SPM News

071521 404 A prosecutor today has rejected claims that the killing of a University of Iowa student could be connected to sex trafficking and other abductions. Mollie Tibbetts disappeared and was found murdered in rural eastern Iowa in 2018. Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted for the murder earlier this year. The 27-year-old dairy farm worker testified that two masked men killed Tibbetts but forced him to dispose of her body. Assistant attorney general Scott Brown says a man’s alleged

071521 304 Officials say no deaths or injuries have been reported from tornadoes that tore through central and eastern Iowa, but many have found damaged buildings, shredded trees and overturned vehicles in the path of the storms. The National Weather Service says law enforcement and trained spotters confirmed tornadoes yesterday afternoon and night in mostly rural, uninhabited areas. But one that touched down near Lake City in north-central Iowa damaged a home, flipped a truck and trailer and

Parts of Siouxland under a tornado watch until 9 tonight, including Woodbury, Monona, Ida, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Clay, Emmet, and Pocahontas. The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for several counties across central Iowa, including Calhoun and Carroll just outside of Siouxland. A judge has agreed to delay the sentencing of the man convicted of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts after his lawyers said they need time to investigate new information implicating other

Sioux City Democrat J.D. Scholten says today he won’t run for office anytime soon. In fact, today Scholten is announcing he will take a job with a progressive group that seeks rural votes in battleground states. He'll be taking over as executive director of RuralVote.org, a super PAC focused on improving Democrats' chances in rural America. The former baseball player and paralegal is s best known for nearly defeating controversial conservative Representative Steve King in Iowa’s 4 th district in

News Noon 071321 Last night, some Siouxland residents once again asked Sioux City Council members to ban fireworks within city limits. Councilman Alex Watters said he "battles back and forth" about what can be done regarding the discharge of fireworks. He said he isn't certain that an all-out ban would do anything. Watters floated the idea of having "fireworks zones" located in large parking lots, according to the Sioux City Journal. Last January the council passed ordinance changes that added a

The governors of tri-state region talked about the need to train workers and fill jobs in the post-pandemic era, today at Tri-State Governors' Conference. the conference in the South Sioux City Marriot on the Riverfront. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem talked about possible ways to fill high-demand jobs. Governor Ricketts said Nebraska is focusing on career pipeline that starts in middle school, to a career academy and post

Governors from all three Siouxland States spent the day at the Tri-State Governors’ Conference. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem met at the Marriot Riverfront in South Sioux City. The event hosted by the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce focused on shortage of workers in the region and addressed the impact of COVID-19. Governor Reynolds was then scheduled to tour the Arena Sports Academy in Sioux City. Agreements between Iowa and

The FBI says Nebraska and Iowa have seen a rise in hate crimes in recent years, most of which have been committed on the basis of race and ethnicity. The special agent in charge at the FBI's Omaha field office says Nebraska and Iowa have seen a 21% increase in the reporting of hate crimes in recent years. Federal officials define a hate crime as a criminal offense, such as assault or arson, with an added element of bias against the intended target's race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,

Cities across Iowa will have a month to decide what to do with a windfall of federal money coming their way over the next two years, thanks to the pandemic relief bill passed by Congress in March. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced today that 930 cities with less than 50,000 population are eligible for $220 million distributed by the Iowa Department of Management. The cities can use it for water, sewer, and broadband investments, enhance pandemic preparedness, or launch programs that directly support

A top doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center warns about a new surge of COVID-19 cases with younger people. The state recorded more than 450 cases last week, an increase of 55% from the week before. Dr. James Lawler says the increase isn’t a surprise given the presence of the highly contagious delta variant and the number of unvaccinated people in the state. He also told an Omaha TV station the summer could get “ugly” for people in the 20-to-50 year age group. He predicted the worst