SPM News

State Auditor Rob Sand is alleging Governor Kim Reynolds’ appearance in COVID-19 public service announcements last year was a violation of Iowa’s self-promotion law. Reynolds denies this. The law prohibits state officials from using public money to promote their name and image. But it contains an exception for disaster emergencies, and Iowa has been under a disaster emergency proclamation for more than a year because of the pandemic. Reynolds pointed to that exception in a statement, and said

Higher than expected cost for Woodbury County’s Law Enforcement Center has members of the Woodbury Board of Supervisors looking at spending COVID-19 relief money on the project. The Sioux City Journal reports the board moved closer yesterday to allocating $15.6 million toward the jail, but took no action. The original estimate for the main phase of the project came in at $34 million. But, there is a 36% increase in cost. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says she will be running for reelection in 2022.

Các trường hợp nhiễm COVID-19 đang hoạt động ở South Dakota đã giảm đáng kể trong tuần này, khi có thêm 5 trường hợp tử vong vào thứ Tư, trong tổng số năm 2019 kể từ khi bắt đầu đại dịch. Có 36 trường hợp bổ sung. Bộ Y tế Công cộng Iowa báo cáo thêm hai ca tử vong và 260 ca xét nghiệm dương tính mới trên toàn tiểu bang, và hai ca nhiễm ở quận Woodbury. Trong khi đó, tỷ lệ dương tính trong một tuần của Iowa đã giảm xuống dưới hai phần trăm. Lãnh đạo đảng Dân chủ tại Hạ viện Iowa cho biết ông sẽ

The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Iowa has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the charity that supports sick children and their families. Jennifer Woodley admitted in a written guilty plea last week that she made unauthorized charges on a foundation credit card, gave herself unapproved bonus and salary increases, and made false entries in foundation records. Iowa's state auditor has flagged concerns following an audit of the state's sex offender civil

Noon news 060121 The economy in nine Midwest and Plains states remains strong in the wake of a devastating global pandemic. However, The Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Survey shows inflation is still a problem. After hitting a record high 73.9 in April, the overall index slipped to still strong 72.3 for May. Any score above 50 on the survey’s indexes suggests growth. However, manufacturing supply managers report that labor shortages and supply bottlenecks continue to

A jury has found a farm laborer guilty of murder in the abduction and killing of a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018. The jury on Friday found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a friendly and bright 20-year-old who was studying to become a child psychologist. Bahena Rivera, who came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deliberations will resume Friday morning in the Mollie Tibbitts Murder Trial. During closing arguments, a prosecutor urged jurors to find a farm laborer guilty of first-degree murder in the 2018 abduction and stabbing death of the University of Iowa student who disappeared while out for a run. The prosecutor says testimony revealed “overwhelming evidence” that Cristhian Bahena Rivera is guilty. He called Bahena Rivera’s testimony that two men kidnapped him at gunpoint and forced him to take part

A trial date has been set for the South Dakota attorney general who struck and killed a man along a highway in Hyde County. Jason Ravnsborg will go on trial Aug. 26 on three misdemeanor charges, including careless driving, operating a vehicle while on an electronic device and driving outside of his lane. The state Department of Public Safety says Ravnsborg was distracted when he swerved out of his lane near Highmore in central South Dakota and hit 55-year-old Joe Boever who was walking on the

This week on The Exchange, we take a look at efforts to create a more fair, equitable and compassionate world. We will look back a year since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and talk with Sioux City NAACP leader Ike Rayford. Also, we talk with a researcher who is part of an ongoing study on the reasons behind the disproportionate number of missing and murdered indigenous women and children in Nebraska. And we talk with the author of a new book that celebrates the

The head of Sioux City’s NAACP reflects on the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. “We have seen change that people are talking about, but I don’t know we can put our teeth into it, because things are still happening.” That is Ike Rayford who is talking about incidents involving injustice against Black men across the country. He say accountability is important and is happening in the case surrounding Officer Dereck Chauvin convicted in the murder of George Floyd and the upcoming