Attorneys in the case of an Oakland man charged with the first-degree murder of a rural Cass County woman have filed motions for another continuance in the case. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber and defense attorney Eric John Nelson filed their requests with the court Thursday, in the trial for 63-year old Robert A. Reynolds. Reynolds has plead not guilty to the murder charge. His trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 18th. A pre-trial conference is slated for 9:30-a.m. Monday.  If a continuance is granted by the court, it would be the sixth time the proceedings have been delayed.

Authorities say during the early morning hours of April 9th, 2014, Reynolds shot to death in his home, 64-year old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey, a resident of rural Cass County.

During an interview with law enforcement, Reynolds allegedly admitted he and Kinkade-Dorsey had a verbal dispute inside his residence, and that he then left the area to locate a firearm which he allegedly used to fatally shoot Kinkade-Dorsey.

Three other people in the home at the time the incident occurred were not injured

A man from Union County was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home, following an incident of domestic violence. Creston Police say 29-year old Christopher Claybaker, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 4:30-p.m. on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault by Strangulation. Claybaker was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

The Creston P-D reports also, a property located in the 100 block of south Sumner Street was vandalized. The homeowner reported on Nov. 3rd, that ceilings, walls, doors, flooring and lighting fixtures were damaged. The loss was estimated at $20,000.

And, on Thursday, the Creston P-D took a report of theft from a resident of a local apartment complex. The resident said someone entered the apartment at 219 north Maple Street and took an X-Box 360. The loss was estimated at $300.

A house fire that occurred early this (Friday) morning in Massena has claimed a life. Massena Fire Chief Drew Williams told KJAN News a call about the fire at 208 Pine Street came in just before 1-a.m. When firefighters arrived, the house was already fully engulfed in flames. Crews were on the scene until about 5:30-a.m.

Williams would not release other details or the name of the victim. An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was expected to be on the scene later today. No other details are available.

The recent decrease in temperatures has led to an increase in home fires across Iowa. The Red Cross reports, since November 1, the agency has sent disaster teams to 28 home fires around the state. State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigle says a lot of fires at this time of year are sparked by the improper use of space heaters. He advises people to turn off the space heater when they leave the room and to use a newer model that shuts off automatically if it’s knocked over. “Make certain that you maintain at least a three foot area around the space heater, so it’s not up close to upholstered furniture or on a carpet,” Quigle said.

Space heaters should also be plugged directly into the outlet, rather than using an extension cord, according to Quigle. He’s also reminding Iowans to have smoke alarms installed on every level of their home and make sure they have fresh batteries. So far this year, 31 people have died in structure fires in Iowa. “This is a sharp increase over the same time period last year when we had 20 reported fire deaths,” Quigle said. “The big thing we see is 25 of the 31 reported fire deaths (this year) occurred in (homes or apartments) and only three had working smoke detectors.”

There were 25 fire-related fatalities reported in Iowa over all of 2013. That was down from 42 in 2012.

(Radio Iowa)