Knights of Columbus Presents Check To Life Skills Training Center
(Le Mars) — The Knights of Columbus with chapters from Le Mars, Kingsley, Akron and Remsen presented a check in the amount of $55,800 to representatives of Life Skills Training Center on Sunday. The check presentation was done during the annual KC breakfast held at the KC Hall in Le Mars. The money is from the past Phone-a-thon event held in September. Children attending the event enjoyed visiting with Santa Claus, face painting, coloring, and making crafts.
Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Dordt University
(Sioux Center) — A lawsuit has been filed against Dordt University of Sioux Center and many of its top administration officials. The lawsuit was filed by a former student for sex discrimination. The Northwest Iowa Review is reporting the 94-page civil complaint was filed on Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. The male plaintiff is referred to as “John Doe” throughout the lawsuit.
In addition to the university and its board of trustees, Dordt vice
president and chief administrative officer Howard Wilson, dean of students Robert Taylor, director of residence life Derek Buteyn and professor of social work Erin Olson have been named as defendants in the litigation.
Sarah Moss, Dord’ts director of marketing and communication says, “At this time we are aware of the filing of the lawsuit and are reviewing its contents.” She says, “Dordt University is committed to the safety and well-being of our community.”
Doe, who is from the state of Washington, was a male undergraduate student in his final semester at Dordt who claims to have been falsely accused of sexual assault by a female undergraduate student at the university who is identified only as “Jane Roe”.
The alleged sexual misconduct violated the student code of conduct at Dordt, which is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church and “has a particularly strict behavioral code of conduct, in accordance with university’s religious philosophy, according to the complaint. The sexual misconduct complaint “resulted in plaintiff’s dismissal just weeks before he was set to graduate, as well as defendants’ deliberate bad-faith retaliation against the plaintiff for seeking to enforce his rights under the law.
Doe claims he and Roe met, consumed alcohol and had consensual sexual intercourse, which claimed Roe initiated, one evening in early Febrary of 2018. They each poured their own drinks, and Doe consumed more alcohol than Roe. “While Roe initially reported the encounter to be consensual, Roe was
subsequently convinced by other Dordt students that she could not have consented if she had been drinking, and, on information and belief, other students and/or Dordt staff then filed a Title IX complaint on Roe’s behalf.
Sioux City Police Investigating Latest Homicide
(Sioux City) — Sioux City Police are investigating the latest shooting resulting in a homicide. One man is dead following a shooting incident Saturday evening. 9-1-1 Dispatch received a shots fired call shortly after 10:00 pm and a short time later, a private citizen returning home, found a male victim unconscious on the sidewalk near 17th and Ingleside.
The victim, identified as 42-year-old Chad Thomas, had been shot several times.
Emergency responders sent to the scene administered treatment and transported Thomas to Mercy One Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Police are continuing their investigation of the shooting.
Man Suing Father And Investigators After Mother’s Death
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man who was found responsible for his mother’s death at a civil trial but acquitted at a murder trial is now suing criminal investigators and his father. Forty-seven-year-old Jason Carter filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing investigators of conducting a biased and incomplete investigation into his mother’s death. Carter’s
father, Bill Carter, won a wrongful-death lawsuit against his son in 2017.
The suit alleged that Jason fatally shot 68-year-old Shirley Carter in June 2015 to gain access to his parents’ assets. Jason Carter was ordered to pay $10 million to his mother’s estate. In March, a jury acquitted him of murder.
Bernie Sanders Meets With Minor League Baseball Officials
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – On a winter day in Iowa, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took some batting practice indoors. Representatives from three small-town Iowa teams looked on as the Vermont senator shed his suit jacket to take swings in a sweater over a dress shirt. He dribbled a few grounders, then lifted a ball in the air. The appearance was part of his effort opposing a Major League Baseball plan to cut 42 minor league teams after 2020. He’s defending clubs in far-flung places more fervently than any other candidate. That may allow him to win over baseball fans, a largely untapped 2020 constituency.
Health Insurance Employees May Have Their Jobs In Jeopardy If “Medicare For All” Occurs
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – In Iowa, where nearly 17,000 residents work in the health insurance industry, candidates are facing questions about how their health care plans could affect jobs in the state. Des Moines is home to Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield’s health insurance headquarters. Some
candidates have already faced questions about the issue on the campaign trail. This week, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg went on the offensive.
Referencing Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s “Medicare for All” plans, he argued that some candidates’ health care plans would “eliminate the job of every single American working at every single insurance company in the country.”
Wind Farm Being Proposed For Boone and Hamilton Counties
(Des Moines) — A Virginia-based company is announcing plans to build up to 85 wind turbines in central Iowa starting next year. Holly McCoy-Nelson, spokeswoman for Apex Clean Energy, says the development will be called the Great Pathfinder Wind Project.
The process is slow going and McCoy-Nelson says they’re working to apply to get energy onto the grid.
Apex is working with landowners, community leaders and various stakeholders on the project, which McCoy-Nelson says would provide energy for 78-thousand homes.
Apex says the construction project would create up to 200 jobs with another 15 to 20 full-time local jobs for operation and maintenance of the wind farm. The county to the east of Hamilton County is Hardin County, where
county supervisors voted unanimously last week to pass an indefinite moratorium on wind turbine building permits. In southwest Iowa, Madison County leaders passed a similar ban in October.
www.greatpathfinderwind.com
