Missouri River Historical Development To Give Money For Agriculture Center
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Missouri River Historical Development Board has
approved a $1 million grant for a proposed agricultural expo center in Sioux City.
The grant from the nonprofit group could help leverage state funds to help build the $6.7 million Ag Expo & Learning Center.
Plans call for the center to include a 3,000-seat arena, a warm-up arena,
livestock pens and a stockyards hall of fame. The proposed center would host
equestrian competitions, livestock shows and other farm and agriculture-related
events.
The board is set to formally present the grant to expo center leaders at a
ceremony Thursday.
The development board’s president, Mark Monson, said he hopes the grant will
help kick-start additional private contributions for the center.
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Bankers Survey Shows Slight Improvement To Economy
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly survey of bankers suggests there’s been a slight
improvement in the weak economic outlook for rural areas of 10 Western and Plains
states.
A report issued Thursday on the Rural Mainstreet Index says it rose to 43.9
this month from 40.9 in May. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the
survey’s indexes suggests that factor will decline.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the
overall index has remained below growth neutral for 10 months. He says that over
the past 12 months, farm prices are down 9.5 percent, grain prices are off 4
percent and livestock prices are down 15 percent.
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
State Legislator Called To Active Military Duty
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa legislator has been called to active duty with
the Iowa Air National Guard.
Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant and a major with the Air National
Guard, will serve in support of military operations from June through September.
It’s Nunn’s fourth deployment. He was previously on active duty with the Air Force,
amassing 700-combat flight hours during three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
A statement released Thursday by Iowa House Republicans says Nunn, a
cybersecurity and counterintelligence officer, was specifically requested to be
called to active duty by the U.S. Department of Defense based on those skills.
Nunn, an assistant House majority leader, says he will continue to communicate
with constituents through email updates.
He is serving his first term.
Assistant Wrestling Coach Given Five Years In Prison
NEVADA, Iowa (AP) – A former volunteer assistant wrestling coach in Webster City
has been given five years in prison for criminal mischief and a year for assault.
Terry Nessa pleaded guilty Monday. Prosecutors dismissed a burglary charge in exchange for Nessa’s pleas. A judge set a sentence reconsideration hearing for June 24.
Prosecutors say Nessa and the school’s wrestling coach, Ted Larson, broke into
Lyndal Olson’s rural Story County home on Dec. 13, 2014, and assaulted Olson. In
October 2015 Larson was given the same sentence as Nessa, and it was reduced to
probation upon reconsideration by a judge.
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Des Moines Woman Arrested For 2nd OWI While Awaiting Trial For 1st OWI
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines woman awaiting trial on two charges of
vehicular homicide for driving while intoxicated has again been arrested on
suspicion of driving drunk.
53-year-old Deanna Marie Gliem was arrested late last week in Lucas County on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Lucas County Sheriff Brett Tharp says Gliem was stopped and arrested Friday
after the department received a complaint of someone driving erratically.
Tharp said Gliem refused to take a preliminary breath test. She was charged
and later released on bond. A phone number for her could not be found Thursday.
Gliem was charged in November for the traffic deaths of 60-year-old Richard
Hummel and 59-year-old Randall Sonnenburg.
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