A Polk County jury resumed deliberations today in the murder trial of a farmworker accused of abducting and fatally stabbing 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts in July 2018.
Twenty-six-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
In an August 2018 interview with police, he admitted that he followed Tibbetts while she was out for an evening run, got angry at her, and "blacked out, according to an arrest affidavit. Bahena Rivera later said he came to and realized she was bleeding in his vehicle's trunk and then buried her body. He led police to the cornfield, where investigators found her body with fatal stab wounds.
But in testimony Wednesday, Bahena Rivera -- speaking through an interpreter -- told said two masked mystery men kidnapped him, forced him to participate in their plot to kill Tibbetts, threatened his family, and told him to remain silent.
An Iowa man who left a threatening voicemail telling Gov. Kim Reynolds she should be hung or shot "for treason" has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge. Forty-eight-year-old Harvey Hunter Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, accepting a plea agreement offered by Polk County prosecutors.
Prosecutors will recommend that Hunter serve a one-year term of probation, pay a fine, have no contact with the governor, and undergo a mental health evaluation. His sentencing is set for next week.
The low bid for the main construction phase of the proposed Woodbury County jail came in about $8 million higher than the bond issue county voters approved for the entire project. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Authority received two bids for the building. Hausmann Construction of Omaha bid $58.39 million, and W.A. Klinger Construction of Sioux City bid $59.3 million. The Authority board currently plans to vote on the bid at its June 8 meeting. In March 2020, voters approved a $50.3 million bond measure that calls for future property tax increases to pay for the new Law Enforcement Center. Construction was delayed by the rising costs of building materials, triggered by a disruption in supply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sioux City Food Truck Fridays returns for an entire 2021 season that kicks off Friday, June 4, downtown at Pearl Street Park. The region's popular food trucks gather to serve tasty lunch choices during the summer season from June 4 to August 27. The event is 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Pearl Street Park, located at 7th and Pearl Streets downtown Sioux City. Sioux City Food Truck Fridays has grown into a regional destination event and helped launch a thriving food truck scene. The event will start the 2021 season with 8 trucks, including returning favorites and the introduction of new trucks. Additional spots may be added as the season ramps up.
