As it faces two multi-million dollar lawsuits involving human trafficking, Western Iowa Tech Community College is asking for the alleged victims to travel to Iowa from Chile for depositions in that case, according to the Sioux City Journal. https://bitly.ws/364yj
However, the former students from South America say they can’t afford a flight to and from Iowa. They are asking the court to allow them to testify remotely through Zoom-type videoconferencing.
The two lawsuits against Western Iowa Tech were filed in federal court more than three years ago and are scheduled for trial next spring.
The lawsuits allege the school enticed impoverished students to come to Iowa where they were placed in “debt bondage” working at a food-processing plant and dog-food factory.
One lawsuit was filed on behalf of 14 students from Chile, and the other was filed on behalf of 11 other students who mostly originate from Brazil.
A water quality project that has been active for nearly a decade in the Iowa counties of Cherokee, O'Brien, Plymouth and Sioux is expanding. https://iowaagriculture.gov/news/NW-IA-water-quality-project-expands
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Thursday morning in a release that the Deep Creek Water Quality Initiative Project will continue to use cover crops as an effective in-field conservation practice, but the project will also now expand to focus on edge-of-field practices like saturated buffers and bioreactors.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, through the Water Quality Initiative, is allocating $660,150 for the next phase of this expanded project.
The Tyson events center and Orpheum theatre say they will adopt a clear bag policy at both venues beginning on january 1st for all events at those venues.
Ovg 360 is the venue management company of the two facilities. The company says clear bag policies are now the industry standard for events.
https://www.tysoncenter.com/plan-your-visit/a-z-faq
According to the company, clear bags create a safer atmosphere for patrons and fans and allows for a more seamless entry through security.
The new guidelines state that clear bags may not exceed 12x 12x 6 inches in size. Only one bag per person will be allowed.
There is a growing middle class on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska.
The median income of Native Americans on the reservation has grown by nearly 80 percent in the last 30 years, according to a new study. The study was sponsored by Ho-Chunk, Inc., which is the economic development entity of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
The study shows that the number of middle-class households on the reservation has more than doubled from 1990-to-2022, and the poverty rate has dropped from about a half-to-a third.
CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc. Lance Morgan notes that since 1994 the tribe has diversified its revenue and created many jobs. The tribe runs Nebraska’s three largest state-regulated casinos and is now working in the area of federal government contracting.
Ho-Chunk Inc. is an underwriter of Siouxland Public Media.
