The 8:07-a.m. broadcast News from Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – A fire in northeast Iowa has destroyed the boyhood home of the world-famous Ringling Brothers. Someone walking by the rural McGregor home discovered the fire yesterday (Thursday) morning. Officials say the structure was fully-engulfed by the time crews arrived and the consider the house a total loss. A mother and two kids who lived in the home escaped uninjured, along with their three dogs.

The Ringling Brothers and their only sister lived out part of their childhood in the home along the Mississippi River from 1860 to 1873. The family eventually moved to Wisconsin, where five of the seven brothers started a small circus in Baraboo. Charles and John Ringling would later purchase a competing circus founded by P.T. Barnum and James Bailey.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus became known as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and operated for 98 years before closing in 2017.

The broadcast News at 7:07-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

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(Villisca) Firefighters in Villisca responded at around 6:30-a.m. Thursday, to a residential fire at 102 E 1st Street. According to Villisca Fire Chief John Bruce, firefighters arrived to find heavy fire coming from the northeast room on the home’s upper level. They were able to contain the flames to the upstairs bedroom.

The bedroom sustained significant smoke and water damage. The remainder of the home also sustained considerable smoke and water damage, but was expected to be repairable. Chief Bruce said residents of the home got out safely, but Villisca Rescue treated a minor child for a burn before the child was released the child to a parent. No other injuries were reported. The Red Cross assisted the family.

The fire apparently started in the upstairs bedroom, according to the Chief, possibly from an overloaded extension cord. Crews wrapped-up their ground operations after about 2 ½ hours.

Assisting Villisca Fire at the scene, was: Villisca Ambulance, Red Oak Rescue, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Villisca Power Company, Villisca Public Works, and the Montgomery County EMA.

(UPDATE/Radio Iowa) – The search for a missing northeast Iowa teenager ended not long after it began, Thursday morning. Fayette County sheriff’s officials said 14-year-old Walker Richardson was found, and is safe. They released no other details on where he was located or where he had been.

Authorities said previously, they were searching for the teen who had last been seen Wednesday, around 2:30 p.m. They said Richardson is a highly-functioning autistic. Sheriff’s officials began their search Wednesday afternoon but suspended operations overnight over safety concerns. The search resumed 9:30-a.m. Thursday.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities have released more details about Wednesday afternoon’s fatal accident in rural Humboldt County, about half a mile east of Bode. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2019 Dodge Caravan driven by David Eddington Sr. of Bode struck the rear of a Case I-H farm tractor pulling a large round bale trailer. The tractor was driven by Kyle Olson of Bode.

Pamela Eddington of Bode was a passenger in the Dodge Caravan and she was pronounced dead at the scene. David Eddington, Sr. sustained minor injuries, The tractor driver and other passengers in the Caravan were not injured.

(Radio Iowa) – After another year filled with supply chain troubles and global health concerns, the economic outlook for 2022 in Iowa and for the Midwest isn’t rosy, according to Creighton University economist Ernie Goss. “The outlook depends heavily on what happens with the South African strain of COVID-19, the variant there,” Goss says. “Even with that, I’m still expecting slower growth in the first half of 2022. It will slow even more, obviously, if we see that expanding in the U.S.” The monthly Creighton survey of supply managers in Iowa and eight other states in the region is showing strong growth, but it’s bogged down by continued transportation troubles and labor shortages.

“One out of four of the supply managers expect the supply chain delays that we’re currently now experiencing to improve in the first half of 2022,” Goss says. “More than 50-percent of supply chain managers expect these supply chain disruptions, supply chain bottlenecks to get worse.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Iowa’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing employment rate was down by fewer than 500 jobs from October to November, or only about two-tenths of one-percent. On the national front, the Gross Domestic Product is booming. “The oddity of it is, we’ve got GDP back to above pre-pandemic levels, but employment? Not there,” Goss says. “We’re still seeing reluctance to return to work. We’ve got a lot of retirements. We’ve got individuals leaving the workforce.”

Ernie Goss

Goss says job gains for Iowa’s nondurable goods producers, including food processors, were more than offset in the past month by losses for the state’s durable goods manufacturers such as metal producers. Also, inflation levels are worsening and keeping prices on a wide range of products high. The region’s wholesale inflation gauge for November hit 92.9 on a zero-to-100 scale. “We’re seeing some of the highest numbers we’ve recorded here at Creighton University since we began the survey more than 25 years ago,” Goss says. “I would say it’s the most consistent upward price pressures we’ve recorded in the last three decades.”

The survey’s overall Business Conditions Index for the Midwest, which also uses a zero-to-100 scale, dropped from 65.2 in October to 60.2 in November. The overall index for Iowa tumbled even further, from 67.8 in October to 59.4 in November.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Thursday, reported the arrest of 35-year-old Daniel John Vornbrock, from Glenwood. He was arrested for Driving while barred, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $4,300.

Sheriff’s officials said also, a single-vehicle accident that took place at around 8:45-a.m. Tuesday, resulted in one person being transported to the hospital. Authorities say 63-year-old Mark Blair, of Stanton, was driving a 2007 Mack truck eastbound on Highway 34 eight mile-marker for Glenwood, and approaching the intersection of the off-ramp and 221st Street. When he attempted to turn right (South) onto 221st, the vehicle went out of control and rolled onto its side on 221st, dumping a load of dirt the truck was carrying across the northbound lanes.

Glenwood Fire Department personnel extricated Blair from the truck by mechanical means. He was then flown by helicopter to the hospital. An initial investigation determined there were skid marks about 52-feet long past the stop sign, traversing the corner. Authorities say that indicates the truck did not stop at the stop sign, and was traveling at a speed which, combined with the turn, resulted in the vehicle overturning.

(Radio Iowa) – December in Iowa began with a very unseasonably warm start. State climatologist Justin Glisan says November wrapped up slightly warmer than normal, too, as well as drier.  “The average temperature was about 39 degrees and that’s a little over two degrees above average,” Glisan says. “On the precipitation front, we were drier than average across the state. We did have pockets of slightly-above-average precipitation but overall slightly under an inch below-average precipitation.”  While winter doesn’t officially start until December 21st, snowfall isn’t out of the ordinary for this time of year, though there weren’t many flakes flying during November.

“We were below-average on snowfall across the state, anywhere from two to three inches, and there were some stations that didn’t get any snowfall in November,” Glisan says, “which is not extreme but also remarkable.” The forecast models for the month of December are showing a trend toward more spring-like temperatures versus fall or winter. “We have seen a persistent signal in which we’re seeing above-average behavior for warmer temperatures,” Glisan says. “We’ve definitely seen that over the last week with temperatures in the 50s and 60s, anywhere from 15 to 25 degrees above average, depending on your location.”

State Climatologist Justin Glisan. (file photo)

The La Nina weather pattern is expected to start influencing our region’s climate soon, but Iowa is in the center of two converging fronts — so it’s a toss-up as to what we might get for snow or rain. “If we look at the precipitation outlook for December, it’s showing us that classic La Nina signature in which we have above-average chances of wetter conditions in the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and up to the Pacific Northwest, drier probabilities south of us and Iowa happens to be right in the middle.”

The National Weather Service won’t be making its forecast for the likelihood of a White Christmas until around the 15th of December, or some ten days out from the 25th.

(Radio Iowa) – The top Democrat in the Iowa House expects Republicans will propose new abortion restrictions during the 2022 Iowa Legislature session, even before the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case that could reverse the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. “If anything, I think Republicans would be emboldened by the potential for this Supreme Court going their way and can’t help themselves and would want to do something to continue to attack women,” says House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights.

In a recorded message released Monday, Governor Kim Reynolds said she hopes two federal rulings that have blocked abortion restrictions in states like Iowa will be overruled by the new conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court. Konfrst says Reynolds does not represent the majority view on abortion, as a recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 57% of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. “And yet the governor has decided to once again to amplify minority opinions, amplify those that are not in line with what Iowans believe and pretend that it represents the entire state,” Konfrst says.

Jennifer Konforst. (file photo)

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a Mississippi law that forbids abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Reynolds has approved attempts to ban abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of pregnancy or to require waiting periods for abortions. This fall, Reynolds asked the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse a 2018 opinion that said women have a fundamental right to an abortion under Iowa’s constitution. “The governor continues to lean into extremist views, extremist beliefs and to pretend that they represent the entire state,” Konfrst says, “and Iowans are fed up.”

Konfrst expects abortion will be a big issue in legislative races in 2022. “We’re going to point it out,” Konfrst says. “We’re going to make sure that Iowans know that when Republicans are voting in the legislature, they’re voting on extreme legislation that doesn’t match what Iowans want and we’re going to hold them accountable.” Konfrst made her comments during the weekly news conference organized by the Iowa Democratic Party.

The Iowa Republican Party’s leading 2022 candidates — Reynolds, Senator Chuck Grassley and the three Iowa Republicans serving in the U.S. House — all oppose abortion, as do nearly all of the Republicans serving in the Iowa legislature.