From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Terry Branstad, Iowa’s former governor and the former U.S. ambassador to China, has formed a company to consult with business leaders and investors on how to conduct business between the U.S. and China. Branstad will form the Branstad Churchill Group with Steve Churchill, his chief of staff in China when he was ambassador. Branstad said in a statement posted on the firm’s website that the company will offer planning, government and regulatory analysis, political insight, data security and privacy analysis, market entry strategy and other services to clients. Branstad was appointed ambassador by former President Donald Trump and left the position last year, returning to Iowa.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines woman is accused of playing a role in a fraud scheme that targeted immigrants. Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of the 46-year-old woman on suspicion of first-degree theft, conspiracy and ongoing criminal conduct. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has been charged. Police say an investigation was launched in August when detectives learned that someone in Texas was claiming to be an immigration attorney and taking cash payment while promising to expedite residency and citizenship. The investigation later revealed that a co-conspirator was operating in Des Moines. The person is Texas was not a real lawyer, and no services were rendered.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A longtime Iowa business owner convicted of using his diner in sex trafficking and drug crimes has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Hershal James Ratliff of Council Bluffs was sentenced Thursday after being found guilty in July of six counts of human trafficking and one count of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor. Federal prosecutors say that from 2012 through 2019, Ratliff used his Jimmy’s All-American Diner and rental properties to groom and recruit victims. A news release on Monday said Ratliff “convinced them to engage in various sex acts with him and his friends for money, alcohol, or drugs.”
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines man has been found guilty of killing a woman and her two children, months after another jury failed to reach a verdict. KCCI-TV reports that Marvin Esquivel Lopez on Monday was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in the 2019 deaths of 29-year-old Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez, her 11-year-old daughter, Grecia Daniela Alvarado-Flores, and 5-year-old son, Ever Jose Mejia-Flores. The April trial for Lopez ended in a mistrial after the jury said they were able to reach a verdict on the killing of Flores-Rodriguez, but not for the children. Flores-Rodriguez and her children had arrived in Iowa from Honduras about five months before their deaths and lived with Lopez and his family.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa is going into Christmas week with continued high levels of coronavirus activity and no significant gains in vaccination. The Iowa Department of Public Health said 788 people were hospitalized on Monday, a slight decline from Friday’s 810. The agency said 171 people remained in intensive care, one person less than on Friday. The CDC says 64.1% of Iowans have received at least one dose of vaccine, leaving more than 35% of the population still unvaccinated. Eastern Iowa hospitals Mercy Cedar Rapids and UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s announced last week they would postpone elective surgeries that weren’t urgent until after Christmas because of the increased patient load “has placed increasing strain on both hospitals’ capacity and staffing.”
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A federal judge in Missouri has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors from being enforced in 10 states that sued. The order Monday comes on top of a nationwide injunction against the mandate issued earlier this month by a federal judge in Georgia. Under orders from President Joe Biden’s administration, all new, renewed or extended federal contracts were to include clause requiring employees to be fully vaccinated Jan. 18. The contractor requirement is separate from vaccine mandates that Biden also has issued for health care workers and for businesses with more than 100 employees. All face legal challenges.
