CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa’s department of agriculture spent nine days this month killing more than 1.3 million healthy chickens, a move it did in part to save taxpayer dollars. The department of agriculture said in a statement depopulation is its last resort. The chickens’ fate was in the state’s hands after Pure Prairie Poultry, a chicken processor in Charles City, closed abruptly earlier this month. When Pure Prairie Poultry closed, 13 farms housing 1.3 million chickens suddenly didn’t have a chicken processor they could send their chickens to. The department of agriculture started taking care of those chickens while looking for a new processor to sell them to. The department said in a press release it found a processor for the chickens, but the buyer ultimately backed out of the deal. The department said it couldn’t find any other processors, so an emergency court gave it permission to kill the chickens, in order to cut the mounting cost of taking care of the animals. The farms are now using composting to dispose of the birds. Farmers affected by Pure Prairie Poultry’s closure say they’re looking at financial losses above $100,000. The department of agriculture says it will work to recoup taxpayers’ costs.
PERRY, Iowa (KCCI/KCRG) – A company is in negotiations with Tyson Foods to purchase the pork plant according to Perry City officials. The negotiations were discussed during a meeting last week by Mayor Kirk Cavanaugh. As of now, not much is known about the potential sale. Perry City leaders have not said who the potential buyer is. Before the pork plant shut down at the end of June, Tyson Foods was Perry’s largest employer. More than 1,000 people lost their jobs when the plant shut down.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) -The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says there will be no charges against the Des Moines Police Officers who killed a man during a shoot out in September. The Attorney General’s office found that Senior Police Officer Jacob Boekhoff, Officer Frankie Contreras, and Captain Chad Steffen were justified when they shot Joshua Green. Des Moines Police Officer Cade Moritz was shot in the head during the exchange of gunfire. Boekhoff was hit in the arm. Both officers are still recovering from their injuries. It all unfolded near Easton Boulevard and Hubbell Avenue. Police say Green drove away from police during a traffic stop. He crashed soon after. The report says Green refused to get out of the car. Officers tased him and fell to the ground. There, he rolled over, pulled a gun and fired at officers. Officers Boekhoff, Frankie Contreras, and Captain Chad Steffen returned fire, killing Green. Green’s passenger, Shawnna Cunningham, is accused of providing him with the gun. The Polk County Attorney’s Office had already cleared the officers of any wrong doing.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – Three new civil cases have been filed against the Dubuque Catholic Archdiocese and a former Dubuque priest accused of sexually abusing boys. The new cases were filed last week in Charlotte County, Florida, brought by anonymous altar boys from Iowa claiming Leo Riley sexually abused them in Dubuque in the 1980s. Riley now works at a congregation in Florida. He sat for a deposition last month in a separate lawsuit there from a John Doe claiming Riley had sexually abused him in Florida. In the complaint, the plaintiff alleges Father Riley “sought and gained parental consent for Plaintiff to participate in counseling and other activities, and to spend time alone with him.” It goes on to say Riley would force the minor to drink alcohol and then engage in harmful and illegal sexual contact with the plaintiff. The alleged victim says the abuse started in 1985, when Riley was the pastor at Resurrection Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The accusations mirror a criminal case filed in Dubuque against Riley in April on five counts of sexual abuse. That case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had elapsed. The lawsuit includes six claims against Riley, including assault and battery, childhood sexual abuse, and fiduciary fraud.
