(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Fire Department say firefighters were dispatched Thursday evening to a reported home explosion in the 600 block of N. Cedar St.    Union County Sheriff’s deputies and Creston police officers arrived on the scene first and determined the location. The spoke with residents to ensure no one else was in the house. Greater Regional Medics were on hand to care for the residents and firefighters as needed. (Photos via the Creston F.D. Facebook page)

Flames were visible through the front window as the fire department arrived on scene. Crews were able to begin a transitional attack through the living room window and front door before attacking the fire offensively inside the home. Exterior crews were able to extinguish fire that had extended to the basement. Interior crews successfully extinguished the fire on the 1st floor but had to overhaul and remove almost the entire ceiling from the residence. Mutual Aid from the Afton Fire Department was also received. Union County Emergency Management was also on scene to aide the homeowners.

The Creston Fire Department thanks all of their partners who come together during this and other emergency situations.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court says a search that led to a 2020 drug charge conviction against a Texas trucker was not legal. Stephen Arrieta stopped at the Northwood weigh station on I-35 after his automatic pass device failed to work. A D-O-T officer then inspected his truck and called for a drug dog. The drug dog alerted outside the truck and Arrieta admitted to having marijuana in the cab. He appealed his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, saying the stop was illegally delayed to allow the dog to show up.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruling says the officer had no reasonable suspicion to delay the stop and improperly detained Arrieta to allow the drug dog to arrive.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports a total of nine people were arrested between Nov. 22nd and Dec. 5th, including four people who were arrested on drug charges.

On Nov. 22nd, Adams County Deputies arrested 20-year-old Jasime Caplinger, 20-year-old Kally Burchett, and 18-year-old Jeffrea Van Scoy, all of Creston. They were taken into custody following a traffic stop on 150th Street at Willow Avenue, and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS), as well as Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Additional charges on Van Scoy were pending lab results.

On the 23rd of November, 33-year-old Makinze Reed, of Lenox, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Additional charges on Reed were also pending lab results.

November 27th, Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 25-year-old Desiree Ladd, of Council Bluffs, on a warrant for Failure to Appear on original charges of Poss. of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful Poss. of Prescription Medication.

54-year-old Patrick Jones, of Lenox, was arrested November 30th in Adams County, for OWI/1st Offense, and Interference with Official Acts.

December 1st, 35-year-old Jacob Franson, of Villisca, was charged in Adams County with PCS and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia.

This past Tuesday (Dec. 5), 21-year-old Christian Sexton, of Bellevue, NE, was charged in Adams County with Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the investigation by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. And, 60-year-old Dennis Nekuda, of Corning, was arrested Dec. 5th for OWI/1st Offense. He was also cited for additional traffic violations.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Enhance Iowa Board, Thursday (Dec. 7, 2023) awarded $1.4-million dollars in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants to an event center in North Liberty and an indoor aquatic center in Ames. In addition, the board awarded $503,572 in Sports Tourism grants, to promote the National Junior High Finals Rodeo event in Des Moines and the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend in Newton.

Details for the projects receiving CAT and Sports Tourism grants follow:

Project Name: Centennial Center – North Liberty
Total Project Cost: $8,357,963
Amount Awarded: $900,000
Project Description: This project includes the construction of a 13,000 square-foot event center with an outdoor stage designed to accommodate crowds from 500 to 5,000. The interior of the facility will accommodate events for up to 500 people.

Project Name: Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center – Ames
Total Project Cost: $31,374,394
Amount Awarded: $500,000
Project Description: This project includes the construction of a 39,000-square-foot recreational and wellness facility with a six-lane lap pool, zero-depth recreational pool with a current channel, children’s play structure, wellness pool, two water slides, locker rooms, party/meeting room, multi-purpose rooms and walking area.

Details for the projects receiving Sports Tourism Marketing grants follow:

Catch Des Moines was awarded $3,572 toward marketing the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Des Moines on June 23-29, 2024. The funds will go toward social media marketing and digital billboards.

Newton Community Events, Inc. was awarded $500,000 to market the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend on July 12-14, 2024. The funds will go toward a national TV ad buy, radio campaigns throughout the Midwest and digital media ad buys.

The Enhance Iowa Program provides financial incentives to communities for the construction of recreational, cultural, educational or entertainment facilities that enhance the quality of life in Iowa. To date, 132 CAT grants have been awarded by the board, totaling more than $44.6-million dollars. The next Enhance Iowa Board meeting is scheduled for January 4, 2024.

(Tiffin, Iowa) – A crash early this (Friday) morning in eastern Iowa claimed the life of a semi tractor-trailer driver. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2022 Freightliner semi was traveling west on Interstate 80 south of Tiffin/west of Coralville, when it left the road at around 4:30-a.m. The semi entered the north ditch and struck a tree before catching fire. The name of the driver was being withheld, pending notification of family.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Tiffin Fire, Johnson County Communications(JComm) & Sheriff’s Office, Oxford Fire, and the Iowa DOT.

(Radio Iowa) – The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad is bringing its 25th annual Holiday Train program through northeastern Iowa today (Friday). Railroad spokesman Terry Cunha Says the train visits 191 communities across North America over the course of four weeks, spreading holiday cheer and raising donations to help people struggling with food insecurity. “Guests are able to watch a free, live performance by a talented musician, and all it costs is a donation to your local food bank,” Cunha says, “All we ask is anyone who comes and participates in these free, live musical performances is to bring a non-perishable food item that is donated to your local food bank and supports those in need during the holiday season.”

The Holiday Train. (Canadian Pacific photo)

Cunha says the festive six-car train has intricate displays inside and out. “It’s a train that’s lit up full of decorations and lights that help bring some excitement to the holiday season for those in attendance,” he says, “and then one of the train doors slides open and the musical act comes out and they sing some of their hits and also several Christmas carols that those in the audience would definitely know very well.”

Cunha says the Holiday Train’s focus has always been to work with local food banks in the communities they operate in. “Over the course of our 25-year history, we’ve been able to raise over $25-and-a-half million to local food banks and also raise over five million pounds of food, which is extremely important just to help address food insecurity,” he says, “but more importantly during the holiday seasons just a positive way to give back to the communities in which we operate.”

The Holiday Train will make stops today (Friday) in Ossian, Marquette, Lansing and New Albin.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s pretty rare Iowans get to run around in sweatshirts or light jackets in December, but unseasonably warm weather settled on the state late this week. Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National Weather Service, says Lamoni had the state’s hot spot with a record high temperature of 62-degrees on Thursday, one of many. “We did have several record highs, including Waterloo at 57, Mason City at 55, Ottumwa at 61,” Donavon says. “In addition, we had basically this entire area was in the upper 50s to low 60s, so a very mild day and well above normal.”

Today’s (Friday) forecast calls for cooler weather than yesterday, but still very comfortable for this time of year. “We are having a few more clouds passing across the state today,” Donavon says, “so it’s still going to be pretty mild high temperatures in the 50s, which is still within that 10- to 15-degree above-normal range.”

Much colder weather will move in tonight and overnight, bringing the chance of scattered rain or light snow across various parts of the state on Saturday. Highs for the weekend will be back around normal, in the 30s and 40s.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is calling for a change that would let 18, 19 and 20 year olds with a commercial driver’s license be cross-country truckers — to address a national shortage of interstate truck drivers. Federal regulations currently require truckers who travel from state-to-state to be at least 21 years old. “Having more truckers on the road will improve supply chain efficiency, translated to lower prices for good and services,” Hinson says. “It will also provide critical career opportunities for 18 to 20 year olds not interested in a four year degree.”

Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia issue commercial driver’s licenses to people under the age of 21, but they are not allowed to cross state borders. “An 18 year old truck driver is permitted to drive 300 miles from let’s say a project in Sioux City all the way back to Dubuque County, but according to current regulations that same driver is not allowed to drive the truck the three miles across the Julien Dubuque Bridge for a project cross the state line in Illinois,” Hinson says. “That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Hinson has introduced a bill called the “Reciprocity, Efficiency and Age Limitation” or REAL Act in the U-S House to let 18, 19 and 20 years drive cross-country if they have a commercial driver’s license. Hinson. a Republican from Marion, is visiting the Semi-Driving program at North Iowa Community College today (Friday) to discuss her idea with trucking industry leaders.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – A pilot working with a critical-care helicopter service in Iowa has returned to work after a bird crashed through the windshield and struck him in the head last month. KCAU-TV in Sioux City reports Troy McCormick, of Wings Air Rescue in Sioux City, was flying toward a hospital in Storm Lake on Nov. 23 when the incident took place.

The bird smashed through the windscreen and hit McCormick on the side of the head before disintegrating inside the helicopter. A fellow crew member quickly canceled their mission and diverted the helicopter to Storm Lake airport with McCormick dazed but uninjured, and covered in blood and feathers. .”

McCormick believes he was hit by a duck, but he’s not sure. McCormick has been flying since 2001 and joined Wings Air Rescue roughly a year ago. He considers the incident a freak accident.

Wednesday (Dec. 6) was McCormick’s first day back to work since the incident. He said he was excited to be back in the sky continuing to save lives — and he hopes to avoid any birds.

(Atlanta, GA) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report 230 people have been sickened and three people have died, from cantaloupe recalled for salmonella contamination. Eight cases of the illness are reported in Iowa, seven in Nebraska, 14 people in Missouri are sick from the bacteria. Minnesota reports the most cases, at 20. Wisconsin has 18, Illinois reports 11 cases, and South Dakota has one reported case.  The CDC says it is concerned about the outbreak because the illnesses are severe, and people in long-term care facilities and childcare centers have gotten sick. They warn you should not eat pre-cut cantaloupes if you don’t know whether Malichita or Rudy brand cantaloupes were used.

some of the recalled cantaloupe product.

The pre-cut fruit was sold in several stores, including Kwik Trip and Aldi stores in Iowa, and Trader Joe’s. See additional details HERE.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.