Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 4

Award: The Sioux City Council awards the remaining $5,893 of a $15,000 grant to the Sioux City American Indian Center. Page A5 The Sioux Cify Journal Zoning: The South Sioux City Council acts on several amendments to the proposed new zoning code and planning map. Page A9 Tuesday, Aug. 24, 1999page A4 instruction begins in new Flynn Business Park. space is limited.

More than 80 percent of companies wanting to expand look for an existing building rather than starting from scratch to build their own. Cy Chesterman, chairman of Siouxland Initiative, said the building and the growth projected for the business park will help North Sioux City maintain its place as the second largest manufacturing center in South Dakota. Odson said that despite very low unemployment rates, "If you attract quality businesses, workers will come." Development of Flynn Business Park was announced Jan. 5. It is building is planned for late March.

Marketing will start immediately. Although no firm price has yet been set for the structure, Odson said if someone were to offer $650,000 for it, they would likely not be turned down. The building will be a 200-foot by 200-foot steel shell that can be customized to meet the needs of the buyer. It is designed to be easily and quickly expanded and additional property is available adjacent to the site. According to Siouxland Initiative, speculative buildings aie a proven marketing tool, especially in areas such as Siouxland where existing The contractor, Builders of Sioux City, built the most recent spec building in Bridgeport Industrial Park for a partnership of the Siouxland Initiative, the city of Sioux City and MidAmerican Energy.

The building in Flynn Business Park will be identical to the one in the Bridgeport Industrial Park. Speaking for Builders, Bruce Lewis said the company was pleased to be the contractor for the spec building. "It follows our motto, 'Building for the "he said. Meetings with the contractor are scheduled this week and work is expected to start as early as next week, Odson said. Completion of the By MicheleLinck journal staff writer NORTH SIOUX CITY Nine months after the announced creation of the Flynn Business Park, construction will begin on the first building there.

The North Sioux City Economic Development Corporation and the Siouxland Initiative held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site Monday. They will be partners in the construction of a speculative building on a six-acre site in the southernmost end of the business park. Other sites in the business park are npw on the market. The building is expected to attract new industry or allow an existing business to expand, to enhance the tax base of North Sioux City and bring jobs to the area, said Liesel Hallwas, mayor of North Sioux City. The city will provide a loan for die project to the NSCEDC, a non-profit entity begun under the city's auspices.

There is no private investment involved, said Bruce Odson, president of the NSCEDC. However, MidAmerican Energy, which has partnered in two spec buildings in the Bridgeport Industrial Park in Sioux City and two spec buildings in the Gateway Business Park in North Sioux City, will help market the new building. Man pleads guilty in computers theft r. 3' SIOUX FALLS An Omaha man has pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment of interstate transportation of stolen property of Gateway computers. United States Attorney Ted L.

McBride announced Monday that Chad Thomas, 27, of Omaha appeared before U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Pierson in Sioux Falls on Friday and pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment that charged him with interstate transportation of stolen property. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in prison andor a $250,000 fine. Bush and Gore win straw polls at fair 'V bicycle ride through the Loess Hills on Saturday.

Some 400 riders are expected for the event. (Photo by Dorothy Hubert) Brenda and Brian Brown of Onawa and their three children, Travis, 11, Derek, 8, and Lindsey, 5, will participate in the seventh annual ONABIKE located off Highway 105Railroad Avenue near Graham Field Airport on property known locally as the Flynn Farm. The project will be veloped in phases, beginning with 20 acres on the southern end. Eventually the new park will comprise 162 acres and be slightly larger than Gateway Business Park to its southwest. It was the 137-acre Gateway Business Park's rapid, 10-year build-out that inspired the creation of new space for industry to develop in North Sioux City.

Begun in 1984 by Midwest Resources Company, now MidAmerican Energy, the Gateway Business Park is home to 20 different companies employing 6,000 people. KMEG starts broadcasts of local news By Michele Linck Journal staff writer KMEG is on the air with its long-awaited local television news broadcasts. The CBS affiliate's new news programming began with the 6 p.m. news Monday, followed by a 10 p.m. local news broadcast, both half-hour programs.

The shows are being co-anchored by Kim Bridger, who is also KMEG's news director, and Bob Grotenhuis, a Sioux Center, Iowa, native, who worked in the Sioux City market for KCAU-TV a number of years ago. The assignment editor for the news staff is Woody Gottburg, a Sioux City broadcast media veteran, most recently with KSCJ radio news. The decision to go on the air Monday was made Monday morning after some audio problems were worked out, said Rob Dean, KMEG general manager. "We're pretty excited," he said. "It's a major effort to start a news broadcast like this." KMEG will offer two half-hour blocks of local news, at 6 and 10 p.m., each day, with the Sunday evening news starting at 5:30 p.m.

For CBS, prime time on Sunaay begins at 6 p.m. with the broadcast of "60 Minutes," Dean said, explaining the earlier broadcast time. There will also be a few pre-emptions during football season, he noted. Plans are to add more news programming later, Dean said. Sioux City native Norman Waitt Jr.

bought KMEG in August 1998 and promised a return to local news coverage. Dean joined the station as general manager in January and began building the news department along, with his other duties. He has installed a news staff of about 20 people and a news production staff of 10, including studio camera operators, directors, audio technicians and similar personnel. KMEG's news programs are starting up at the current studio on Floyd Boulevard, but plans are in the works to build a new state-of-the-art facility elsewhere. The station, which has had a limited UHF signal, soon will have an antenna on the nearly broadcast tower under construction near Hinton, Iowa.

Once that is up, in another month or so, the station's signal will carry 30 percent farther, Dean said. That will put 100,000 more viewers within their signal's reach. Dakota County inmate dies DAKOTA CITY An inmate in the Dakota County Jail apparently committed suicide Sunday night. Dakota County Attorney Robert Finney said James Oliver, 46, of South Sioux City, apparently hanged himself in his jail cell. He was in a single cell with no other inmates present.

Oliver was found by a jailer and taken to Mercy Medical Center Sioux City where he was declared dead. Results of an autopsy scheduled for Monday afternoon were not available Monday night. Oliver had been arrested Wednesday on a domestic assault charge. By Nebraska law, a grand jury must be convened to investigate any time a person dies in custody or while being pursued by law enforcement officers. Because of a change in the law enacted by the legislature this year, the investigation must be conducted by a special prosecutor A district court judge must appoint the special prosecutor.

Finney said Oliver's apparent jail suicide is the first such death in die seven years he has worked for Dakota County, Riders will experience Loess Hills ONABIKE More than 6,600 Iowans cast ballots in the secretary of state's unofficial straw poll during the 11 days of the Iowa State Fair. Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore came out ahead on the Republican and Democrat sides, respectively. The results of the unofficial poll are final since the fair ended Sunday.

On the Democratic side, Gore had 60.8 percent of the 2,424 votes cast while challenger Bill Bradley received 39.2 percent. On the Republican side, Bush had -i. J. A Coast Guard Auxiliary boat waits hie Park where a vehicle went into Hynds) 7.6 5.5 1.7 in McBride said the charges relate to a 1998 incident in which Thomas, who was employed as a computer consultant at Gateway in North Sioux City, used his consultant position andor the security badge he obtained while an employee to steal computer items from Gateway. The value of the stolen property is more than $10,000.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Gaumer. A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date was set for Nov. 8. 26.1 percent of the vote; millionaire publisher Steve Forbes received 22.2 percent; former Cabinet secretary and head of the American Red Cross Elizabeth Dole had 20.3 percent; Washington activist Gary Bauer had percent; Pat Buchanan received percent; Alan Keyes had 5.1 percent; Dan Quayle had 4.8 percent; Lamar Alexander received 3.4 percent; John McCain had 3.3 percent and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch received percent.

A total of 6,687 voters cast ballots the 1 1 days of the fair. in the Missouri River near Sce- the water. (Staff photo by Tim swimming warned him not to go in after 'he vehicle because he could have been swept away by the current. Nobody was in the Jeep when it took the dip. Lynn Hooper, of Buffalo, N.Y., who was boating with some friends, saw the Jeep get loose and take the plunge.

They had pulled the boat up to the sandy beach to get out for a quick walk on shore. "If we wouldn't have been here for a few minutes, we would have missed it," she said. Randy Ross, spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, said a boat was brought in to block the river so boaters would not run over divers from Siouxland Dive Rescue. Coast Guard personnel located the vehicle in about eight feet of water and attached a grappling hook.

The divers then followed the line and attached tow cables and a tow truck on shore was used to reel in the Jeep. By Dorothy Hubert Journal correspondent ONAWA, Iowa ONABIKE rides again. Also referred to as "Onawa's Excellent Annual Bike Ride through the Loess Hills," the seventh annual ONABIKE sponsored by the Onawa Chamber of Commerce is set for Saturday. Onawa residents Brian and Brenda Brown have three good reasons to look forward to the experience. This year they will include their three children, Travis, 1 1, Derek, 8 and Lindsey, 5, in the outing.

"The main reason is it's something we can do as a family and get exercise at the same time," said Brenda Brown, who is a physical therapist assistant at Burgess Health Center. "We spend some time riding bikes around town. It's something we enjoy doing." "It's not just for serious bikers," said her husband, a Maple Valley High School teacher and assistant basketball coach, who calls his family "hobby riders," adding that his family is planning on the one-half day ride. "It's nice they have 4 it i jmkt SI 'I Derek, who will be riding ONABIKE for the first time, admitted the ride "might be hard," but added, "I think it's fun." Travis has had a little more experience. Last year he didn't have a hard time and in fact kept ahead of both of them.

"It's fun and I like riding with my friends," said Travis, who advises everyone to wear protective head gear "because you could get hurt without a helmet." ONABIKE officially begins at 9 a.m. at the Aquatic Center which is located north on 12th Street in Onawa. The 63-mile ride will include 54 miles of flat roads and nine miles of scenic Loess Hills plus the opportunity to coast down Murray Hill the highest point in Harrison County. The ride winds through the towns of Turin, Soldier, Moorhead, Pisgah, Little Sioux and Blencoe. Meal vouchers can be redeemed at several restaurants in Onawa.

Lodging is available at several locations. For more information, call 423-1801 ore-mail: ChamberOnawa.com. Norling, her husband, Albert Norling, 37, the couple's two children, 11 -year-old Jacob and 10-year-old William, and Albert Norl-ing's sister, Jaydeen Smith, all died in the crash. Broush was traveling at highway speeds when he failed to stop, police said. Investigators said the brakes on the semi appeared to be working.

Baumann and was surprised to hear a gunshot at the scene. Marsh also said others involved had never been charged in the case. Prosecutors argued that Jaime Rodriguez, 18, of Kearney shot Baumann, but Rodriguez was acquitted in a jury trial in June. river goes fishing; two routes. The recreational bikers can go for the shorter The bike ride, which costs 1 7 and entitles the rider to a T-shirt and a meal voucher, begins with registration at 8 a.m.

at the Gaukel Park shelter house in the Aquatic Center and can include a family-friendly, short, 29-mile ride or the more grueling 63-mile daylong ride. Out for the all-day event is one of the ride coordinators, Doug Thelander, who said about 400 riders are expected. Thelander said he and his wife, Barb, have made bicycling "part of our lives now," and bike race in the Iowa Games each year. Still, he stressed that ONABIKE is "just a fun, social ride. It's not a race.

It's just everybody having fun." The three young Brown family riders are especially looking forward to ONABIKE. Lindsey, who has ridden a bike for about a year, will be pedaling the bike she won in an Easter egg hunt. got most of the eggs," she said. said. Police still were checking to see if Jeffrey Broush, 37, of Ashton, Iowa, fell asleep at the wheel.

Initial tests show alcohol was not a factor. The driver of the van, Harriet Norling, 39, of Fort Belvoir, was stopped behind another car at a stoplight about 7 a.m. on the northwest side of Indianapolis when the accident occured. ferd said David Quintana, 33, of Gibbon helped try to rob Roger Baumann of Norfolk, which led to Baumann's death in January. Quintana also is charged with use of a weapon to commit a felony.

But defense attorney John Marsh said Quintana did not plan to rob Truck driver says he was blinded by sunlight INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The semi truck driver involved in a fatal collision with a van told police he didn't see the stopped vehicle in front of him because he was temporarily blinded by sunlight. Five pecupants of a 1993 Dodge van were killed instantly Sunday when the semi hit the van from behind at an unknown speed, police leep goes By Michael Koehler 'journal staff writer SOUTH SIOUX CITY Carlos 'Portales went fishing in the Missouri IRiver on Monday afternoon, but the thing that got away was his Jeep. Portales said he parked the 1998 Ueep Wrangler at the parking lot at iScenic Park. He placed the manual in first gear and used the' parking brake. Someone must lhave tampered with his vehicle while 2t was parked, he said.

Portales then headed out to a wing dam to try his luck fishing. A while -later, he turned and watched his 'vehicle enter the water, float for a Imoment and then sink into the flowing river. This big metal lunker got away. Bystanders said Portales ran to where the tracks entered the water land began to take off his shoes. They Prosecutor says robbery motive in slaying KEARNEY, Neb.

(AP) Prosecutors in a first-degree murder trial said Monday the defendant did not pull the trigger, but is guilty nonetheless because he was trying to rob the victim. In opening statements, Buffalo Deputy County Attorney Mike Mef-.