(Red Oak, Iowa) — A pickup that caught fire Monday afternoon in Red Oak was declared loss, but no one was injured. According to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, crews responded to a report of a vehicle at 606 Riverview Driver, fire shortly after Noon, Monday.

Before firefighters arrived civilians on the scene tried to use a hose in an attempt to extinguish the blaze, but the engine compartment and dash were still on fire. Firefighters extinguished the remaining flames.

Photo courtesy of Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce.

Assisting the Red Fire Department at the scene, were officers with the Red Oak Police Department and the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Communications assisted in coordinating incident communications. ,

PERRY, Iowa (KCCI) – Officials from the Perry Community School District announced Monday that they’re postponing the plan to reopen schools after this month’s deadly school shooting. They said last week that elementary and middle school students would return to classes this week and that high schoolers would return date that would be determined later.

High school principal Dan Marburger, who was wounded in the shooting, died Sunday, leading officials to postpone the plan for students to return to classes. Officials said while the reopening plan is on hold until further notice, extracurricular activities for middle school and high school students will resume Tuesday.

Perry High School student Dylan Butler, 17, killed sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and wounded seven other people in the shooting on Jan. 4 before killing himself. Marburger, one of those seven, died 10 days later. Authorities have provided no information about a possible motive or how Butler, who they believe acted alone, obtained the firearms.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report a man was arrested Monday morning on a Polk County warrant. 41-year-old Nickolas Allen Treanor, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, on the warrant for Failure to Appear on an original, Probation Revocation, charge. That original charge was for Possession of a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance.

Treanor was being held in the Union County Jail, awaiting extradition to the Polk County Jail, where he must serve 30-days in jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Republican Party officials say it appears about one-hundred-eight thousand (108,000) Iowans participated in last (Monday) night’s Caucuses. That’s nearly 14-and-a-half percent of registered Republican voters. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann is praising Iowans braved record-low temperatures after a blizzard blanketed the state to participate in community discussions about the future of the country.

It was the lowest turn-out since the Caucuses George W. Bush won 24 years ago. The record for Republican participation in the Iowa Caucuses was set in 2016, when 189-thousand Iowans participated.

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Donald Trump won the 2024 Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses by a historic margin. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished a distant second.

Trump finished second in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses with about 24 percent support. He easily won Iowa in the General Election in 2016 and 2020 — and surpassed 51 percent in last (Monday) night’s Caucuses.

Trump called for unity as the race moves forward.

Trump, who called his competitors DeSantis and Haley very smart, capable people, thanked his family and the campaign staff. Trump also singled out Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, the only statewide elected official to endorse him.

Trump won 98 of 99 Iowa counties. He lost Johnson County by one vote. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished with just over 21 percent support — nearly two points ahead of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

DeSantis called the results “marching orders” for his campaign.

DeSantis says his campaign faced an onslaught.

The DeSantis campaign accused media outlets of election interference by projecting Donald Trump had won before many Caucus-goers had started voting. Haley also said she was Trump’s main competitor. “When you look at how we’re doing in New Hampshire, in South Carolina, and beyond,” she said to loud applause, “I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two person race.” After giving a litany of personal thank yous, Haley reflected on spending eleven months in Iowa. “The kindness of Iowans will never be lost on me,” Haley said.

Governor Kim Reynolds, who endorsed DeSantis, says the Iowa Caucus results make it a two-person race — between DeSantis and Trump.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who finished a distant fourth, ended his campaign and endorsed Trump. Jimmy Centers, a communications director for Governor Terry Branstad, says it’s pretty clear Trump is the frontrunner for the G-O-P’s presidential nomination despite candidates like DeSantis and Haley campaigning in Iowa for the past year.*

Centers says unlike 2016, Trump had a record to run on — and that appealed to Caucus-goers.

(Radio Iowa) – With high temperatures in the negative numbers and wind chills approaching 35-below, Iowa’s a pretty inhospitable place right now — for people and for our pets.

KC Routos, development director of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says some dog and cat owners are taking their furry friends with them on errands to the grocery store and elsewhere, and they’re leaving the animals in running vehicles. Routos says that’s a dangerous, potentially deadly move, for your pet.

“If you leave your car running and something happens where it happens to turn off, or they step on the window and it rolls down, or any variety of things could happen, just on accident,” Routos says, “so it’s always best just to leave your pet at home when it’s extreme temperatures like this.”

Even Siberian Huskies like Raven, a dog that’s available for adoption, shouldn’t be left outside in this weather. (ARL-Iowa photo)

While exercise is important for all of us, she says it’s likely best not to take your pets on their typical strolls around the neighborhood — or anywhere else — until it warms up.

“We’d recommend probably not taking dogs out for walks during these extreme temperatures,” Routos says. “Their paws can be a little bit more sensitive to it and frostbite can probably happen pretty quickly in these extreme temperatures, just like they can for humans.”

Some animals are built for colder weather and enjoy playing in the cold. Routos says the owner should increase the amount of food that animal is given, especially extra protein, to keep them and their fur healthy and in good shape. It’s vital that outside animals have the proper protection from the bitter temperatures.

“If your pet absolutely has to be kept outside, make sure that they have housing where they can be free of any of the elements, including the wind, and making sure that any water that they have is unfrozen,” Routos says. “Even Huskies, in this temperature, it can be a little bit cold because they’re not necessarily used to it like they are maybe in some other areas.”

Puppies, small dogs and older dogs have a lower tolerance for cold temperatures, she says, so only let them outside to relieve themselves, or train them to use paper pads indoors. Also, when your pet comes back inside, towel dry their paws, legs and stomach, as chemicals used to melt ice can be dangerous for your dog to ingest while licking his paws. Snow and encrusted ice may also cause your dog’s paw pads to bleed.

Find more tips at: ARL-Iowa.org

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican Party of Iowa raised over $800,000 to finance the operations for tonight’s Iowa Caucuses. The caucuses are not like a primary, when county auditors and county-owned voting machines process ballots. Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann said it’s a major undertaking for the party. “We have done over 200 trainings face-to-face. We’re going to be approaching 10,000 volunteers to carry this out,” Kaufmann said during a speech at a recent Iowa GOP fundraiser. “We are very, very confident that we have done everything humanly possible to make sure this Caucus comes off without a hitch.”

Kaufmann uses the word “unprecedented” to describe the level of precinct-level organizing on the part of two campaigns. He won’t name the campaigns, but it’s clear from the activity Iowa Republicans are seeing that he’s referring to the Trump and DeSantis teams. “The organization is actually perfect training for what they’re going to have to do in the General Election,” Kaufmannn said.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann speaks with reporters. (RI file photo)

You must be an Iowa resident and a registered Republican to participate in tonight’s straw poll vote. Democrats and independents are able to switch their party registration at Caucus sites, starting at 6 p.m. Kaufmann is issuing a warning to Democrats who may register as Republicans to participate in the Iowa GOP’s Caucuses and cast a vote in the Iowa Democratic Party’s new mail-in system to indicate which Democratic candidate they prefer. “If a Democrat attempts to do that and participates in both, that’s against the law,” Kaufmann said, “and we’re going to be monitoring that very, very carefully.”

Kaufmann has been chairman of the Iowa Republican Party for a decade.

(Radio Iowa) – Some state road crews are getting a breather after the double whammy of storms that kept them busy most of last week. D-O-T Winter Operations director, Craig Bargfrede, says things are looking better on state highways. “Overall we’ve made some pretty significant progress and getting road conditions across the state back to near normal winter seasonal driving condition,” he says. Eastern Iowa saw record snows and that’s where the most work remains.

“We still got a pretty significant area over in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa City over towards the Davenport area that we’re still dealing with issues as a result of the two storms that we had last week,” Bargfrede says. The sub-zero temperatures take away some of the chemical weapons the D-O-T uses to clear the roadways. “The regular salt, pre-wet salt and salt brine are just absolutely not as effective. So we have to shift to a different type of material. Typically, we shift to a 50-50 salt-sand mixture so that we can get material out there and it’s able to act and create some friction for the for the vehicles out there that are traveling,” Bargfrede says.

Bargfrede says the salt-sand mixture makes traction better, but it won’t melt hard-packed snow off the roadway. “That’s about all we can do right now. We’re just gonna have to fight through this for this week until we can get into next week when we’re hoping to see temperatures get up, back up to the freezing point where we’re able to get out there and break that packed snow and break that bond and get that plowed off,” he says. The subzero cold also takes it’s toll on the equipment. “Especially trucks freezing up on us during this weather,” Bargfrede says. “And so it’s tough when you have to pull the truck off, pull it back into the garage and let it warm up with all the different issues that we’ve got going on.” The double storm tested the limits of the drivers as well.

“Crews are tired. This has been over a week slog through this. So crews have been on 12 hour shifts 12 hours on 12 hours off here for over a week,” Bargfrede says. The D-O-T’s 5-1-1 Road Conditions map shows many highways are now marked green for “normal winter driving conditions.” Bargfrede says it’s still important for drivers to adjust their speed and be alert for changes on the roadway. “When you see the green yes, that means it’s winter seasonal conditions but that means you could also run into areas that could be slippery, you could see some isolated slick spots and patches of ice,” he says.

Bargfrede says the subzero temperatures add to the danger if you hit a patch of ice and go into the ditch. He says keep a survival kit in your car, your cell phone is fully charged, and keep the gas tank full if you have to head out.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two arrests took place over the past few days. On Jan. 13th, 29-year-old Chutaia Marika Kei Brown, of Des Moines, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol in the 1000 block of Pinewood Avenue, near Menlo. Brown was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, Child Endangerment, and for Driving Under Suspension. She was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $2,000 cash or surety bond, with 10% acceptable. Her arrest took place after Trooper Olson saw a vehicle stuck on Pinewood Avenue, south of Interstate 80, in Adair County.

The driver (Brown) was shoveling snow from around her 2006 Chevy Impala. The Trooper noted the woman seemed confused and lost and had bloodshot eyes. An odor of alcohol was coming from her, as well, according to the report. A 17-year-old and a seven-year-old were inside the vehicle. The Trooper learned Brown’s driving status was suspended. She allegedly told the Trooper she had had a wine cooler. The Trooper transported Brown to the Stuart Fire Department to perform Standard Field Sobriety Tests. During the process, she reportedly displayed many clues of impairment, and was placed under arrest. A test at the Adair County Jail indicated her Breath Alcohol content was .109, which is over the legal limit of .08.

And, Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 34-year-old Amanda Dawn Ruchti, of Fontanelle for Possession of Drug Parapghernalia and Failure to Maintain control of her vehicle. The charges stem from an accident with entrapment, that took place October 12, 2023. On that date, Ruchti was extradited from a 2004 Chevy Cavalier by Fontanelle Fire and Adair County EMS. Firefighters observed a marijuana pipe on the floor of the vehicle during the extrication process, and informed Deputy Stofer. The pipe was covered with a green and red plastic covering. The pipe had a bowl with residue inside that was consistent with the smoking of marijuana. The pipe also smelled strongly of burnt marijuana.

A subsequent search of the car revealed a vape pen with a THC logo on it, indicating it contained THC. Both items were seized into evidence.

The Sheriff says following an investigation, Ruchti was arrested Jan. 11th, cited and released from custody.