(Radio Iowa) — A third person who was pulled from a Sioux City house fire has now died. Twenty-six-year-old Juan Galarza is the latest victim of the fire on February 6th. The fire earlier claimed the lives of 57-year-old Andrew Godberson and 24-year-old Jessica Fisher of Sioux City. It is the deadliest fire in Sioux City since three people died in a house fire in 1983. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports Coltin Douglas Hatfield, of Corning, was arrested at around 7-p.m. Wednesday. Hatfield was being held without bond in the Adams County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate. He faces charges that include Harassment in the 1st Degree, Enticing a Minor, and Dissemination of Obscene Material to Minors. An investigation into his alleged activities is ongoing.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 54-year old Richard Lee Lappegard, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested Wednesday, on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Assault. Lappegard was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, Red Oak Police report 34-year old Colbie Jo Sue Hunter, of Red Oak, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the 1900 block of N. Broadway Street, for Driving While Barred (an aggravated misdemeanor). She was being held in the Montgomery County Hail on a $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party has resigned after a disastrous caucus process beset by technical glitches led to a dayslong delay in reporting the results, inconsistencies in the numbers and no clear winner. Chairman Troy Price announced his resignation Wednesday, saying Iowa Democrats deserved better than what happened on caucus night. After a breakdown in the Feb. 3 caucuses, it took until Feb. 6 for the state party to issue what it said are complete results. In those figures, Pete Buttigieg leads Bernie Sanders by 0.09 percentage points. The Associated Press hasn’t declared a winner because it is not confident in the accuracy of the results. A partial recanvass is also underway.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A Fort Dodge man accused of beating a pastor to death outside a central Iowa church has been found mentally unfit to stand trial. Webster County Judge Gina Badding on Wednesday ordered 36-year-old Joshua Pendleton to undergo treatment at the Iowa Medical Classification Facility. Badding last month suspended proceedings in the case and ordered a mental competency evaluation after Pendleton’s attorney said he had been acting irrationally. Pendleton is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 2 slaying of the Rev. Allen Henderson. The 64-year-old Henderson was senior pastor at St. Paul and had served as a chaplain to first responders.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ruled incompetent for trial a woman accused of hate crimes in the Des Moines area, including intentionally running over a girl she thought was Mexican. Nicole Poole is charged with assault in violation of individual rights for an incident at a convenience store and with attempted murder. Police have said she intentionally ran over two children with her sport utility vehicle. Both children survived. The judge ruled Tuesday after hearing evidence and arguments on the matter that Poole is suffering from a mental disorder. She ordered state treatment for Poole so she can be restored to competency.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man charged in the 2017 killing of a Grundy Center man has been found guilty of first-degree murder and a weapons count. The Courier reports that a jury found 29-year-old Armando Adame III guilty Wednesday for the Oct. 25, 2017, shooting death of 27-year-old Michael Bruce Johns. Police say the men had been arguing as they drove around Floyd County when they stopped on a gravel road. Police say Adame pulled Johns from the vehicle and shot him in the head with a sawed-off shotgun. Adame faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he’s sentenced at a later date.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met Wednesday evening, and approved three out of four personnel matters. The Board approved the resignation of Jordan Mullen as Head Boys Track Coach, but tabled a decision on offering a contract to Abby Becker for the same position. The matter will instead be handled in an exempt session, later. No reason was given for their decision. The Board did approve contract recommendations for Clint Weppler as Link Center Para Educator, and Mark Anderson as Volunteer Boys Soccer Coach.

In other business, the School Board approved a 2019-20 Amended Certified Budget. The question was asked why the Budget was increased from nearly $2.5-million to $8-million. Superintendent Steve Barber explained “When we certified our budget (which must be certified by April 15th), part of that certification of the budget is to publish and post it at least 20-days prior to April 15th. The bond issue was passed on April 2nd (2019). There’s no way that we could have amended that, because it couldn’t include the bond expenditures in there because it hadn’t passed yet.

Barber went on to say “So we went to $8-million just for the fact that we didn’t know how much expenditures would be coming by June 30th (2019). This year (past year) we’ve had five projects. Anything that is spent for the bond…and expenditure to that account would be approved by the Board, based upon work that was completed with the project.” Board Vice President Kristy Pellett said also, “The taxpayers authorized, when they approved the General Obligation Bond Sale, that tax expenditure. So that’s already been done. That was done last year with the passage of the bond. This process is more to keep our school budget in line that we are spending what we have told the State we would spend for the 2020 Fiscal Year.” Steve Barber added, “It’s safe to say we’re not going to spend $8-million, but we didn’t want to say ‘Okay, it’s gonna be $4-million, 800-thousand, then all the sudden it’s $5-million,200-thousand. We kind of elevated that number just to say ‘We really don’t know how much is gonna be done by June 30th, so that we wouldn’t overspend it and have to amend it again.”

The bottom line, according to the Administration: There will be No Increases in taxes to be paid in the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2020. In other news, the Atlantic School Board set 6-p.m. March 11th as the date for a Public Hearing on the 2020-21 School Calendar, which as it stands, calls for: classes not to begin until Aug. 24, 2020; Fall P-T conferences to be moved back one-week to avoid extracurricular activities conflicts, as in prior years; A full day of school Dec. 22nd, prior to the Winter Break; A shorter Winter Break due to Christmas falling on a Friday; and the Last Day of School (2021) to be scheduled before Memorial Day due to that holiday falling on May 31st.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A Fort Dodge man accused of beating a pastor to death outside a central Iowa church has been found mentally unfit to stand trial. Webster County Judge Gina Badding on Wednesday ordered 36-year-old Joshua Pendleton to undergo treatment at the Iowa Medical Classification Facility.

Badding last month suspended proceedings in the case and ordered a mental competency evaluation after Pendleton’s attorney said he had been acting irrationally. Pendleton is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 2 slaying of the Rev. Allen Henderson.

The 64-year-old Henderson was senior pastor at St. Paul and had served as a chaplain to first responders.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party has resigned after a disastrous caucus process beset by technical glitches led to a dayslong delay in reporting the results, inconsistencies in the numbers and no clear winner. Chairman Troy Price announced his resignation Wednesday, saying Iowa Democrats deserved better than what happened on caucus night.

After a breakdown in the Feb. 3 caucuses, it took until Feb. 6 for the state party to issue what it said are complete results. In those figures, Pete Buttigieg leads Bernie Sanders by 0.09 percentage points. The Associated Press hasn’t declared a winner because it is not confident in the accuracy of the results. A partial recanvass is also underway.

Members of the Cass County Conference Board will meet 5:15-p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13th, in the basement meeting room at the Cass County Courthouse. The main item on their agenda concerns a Budget Hearing.

Board of Supervisors’ Chair Steve Baier, says some adjustments were made to the original proposed budget presented at the January 23rd meeting. Primarily, the wages for FY 2021 were increased 2% over the current fiscal year.

Following the hearing, if there are no further amendments, the budget will be approved. If additional changes are made, another hearing will be needed.

(Radio Iowa) — Southwest Iowa was dealt a double blow with the announcement Tuesday of layoffs at two manufacturing plants in the area. The Eaton Corporation confirmed that its Shenandoah plant would be closing sometime this year. Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association executive vice president, Gregg Connell, says the news of Eaton’s closing is no surprise, considering the company’s mass layoffs four years ago this month of 250 employees.

“And then we were told later that they were going to continues some gray line with maybe 50-60 employees. We were told that would probably last six months. We’re glad that it lasted four years, but that doesn’t lessen the impact,” Connell says. While losing the rest of the company’s workers is tough, Connell is already working on luring another company to the Eaton facility.

“You know, we’re positive about the future,” Connell says, “we are showing the Eaton building in the next few weeks to an out-of-state company. I can’t give any more information than that, but it’s a positive that we need to look at–even in the face of this negative news right now.” Officials with Red Oak’s American Hydraulics plant also announced Tuesday that 56 workers were being laid off at its facility.

Shawnna Silvius with the Montgomery County Development Corporation says the focus now is on finding new jobs for the idled employees. “That obviously is our number one,” said Silvius. “We want to keep these families together without any hiccups as best we can,” she says. “We want to get those folks re-employed, employed into meaningful employment with positions that they can grow in. And, sometimes it’s an opportunity for folks to retrain, and enter a different career field.”

Silvius hopes her agency can turn a negative situation into a positive one. “We know many of our employers are looking for quality workers,” Silvius says. “So, it can be a win-win. It’s hard when it hits at first, and I guess the goal is for us to wrap around all these people, love them where they are, and try to help them and their families get transitioned into something new.”

Montgomery County Development Corporation is hosting a Red Oak hiring fair event next Friday, February 21st from 1-to-4 p-m at Southwestern Community College’s Red Oak campus. Iowa Workforce Development services will be available at the event, as well as other information for the displaced workers.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County, today (Wednesday), said an investigation into suspicious activity at the Avoca Mini-Mart, Tuesday, resulted in the arrest of a man from Lander, Wyoming. 33-year-old Aaron Russell Schucker was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1^st Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Late Tuesday night, a Deputy was dispatched to 406 Glass Street to conduct a welfare check. The individual in question – an unidentified 17-year old male – was located after crashing their vehicle at Highway 6 and Highway 59. The driver was placed under arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was then transported to Mercy Hospital for a committal.