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A religious activist accused of burning four LGBTQ children's books that he checked out of the Orange City Public Library has been convicted of criminal mischief and fined.
Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says 63-year-old Paul Robert Dorr, of Ocheyedan, was found guilty of the misdemeanor Tuesday and ordered to pay $125 in fines and court costs.
Dorr posted a video to Facebook in October in which he denounced the Orange City library for having the books and threw them into a burning barrel.
Dorr had fought to have the charge dismissed, saying he was singled out for prosecution because of his anti-gay message. A judge rejected his argument in July, saying the only message being sent to him was "that he cannot burn books that do not belong to him."
A 19-year-old man convicted of stabbing two people to death last year in Sioux City will be sentenced next month.
The Sioux City Journal reports that Tran Walker faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he's sentenced Sept. 20 in Woodbury County District Court.
Runoff into the Missouri River continued at rates well above average in July, leading to a forecast for the second-highest annual runoff total on record.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that storage in the six Missouri River reservoirs peaked on July 20, but water releases from the dams will remain well above average, possibly as late as November, because of continued high runoff.
Bimbo Bakeries will close its South Sioux City plant in October, eliminating 81 jobs and severing the last link to a baking company with a 127-year-old history in the metro area. In 2014, the company closed its Sioux City bakery at 1500 Highway 75 North, cutting 64 positions.
