1918 MACK FIRE TRUCK CALLS SIOUX CITY HOME

SIOUX CITY—THE SIOUX CITY PUBLIC MUSEUM UNVEILED A LARGE ADDITION TO THEIR COLLECTION FRIDAY.

A 1918 MACK FIRE TRUCK ON PERMANENT LOAN FROM THE IRVING F. JENSEN FAMILY HAS BEEN RESTORED AND IS FULLY OPERATIONAL.

JENSEN ACQUIRED THE RARE HISTORIC FIRE TRUCK, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO A TRUCK PREVIOUSLY USED BY THE SCFD.

MUSEUM DIRECTOR STEVEN HANSEN SAYS THE TRUCK IS AN EXCITING EXHIBIT.

HANSEN SAYS THE BRIGHT RED TRUCK WILL BE DISPLAYED BEHIND THE GLASS FACADE OF THE NEW MUSEUM SITE AS PART OF THE DISASTER AND RECOVERY EXHIBIT.

THE MUSEUM IS LOCATED AT 607 4TH STREET AND IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION WITH A GRAND OPENING SET FOR NEXT YEAR.

SIOUXLAND METH TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED

Sioux City—Federal prosecutors are touting what they claim is the dismantling of a network of crystal methamphetamine traffickers in northwest Iowa. According to US. Attorney Matt Dummermuth, 21 defendants have been convicted and sentenced to federal prison or probation as a result of an investigation that began in February 2007. Authorities say the investigation involved a variety of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Dummermuth said in a statement Thursday, the coordinated investigation had a significant impact on the meth trafficking problem in Siouxland. Authorities say the center of the meth network were Storm Lake, Spencer and Dow City. They say distributors received the drug from a Mexican source in Omaha, Nebraska. As part of the investigation, authorities seized over six pounds of crystal meth, $250,000 in cash and several vehicles.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY SCHOOL BOMB THREAT INVESTIGATED

SOUTH SIOUX CITY—DETAILS REMAIN SKETCHY ON A REPORT THAT A BOMB THREAT WAS ISSUED AT THE SOUTH SIOUX CITY HIGH SCHOOL WEDNESDAY.

OFFICERS WERE AT  THE SCENE WHILE THE BUILDING WAS BEING EVACUATED AND SEARCHED.

STUDENTS WERE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE PREMISES AT THEIR REGULAR DISMISSAL TIME.

WE HAVE CONTACTED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AND AUTHORITIES AND NO ONE CAN COMMENT ON THE SITUATION AT THIS TIME, HOWEVER WE HAVE RECEIVED INFORMATION THAT THE SIOUX CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT’S HAZ-MAT MATERIAL TEAM HAS BEEN CALLED IN TO ASSIST SOUTH SIOUX CITY OFFICIALS.

SIOUX CITY MAN CONVICTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES

SIOUX CITY—A SIOUX CITY MAN HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF ONE COUNT OF RECEIVING AND TWO COUNTS OF POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD LANCE MILLER WAS CONVICTED BY A JURY YESTERDAY AFTER A TWO-DAY TRIAL IN FEDERAL COURT IN SIOUX CITY.

EVIDENCE AT THE TRIAL SHOWED MILLER’S EX-GIRLFRIEND DISCOVERED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON HER COMPUTER AND CONTACTED POLICE IN OCTOBER OF 2007. POLICE ALSO SEIZED A COMPUTER FROM MILLER’S PARENT’S HOUSE. A FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF BOTH COMPUTERS REVEALED THEY CONTAINED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY DOWNLOADED FORM THE INTERNET.

MILLER FACES UP TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON.

LOCAL MAN RECOVERS AFTER CRASH WITH SEMI

HINTON—A LEMARS MAN REMAINS HOSPITALIZED AT MERCY MEDICAL CENTER IN SIOUX CITY AFTER HIS CAR WAS STRUCK BY A SEMI LAST NIGHT IN HINTON, IOWA.

JONATHON LEARING OF LEMARS WAS STOPPED AT THE INTERSECTION OF CEDAR STREET AND HIGHWAY 75, WHEN HIS VEHICLE WAS STRUCK BY A SOUTHBOUND SEMI DRIVEN BY JAMES POTTEBAUM OF HOSPERS, IOWA.

THE DRIVER OF THE SEMI WAS UNINJURED, AND LEARING’S CONDITION IS NOT BEING DISCLOSED AT THE REQUEST OF HIS FAMILY.

LOW VOTER TURNOUT SUPRISING IN SIOUX CITY

JOSIE & PAT GILL

SIOUX CITY—BESIDES THE THREE WINNNERS IN YESTERDAY’S LOCAL CITY COUNCIL RACE, THE SECONDARY STORY WAS UNFORTUNATELY A VERY LOW TURN OUT. A TURN OUT THAT ELECTION COMMISSIONER PAT GILL SAYS WAS THE LOWEST IN RECENT YEARS. A TOTAL OF SIX-THOUSAND-THREE HUNDRED-69 VOTERS CAST BALLOTS REPRESENTING FOURTEEN AND A HALF OF THE APPROXIMATE 44-THOUSAND ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN TOWN.

THE THREE WINNERS INCLUDE THE TOP VOTE-GETTER TOM PADGETT, LOCAL CONTRACTOR JOHN FITCH IN SECOND PLACE, AND FURNITURE SALESMAN KEITH RADIG IN THIRD.

THE THREE WILL START THERE TERMS SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR.

CANDIDATES & SUPPORTERS AWAIT RESULTS

NEW SIOUX CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTED

SIOUX CITY—JUST OVER 6-THOUSAND SIOUX CITY VOTERS WENT TO THE POLLS TUESDAY AND CHOSE THREE NEW CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.

TOM PADGETT WALKED AWAY WITH THE MOST VOTES WITH 4,245, JOHN FITCH CAME IN SECOND WITH 3,915 AND KEITH RADIG EARNED 3,030 VOTES.

INCUMBENT JIM RIXNER CAME IN SHORT WITH 2,840 VOTES AND IAN RAPPOLT WOUND UP WITH 2,758.

WOODBURY COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSIONER PAT GILL SAYS ONLY 14-PERCENT OF THE VOTERS CAST THEIR BALLOT TUESDAY, WHICH IS WELL BELOW PROJECTIONS.

MORE SIOUXLAND STUDENTS GET VACCINATED AGAINST H1N1

SIOUX CITY—MORE SIOUXLANDERS ARE PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM THE H1N1 FLU AS AN INCREASE OF VACCINES BECOME AVAILABLE IN WOODBURY COUNTY.

CHUCK CIPPERLEY WITH SIOUXLAND DISTRICT HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAYS NEARLY 8-THOUSAND DOSES OF THE VACCINE HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED IN WOODBURY COUNTY.

HE SAYS STUDENTS AT THE ANTHON-OTO AND RIVER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICTS WILL BE VACCINATED WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK.

THE SIOUX CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS YET TO BE VACCINATED WITH THEIR HIGH STUDENT POPULATION.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE H1N1 FLU VACCINE, CALL SDHD’S HOTLINE AT 712-234-3922.

AREA PLANE CRASH BLAMED ON LOW FUEL

SIOUXLAND—Federal aviation officials say a small plane that crashed in a corn field in northwest Iowa, killing all three Wisconsin men on board, was low on fuel. In a report last week, the National Transportation Safety Board says the single-engine Piper had two 25-gallon fuel tanks. After the crash, investigators drained one cup of fuel from the tank under the left wing and two cups from the tank under the right wing. The plane crashed on June 23 near Sheldon in O’Brien County. The three men on board - Francis Allegretti, of Cambridge, Wis., Thomas Boos, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., and Malcolm McMillan, of Milton, Wis. - were flying from Fort Atkinson to South Dakota on a hunting trip.

SIOUXLAND FARMERS STUCK IN THE MUD THIS MONTH

SIOUX CITY—STATE CLIMATOLOGIST HARRY HILLAKER SAYS WET WEATHER HAS LEFT COMBINES AND TRACTORS SITTING IDLE THIS MONTH FOR MORE THAN FARMERS HAVE SEEN IN DECADES.

HILLAKER COMPARED THIS WEEK’S CROP REPORT WITH THE HARVEST REPORTS OF THE PAST.

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE FARMERS WERE THIS FAR BEHIND WITH NOVEMBER ON THE HORIZON.

A NEW CROP REPORT WILL UPDATE THE PROGRESS MONDAY, BUT HILLAKER SAYS THE RAIN KEPT MOST WORK FROM GETTING DONE.

THE MAIN FACTOR IN DELAYING HARVEST IS RAIN, WITH HILLAKER SAYING THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WETTEST OCTOBERS IN STATE HISTORY.