SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The escalator at HOM Furniture — believed to be the last one accessible by the public in downtown Sioux City — has been taken down. The Sioux City Journal reports that the decision was made last year to remove the 35-year-old escalator and replace it with a staircase.

The 1986 escalator at HOM Furniture in downtown Sioux City, Iowa, is being replaced by a set of stairs shown under construction on Jan. 30, 2021. The escalator had been in constant use since the downtown space at 415 4th St. was occupied by a Younkers department store. (Jesse Brothers/Sioux City Journal via AP)

The change may be a sign of the times; the escalator was thought to be the last one in operation in a retail store in Sioux City and the last one downtown that was accessible to the general public. HOM manager Kyle Chance says the decision was mainly a financial one, noting it would have cost more than $1 million to replace the ailing escalator and keep it running.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say the body of a man has been found inside a portable toilet outside the city’s Forest Avenue Library. Police say a city snowplow driver spotted the man’s legs sticking out of the portable toilet just after 3 a.m. Monday. Police have not identified the man.

Officials don’t believe foul play was involved. The man’s death came as overnight temperatures in Des Moines dropped to minus 2 degrees and the wind chill was double digits below zero.

The Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency and National Weather Service in Des Moines will host a Virtual Storm Spotter Training Session on March 17, 2021 at 7:00 PM via GoToWebinar. This training session is open to the all county responders and the public. The virtual training session is free. Adair/Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf says the session will acquaint attendees with basic information on the formation of severe weather storms and how they function. What to report, as well as how and where to communicate this information will be covered. After the training, you may register as a severe storm spotter with the National Weather Service. Real-time ground truth from storm spotters is essential to rounding out the other information provided from radar, satellite, and from automated weather sensors.

According to Chad Hahn, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, “the 2021 spotter training will once again be 100% virtual. Turnout & reception was positive during the 2020 spotter training season & we would expect the same for this year.” Each session will again run 60-75 minutes in length.

Kempf says “By being aware of the possibility of severe weather or tornados in your area, you can react to rapidly changing weather conditions and improve you, your family and your community’s safety in such an event. As a trained spotter serving your area and providing the National Weather Service with severe storm reports, meteorologists can correlate your real‑time information of storm activity with the data they are receiving by radar to better warn your downstream neighbors of the impending severe weather dangers.”

Why does National Weather Service need severe weather reports from trained weather spotters? The Doppler Radar provides great detail to National Weather Service warning meteorologists, but it is unable to tell exactly what is happening on the ground. Trained weather spotters fill in this gap of information.

Registration is required to attend and can be completed at: http://bit.ly/2Lm59nK

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds auctioned off an afternoon of her time to the highest bidder to raise money for her top campaign donors’ charity. It’s a striking example of the Republican governor’s close relationship with Iowa’s powerful pork industry. The 2019 auction surfaced recently when her office released emails detailing her alliance with Iowa Select Farms, which is among the nation’s largest pork producers.

Iowa Select is owned by Deb and Jeff Hansen of West Des Moines, who have given nearly $300,000 to help fund Reynolds’ campaigns. Company staff also run the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. Pork executive and Reynolds donor Gary Lynch won the auction with a $4,250 bid.

Police in Glenwood report one arrest from over the weekend. 37-year old Health Holmes, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Sunday for Violation of a No Contact Order. He posted a $300 bond, and was released.

BOONE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in central Iowa say a man has died and about two dozen people were evacuated from an apartment building after a fire broke out. The Des Moines Register reports that the fire was reported Sunday evening in Boone. Members of the Boone Fire Department arrived to find flames coming from a fifth-floor unit on the south side of the six-story building. Authorities say firefighters found 66-year-old Steven Michael Crise inside the burning unit. Crise was declared dead at the scene.

Officials say about 24 people were evacuated from the building, along with several pets. No other injuries were reported. The fire is being investigated by the Boone Fire Department, Boone police and the Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who haven’t blown their New Year’s resolutions about weight loss yet have a new temptation, as Girl Scout Cookie season has arrived. Samie Swinton, spokeswoman for the Girls Scouts of Greater Iowa, says sales of the tasty treats teach the girls valuable lessons and they won’t be deterred by the pandemic. “We know life is different these days and the cookie program is still something that is so valuable for our Girl Scouts to participate in and learn all the business skills that they do,” Swinton says. “There are different options for them to continue to sell this year but stay safe while doing it.”

To buy cookies, Iowans shouldn’t wait for a youngster to ring their doorbell this year. They can simply go to the website — www.girlscoutsiowa.org/findcookies — enter their ZIP code and place their order online. “Girls can drop it off right at their doorstep and have a contact-free option,” Swinton says. “It can also just get shipped to their doorstep. We have virtual booths where troops can participate together and have their link out all week long and then do a drive-through pickup the day of the booth sale.”

Swinton says all of the money raised by cookie sales remains in Iowa. “One-hundred percent of the proceeds stay local, right here in our council,” she says. “It helps support the troops to do all of the different activities that they want to do, service projects that directly help their community, as well as help fund our mission of volunteer training and the camps that they go to.”

Girl Scout Cookies can also be ordered through the Grub Hub site in Ankeny, Ames, Des Moines and Sioux City. Online orders must be placed by March 28th. There are nine varieties of cookies this year. The new flavor is called “Toast-Yay!” and is inspired by the flavors of French toast.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s ready to educate her fellow Republicans who are expressing reluctance about one of her legislative priorities.  “It’s early in the session,” she says. “It’s part of the process and we’re ready to go.” The governor’s plan to expand charter schools and give parents state money for private school expenses HAS cleared the Iowa Senate with the minimum number of Republican votes required — but three Republicans voted against it.

House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says the House moves at a different pace and there are differences of opinion among House Republicans on what parental choice should look like. “People may want to do more, may want to do less, whatever that looks like,” Grassley says, “so I wouldn’t say it’s a sticking point, it’s just a piece that we have to work through.” Reynolds says shifting more state money to private schools is the right thing to do. “Especially after what we’ve seen take place and the impact that the pandemic has had on our students over this past year,” Reynolds says, “so we are going to continue to educate and update and reach out to legislators to help answer any questions that they may have and to bring them on board.”

House Republicans already have separated out one part of the governor’s education package — to get rid of transfer restrictions in five Iowa districts and let all students enroll in another public district. The House passed a stand-alone bill on that topic last week.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Feb. 1st, of 48-year old Julie Lynn Lamb, of Council Bluffs. Lamb was arrested on an Adair County warrant for Child Endangerment without injury. Her bond at the Adair County Jail was set at $2,000.  On Feb. 1st also, 34-year old David Spencer Reeves, of Earlham, was arrested by Stuart Police, on multiple charges, including: Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (3 counts); Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense – Meth (2 counts); Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense (2 counts); 2 counts of False Imprisonment, and two counts Harassment in the 1st Degree.

Reeves was also arrested Feb. 4th at the Adair County Jail, for Violation of a No Contact Order, after he repeatedly tried to contact the protected female party. His cash/surety bond was set at $10,000.

On Feb. 3rd, Stuart Police arrested 32-year old Tyrone Anthony Morris, of Stuart, for Domestic Assault with a weapon (a hammer)/1st offense, and Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. He was released later that same day on a $2,000 cash-surety bond.

A representative of the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund has announced the Fund will provide funds for the 2021 Atlantic Trojan Baseball Pitching Camp, again this year.  Trevor’s mom Melanie Petty, says the camp is for all interested Atlantic Little League kids 3rd  through 7th grade.  Brett Johnson will be instructing the camp every Saturday in February along with one Saturday in both March and April.  Full details can be found on the Atlantic Little League FaceBook page.

Brett Johnson receives a check from Grant Petty for the Trojan Baseball Pitching Camp.

Melanie says they “Had a great first day over the weekend.  The kids really liked working with Brett and he had some fun drills to teach the kids about not only pitching technique but throwing and catching the ball in general.  We think anyone interested in baseball could benefit from attending this camp.  On these extremely cold days it’s nice to think about warmer weather and baseball!”

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund is a 501©3 non profit organization.  All monies raised at our annual golf tournament are given back to the things that were important to Trevor.  Their next golf tournament will be held on Saturday, August 14th at Nishna Hills golf club.  Petty says “We look forward to a wonderful day of giving back to the community Trev loved and hope that you can join us.”