says an inmate has escaped from a Des Moines work release center.
The agency says 26-year-old Abel Joshua Aguilar failed to return from his job to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility on Wednesday. He was transferred to the work release site in May.
Aguilar was convicted of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, theft and assault on a correctional employee. He began his sentence in June 2006. The offenses were committed in Polk and Webster counties.
Information about Aguilar should be reported to Des Moines police and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
