Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who dresses as Santa Claus for charity has lost his home and all of his belongings in a Christmas Eve fire. The Hawk Eye in Burlington says firefighters were called to a Keokuk home around 10:20 a.m. Wednesday. By the time they arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. The home belonged to Robert Tripp, who portrays Santa for the Salvation Army in Keokuk. Officials suspect electrical wiring caused the blaze.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An overnight fire has destroyed a Des Moines home, but firefighters managed to save the family’s Christmas presents. KCCI-TV reports that flames were shooting through the home’s roof when firefighters arrived shortly after 3 a.m. yesterday. No one was injured. Family members had left the home hours earlier to visit relatives in Atlantic. Firefighters say they were able to save the family’s Christmas tree and their presents.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 52-year-old man has died at a hospital after a shooting at a Waterloo home on Christmas Eve. Police yesterday identified the man as Randall Dawson of Waterloo. Officers and medics were sent to the home about 9:25 p.m. Wednesday.

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man is dead and two others were seriously injured after a two-vehicle crash. 58-year-old Richard Tiffey Junior of Logan was killed in the crash around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The driver of a pickup truck suffered from an apparent medical condition Thursday in Pottawattamie County, causing the vehicle to crash. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2006 Chevy pickup driven by 37-year old John Shannon McCreary, of Council Bluffs, was traveling south on Interstate 29 about three-miles north of the Crescent exit. McCreary had a medical issue and lost consciousness, causing his vehicle to crash through a fence and entering 145th Street, which parallels I-29. The pickup continued into a ditch on the west side of 145th, rolled over, and finally came to rest in a farm field.

McCreary, who was wearing his seat belt, was transported by Crescent Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs.

A central Iowa family visiting relatives in Atlantic lost their home to a fire early Christmas day. KCCI-TV reports firefighters in Des Moines were called to the home at 7005 Southwest 15th Street in Des Moines, at around 3-a.m., after a neighbor saw flames shooting through the roof. Officials say the family had left the home just a couple hours before the fire started to visit relatives in Atlantic.

Three adults and two children under 10 years old live in the home. There were no injuries. The home was a total loss, but firefighter were able to save the family’s Christmas presents. A tarp now covers the collapsed roof. They estimate the damage at more than $130,000. The Red Cross was assisting the family.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Since thanksgiving, 50 fires have occurred in the capital city.

A traffic stop Thursday morning in Red Oak resulted in an arrest. According to Red Oak Police, 45-year old Robert Joe Coddington, of Red Oak, was stopped at around 8:40-a.m. in the 700 block of north Broadway Street. He was subsequently taken into custody for Driving While Revoked. Coddington was then released on a citation and given a court date. His car was towed away and held in an impound lot.

Most rural Iowans don’t have the convenience of a nearby urgent care or walk-in clinic when they feel sick, but there’s a new option — using the internet. Live Health Online-dot-com (www.livehealthonline.com) markets itself as putting a doctor at your side 24-seven. Dr. Mia Finkelston is one of dozens of physicians on staff who are just a few clicks away and several of them are in Iowa.  “You would have the ability to speak face-to-face with a board-certified physician of your choosing,” Finkelston says. “Usually, there are multiple doctors available in the state you’re calling from. It’s by no means meant to be a replacement for your doctor.”

All you need to interact is a computer with a web camera or a smart phone. She says they can diagnose and treat a number of ailments, including colds, the flu, allergies, diarrhea, sinus infections and bronchitis. “With the phone feature or a webcam, it’s easy to look at the rashes,” Finkelston says. “Sometimes I ask for assistance or I’ll ask the patient to put a quarter next to that or if they have any change, something to give me a little size indication. We see a lot of questions about allergies in the fall and the spring. We’re hoping to work in addition to your primary care physician, certainly not to replace them.”

She says the service is for non-emergencies. Doctors are allowed to electronically prescribe medication to a nearby pharmacy under Iowa law, and she says these tele-visits are covered by a number of insurance companies.  “We can diagnose, as long as we feel like we got enough information from you and could see the areas and then we can treat,” she says. “It’s generated through the electronic record system through the computer or through the phone. Everything is private and secure and HIPAA-compliant and then we can prescribe to the pharmacy.”

Finkelston encourages patients to print a copy of the prescription and diagnosis and give it to their regular physician. Typically, she says Iowans will video chat with a doctor in Iowa. She says the wait time is usually two minutes and the average visit is about ten minutes. The cost is 49-dollars, not including prescriptions.

(Radio Iowa)

Retiring Senator Tom Harkin wants the new “Harkin Institute” at Drake University to help lead the conversation about the future of Iowa’s Caucuses. “Making that center a center of information and expertise on the Iowa Caucus system,” Harkin says. A long-time Drake University political science professor has been awarded the Harkin Institute’s first academic fellowship and his job will be to explain how the Iowa Caucuses work and examine how the media covers the event.

Dennis Goldford has been at Drake for nearly 30 years and Harkin touts Goldford as a “nonpartisan authority on presidential politics.” Harkin has his own list of goals for the enterprise. “Looking at the Caucuses, both Democrat and Republican,” Harkin says. “How did they evolve? What do they do? Why are they good and how do we continue to keep the Iowa Caucus system and keep it viable?” The full name of the center is the Harkin Institute on Public Policy and Citizen Engagement.

“I want that institute to begin reaching out and getting more and more people to think about how they’re involved civically — school boards, boards of supervisors, even volunteering,” Harkin says. “We’ve got to get back to having more people involved locally in their local government.” The documents Harkin amassed over 40 years of service in congress will be transferred to Drake at the end of this month. The letters, notes and other documents are being converted to a digital format and will be posted online for researchers.

(Radio Iowa)