An eastern Iowa man faces a burglary charge after an incident at a rural residence near Belmond on Saturday afternoon. Wright County Sheriff’s deputies were contacted by the property owner that 36-year-old Andrew Schroeder of Waterloo was in the residence without permission. It was reported that Schroeder may have access to weapons inside the residence and that he is currently on federal probation. Schroeder had locked himself in the residence and law enforcement made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach him by phone and a public address system from outside the residence. The incident ended at about 7 Saturday evening when the North Iowa Special Operations Group made entry into the residence. Schroeder was taken into custody without incident. Schroeder is being held in the Wright County Jail in Clarion with a $10,000 cash only bond with a preliminary hearing for April 12.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska woman has been accused of a fatal stabbing in Sioux City. The stabbing occurred early Sunday morning. Police have not released the victim’s name but said he or she died after being taken to a hospital. The suspect soon was arrested after officers stopped her car because it matched the description of a suspect vehicle.

The woman was taken into custody on a charge of first-degree murder. She’s been identified as 20-year-old Melissa Camargo Flores, of Dakota City, Nebraska. She’s also been treated for a stab wound.

Officials with the Shenandoah Police Department report 33-year old Kyle Chase, of Red Oak, was arrested Saturday, in a bean field north of Sportsmans Park. Chase faces charges that include interference with official acts and threats of terrorism. Chase was being held in the Page County Jail, on a $5,300 bond. No other details concerning his arrest were released over the weekend.

Immigrant populations are starting to fall in rural labor markets, according to an Iowa State University study commissioned by the National Pork Producers Council. I-S-U economist Chris Boessen, one of the study’s authors, says the pork industry is making gradual yet major shifts.  “In the last couple of decades, the hog industry has changed dramatically from operations using a lot of family labor, sometimes paid, sometimes unpaid family labor,” Boessen says. “That’s more or less gone away as we’ve intensified and gone to more of a high-tech, capitol-intensive, more-concentrated production.”

Boessen says the study shows the labor market has changed in Iowa and across the region. “You have a lot of growth, a lot of hiring in the hog industry, it needs a lot of workers,” Boessen says, “but at the same time in the last few years, the labor market’s really tightened up from 10% unemployment in 2009 to 4% and really below 4% in a lot of the main hog states here, especially in the Midwest.” The change in U-S immigration policy has contributed to a shortage of foreign ag workers, but Boessen says it’s more than just that. “We’re moving into a period now where we’re going to worry less about a wave of immigrants and worry more about how we’re going to manage a workforce where we have fewer immigrants,” Boessen says. “The immigrants who are here are aging and retiring and there’s lots of things happening in other countries, immigrant-sending countries. People are getting better educations, better economies, more opportunities.”

As conditions improve elsewhere, he says immigrants have less motivation to come to the U-S. N-P-P-C officials say in addition to this study, data compiled by U-S-D-A’s Economic Research Service shows a reduction in the foreign-born workforce prompted by a change in immigration policy would not be offset by native born workers and permanent residents. The council is backing Congressional legislation calling for an H-2-C visa to allow non-seasonal foreign ag workers to stay in the U-S for up to three years.

(Radio Iowa)

Members of the Elk Horn School District’s Board of Education will meet this evening (Monday), beginning at 6-p.m. in the Conference Room at the Elk Horn Building. During their session, a Public Hearing will be held with regard to the Budget, followed later on during the New Business part of their agenda, by discussion and action on the 2018-19 Budget.

Other discussion/action items include those related to: Transportation; Issuance of Bonds; Approving METC as telephone/internet provider; Approval of a late Open Enrollment request and 2018 Graduating Class (pending completion of all graduating requirements); and a Contract recommendation, followed by approval of hires, transfers, resignations, etc.

The CAM School Board is scheduled to meet 6:30 this (Monday) evening, in the CAM High School Media Center. The meeting opens with Public Hearings on the Proposed 2018-19 Certified Budget and School Calendar.

Following the hearings and discussion, the CAM School Board will receive a presentation with regard to the Lego League/Robotics and strength/condition program. Discussion/action items include: Open enrollment applications; Contracts; approval of the 2018-19 School Calendar and Certified Budget, as well as movement on the pay scale.