SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) –  Authorities say a collision between a semitrailer and a car left two people dead in Sioux City. The crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Police say the northbound semi collided with the eastbound car at an intersection. The 19-year-old man and 18-year-old woman in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. Police say the truck driver wasn’t injured. The names of those involved and other details about the crash haven’t been released.

(Des Moines, Jan 18)  Presidential candidate Tom Steyer will be back in Western Iowa for a quick trip on January 21st before coming back to Iowa full-time before the caucuses. Steyer’s campaign says the billionaire from California “will be using his time to energize supporters and encourage Iowans to join the movement that’s going to prioritize climate and beat Donald Trump.”

His schedule for Tuesday, Jan. 21st includes a Meet and Greet at “The Hub” (7 S. 4th St.) in Council Bluffs, from 10-until 11:30-a.m., and in Atlantic at the “Farmer’s Walnut Street Diner,” from 2:30-until 4-p.m.

Reservations to attend either Steyer event can be made through the campaign’s website.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (Jan. 20, 2020) — The American Red Cross has extended its urgent call for donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets. With influenza escalating across the country and preventing some donors from giving, and winter weather threatening to cancel blood drives, the Red Cross now has a critical shortage of type O blood and urgently needs donors to restock the shelves.  Currently, the Red Cross has less than a three-day supply of type O blood available for patient emergencies and medical treatments. Type O positive blood is the most transfused blood type and can be given to Rh-positive patients of any blood type. While just 7% of the U.S. population has type O negative blood, it can be transfused to patients with any blood type and is what hospital staff reach for during emergencies when there isn’t time to determine a patient’s blood type.

Every day, the Red Cross must collect nearly 13,000 blood donations and more than 2,600 platelet donations for patients who rely on blood to survive. Shortfalls in donations can cause delays in essential medical care for patients. Donors of all blood types – especially types O positive and O negative – are urged to make an appointment to give blood or platelets now using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

Some area, upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Exira – 1/27/2020: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., Exira Recreational Center, 106 N Jefferson

Anita – 2/11/2020: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., Community Center, 805 Main Street

Lewis – 1/29/2020: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Lewis Community Center, 400 West MainStreet

Denison – 2/4/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., United Methodist Church, 113 South 14th Street

Sidney – 2/13/2020: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Sidney High School, 2754 Knox Rd

Glenwood – 2/3/2020: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, 512 2nd St.

Malvern – 1/28/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Malvern Library, 502 Main St

Red Oak – 1/27/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1101 East Summit

Clarinda – 1/21/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Westminster Presbyterian Church, 322 N 16th

College Springs – 2/10/2020: 1:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., South Page High School, 600 S Iowa

Essex – 1/24/2020: 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Essex High School, 111 Forbes St.

Shenandoah – 2/11/2020: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Shenandoah High School, 1000 Mustang Drive

Council Bluffs:

1/24/2020: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Council Bluffs Public Library, 400 Willow Avenue

1/26/2020: 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Community of Christ, 140 Kanesville Blvd

2/1/2020: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., Hy-Vee Broadway, 2323 West Broadway

Crescent – 2/15/2020: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., Fire Station, 102 West Florence

Shelby – 2/8/2020: 7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Shelby Community Building, 500 East Street

Defiance – 2/4/2020: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., St. Peter’s Hall, 402 5th Street

Elk Horn – 1/28/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Elk Horn Lutheran Church, 4313 Main Street

Harlan: 1/21/2020: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Veteran’s Memorial Building, 1104 Morningview; 2/11/2020: 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., CDS, 3107 Shelby Street; 2/12/2020: 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Harlan High School, 2102 Durant Street

Westphalia – 1/22/2020: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., St. Boniface Parish Center, 305 Duren St.

Creston: 2/3/2020: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, 800 N Sumner; 2/7/2020: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Creston SWCC Instructional Bldg, 1501 W. Townline

(Radio Iowa) — Opening arguments in the impeachment trial of President Trump begin in the U.S. Senate tomorrow (Tuesday). Sam Clovis of Hinton was co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign, then served in the Trump Administration until May of 2018. “I think what has been going on is to try to get rid of Trump from the start,” Clovis says, “and they’ve tried everything.” Democrats have been calling for witnesses to testify during the Senate trial. Clovis says if Republicans capitulate, he has a list of witnesses he’d like to see testify. “Joe Biden, Hunter Biden…people in the Obama Administration that may have been behind some of the other issues, like Valerie Jarrett and Samantha Power and some of the others that were clearly involved in unmasking myself and Carter Page and George Papadopoulos,” Clovis says.

Clovis had supervised Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign who pleaded guilty to lying to the F-B-I about talking with Russian-linked contacts. Clovis hired a lawyer, as he was interviewed during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “It took two years to come to the same the conclusion that that he could have come to in the first couple of weeks,” Clovis says.

Clovis doesn’t expect the impeachment trial to last long, partly because the Senate will be unable to do other business while the impeachment proceedings are underway. Clovis has battled health issues since his return to Iowa in mid-2018. In November of 2017, Clovis withdrew his nomination to be the top science adviser in the U.S. Department of Agriculture after Democrats and environmentalists complained he was skeptical of climate change. Clovis wrote at the time the political climate in Washington made it impossible to win confirmation to the job. Clovis worked six more months as a top adviser to U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue before leaving the Trump Administration.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Democratic Party’s leading presidential hopefuls are splitting their time between the critical early-voting states South Carolina and Iowa at events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary is a crucial proving ground for a candidate’s mettle with black voters. The state’s showcase holiday celebration, Columbia’s King Day at the Dome, is a notable and highly visible event for a Democratic politician. The festivities are marked by a march through the streets of downtown Columbia and a rally at the Statehouse. All the top-tier candidates plan to start Monday with prayer services around Columbia.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Bernie Sanders is seeking out first-time Iowa caucus participants where they live, work and shop. Pete Buttigieg is signaling to them through friends of supporters and closing the deal in big rallies. The strategies represent one of the most important pieces of a winning presidential Iowa campaign: getting new people to participate. It always matters, but in a highly competitive Democratic presidential caucus campaign, expanding the electorate is vitally important for the pack of four candidates scrambling to break out in the coming two weeks. The candidate who turns out the most and the broadest array of first time participants stands a very good chance of winning.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are proving to be two of the most durable candidates in the Democratic presidential primary. Both men are in their 70s and have outlasted younger rivals who were expected to have strong showings in the 2020 contest. Biden and Sanders still face stiff competition in the early voting states that could block their paths to the nomination. They’re locked in tight, four-way races in Iowa and New Hampshire with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

The Atlantic Volunteer Fire Department held its annual Dinner and Awards Banquet Saturday night. During the event, Jake Vetter was named Firefighter of the Year, and Jim Shannon was recognized as the Officer of the Year.

Former Fire Chief Mark McNees was recognized for his 13-years of service as Chief. Tim Cappel and Doug Sandbothe were also recognized for their 20-years of service to the department. (All photos below courtesy Wendy Richter)

L-R: Former IFA President Roger Bissen, Jake Vetter, and Tom Cappel, Atlantic Fire Chief

L-R: Roger Bissen, former IFB President, Mark McNees, former Atlantic Fire Chief, and Tom Cappel, Atlantic Fire Chief

L-R: Former IFB President Roger Bissen, Tim Cappel, Doug Sandbothe, and Tom Cappel, Atlantic Fire Chief.

L-R: Former IFA President, Roger Bissen, Jim Shannon, Mark McNees, and former Atlantic Fire Chief)

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors will meet in a regular session 5:15-p.m. Monday, in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall, in Atlantic. Action items and.or New Business includes:

• Discussion with regard to tree removal at Sunnyside Park
• The closing of roads in the Sunnyside Park (as previously announced, the road gates closed Jan. 10th)
• An Ice Skating Rink update
• An update on the Community Gardens
• Bikes for recreation
• PALS
• Controlled Burns
• Ice Fishing.

In his report to the Board, Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen is expected to talk about:

• A Recreation shed being built
• Grants he’s applied for
• New recreation items added to the shop
• Snow removal efforts
• Spring Projects that are underway
• and, an update on the the previously announced New Year’s Challenge.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) – Bernie Sanders is seeking out first-time Iowa caucus participants where they live, work and shop. Pete Buttigieg is signaling to them through friends of supporters and closing the deal in big rallies. The strategies represent one of the most important pieces of a winning presidential Iowa campaign: getting new people to participate.

It always matters, but in a highly competitive Democratic presidential caucus campaign, expanding the electorate is vitally important for the pack of four candidates scrambling to break out in the coming two weeks. The candidate who turns out the most and the broadest array of first time participants stands a very good chance of winning.

Several meetings are set to kick-off the week around the listening area, from Boards of Supervisors to School Board sessions. The Adair County Board of Supervisors will meet 9-a.m. Monday in their Boardroom at the Courthouse in Greenfield. On their agenda are FY21 Budget Requests from Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, and Auditor Mandy Berg (re: Auditor & Data Processing), followed by a Budget Work Session.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will meet 1:30-p.m. Monday, in their Boardroom at the Courthouse in Atlantic. On their agenda is the interview during a closed session, of an applicant for the County Engineer’s position, followed by a report from the Cass County Attorney, and the amendment of a 2020 5-year Secondary Roads Program, and budgetary considerations.

The Griswold School Board will meet 5:30-p.m. Monday in the Conference Room at the High School. The Board will consider approval of a retirement compensation package for Non-Certified Employees, conduct a facilities inspection walk-through, and possibly hold a closed session for strategy negotiations.

The Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton School Board meets 6-p.m. Monday in the Conference Room at the Elk Horn Building. Discussion and/or Action items include those pertaining to: A Sharing Agreement; Setting the time and date for the 2020-21 Calendar Hearing; and Personnel Hires/Transfers and related matters.

The CAM School Board meets 6:30-p.m., Monday, in the CAM High School Superintendent’s Office. The Board will continue discussions with regard to a Facility Assessment with Boyd Jones & Alley Poyner Macchieto.

And, the Audubon School Board meeting gets underway at 7-p.m., Monday, in the High School Boardroom. Their action items include: Setting the date/time for the March 3rd meeting; Possible action on Wrestling Room RTU(s); Approving a contract with Denovo for Construction Management Services (re: High School Improvements), and approving a contract with Studio Melee, for Architect Services; also, approval of changes to the shared superintendent’s position with two districts, and…personnel matters. Discussion will also be held with regard to possible calendar options for 2019-20.

Police in Red Oak report a traffic stop at around 2:30 this (Sunday) morning, resulted in the arrest of a Clarinda woman. 31-year old Shona Renae Carlson was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond.