Insights and Stories of P.J. Huffstutter

Jan. 31, 2013 at 6:48 pm CST

A U.S. judge on Thursday sentenced the founder of Peregrine Financial Group (PFGBest) to 50 years in prison for looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the brokerage, saying his customers would probably never recover the money they lost. Russell Wasendorf Sr., who had tried to kill himself just before […]

By P.J. Huffstutter

Oct. 26, 2012 at 5:05 pm CDT

As the Midwest struggles with the ripple effects of this year’s devastating drought, farmland prices in Iowa hit a new record high on Thursday when an 80.47-acre parcel sold for $21,900 an acre, the auction firm that handled the sale said Friday. The parcel is located in Sioux County near […]

By P.J. Huffstutter

Oct. 25, 2012 at 6:41 pm CDT

ABC News sought on Wednesday to move to federal court a meat processor’s defamation lawsuit over reports about lean finely textured beef, a product that critics have labeled "pink slime." Lawyers for the network filed to transfer the case, brought last month by Beef Products Inc., the leading producer of […]

By martha-graybow, P.J. Huffstutter

Jul. 13, 2012 at 7:53 pm CDT

Russell Wasendorf Sr., arrested on Friday, confessed to a 20-year fraud at his now-bankrupt Iowa brokerage, saying business troubles and his "big" ego left him no choice: "So I cheated." In the dramatic conclusion to a week-long saga that has shaken trader confidence in the trillion-dollar U.S. futures markets, authorities […]

By P.J. Huffstutter, Tom Polansek

Mar. 26, 2012 at 6:31 pm CDT

Beef Products Inc., the top producer of ammonia-treated beef product dubbed "pink slime" by critics, said Monday it had halted production at three of its four plants in three states for 60 days from Monday. Rich Jochum, corporate administrator for the South Dakota-based company, said that the temporary closure could […]

By P.J. Huffstutter