Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
A Police operation in Waterview is continuing this afternoon.
The area around Tutuki Street is currently cordoned off and contained.
Police have been trying to engage with an occupant of an address on Tutuki Street.
While the Police operation is still ongoing, there is currently no wider risk to the public.
Further updates will be provided as available.
ENDS.
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed, by a vote of 54-46, Pam Bondi to be the United States Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ):
“Under the previous Administration, the DOJ weaponized the justice system against the Left’s perceived political enemies. Notably, it targeted pro-life individuals and President Donald Trump in frivolous, politically-motivated lawsuits. Pam Bondi has promised to return our federal law enforcement to its rightful job of prosecuting crimes and carrying out justice without regard to political identity. She will restore order to an agency facing significant bureaucratic backlogs and she will uphold the rule of law. I congratulate Attorney General Bondi on her confirmation.”
Source: New Zealand Police (District News)
Motorists are advised to expect delays at Greenmeadows, near Napier, after a serious crash on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.
Emergency services were called to the collision, involving a car and motorbike, about 3.50pm. It happened in the southbound lane, between Kennedy Road on-ramp and Meeanee Road off-ramp.
One person is understood to have critical injuries.
Motorists are advised to expect delays.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
Source: New Zealand Police (District News)
State Highway One/Waikato Expressway is blocked following a single vehicle crash this afternoon.
Police were alerted to the crash before the Tamahere Road off-ramp at around 4pm.
There are no reports of injuries at this stage.
The southbound lane is blocked and motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible.
ENDS
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released the following statement regarding the Senate’s confirmation of Pam Bondi to be Attorney General of the United States. Bondi was confirmed by a vote of 54-46.
“Pam Bondi’s confirmation is a victory for the rule of law and a promise that safer days are ahead. Ms. Bondi is a career prosecutor who’s dedicated her professional career to pursuing justice. As Florida’s Attorney General, she didn’t shy away from hard work or complicated problems. I expect her to take the same tough, unbiased approach as U.S. Attorney General.
“Bondi is committed to upholding the constitutionality of the False Claims Act – which has rescued over $78 billion from the hands of government fraudsters – and vowed to enthusiastically support government transparency. You can be sure my congressional oversight of the Department of Justice will continue. Under Ms. Bondi’s leadership, I look forward to seeing enhanced accountability at the DOJ and improved responsiveness to Congress and the American people.”
Grassley spoke on the Senate floor earlier today in support of Bondi’s nomination. See his full remarks HERE.
-30-
Source: The White House
Section 1. Purpose. The United States helped found the United Nations (UN) after World War II to prevent future global conflicts and promote international peace and security. But some of the UN’s agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism. As in 2018, when the United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United States will reevaluate our commitment to these institutions.
Three UN organizations that deserve renewed scrutiny are the UNHRC; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State (Secretary) as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. UNHRC has protected human rights abusers by allowing them to use the organization to shield themselves from scrutiny, while UNESCO has demonstrated failure to reform itself, has continually demonstrated anti-Israel sentiment over the past decade, and has failed to address concerns over mounting arrears.
Sec. 2. UNHRC and UNESCO Participation. (a) The United States will not participate in the UNHRC and will not seek election to that body. The Secretary shall terminate the office of United States Representative to the UNHRC and any positions primarily dedicated to supporting the United States Representative to the UNHRC.
(b) The United States will also conduct a review of its membership in UNESCO. This review shall be led by the Secretary, in coordination with the United States Representative to the United Nations (UN Ambassador), and must be completed within 90 days of the date of this order. The review will include an evaluation of how and if UNESCO supports United States interests. In particular, the review will include an analysis of any anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization.
Sec. 3. Funding. (a) Executive departments and agencies shall not use any funds for a contribution, grant, or other payment to UNRWA, consistent with section 301 of title III, division G, of Public Law 118-47 (March 23, 2024). The Secretary shall withdraw the determination previously made under section 7048(c)(1) of title VII, division F, of Public Law 118-47. Accordingly, of the funds appropriated for a contribution to the UN Regular Budget under the heading “Contributions to International Organizations” of Public Law 118-47, as most recently continued by Public Law 118-158 (December 21, 2024), the Secretary shall withhold the United States proportionate share of the total annual amount of UN Regular Budget funding for the UNHRC, consistent with section 7048(c) of title VII, division F, of Public Law 118-47.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary, in consultation with the UN Ambassador, shall conduct a review of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States and whether such organizations, conventions, or treaties can be reformed. Upon the conclusion of that review, the Secretary shall report the findings to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and provide recommendations as to whether the United States should withdraw from any such organizations, conventions, or treaties.
Sec. 4. Notification. The Secretary shall inform the UN Secretary General and the leadership of UNRWA and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United States will not fund UNRWA or the UNHRC and that the United States will not satisfy any claims to pay 2025 assessments or prior arrears by these organizations.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 3, 2025.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) and Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX) today in reintroducing a bicameral Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to block implementation of the Biden administration’s Natural Gas Tax, which was passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend legislation in 2022.
“This onerous natural gas tax was a key component of President Biden’s crusade to cripple western energy production,” said Senator Lummis. “I’m proud to work with Senator Hoeven and Congressman Pfluger to block this shortsighted, anti-energy legislation and start the process of undoing these failed Biden-era attacks on American and Wyoming energy.”
“When it comes to bringing down prices and making America energy secure again, we have our work cut out for us. The Biden-Harris administration imposed countless policies like the Natural Gas Tax that drive up the cost of production and limit the ability to fully utilize our nation’s abundant energy resources, and it will take real time and effort to undo the effects of their Green New Deal agenda,” said Senator Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Through efforts like this CRA resolution, we are working to get our nation back on the right track, providing needed regulatory and tax relief to deliver real cost savings to American energy producers and consumers.”
“As part of his war on energy, former President Biden took radical steps to end fossil fuels during his administration which hurt the hardworking energy producers in my district who have worked diligently to increase production while fueling our allies abroad,” said Rep. Pfluger, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Biden’s burdensome natural gas tax has handicapped technological innovation, reduced supplies of affordable energy, and increased both costs and emissions. With President Trump back in office, it is time to restore American energy dominance – which is why I am proud to lead this CRA to rescind this ill-conceived natural gas tax.”
The Hoeven-Pfluger bill is cosponsored by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Ricketts (R-Neb.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). The full text of the legislation can be found here.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement:
“On Thursday of last week, FBI director nominee Kash Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Throughout the hearing, Mr. Patel downplayed and minimized his well-documented record of calling for retribution against members of the media and government officials and glorifying insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those who violently assaulted law enforcement officers. Although there is no legal prohibition barring Mr. Patel from doing so, he refused to answer questions posed by Committee members relating to his grand jury testimony and the circumstances that led him to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in connection with the federal investigation of President Trump’s mishandling of classified national security documents.
“Based on reports of imminent mass firings, I directly asked Mr. Patel whether he was aware of plans to punish FBI agents or personnel who worked on investigations of President Trump. Despite claiming, under oath, not to know anything about planned retribution against FBI employees, and only minutes after Mr. Patel’s hearing concluded, political appointees at the Department of Justice ousted several members of FBI leadership and demanded a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations relating to the January 6th insurrection. These employees worked to keep us safe from counterterrorism, cybercrimes, transnational organized crime, and countless other threats that pose a danger to our nation. Their abrupt terminations and the threat of more firings create chaos within the FBI and jeopardize our domestic and national security. Mr. Patel claimed during his hearing that all FBI employees would be protected against political retribution, but these actions are plainly retributive against law enforcement officials who have dedicated their lives to protecting this country.
“The Committee must call Mr. Patel back to answer for these acts. Chairman Grassley must schedule an additional hearing for Mr. Patel to truthfully answer questions about the ongoing purge at the FBI and retaliation against FBI employees and about his involvement in the retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Anyone who misleads Congress is unfit to serve as the director of the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency with control over and access to our county’s most sensitive classified information.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee simply cannot discharge its constitutional duty to advise and consent on nominees unless we have a full and accurate understanding of Mr. Patel’s record and participation in gutting the FBI. The Committee must fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the 38,000 employees of the FBI nationwide to ensure that a director confirmed by the Senate can be trusted to run the Bureau.”
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) reintroduced the Sloan Canyon Conservation and Horizon Lateral Water Pipeline Act. This bill would allow the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) to construct a new water pipeline to provide water for over one million Nevadans, dramatically improving the reliability of Las Vegas’s water system and protecting residents from outages, while safeguarding ecosystems in Sloan Canyon. The bill also expands the Sloan Canyon National Conservation (NCA) area by nearly 9,300 acres – increasing its size by nearly 20 percent.
“Completing the Horizon Lateral pipeline is a critical step in ensuring that Southern Nevada’s water infrastructure is reliable, sustainable, and resilient for decades to come,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “My bill allows SNWA to build this pipeline in a way that saves taxpayer dollars, minimizes disruptions to the City of Henderson and to our public lands, and protects the water supply for residents across the Las Vegas Valley.”
Currently, SNWA operates one large water pipeline, the South Valley Lateral, that serves approximately 40% of the residents and businesses in the Las Vegas valley, including the entire City of Henderson. The Las Vegas valley needs another water pipeline to increase the reliability and capacity of the existing water delivery system and protect Las Vegas residents from water outages in the event of an emergency.
After years of study and engagement with valley stakeholders, SNWA determined the safest, most effective, and least disruptive route for the Horizon Lateral would be via an underground pipeline below the Sloan Canyon NCA, as opposed to constructing it through the City of Henderson. This route saves ratepayers $200 million, minimizes disturbances to both Henderson residents and the land in Sloan Canyon. Cortez Masto’s legislation to support the pipeline’s construction on this route would also expand Sloan Canyon’s conservation area by 9,290 acres to bring the total NCA acreage to 57,728 acres. Last Congress, this legislation passed out of the Senate with bipartisan support.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader working to support conservation efforts and combat drought. As part of the Great American Outdoors Act, she secured permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Cortez Masto fought to deliver $4 billion to combat drought in the states bordering the Colorado River in the Inflation Reduction Act and helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will continue to make a historic amount of funding available for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country over five years.
Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
New Zealand Police is pleased to announce that recruit wing 381 will graduate from their initial training course on Friday morning 7 February.
Attending the ceremony will be Commissioner Richard Chambers and members of the Police executive, Hon Mark Mitchell, Minister for Police, Hon Casey Costello, Associate Minister for Police along with Wing Patron, Glenn Dunbier ONZM.
Wing 381’s prize-winners are spread across four police districts, namely Auckland City, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Tasman.
More details about statistics, prize winners and other recruits will be shared after graduation on Friday.
The 381 Wing Patron former police officer Glenn Dunbier was Bay of Plenty District Commander from 2010 to 2014. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner: Resource Management in 2014, a role he held until he took a three-year secondment in 2017 to work with the Australian Defence Department. On returning to New Zealand Police in 2020 he took up the role of Deputy Commissioner: Districts and then Deputy Commissioner: Operations. While in Police, Glenn was awarded two Silver Merit Awards for his work in covert policing. He was recognised in the 2022 New Year Royal Honours, appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to policing and the community. He retired from Police in April 2023.
Media are welcome to attend the graduation parade which takes place at 10am on Friday 7 February at The Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua.
Media will need to be in place by 9.45am, however will need to RSVP to Police Media Centre as soon as possible: media@police.govt.nz
ENDS
Source: Tasmania Police
Firearms seized during targeted search at Perth
Wednesday, 5 February 2025 – 1:56 pm.
Two people have been charged after police seized three illegal firearms, a quantity of methylamphetamine, and stolen property during a targeted search at Perth yesterday.
Members of Northern Drugs and Firearms Unit and Taskforce Raven executed a search warrant at the residence on Tuesday 4 February.
Police located and seized a .22 firearm – commonly referred to as a pen gun – which had been concealed.
An Adler Turkey 12-gauge lever action shotgun, and a Winchester .22 rifle were also located and seized, along with 30 grams of methylamphetamine, a large quantity of ammunition, and about $10,000 worth of stolen property.
A 34 year old Perth man was arrested and charged with multiple firearms offences, minor drug offences and unlawful possession of property.
A 31 year old Perth man was also arrested and charged with multiple firearms offences.
They will both appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court in April.
Detective Acting Inspector Jason Jones said any illicit firearm was a concern to Tasmania Police.
“Firearms in the wrong hands are dangerous, and police will continue to prioritise locating and seizing firearms that have been stolen or unlawfully obtained,” he said.
“We know that there are people out there in the community who know people in possession of illegal firearms. Please come forward and provide information so we can take these illegal firearms off the streets.”
If you have information about illegal firearms, contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au
Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
Police are appealing for information to reunite a number of service medals with their rightful owners after being stolen during a burglary in Waihi.
The selection of medals were among a range of property taken from an address on Trig Road North between 6pm on Sunday 1 February and 2pm on Monday 3 February.
The seven service medals are of extreme sentimental and historical value, and are of great importance to the victims and their family.
Other items stolen during the burglary include two Stihl chainsaws, a hedge cutter, a cordless drill, an angle grinder and battery, wedding rings, and other personal jewellery.
Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in the Trig Road North area between Saturday evening and Monday afternoon.
Police are also appealing for any CCTV or dashcam footage in the area that may assist in our investigation locating the service medals and holding the alleged offenders to account.
If you have any information that may assist Police in our investigation, please contact Police online at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking “Update Report” or by calling 105.
You can also provide information in person at the Waihi Police Station or anonymously through Crime Stoppers via 0800 555 111.
Please use the reference number 250203/0911.
ENDS
Source: Office of United States Attorneys
BOISE – Chad Joseph Longley, 45, of Boise, was sentenced to 141 months in federal prison with 20 years of supervised release for one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today.
According to court records, investigators with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a tip that Longley possessed child sexual abuse material. ICAC investigators investigated and corroborated this tip which led to a search warrant authorizing law enforcement to search Longley’s residence and digital devices. While executing the search warrant, investigators seized digital devices belonging to Longley. A computer forensic examiner discovered child sexual abuse material on the devices. During an interview, investigators advised Longley of his Miranda rights and he admitted to possessing the child sexual abuse material.
In July 2021, a grand jury charged Longley with the crime of possession of child pornography. While awaiting sentencing, Longley and the Government engaged forensic computer experts to further review the digital devices. This review revealed additional criminal conduct beyond possession of child sexual abuse material.
According to court records, around 2017, Longley had a fake profile of a young female on a social media platform. Posing as a young female, he became social media friends with one of his former students. He tricked the former student into sending him child sexual abuse material. The victim was unaware that it was his teacher using a fake persona when he sent the child sexual abuse material. In March 2024, Longley was indicted by a grand jury for the additional criminal conduct. Longley entered into a new plea agreement, whereby he pleaded guilty to the crime of receiving child pornography and agreed to a jointly recommend a sentence of 141 months in prison with 20 years of supervised release.
On February 4, 2025, Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill followed the recommendations and sentenced Longley to 48 months in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release in his first case involving the possession of child pornography, and to 141 months in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release in his second case involving the receipt of child pornography. The two sentences will run concurrently to each other.
“The defendant’s actions in taking advantage of a former student are particularly heinous, and he deserves this lengthy prison sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “Our office is fortunate to have outstanding prosecutors who work tirelessly to hold child predators accountable and seek justice for victims. The result in this case would not have been possible without their dedication and that of our law enforcement partners.”
“The actions of this former teacher are reprehensible,” said Attorney General Raúl Labrador. “This sentence represents the hard work of ICAC’s investigators, the federal prosecutor, and the team of professionals committed to stopping these crimes. I’m grateful for their commitment to keep our kids safe from abuse and exploitation, and for the courts that recognize the seriousness of these crimes.”
U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the work of the Idaho ICAC Task Force, which led to the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Robins prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
###
Source: US State of California Department of Justice
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov
OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement on Executive Order N-17-25 by Governor Gavin Newsom. Among other things, the executive order expands rental price gouging protections to leases of any length, adds three new ZIP codes to prior executive orders prohibiting real estate speculation, and exempts housing in zip codes with high fair market values, which has not previously been on the rental market, from statutory rent caps.
“Governor Newsom’s executive order will make an important difference in the lives of Californians who have been affected by the wildfires. With today’s executive order, California’s price gouging protections now apply to leases of any length. Unsolicited property offers by predatory buyers are now prohibited in three new zip codes in Southern California: 91024, 91103, and 91367. And, with the suspension of the statutory rent caps for certain homes that were not previously on the rental market, additional housing options can come on market. I applaud today’s move by Governor Newsom — my office remains committed to working with our local, state, and federal partners to protect the communities affected by these disasters.”
# # #
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
Luján Voted Against Trump’s Personal Lawyer Who Attempted to Overturn 2020 Election
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M) issued the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm Pam Bondi to serve as Attorney General of the United States:
“The role of the Attorney General is to oversee the Justice Department, uphold the rule of law, and maintain its independence from political influence. Given Ms. Bondi’s history of spreading false claims, leading President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, excusing the actions of criminals who attacked law enforcement on January 6, and advocating for the prosecution of political opponents, I do not believe she will put her oath to the Constitution ahead of her loyalty to President Trump.
“The American people deserve an Attorney General who will defend the Constitution and serve the American people. Instead, Ms. Bondi, along with a number of President Trump’s nominees, will carry out President Trump’s agenda of revenge and retribution. President Trump is already seeking to rid the Justice Department of career officials who simply did their jobs.
“Ms. Bondi will weaponize the Justice Department, subvert the rule of law, and make our communities less safe. I voted against her nomination, and I will hold her accountable for her actions as Attorney General.”
Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
A Police operation is underway in an area of Waterview this afternoon.
Police have cordoned off an area around Tutuki Street.
There is an increased Police presence in the area to ensure the safety of the public.
Police staff are armed as a precaution.
Great North Road is still open, but we are advising the public to stay clear of cordons at this early stage.
Further updates will be provided as the situation develops.
ENDS.
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement after voting to confirm Pam Bondi as the next Attorney General of the United States. Bondi was confirmed by a vote of 54-46.
“I applaud President Trump for choosing Pam Bondi to be our next Attorney General. As I said when she was first nominated, Pam is an outstanding choice.
“With her confirmation today, Pam is ready to hit the ground running. She will put an end to the weaponization of law that has been a trademark of the Justice Department for the last four years. Pam will also make sure that our laws are fairly enforced, and for terrorists and criminals, Pam will be their worst nightmare.
“I look forward to working with her as she transforms the Department of Justice and marches America toward a new era of prosperity and safety.”
Source: New Zealand Police (District News)
A section of The Strand in Parnell is being closed following a serious crash.
The crash involves a truck and pedestrian and was reported just after 2pm.
The pedestrian is currently in a critical condition, and will be transported to hospital.
Emergency services are at the scene and a section of The Strand is being closed between the intersections with St Georges Bay Road and Tamaki Drive.
We anticipate this will cause disruption in this busy transport corridor this afternoon.
The Serious Crash Unit has been advised and will attend the scene.
ENDS.
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested two males aged 40 and 41 in relation to copper wire theft in Alice Springs yesterday.
Police have been investigating reports of copper wire being stolen from telecommunication pits located between the Gap and Alice Springs Airport since April 2024.
Around 3.45pm yesterday, police received a report from Bushfires NT that two males were sighted burning copper cable casing in bushland near Norris Bell Avenue.
General duties members attended and witnessed the pair burning the insulation to allegedly gain access to a large amount of copper cable.
Both were arrested without incident and have been charged in relation to the theft and lighting a fire on a total fire ban day. They were remanded in custody to appear in court today.
Investigations are ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact police on 131 444 and quote reference P25034899. You can also report anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.
Source: China State Council Information Office
This is a screenshot captured from the video of the Swedish government’s press conference held on the evening of Feb. 4, 2025. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is speaking to the press. [Photo/Xinhua]
The school shooting in central Sweden’s Orebro is the worst mass shooting in the country’s history, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference late Tuesday.
Swedish police confirmed on Tuesday evening that around ten people were killed in the shooting, which took place at noon at Risbergska Skolan, an education center, in Orebro. The shooter suspect is among the deceased, according to the police.
While investigation and further search are ongoing, authorities said the exact number of the victims remained unclear. However, initial findings indicate that the suspect acted alone, and police have ruled out terrorism as a motive.
Kristersson urged the public to refrain from speculation, emphasizing that authorities must be given space to conduct their investigation.
“The Swedish public wants to know the reasons, but will have to wait for the answers,” said Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer at the press conference. “With time, the picture will clear up.”
King Carl XVI Gustaf expressed his condolences in a statement, describing the day as a “black day” for Sweden. He extended his sympathies to the families and friends of the victims and the injured, and expressed appreciation for the efforts of police, rescue and healthcare workers.
Risbergska Skolan mainly serves adults over the age of 20, while also offering primary and secondary school courses and Swedish language classes for immigrants. The city of Orebro is located about 200 km west of Stockholm.
Speaking to Swedish Radio (SR), local school security specialist Lena Ljungdahl said that while armed violence in schools has been extremely rare in Sweden, violence has escalated outside the educational institutions, including multiple shootings near schools in recent years.
“I have expected this. Schools are not an isolated place. What happens outside will sooner or later happen inside schools,” Ljungdahl said.
Mats Knutson, a political analyst of SR, highlighted that the shooting occurred amid years of escalating armed violence in Sweden, with the past few months witnessing an unprecedented number of explosions.
Sweden is now in a crisis situation, and it is the government’s responsibility to unify the nation, Knutson said.
Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NEWARK, N.J. – A Chilean man, believed to be part of a South American theft group, is charged for his involvement in a conspiracy to break into a jewelry store in New Jersey and possess the stolen property in other states, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.
Gustavo Ignacio Salas Ortega, 33, of Chile, is charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to receive stolen property that had crossed state lines and one count of receiving stolen property that had crossed state lines. ICE ERO Newark arrested Salas Ortega on October 14, 2024, in Rochelle Park, New Jersey.
Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna stated, “Sophisticated and highly organized burglars that allegedly target businesses do great damage and put the public at risk. The defendant is charged with conspiring to break into a jewelry store in New Jersey to steal expensive wristwatches and jewelry and then taking the valuables to other states. This office is committed to finding the perpetrators of these crimes and preventing them from continuing to harm our businesses.”
“The Joint Organized Crime Task Force has been working tirelessly to apprehend these alleged criminals, following a labyrinth of conspirators that span multiple states.” FBI-Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly said. “These alleged criminals are part of South American theft groups who have been targeting stores throughout the United States for months. These alleged thieves have worked equally hard to evade law enforcement as they have to infiltrate the very businesses they have ripped off. This charge marks a positive step forward towards dismantling this group.”
“As alleged, the illegal alien offender threatened the public safety of our community by participating in an organized theft group,” said ICE ERO Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris. “These charges against Salas Ortega demonstrate ICE ERO Newark’s commitment to uphold the integrity of our immigration system while promoting the security of New Jersey’s residents.”
“We are incredibly proud of the tireless efforts of our detectives and the collaborative work with federal agencies that led to the identification of these suspects. This case underscores the importance of community and inter-agency cooperation in solving complex crimes,” said Millburn Police Chief Gilfedder. “Our department remains committed to bringing those responsible to justice and ensuring the safety of our residents and businesses.”
Salas Ortega appeared on February 4, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica S. Allen in Newark federal court and was detained.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
The defendant was part of a group that scouted a jewelry store in a New Jersey mall before committing the burglary. The defendant and his co-conspirators then entered the jewelry store through the ceiling and a hole they cut through an adjacent wall. Law enforcement later found the defendant wearing an expensive wristwatch that had been in the jewelry store at the time of the burglary. Further investigation showed that the defendant had possessed the stolen wristwatch in New York on multiple days after the burglary.
The charge of conspiracy to sell or receive stolen property carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; and the charge of receipt of stolen property carries a maximum potential penalty of ten years in prison. Both charges also carry a maximum potential penalty of up to a $250,000 fine, or twice the amount of money involved in the offense, whichever is greater.
Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna credited the FBI Newark’s Joint Organized Crime Task Force (JOCTF), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark; Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement and Removal Operations, under the direction of Field Office Director John Tsoukaris; the Millburn Police Department under the direction of Chief Brian Gilfedder; and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent of Police Edward T. Cetnar, with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked the Denver Police Department, Paramus Police Department, Fair Lawn Police Department, Edison Police Department, Northbrook (IL) Police Department, Vacaville (CA) Police Department, Nassau County (NY) Police Department, Woodbury (NY) Town Police Department, Town of Greenburgh (NY) Police Department, New York Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, FBI Denver, FBI New York, and the FBI Legal Attaché Santiago, Chile.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor A. Chenoweth of the Narcotics/OCDETF Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
###
Defense counsel:
Mary Toscano, Esq., Roseland, New Jersey
Source: Office of United States Attorneys
McALLEN, Texas – A 35-year-old Mexican citizen who illegally resided in Palmview has been sentenced for producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of a family member and coercing the production of CSAM using various chat platforms, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Jesus Adrian Barraza-Vega pleaded guilty Oct. 9, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton has now sentenced Barraza-Vega to serve the rest of his life in prison. The court further ordered him to pay $3,0o0 in restitution to a known victim and a total of $60,000 in fines.
At the hearing, the minor victim was present with family and provided a victim letter addressed to Barraza-Vega describing the harm he had caused her. In addition, the court heard that Barraza-Vega’s ongoing abuse of a minor family member continued until just days before his encounter with law enforcement.
“Our sincere hope is that the children who Barraza-Vega victimized can now have some measure of peace,” said Ganjei. “Crimes against children committed in the Southern District of Texas will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. The life sentence handed down today against Mr. Barraza-Vega should be a warning to other would-be abusers.”
“Children deserve to be safe. Whether online or in their own homes, we all have a duty to protect those most vulnerable to exploitation,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office. “The FBI works day and night to ensure predators like this are brought to justice. We hope this sentence might bring some sense of closure and healing for the victims and their families.”
On July 3, 2023, New York authorities discovered inappropriate images were being sent to an eight-year-old minor. A review of the conversation revealed the minor victim had sent sexually explicit videos of herself to an unknown individual using TextNow and WhatsApp. During the course of the conversation, the individual pretended to be a 13-year-old male. He sent images depicting a male’s genitalia and messages that were sexually explicit in nature, including requests for the minor victim to engage in sexual acts.
Law enforcement conducted a search and determined the subscriber information for the IP address information returned to addresses where Barraza-Vega had previously resided including his current location in Palmview.
During an interview with Barraza-Vega, he confirmed his prior residences, email addresses and phone number, and that he used TextNow and WhatsApp. All matched the information linked to the accounts used to coerce and entice the production of CSAM from the minor victim in New York.
In February 2024, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant for a cellphone identified as belonging to Barraza-Vega. The forensic extraction revealed CSAM including videos and images of a minor relative. The material included images and videos of Barraza-Vega engaging in various sexual acts with this victim. The videos and images dated from on or about Nov. 11, 2020, to on or about Jan. 18, 2024.
FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol and police departments in Mission and Palmview.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexa D. Parcell is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.
Source: Office of United States Attorneys
OAKLAND – A federal grand jury has charged Eric Rego with three counts of mail fraud in connection with a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud his former employer, the Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD), through fake invoices for electronic devices that Rego kept and resold.
According to an indictment unsealed today, Rego, 39, a resident of El Dorado Hills, Calif., committed fraud by using MDUSD funds earmarked for an after-school program to purchase tablet computers and other electronic devices that he then sold for his own profit. Rego was an employee of MDUSD, a public school district in Contra Costa County. The school district had an after-school program that offered to students in transitional kindergarten through twelfth grade academic, recreational, and environmental programming. The after-school program was free to students and funded primarily through state grants designed to benefit high-need population areas. Rego was MDUSD’s after-school program coordinator.
The school district had a contract with a nonprofit (referred to as Nonprofit 1) to run its after-school program. As the program coordinator, Rego worked closely with Nonprofit 1. Beginning around July 2020 and continuing through around May 2024, Rego purchased or caused to be purchased iPads, MacBooks, GoPro cameras, and other electronic devices through Nonprofit 1. Rego allegedly falsely claimed to a Nonprofit 1 employee that the iPads and other devices were needed for students in the after-school program, but instead kept the devices and resold them at a fraction of their cost.
To carry out his scheme, Rego directed a Nonprofit 1 employee to submit monthly invoices containing a line-item expense for subcontracts and supplies and to include the cost of the iPads and other devices in this line-item. Rego reviewed and approved these monthly invoices and caused their submission to MDUSD for processing and payment. In so doing, Rego falsely represented to MDUSD that the invoices were for Nonprofit 1’s expenses incurred from operating the after-school program. In all, the indictment alleges that Rego fraudulently obtained iPads, MacBooks, GoPro cameras, and other devices at a cost of not less than approximately $3.3 million.
The defendant was arrested today and will appear in federal district court in Sacramento on Feb. 5, 2025.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of mail fraud. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Rezaei is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Linda Love. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Concord Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI thank the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and Superintendent Adam Clark, Ed.D. for their cooperation with the investigation.
Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
Attributable to Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons:
Christchurch Police investigating a serious assault in the city are seeking help from the public.
The female victim was found seriously injured at the Richmond Village Green on Stanmore Road about 9:20am today.
She remains in a critical condition in hospital.
A scene examination of the area is underway.
As part of our inquiries, Police would like to speak to anyone who may have information that would help us determine what happened.
Information can be passed to Police via our 105 phone service, or by going online to https://www.police.govt.nz/use-105 and using ‘Update Report’, referencing file number 250205/8067.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement:
“I’ve known Pam Bondi for years and have had the opportunity to work with Ms. Bondi on various issues in the past, including advancing the First Step Act and police accountability and reform efforts during the first Trump administration. My experiences with her have been very positive and constructive. She became someone I could trust and rely upon. I was grateful to work with her in efforts to reform our broken criminal justice system and improve public safety.
“Should Pam Bondi be confirmed, I am committed to working with her on issues where we can find common ground and that advance the ideals of justice and create safer and stronger communities in New Jersey and our country.
“Unfortunately, President Trump’s unacceptable, unprecedented, and dangerous attacks on the independence of the Department of Justice since taking office are antithetical to democratic values and cause grave concern for anyone who believes in a justice system free from politics. By purging prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases, firing top level FBI officials, and demanding a list of thousands of agents who investigated him, Donald Trump is attempting to dismantle entire systems of accountability and oversight, and extract payback against those who he feels have wronged him.
“Given Trump’s actions and the clear attacks on the independence, transparency, and accountability of the Justice Department, I cannot support his nominees for key leadership positions at the Justice Department. I will vote against Ms. Bondi for attorney general as an express condemnation of Trump’s larger actions against the important norms and traditions of the Justice Department.”
Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Three men appeared in federal court this week for their involvement with a drug trafficking operation in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.
James Kidder, also known as “Jamey,” 47, of Martins Ferry, Ohio, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He has a criminal history that includes domestic violence, assault, theft, drug trafficking, and burglary.
James Galloway, 28, of Bellaire, Ohio, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and cocaine base. Matthew Clemont, 32, of Wheeling, West Virginia, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to court documents, the three men were distributors in a larger drug trafficking operation that spanned from Las Vegas, Nevada, to the Ohio Valley.
Kidder will serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Galloway and Clemont each face up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Nogay is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.
The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, Marshall County Drug Task Force, and the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, all HIDTA-funded initiatives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; West Virginia State Police; Wheeling Police Department; Ohio County Sheriff’s Office; and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
Press release on the associated case: www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-twenty-six-drug-trafficking
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Blake Lawrence, PhD Candidate (Design) and Performance Artist, University of Technology Sydney
The first weeks of 2025 have seen catastrophic wildfires locally and internationally, record global ocean temperatures, and unprecedented coral bleaching events.
Trump has signed executive orders to exit from the Paris Agreement, and locally, the Coalition continues its decades-long campaign of climate denial
Species fall swiftly and silently to extinction. The language of bird-song collapses. For many peoples, and for many species, apocalypse is past tense.
For climate risk researchers Laurie Laybourn and James Dyke, politics illustrates a doom loop, a political diving-towards apocalypse.
Artists in this year’s Sydney Festival imagine exit strategies from this doom loop – and dream of taking root in its post-apocalyptic rubble.
Phasmahammer is the alter-ego and ongoing creative project of artist Justin Talplacido Shoulder. Anito is the latest in a series of their theatre-scale works that blend live performance with mythology, story-telling, costume and ceremony.
We begin in the cavernous Carriageworks foyer with a living miniature fig tree.
Damun (as it is known in the Gadigal language), Ficus rubingosa (Latin), the Port Jackson fig, is known for establishing itself insurgently in the pavements and gutters of the city’s colonial (apocalyptic) architecture.
Here, the bonsai sits like a welcome party, stifled and vibrant in its little pot.
In an introductory speech, Shoulder’s collaborator Matthew Stegh acknowledges the city of Sydney as “a theatre and a prison” – tripling in reference to both the experience of producing theatre for institutions, and the stunted experience of our little fig.
He pays homage to the ecological and cosmological traditions of Gadigal Country, and to the ancestral Philippines of Shoulder. In the next breath Stegh shifts his homage to Sydney’s histories of queer and counter-cultural performance, to sex workers, strippers, clowns, club kids and drag queens.
He offers reflections on apocalypse and ruin, referring to the “cultish suicide pact” of white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and colonialism – to doom loops.
We are led into the auditorium, where Shoulder and fellow performer Eugene Choi animate a series of hallucinatory images.
Using their bodies, costume pieces, puppetry and inflatable set design, they work with immaculate sound (Corin Ileto) and lighting (Fausto Brusamolino).
A ghostly hologram of the buttress of a great tree fills the stage. Metallic roots writhe at its foundation. Shoulder and Choi emerge, and from there, eruptions: the first man and woman, a pair of thunder-lizards, bickering, a quadruped. A scale-bending colonial ghost smothered in lace searches tragically for something among planetary ruins. A stony reef of polyps and anemones blooms and dances. A single clap by three pairs of hands. The Big Bang.
By design, it is often hard to discern exactly how these images are performed. They are both magic and bewildering.
For philosopher Ben Ware, thinking about the horizon of the extinction of all biological life on Earth poses a paradoxical opportunity. The only thing that can thwart the end of this world – “a world of converging and multiplying catastrophes” – is the recognition that the politics of this time have one outcome: “the slow unravelling of intimately entangled forms of life”.
The fantasy theatre of Anito makes those intimate entanglements visual. We must begin from understanding that the way the world is organised produces its own end.
Like Shoulder, artist communities of the Pacific know this intimately.
Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania is an exhibition led by artists of the South Pacific Ocean.
Originally conceived for the Venice Biennale, and curated by Taloi Havini, the exhibition comprises two commissions by Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta and Latai Taumoepeau.
The rooms of a freshly-renovated Artspace in Woolloomooloo are transformed by Heta’s architectural interventions. In one, a mass of bricks creates an altar-like structure, on which bowls of coconut milk sit in concentric circles. In another, pavers form a platform for a circle of seats. They function as stages or gathering places for conversation, performance, song and activism.
Within these happenings, Havini and her artists speak to the narrative and politics that have produced and compounded catastrophe in the South Pacific.
Taumoepeau’s interactive installation Deep Communion sung in minor (ArchipelaGO, THIS IS NOT A DRILL) requires visitors to row on standing-paddle-board-like treadmills, which activate immersive songs sung by Taumoepeau and her collaborators.
In conversation with Heta’s installation, these songs rise and fall, the edges of the artworks and activations become blurry. Visitors paddle towards projections visualising the rubble of marine-ecological wastelands produced by regional deep-sea extraction.
The physical exacerbation and the ecological trauma on the screens coalesce in our bodies. To drop the oar enacts the fading of the song from the speakers. We are left with reflections of the connections between bodies and calamity, and the labour of working towards futures beyond ruin.
Henrietta Baird’s Plant a Promise, like Anito and Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania, is a performance with blurry edges. Its roots spread out of Bangarra’s Studio Theatre to incorporate installation, in-situ yarns (storytelling and conversation) and tree-planting projects across the city.
Inside the theatre, three contemporary dancers animate recorded stories of Indigenous experiences of bushfires beside frustrations with the surrounding political footballing. The sentiment is clear: less talk, more action.
At its finale, audience members are invited to the stage to collaborate in the transformation of the set. We are led to take handfuls of verdant eucalyptus and acacia leaves and implant them into large woven columns that have functioned theatrically as abstracted tree-forms. The stage is transformed into a forest of our making together.
Through its many stories, Plant a Promise beckons audiences into attentiveness to the lives of trees, fire and people.
In the shadows of catastrophe, the roots of Indigenous knowledge systems and environmental science cross-pollinate to share and enact care for Country.
Generously, we receive a gift as we exit the theatre. The exchange of a native sapling invites us into casual conversation – into reflections on Country, and how we might, all of us, commit to it.
Again, we begin, from the recognition of an end. More rubble. More roots.
At the time of writing, Sydneysiders are enamoured with the life of another plant, gathered around livestreams and making excited trips to the city’s Botanic Gardens.
Putricia, the resident titan arum, or corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanium), has thrown her immense flower spike into the air. She has commenced her slow strip-tease after a week of tantalising her admirers.
In a few weeks we have become attentive to her story of life and renewal. She will likely have bloomed, wilted and returned to the soil before this text goes live.
Performances like Putricia’s blooming, Anito, Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania and Plant a Promise offer new vantage points from which to understand ourselves in relation to the natural world, and to glimpse myriad alternatives to what feels like a diving towards our own demise.
Performances of aliveness beside and within the ecologies we inhabit move us beyond what Ben Ware sees as a naïve sense of “hope”. Instead, these stories make material, make cultural, make real, the impossible task of imagining what comes next.
Amid the smell of rotting corpses, the pillowy puppetry of a theatrical coral spawning event, the planting of a forest or the singing of invocations for the protection of the planet’s oceans, we might yet find ourselves. This is not a drill.
Blake Lawrence does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Watching the doom loop: Sydney Festival artists witness climate change, and imagine our post-apocalyptic future – https://theconversation.com/watching-the-doom-loop-sydney-festival-artists-witness-climate-change-and-imagine-our-post-apocalyptic-future-249017
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Manhattan, KS, Feb. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Landmark Bancorp, Inc. (“Landmark”; Nasdaq: LARK) reported diluted earnings per share of $0.57 for the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared to $0.68 per share in the third quarter of 2024 and $0.46 per share in the same quarter last year. Net income for the fourth quarter totaled $3.3 million, compared to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $3.9 million in the prior quarter. For the three months ended December 31, 2024, the return on average assets was 0.83%, the return on average equity was 9.54% and the efficiency ratio was 70.0%.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, diluted earnings per share totaled $2.26 compared to $2.13 during 2023. Net earnings for 2024 totaled $13.0 million, compared to $12.2 million in 2023, or an increase of 6.3%. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the return on average assets was 0.83%, the return on average equity was 10.01% and the efficiency ratio was 69.1%.
2024 Performance Highlights
| ● | Fourth quarter loan growth totaled $50.5 million or an annualized increase of 20.1% over the prior quarter. | |
| ● | For the year, gross loans grew $103.7 million or 10.9%. | |
| ● | Net interest margin improved 21 basis points to 3.51% compared to 3.30% in prior quarter. | |
| ● | Deposits increased $53.3 million, or 16.6% annualized, from the prior quarter. | |
| ● | Total borrowings decreased $34.7 million in the fourth quarter. | |
| ● | A pre-tax loss of $1.0 million was realized in the fourth quarter to reposition a portion of the investment portfolio. | |
| ● | Credit quality remained good with net charge-offs totaling $219,000 in the fourth quarter. | |
In making this announcement, Abby Wendel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Landmark, commented, “During 2024, we experienced strong loan demand, especially for residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans. In the fourth quarter 2024, we saw strong growth in virtually all loan categories, with total gross loans increasing by $51 million or 20% (annualized). Total deposits also increased in the fourth quarter by more than $53 million, mostly due to seasonal growth in money market and interest checking accounts. The increase in deposits coupled with investment securities sales and maturities this quarter helped fund loan growth and reduce expensive short-term borrowings. For the year, net interest income grew 5.6% over the previous year while in the fourth quarter 2024 our net interest margin improved to 3.51%. Strategic investments in our people and product offerings resulted in higher non-interest expenses, particularly in the fourth quarter. Credit quality remained solid overall.”
Landmark’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid March 5, 2025, to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 19, 2025. On December 16, 2024, the Company issued a 5% stock dividend to common stockholders, representing the 24th consecutive year that a stock dividend has been paid.
Management will host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results at 10:00 a.m. (Central time) on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. Investors may participate via telephone by dialing (833) 470-1428 and using access code 296482. A replay of the call will be available through February 12, 2025, by dialing (866) 813-9403 and using access code 817329.
Net Interest Income
Net interest income in the fourth quarter of 2024 amounted to $12.4 million representing an increase of $795,000, or 6.9%, compared to the previous quarter. The increase in net interest income was due mainly to lower interest expense on deposits and other borrowed funds. The net interest margin increased to 3.51% during the fourth quarter from 3.30% during the prior quarter. Compared to the previous quarter, interest income on loans increased $22,000 to $16.0 million due to higher average balances but partially offset by lower yields on loans. Average loan balances increased $24.5 million while the average tax-equivalent yield on the loan portfolio decreased 15 basis points to 6.28%. Interest on investment securities declined slightly due to lower balances while partially offset by higher earning rates. Compared to the third quarter 2024, interest on deposits decreased $480,000, or 8.2% mainly due to lower rates, while interest on other borrowed funds declined by $363,000, due to lower rates and balances. The average rate on interest-bearing deposits decreased 23 basis points to 2.25% while the average rate on other borrowed funds decreased 51 basis points to 5.10% in the fourth quarter.
Non-Interest Income
Non-interest income totaled $3.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of $882,000 from the previous quarter. The decrease in non-interest income during the fourth quarter of 2024 was primarily due to a $1.0 million loss on the sales of lower yielding investment securities mentioned above, while the third quarter of 2024 did not include any sales of investment securities. Additionally, lower sales of residential mortgages this quarter resulted in a decline of $182,000 in gains on sales of these mortgages. The decline in other non-interest income of $221,000 this quarter compared to the prior quarter resulted from sales of premises, equipment and foreclosed assets that did not re-occur in the current quarter. Partially offsetting those declines was an increase of $722,000 in bank owned life insurance income.
Non-Interest Expense
During the fourth quarter of 2024, non-interest expense totaled $11.9 million, an increase of $1.3 million compared to the prior quarter. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily due to increases of $470,000 in professional fees and $461,000 in compensation and benefits. The increase in professional fees this quarter was primarily due to higher consulting costs on several initiatives. The increase in compensation and benefits was attributable to an increase in employees and higher incentive compensation costs.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Landmark recorded an income tax benefit of $886,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to income tax expense of $867,000 in the prior quarter. The effective tax rate was (37.0%) in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to 18.1% in the third quarter of 2024. The fourth quarter of 2024 included the recognition of $1.0 million of previously unrecognized tax benefits, which reduced the effective tax rate.
Balance Sheet Highlights
As of December 31, 2024, gross loans totaled $1.1 billion, an increase of $50.5 million, or 20.1% annualized since September 30, 2024. During the quarter, loan growth was primarily comprised of commercial real estate (growth of $21.1 million), commercial (growth of $10.7 million), agriculture (growth of $8.6 million) and one-to-four family residential real estate (growth of $7.8 million) loans. Investment securities decreased $38.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2024 and included sales of $36.0 million in low-rate U.S. treasury securities offset by purchases of $18.0 million in market rate U.S. treasury securities. Pre-tax unrealized net losses on the investment securities portfolio increased from $13.3 million at September 30, 2024 to $20.9 million at December 31, 2024 mainly due to higher market rates for these securities at year end.
Period end deposit balances increased $53.3 million to $1.3 billion at December 31, 2024. The increase in deposits was mainly driven by an increase in money market and checking (increase of $71.3 million) but partially offset by declines in certificates of deposit (decrease of $9.2 million) and non-interest-bearing demand deposits (decrease of $8.6 million). The increase in money market and checking accounts was mainly driven by seasonal growth in public fund deposit account balances. Total borrowings decreased $34.7 million during the fourth quarter 2024. At December 31, 2024, the loan to deposits ratio was 78.2% compared to 77.6% in the prior quarter.
Stockholders’ equity decreased to $136.2 million (book value of $23.59 per share) as of December 31, 2024, from $139.7 million (book value of $24.18 per share) as of September 30, 2024. The decrease in stockholders’ equity was due to an increase in accumulated other comprehensive losses as the unrealized net losses on investments securities increased during the fourth quarter. The ratio of equity to total assets decreased to 8.65% on December 31, 2024, from 8.93% on September 30, 2024.
The allowance for credit losses totaled $12.8 million, or 1.22% of total gross loans on December 31, 2024, compared to $11.5 million, or 1.15% of total gross loans on September 30, 2024. Net loan charge-offs totaled $219,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $9,000 during the third quarter of 2024. A provision for credit losses for loans of $1.5 million was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to $650,000 in the third quarter of 2024.
Non-performing loans totaled $13.1 million, or 1.25% of gross loans at December 31, 2024 compared to $13.4 million, or 1.34% of gross loans at September 30, 2024. Loans 30-89 days delinquent declined to $6.2 million, or 0.59% of gross loans, as of December 31, 2024, compared to $7.3 million, or 0.73% of gross loans, as of September 30, 2024.
About Landmark
Landmark Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Landmark National Bank, is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “LARK.” Headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas, Landmark National Bank is a community banking organization dedicated to providing quality financial and banking services. Landmark National Bank has 29 locations in 23 communities across Kansas: Manhattan (2), Auburn, Dodge City (2), Fort Scott (2), Garden City, Great Bend (2), Hoisington, Iola, Junction City, La Crosse, Lawrence (2), Lenexa, Louisburg, Mound City, Osage City, Osawatomie, Overland Park, Paola, Pittsburg, Prairie Village, Topeka (2), Wamego and Wellsville, Kansas. Visit www.banklandmark.com for more information.
Contact:
Mark A. Herpich
Chief Financial Officer
(785) 565-2000
Special Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of Landmark. Forward-looking statements, which may be based upon beliefs, expectations and assumptions of our management and on information currently available to management, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should” or other similar expressions. Additionally, all statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements, speak only as of the date they are made, and Landmark undertakes no obligation to update any statement in light of new information or future events. A number of factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control or predict, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the following: (i) the strength of the local, national and international economies, including the effects of changing inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints on such economies; (ii) changes in state and federal laws, regulations and governmental policies concerning banking, securities, consumer protection, insurance, monetary, trade and tax matters, including changes in interpretation or prioritization; (iii) changes in interest rates and prepayment rates of our assets; (iv) increased competition in the financial services sector and the inability to attract new customers, including from non-bank competitors such as credit unions and “fintech” companies; (v) timely development and acceptance of new products and services; (vi) changes in technology and the ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; (vii) our risk management framework; (viii) interruptions in information technology and telecommunications systems and third-party services; (ix) changes and uncertainty in benchmark interest rates, including the timing of additional rate changes, if any, by the Federal Reserve; (x) the economic effects of severe weather, natural disasters, widespread disease or pandemics, or other external events; (xi) the loss of key executives or employees; (xii) changes in consumer spending; (xiii) integration of acquired businesses; (xiv) unexpected outcomes of existing or new litigation; (xv) changes in accounting policies and practices, such as the implementation of the current expected credit losses accounting standard; (xvi) the economic impact of past and any future terrorist attacks, acts of war, including the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conflict in Ukraine, or threats thereof, and the response of the United States to any such threats and attacks; (xvii) the ability to manage credit risk, forecast loan losses and maintain an adequate allowance for loan losses; (xviii) fluctuations in the value of securities held in our securities portfolio; (xix) concentrations within our loan portfolio, large loans to certain borrowers, and large deposits from certain clients; (xx) the concentration of large deposits from certain clients who have balances above current FDIC insurance limits and may withdraw deposits to diversify their exposure; (xxi) the level of non-performing assets on our balance sheets; (xxii) the ability to raise additional capital; (xxiii) cyber-attacks; (xxiv) declines in real estate values; (xxv) the effects of fraud on the part of our employees, customers, vendors or counterparties; and (xxvi) any other risks described in the “Risk Factors” sections of reports filed by Landmark with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Additional information concerning Landmark and its business, including additional risk factors that could materially affect Landmark’s financial results, is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
LANDMARK BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)
| December 31, | September 30, | June 30, | March 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Assets | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 20,275 | $ | 21,211 | $ | 23,889 | $ | 16,468 | $ | 27,101 | ||||||||||
| Interest-bearing deposits at other banks | 4,110 | 4,363 | 4,881 | 4,920 | 4,918 | |||||||||||||||
| Investment securities available-for-sale, at fair value: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. treasury securities | 64,458 | 83,753 | 89,325 | 93,683 | 95,667 | |||||||||||||||
| Municipal obligations, tax exempt | 107,128 | 112,126 | 114,047 | 118,445 | 120,623 | |||||||||||||||
| Municipal obligations, taxable | 71,715 | 75,129 | 74,588 | 75,371 | 79,083 | |||||||||||||||
| Agency mortgage-backed securities | 129,211 | 140,004 | 142,499 | 149,777 | 157,396 | |||||||||||||||
| Total investment securities available-for-sale | 372,512 | 411,012 | 420,459 | 437,276 | 452,769 | |||||||||||||||
| Investment securities held-to-maturity | 3,672 | 3,643 | 3,613 | 3,584 | 3,555 | |||||||||||||||
| Bank stocks, at cost | 6,618 | 7,894 | 9,647 | 7,850 | 8,123 | |||||||||||||||
| Loans: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| One-to-four family residential real estate | 352,209 | 344,380 | 332,090 | 312,833 | 302,544 | |||||||||||||||
| Construction and land | 25,328 | 23,454 | 30,480 | 24,823 | 21,090 | |||||||||||||||
| Commercial real estate | 345,159 | 324,016 | 318,850 | 323,397 | 320,962 | |||||||||||||||
| Commercial | 192,325 | 181,652 | 178,876 | 181,945 | 180,942 | |||||||||||||||
| Agriculture | 100,562 | 91,986 | 84,523 | 86,808 | 89,680 | |||||||||||||||
| Municipal | 7,091 | 7,098 | 6,556 | 5,690 | 4,507 | |||||||||||||||
| Consumer | 29,679 | 29,263 | 29,200 | 28,544 | 28,931 | |||||||||||||||
| Total gross loans | 1,052,353 | 1,001,849 | 980,575 | 964,040 | 948,656 | |||||||||||||||
| Net deferred loan (fees) costs and loans in process | (307 | ) | (63 | ) | (583 | ) | (578 | ) | (429 | ) | ||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses | (12,825 | ) | (11,544 | ) | (10,903 | ) | (10,851 | ) | (10,608 | ) | ||||||||||
| Loans, net | 1,039,221 | 990,242 | 969,089 | 952,611 | 937,619 | |||||||||||||||
| Loans held for sale, at fair value | 3,420 | 3,250 | 2,513 | 2,697 | 853 | |||||||||||||||
| Bank owned life insurance | 39,056 | 39,176 | 38,826 | 38,578 | 38,333 | |||||||||||||||
| Premises and equipment, net | 20,220 | 20,976 | 20,986 | 20,696 | 19,709 | |||||||||||||||
| Goodwill | 32,377 | 32,377 | 32,377 | 32,377 | 32,377 | |||||||||||||||
| Other intangible assets, net | 2,578 | 2,729 | 2,900 | 3,071 | 3,241 | |||||||||||||||
| Mortgage servicing rights | 3,061 | 3,041 | 2,997 | 2,977 | 3,158 | |||||||||||||||
| Real estate owned, net | 167 | 428 | 428 | 428 | 928 | |||||||||||||||
| Other assets | 26,855 | 23,309 | 28,149 | 29,684 | 28,988 | |||||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 1,574,142 | $ | 1,563,651 | $ | 1,560,754 | $ | 1,553,217 | $ | 1,561,672 | ||||||||||
| Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Deposits: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-interest-bearing demand | 351,595 | 360,188 | 360,631 | 364,386 | 367,103 | |||||||||||||||
| Money market and checking | 636,963 | 565,629 | 546,385 | 583,315 | 613,613 | |||||||||||||||
| Savings | 145,514 | 145,825 | 150,996 | 154,000 | 152,381 | |||||||||||||||
| Certificates of deposit | 194,694 | 203,860 | 192,470 | 191,823 | 183,154 | |||||||||||||||
| Total deposits | 1,328,766 | 1,275,502 | 1,250,482 | 1,293,524 | 1,316,251 | |||||||||||||||
| FHLB and other borrowings | 53,046 | 92,050 | 131,330 | 74,716 | 64,662 | |||||||||||||||
| Subordinated debentures | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | |||||||||||||||
| Repurchase agreements | 13,808 | 9,528 | 8,745 | 15,895 | 12,714 | |||||||||||||||
| Accrued interest and other liabilities | 20,656 | 25,229 | 20,292 | 20,760 | 19,480 | |||||||||||||||
| Total liabilities | 1,437,927 | 1,423,960 | 1,432,500 | 1,426,546 | 1,434,758 | |||||||||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock | 58 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 | |||||||||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 95,051 | 89,532 | 89,469 | 89,364 | 89,208 | |||||||||||||||
| Retained earnings | 56,934 | 60,549 | 57,774 | 55,912 | 54,282 | |||||||||||||||
| Treasury stock, at cost | – | (396 | ) | (330 | ) | (249 | ) | (75 | ) | |||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (15,828 | ) | (10,049 | ) | (18,714 | ) | (18,411 | ) | (16,556 | ) | ||||||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 136,215 | 139,691 | 128,254 | 126,671 | 126,914 | |||||||||||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 1,574,142 | $ | 1,563,651 | $ | 1,560,754 | $ | 1,553,217 | $ | 1,561,672 | ||||||||||
LANDMARK BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Earnings (unaudited)
| Three months ended, | Year ended, | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | September 30, | December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Loans | $ | 15,955 | $ | 15,933 | $ | 14,223 | $ | 61,400 | $ | 51,753 | ||||||||||
| Investment securities: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxable | 2,210 | 2,301 | 2,453 | 9,298 | 9,594 | |||||||||||||||
| Tax-exempt | 738 | 747 | 761 | 3,008 | 3,094 | |||||||||||||||
| Interest-bearing deposits at banks | 49 | 41 | 49 | 193 | 242 | |||||||||||||||
| Total interest income | 18,952 | 19,022 | 17,486 | 73,899 | 64,683 | |||||||||||||||
| Interest expense: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Deposits | 5,350 | 5,830 | 4,879 | 22,310 | 15,254 | |||||||||||||||
| FHLB and other borrowings | 737 | 1,100 | 1,203 | 3,886 | 4,048 | |||||||||||||||
| Subordinated debentures | 389 | 416 | 422 | 1,635 | 1,590 | |||||||||||||||
| Repurchase agreements | 77 | 72 | 96 | 344 | 499 | |||||||||||||||
| Total interest expense | 6,553 | 7,418 | 6,600 | 28,175 | 21,391 | |||||||||||||||
| Net interest income | 12,399 | 11,604 | 10,886 | 45,724 | 43,292 | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for credit losses | 1,500 | 500 | 50 | 2,300 | 349 | |||||||||||||||
| Net interest income after provision for credit losses | 10,899 | 11,104 | 10,836 | 43,424 | 42,943 | |||||||||||||||
| Non-interest income: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Fees and service charges | 2,710 | 2,880 | 2,763 | 10,742 | 10,220 | |||||||||||||||
| Gains on sales of loans, net | 522 | 704 | 255 | 2,386 | 2,269 | |||||||||||||||
| Bank owned life insurance | 976 | 254 | 242 | 1,723 | 913 | |||||||||||||||
| Losses on sales of investment securities, net | (1,031 | ) | – | (1,246 | ) | (1,031 | ) | (1,246 | ) | |||||||||||
| Other | 194 | 415 | 240 | 924 | 1,074 | |||||||||||||||
| Total non-interest income | 3,371 | 4,253 | 2,254 | 14,744 | 13,230 | |||||||||||||||
| Non-interest expense: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Compensation and benefits | 6,264 | 5,803 | 5,756 | 23,103 | 22,681 | |||||||||||||||
| Occupancy and equipment | 1,550 | 1,429 | 1,429 | 5,663 | 5,565 | |||||||||||||||
| Data processing | 452 | 464 | 462 | 1,889 | 1,940 | |||||||||||||||
| Amortization of mortgage servicing rights and other intangibles | 240 | 256 | 437 | 1,164 | 1,844 | |||||||||||||||
| Professional fees | 1,043 | 573 | 730 | 2,912 | 2,452 | |||||||||||||||
| Valuation allowance on real estate held for sale | – | – | – | 1,108 | – | |||||||||||||||
| Other | 2,325 | 2,034 | 1,748 | 8,240 | 7,501 | |||||||||||||||
| Total non-interest expense | 11,874 | 10,559 | 10,562 | 44,079 | 41,983 | |||||||||||||||
| Earnings before income taxes | 2,396 | 4,798 | 2,528 | 14,089 | 14,190 | |||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (886 | ) | 867 | (111 | ) | 1,086 | 1,954 | |||||||||||||
| Net earnings | $ | 3,282 | $ | 3,931 | $ | 2,639 | $ | 13,003 | $ | 12,236 | ||||||||||
| Net earnings per share (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.57 | $ | 0.68 | $ | 0.46 | $ | 2.26 | $ | 2.13 | ||||||||||
| Diluted | 0.57 | 0.68 | 0.46 | 2.26 | 2.13 | |||||||||||||||
| Dividends per share (1) | 0.20 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.80 | 0.76 | |||||||||||||||
| Shares outstanding at end of period (1) | 5,775,198 | 5,776,282 | 5,751,475 | 5,775,198 | 5,751,475 | |||||||||||||||
| Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic (1) | 5,775,227 | 5,765,348 | 5,755,175 | 5,758,056 | 5,751,585 | |||||||||||||||
| Weighted average common shares outstanding – diluted (1) | 5,789,764 | 5,770,514 | 5,755,175 | 5,764,282 | 5,754,840 | |||||||||||||||
| Tax equivalent net interest income | $ | 12,574 | $ | 11,777 | $ | 11,017 | $ | 46,428 | $ | 44,040 | ||||||||||
| (1 | ) | Share and per share values at or for the periods ended September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2024 have been adjusted to give effect to the 5% stock dividend paid during December 2024. |
LANDMARK BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Select Ratios and Other Data (unaudited)
| As of or for the three months ended, | As of or for the year ended, | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | September 30, | December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Performance ratios: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Return on average assets (1) | 0.83 | % | 1.01 | % | 0.67 | % | 0.83 | % | 0.80 | % | ||||||||||
| Return on average equity (1) | 9.54 | % | 11.95 | % | 9.39 | % | 10.01 | % | 10.70 | % | ||||||||||
| Net interest margin (1)(2) | 3.51 | % | 3.30 | % | 3.11 | % | 3.28 | % | 3.17 | % | ||||||||||
| Effective tax rate | -37.0 | % | 18.1 | % | -4.4 | % | 7.7 | % | 13.8 | % | ||||||||||
| Efficiency ratio (3) | 70.0 | % | 66.5 | % | 71.9 | % | 69.1 | % | 71.2 | % | ||||||||||
| Non-interest income to total income (3) | 25.9 | % | 25.5 | % | 24.3 | % | 25.3 | % | 25.1 | % | ||||||||||
| Average balances: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Investment securities | $ | 409,648 | $ | 428,301 | $ | 463,763 | $ | 432,928 | $ | 486,268 | ||||||||||
| Loans | 1,010,153 | 985,659 | 934,333 | 974,293 | 891,487 | |||||||||||||||
| Assets | 1,568,821 | 1,562,482 | 1,555,742 | 1,558,236 | 1,535,694 | |||||||||||||||
| Interest-bearing deposits | 944,969 | 936,218 | 910,610 | 938,223 | 892,373 | |||||||||||||||
| FHLB and other borrowings | 57,507 | 77,958 | 84,408 | 70,226 | 74,210 | |||||||||||||||
| Subordinated debentures | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | 21,651 | |||||||||||||||
| Repurchase agreements | 12,212 | 10,774 | 13,785 | 12,216 | 18,361 | |||||||||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity | $ | 136,933 | $ | 132,271 | $ | 111,560 | $ | 129,944 | $ | 114,339 | ||||||||||
| Average tax equivalent yield/cost (1): | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Investment securities | 3.03 | % | 2.99 | % | 2.86 | % | 3.00 | % | 2.76 | % | ||||||||||
| Loans | 6.28 | % | 6.43 | % | 6.04 | % | 6.30 | % | 5.81 | % | ||||||||||
| Total interest-bearing assets | 5.34 | % | 5.38 | % | 4.97 | % | 5.28 | % | 4.71 | % | ||||||||||
| Interest-bearing deposits | 2.25 | % | 2.48 | % | 2.13 | % | 2.38 | % | 1.71 | % | ||||||||||
| FHLB and other borrowings | 5.10 | % | 5.61 | % | 5.65 | % | 5.53 | % | 5.45 | % | ||||||||||
| Subordinated debentures | 7.15 | % | 7.64 | % | 7.73 | % | 7.55 | % | 7.34 | % | ||||||||||
| Repurchase agreements | 2.51 | % | 2.66 | % | 2.79 | % | 2.82 | % | 2.72 | % | ||||||||||
| Total interest-bearing liabilities | 2.52 | % | 2.82 | % | 2.54 | % | 2.70 | % | 2.13 | % | ||||||||||
| Capital ratios: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity to total assets | 8.65 | % | 8.93 | % | 8.13 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Tangible equity to tangible assets (3) | 6.58 | % | 6.84 | % | 5.98 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Book value per share | $ | 23.59 | $ | 24.18 | $ | 22.07 | ||||||||||||||
| Tangible book value per share (3) | $ | 17.53 | $ | 18.11 | $ | 15.87 | ||||||||||||||
| Rollforward of allowance for credit losses (loans): | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | 11,544 | $ | 10,903 | $ | 10,970 | $ | 10,608 | $ | 8,791 | ||||||||||
| Adoption of CECL | – | – | – | – | 1,523 | |||||||||||||||
| Charge-offs | (246 | ) | (153 | ) | (442 | ) | (659 | ) | (850 | ) | ||||||||||
| Recoveries | 27 | 144 | 80 | 476 | 894 | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for credit losses for loans | 1,500 | 650 | – | 2,400 | 250 | |||||||||||||||
| Ending balance | $ | 12,825 | $ | 11,544 | $ | 10,608 | $ | 12,825 | $ | 10,608 | ||||||||||
| Allowance for unfunded loan commitments | $ | 150 | $ | 300 | $ | 200 | ||||||||||||||
| Non-performing assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-accrual loans | $ | 13,115 | $ | 13,415 | $ | 2,391 | ||||||||||||||
| Accruing loans over 90 days past due | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||
| Real estate owned | 167 | 428 | 928 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total non-performing assets | $ | 13,282 | $ | 13,843 | $ | 3,319 | ||||||||||||||
| Loans 30-89 days delinquent | $ | 6,201 | $ | 7,301 | $ | 1,582 | ||||||||||||||
| Other ratios: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Loans to deposits | 78.21 | % | 77.64 | % | 71.23 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Loans 30-89 days delinquent and still accruing to gross loans outstanding | 0.59 | % | 0.73 | % | 0.17 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Total non-performing loans to gross loans outstanding | 1.25 | % | 1.34 | % | 0.25 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Total non-performing assets to total assets | 0.84 | % | 0.89 | % | 0.21 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses to gross loans outstanding | 1.22 | % | 1.15 | % | 1.12 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses to total non-performing loans | 97.79 | % | 86.05 | % | 443.66 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Net loan charge-offs to average loans (1) | 0.09 | % | 0.00 | % | 0.15 | % | 0.03 | % | -0.01 | % | ||||||||||
| (1 | ) | Information is annualized. |
| (2 | ) | Net interest margin is presented on a fully tax equivalent basis, using a 21% federal tax rate. |
| (3 | ) | Non-GAAP financial measures. See the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this press release for a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP equivalent. |
LANDMARK BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Non-GAAP Finacials Measures (unaudited)
| As of or for the three months ended, | As of or for the year ended, | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | September 30, | December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Non-GAAP financial ratio reconciliation: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total non-interest expense | $ | 11,874 | $ | 10,559 | $ | 10,562 | $ | 44,079 | $ | 41,983 | ||||||||||
| Less: foreclosure and real estate owned expense | (13 | ) | (23 | ) | (40 | ) | (47 | ) | (61 | ) | ||||||||||
| Less: amortization of other intangibles | (151 | ) | (171 | ) | (174 | ) | (663 | ) | (765 | ) | ||||||||||
| Less: valuation allowance on real estate held for sale | – | – | – | (1,108 | ) | – | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted non-interest expense (A) | 11,710 | 10,365 | 10,348 | 42,261 | 41,157 | |||||||||||||||
| Net interest income (B) | 12,399 | 11,604 | 10,886 | 45,724 | 43,292 | |||||||||||||||
| Non-interest income | 3,371 | 4,253 | 2,254 | 14,744 | 13,230 | |||||||||||||||
| Less: losses on sales of investment securities, net | 1,031 | – | 1,246 | 1,031 | 1,246 | |||||||||||||||
| Less: gains on sales of premises and equipment and foreclosed assets | (62 | ) | (273 | ) | – | (326 | ) | (1 | ) | |||||||||||
| Adjusted non-interest income (C) | $ | 4,340 | $ | 3,980 | $ | 3,500 | $ | 15,449 | $ | 14,475 | ||||||||||
| Efficiency ratio (A/(B+C)) | 70.0 | % | 66.5 | % | 71.9 | % | 69.1 | % | 71.2 | % | ||||||||||
| Non-interest income to total income (C/(B+C)) | 25.9 | % | 25.5 | % | 24.3 | % | 25.3 | % | 25.1 | % | ||||||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | $ | 136,215 | $ | 139,691 | $ | 126,914 | ||||||||||||||
| Less: goodwill and other intangible assets | (34,955 | ) | (35,106 | ) | (35,618 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Tangible equity (D) | $ | 101,260 | $ | 104,585 | $ | 91,296 | ||||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 1,574,142 | $ | 1,563,651 | $ | 1,561,672 | ||||||||||||||
| Less: goodwill and other intangible assets | (34,955 | ) | (35,106 | ) | (35,618 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Tangible assets (E) | $ | 1,539,187 | $ | 1,528,545 | $ | 1,526,054 | ||||||||||||||
| Tangible equity to tangible assets (D/E) | 6.58 | % | 6.84 | % | 5.98 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Shares outstanding at end of period (F) | 5,775,198 | 5,776,282 | 5,751,475 | |||||||||||||||||
| Tangible book value per share (D/F) | $ | 17.53 | $ | 18.11 | $ | 15.87 | ||||||||||||||
Source: New Zealand Police (National News)
It was a case of right place, right time for the Police Maritime Unit after rescuing two teenagers struggling to keep afloat in the water off Waitangi Wharf.
At about 3.30pm on Tuesday, the Police Maritime Unit were returning to the wharf when they noticed two heads bobbing in the water.
Sergeant Jesse Jenden says the pair were with a group of others jumping into the water when they got out of their depth and found themselves struggling against the strong current.
“They were being swept out in the strong current and were near the 5-knot marker, about 300 metres from the wharf.
“They were with about 20 kids on the wharf but none of them had noticed they had been swept away.
“It was obvious they were struggling.”
Sergeant Jenden says when they pulled up alongside the two girls and offered help they quickly accepted and were helped onboard.
“Another few minutes and it could have been a different result.
“Both were fully clothed and wearing crocs, which would also have restricted their ability to swim.
“I guess it was a case of being in the right place at the right time, and I’m glad we were there to help.”
ENDS.
Holly McKay/NZ Police
Source: US State of Vermont
After a six-day trial, a jury found Brandon Russell, 29, of Orlando, Florida, guilty of conspiracy to damage an energy facility.
According to evidence presented at trial, from at least November 2022 to Feb. 3, 2023, Russell conspired to carry out attacks against critical infrastructure, specifically transformers located within electrical substations, in furtherance of his racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs. Russell posted links to open-source maps of infrastructure, which included the locations of electrical substations, and he described how a small number of attacks on substations could cause a “cascading failure.” Russell also discussed maximizing the impact of the planned attack by hitting multiple substations at one time.
Russell recruited a Maryland-based woman, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to carry out the attacks in Baltimore and elsewhere. They planned to damage energy facilities involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity and to cause a significant interruption and impairment of the Baltimore regional power grid. The intended monetary loss associated with the planned attacks would have exceeded $75 million. Clendaniel identified five substations to target, and Russell attempted to secure a weapon for Clendaniel. Clendaniel stated that if they hit a number of substations all in the same day, they “would completely destroy this whole city,” and that a “good four or five shots through the center of them . . . should make that happen.” She further added, “[i]t would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully.”
Russell faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to damage an energy facility and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17.
On Sept. 25, 2024, Clendaniel was sentenced to 18 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for conspiring with Russell to damage or destroy an energy facility. Clendaniel was also sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and 3 years of supervised release.
The FBI investigated the case.
The Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case.
