Siouxland Public Media News

The president of Western Iowa Tech Community College held a news conference on Tuesday January 21, 2020, to respond to allegations made by a group of international students.  

“We were shocked and saddened to hear about the students and heard for the first time about it yesterday.”

Dr. Terry Murrell says 60 students arrived from Chile and Brazil for the school year in the fall of 2019 through a J-1 Visa exchange program.

Sioux City police are investigating a shooting after a man showed up at MercyOne with a gunshot wound late last night.  He told investigators someone shot him near Park Avenue and 29th Street.  That’s a couple of blocks away from Leif Erickson Park. The man who hasn’t been identified yet by authorities then drove himself to the hospital.

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The statewide winter storm today has been upgraded to a blizzard warning in northwest Iowa, while more snow accumulation has been forecast across the state.

Blizzard warning criteria from the NWS are wind gusts of 35 mph or greater and one-quarter of mile visibility or less that lasts up to three hours.  

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A winter weather system moving across the country is dropping snow, sleet and freezing rain on eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. Most schools in the region canceled classes and activities for today ahead of the storm system. Residents in Nebraska awoke to a blanket of snow and wind chills well below zero. The snow hit Iowa later in the morning. 

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of eastern Nebraska into central parts of the state that will remain in effect until early Saturday morning. 

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A winter storm dropping several inches of snow and sleet and also bringing in high winds lead to cancellations of classes, activities, and services across Iowa today.  Half of the flights from the Des Moines International Airport, where more than 4 inches of snow fell by midday Friday, were canceled or delayed. More cancellations were likely as the National Weather Service issued winter weather and storm advisories for most of the state. The northwestern corner of Iowa, including Sioux City and Storm Lake, is under a blizzard warning through Saturday. 

Authorities in Iowa had to round up more than 1,700 piglets after a semi-trailer overturned on a freeway just north of Des Moines. The crash happened Thursday afternoon when the truck and trailer overturned on a ramp to Interstate 35. Iowa State Patrol troopers had to close the ramp at times as crews worked to capture and unload hundreds of pigs. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a tweet, “authorities working to corral and transport 1,738 piglets!" 

The Iowa Caucuses are two weeks away and for some the process can be a bit intimidating.  Northwestern College in Orange City is hosting an event for people new to caucuses. 

Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer talked to one of the organizers, Noah Karmann, who is the co-chairperson of the Northwestern College Democrats.  The 21-year-old political science and history major talks about the partisan nature of politics and how young people are becoming more engaged in the election process.

The U.S. Senate ratified the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement today, cementing a major new trade deal that’s been years in the making.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says this is a vital pact with our neighbors to the north and south and promises a tremendous boost for the Iowa economy. Iowa is the nation’s number-one pork producer, and in 2018, Canada and Mexico bought more than 40-percent of all U.S. pork exports. Iowa is also the country’s number-one egg producer and the USMCA will raise U.S. exports of poultry and eggs to Canada alone by $207 million dollars.

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 A resolution that declares there is no right to an abortion was introduced today by Iowa Republican legislative leaders. It’s a move in the first week of the session guaranteed to prompt heated debate.

The proposed constitutional amendment is a response to a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court ruling striking down a law requiring a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion. In that ruling, the court said the state constitution guarantees women the freedom to make their own health decisions, including whether to have an abortion.

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Woodbury County residents will head to the polls March 3rd for a bond referendum to build a new law enforcement center and jail.

The board of supervisors has joined the city of Sioux City in signing off on that date. Now the city, the county and a joint jail authority they've created will launch a public information campaign.  Chair Matthew Ung says people can bring their questions or concerns about the new jail to any board meeting and the supervisors will do their best to answer them until the vote on March 3, 2020.