A HULL, IOWA WOMAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH STEALING FUNDS FROM THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE IN SIOUX COUNTY.

AUTHORITIES WITH THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SAY 39 YEAR OLD WENDI KATS IS CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE THEFT.

KATS IS A FORMER EMPLOYEE WITH THE SIOUX COUNTY TREAURER'S OFFICE AND THE D-O-T BRANCH OFFICE.

THE CHARGE CAME AS A RESULT OF AN INVESTIGATION BY THE D-C-I AND STATE AUDITOR'S AFTER FUNDS WERE DISCOVERED MISSING FROM THE SIOUX COUNTY OFFICE.

FIVE DEPOSITS TOTALLING $4252.00 WERE FOUND MISSING BETWEEN JULY 1ST OF 2009 AND MAY 31ST OF 2010.

KATS WAS ARRESTED LATE WEDNESDAY MORNING . SHE WAS RELEASED FROM THE SIOUX COUNTY JAIL ON HER OWN RECOGNIZANCE.
  

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the child pornography conviction and 23-year sentence for a Sioux City man also serving federal prison time on drug and firearms convictions.

Kevin McManaman was sentenced last year after pleading guilty to two counts of producing child pornography for making sex videos of an underage girl.

In his appeal, McManaman said that agents looking for drugs and guns in his house came upon a locked box that contained the child porn. He says because the box did not contain drugs or guns, the
evidence found in it should not have been allowed.

But the federal appeals court agreed with the lower court that because the incriminating nature of the evidence was immediately apparent to officers, they were entitled to seize it.

A 39-year-old Arkansas man has been given six years in a federal prison for intending to sell cocaine
near a Sioux City school.

Federal prosecutors say Ryan Collins, of Osceola, Ark., was sentenced on Monday. He must serve six years of supervised release when he leaves prison.

Collins had pleaded guilty in November to possessing and intending to sell crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school.

He was arrested on June 12 last year near Hunt Elementary School in Sioux City.
    

Prosecutors say Collins had cocaine convictions in 1997 and 2003 in Mississippi County, Ark.

WOODBURY COUNTY SUPERVISORS HAVE PASSED THEIR BUDGET FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.

COUNTY BUDGET MANAGER DENNIS BUTLER SAYS THE BOARD WAS ABLE TO REDUCE THE ORIGINAL TAX ASKINGS BY AROUND 300-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
  

THAT'S BECAUSE THE STATE LEGISLATURE AGREED TO BACK FUND MENTAL HEALTH COSTS AND LOCAL OPTION SALES TAXES WILL BE USED TO HELP FUND PLANNING & ZONING EXPENSES:

BUTLER SAYS CITY RESIDENTS WILL SEE A MINOR TAX INCREASE WHILE CITY COMMERCIAL PROPERTY WILL SEE A TAX DECREASE IN COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES:

AGRICULTURAL LAND TAXES INCREASED BY NEARLY SIXTY DOLLARS PER HUNDRED THOUSAND IN VALUE. BUTLER SAYS SEVERAL FACTORS CAUSED THAT HIKE:

RURAL TOWNSHIP RESIDENTIAL TAXES WILL INCREASE BY $11.89 PER HUNDRED THOUSAND VALUE. COMMERCIAL DECREASES BY 20.58 PER HUNDRED THOUSAND.
  

THE BUDGET PASSED 4-1 WITH DAVID TRIPP VOTING NO. SUPERVISORS APPROVED A TWO PER CENT PAY INCREASE FOR COUNTY DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THEIR DEPUTIES. THE COUNTY TREASURER RECEIVED A TWO AND A HALF PER CENT RAISE.