SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Moving to a new city can be stressful. Now, imagine moving to a new city, in a new country, with nothing but a suitcase.

That’s a reality for refugees settling in Siouxland.

Lutheran Services in Iowa has a program helping refugees settling in the Siouxland area. It helps them find housing, jobs, transportation and anything else families may need to get started. This includes furnishing apartments and homes with basic necessities like couches, beds and tables, and, they need donations.

“We collect used furniture, gently used furniture, especially couches, loveseats, dining room sets, and then we get other household supplies that we always need for new families like cooking, cookware, dishes, cleaning products, all those types of things that families need to get started with their new life here in Iowa,” said Director of Philanthropy Eldon Bensen.

The goal is to get families settled in Siouxland, and active in their communities. LSI assists them in enrolling their children in the local school district, find medical care and whatever else they may need to live life here in Siouxland.

”They come here with whatever suitcases they brought on the plane, really,” explained Bensen. “And so all this stuff is new to them. And they only get a certain amount of money to get started with their new life. And so our goal is to get them self sufficient as quick as possible. If they’re self sufficient, that means that they’re not taking government benefits. They’re not on food stamps or Medicare, Medicaid anymore. So they’re actually contributing more than they’re bringing in after eight months of being here in the US.”

Bensen says that LSI has been helping refugees in Iowa for years, but the Sioux City chapter of LSI has only been working with the refugee resettlement program for three years. In that time, 94% of the refugees that they assisted were self-sufficient in 8 months.

“And it’s been really nice to have the opportunity to to bring these families into Siouxland, get them started, and have them contributing back to the city as soon as they possibly can,” said Bensen.

In 2023, they helped 147 refugees settle in to life in Siouxland. In order to do that, they rely on donations and volunteers.

“We’re bringing new people in with new experiences and new ways of doing life and really just benefiting Siouxland as a whole,” said Bensen. “We have a lot of people that are moving in here from all over the country. And now they’re moving in from all over the world. Just seeing the effect that it’s had on that city is really encouraging to know that that’s the type of environment that we can create when everybody works together for a common good.”

LSI doesn’t just help those settling in Siouxland, but the surrounding area as well.

Items In Need:

• Hygiene Products
• Paper Products
• Cookware
• New Bedding and Linens
• Cleaning Products
• School and Office Supplies
• Batteries
• Alarm Clocks
• Light Bulbs

If you have items to donate or would like to volunteer, you can call Lutheran Services in Iowa at 515-422-6663 or visit their website, or drop off donations during business hours at their office located at 1308 S. Cleveland St. in Sioux City.

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TOPEKA — An investigation by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach revealed the Junction City Commission violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act by convening a closed-door meeting to discuss an economic development project that included a livestock slaughter facility on the outskirts of the city.

Public opposition to the once-confidential project, which could have forced sale of farmland for construction of roads and a traffic exit from Interstate 70, appears to have derailed the meatpacking project that was to have been built by Foote Cattle Co.

During debate on the proposal, landowner Michelle Munson filed a two-part complaint in July 2023 with the attorney general containing allegations against the city commission.

Munson, part of the Munson Angus Farms family, said the commission didn’t take steps during a public meeting nearly three years ago to approve expenditure of $5,000 used to secure a right of first refusal for the option to buy 150 acres of real estate for the project. That land on the west side of Junction City was bought by Foote Cattle, but the city had their eyes on adjacent land owned by the Munsons.

In addition, Munson asserted the commission broke the open meetings law two years ago by failing to precisely describe the subject to be discussed in an executive session. That closed session was also about the meatpacking facility project.

Amber Smith, first assistant attorney general in Kobach’s office, issued a letter to Munson’s attorney that said the “preponderance of the evidence” indicated the commission didn’t violate KOMA while considering the $5,000 option.

However, the attorney general’s office found the commission failed to follow the law in the later meeting by trying to limit public knowledge about the project.

“We have determined the commission failed to comply with the statutory requirements for recessing into executive session because its motion did not adequately describe the subject to be discussed,” Smith aid.

She said the city attorney would be informed of the investigation’s result and the commission would be urged to take remedial action to comply with KOMA.

Munson, part of a six-generation farm family in Geary County, said the process of contesting the city’s plan to convert farmland into a manufacturing hub that included an animal slaughter facility had been time consuming and difficult.

“We’re very pleased to see that the attorney general has upheld the Kansas law in terms of transparency and sunshine on the issue,” Munson said.

Allen Dinkel, city manager for Junction City, didn’t return a call Tuesday for comment about the attorney general’s response to Munson’s complaints. In previous interviews, Dinkel said the commission’s objective was to broaden the city’s tax base by creating manufacturing and trade jobs through development of land west of the city.

Michigan linebacker Hayden Moore has entered the transfer portal, per multiple reports.

Moore, a three-star recruit out of Aurora, Colorado, was ranked as the No. 94 overall linebacker in the 2023 class per 247 Sports. Moore didn’t appear in a game for Michigan last season.

Michigan has now lost four linebackers to the transfer portal. Linebacker Semaj Bridgeman entered the portal on Monday, Jeremiah Beasley did last week, and Joey Velazquez transferred to Ohio State earlier this year.

Michigan’s linebacker group currently consists of names such as Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham, Jimmy Rolder, Jaydon Hood, Micah Pollard, Christian Boivin, Cole Sullivan and Jason Hewlett.