More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A woman from Creston reported to the Creston Police Department late Monday morning, that sometime overnight Sunday into Monday, someone took from her wallet, her ID, debit and credit cards. The wallet was inside her home located in the 400 block of N. Jarvis Street. The loss was estimated at $5.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A Des Moines man is facing charges for abusing his dog – abuse that was captured on video. Scott Wilson, with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says 32-year-old Willard Street was arrested after Des Moines Police were notified about the incident last week. “A concerned citizen had a security camera and caught, on video, Mr. Street placing a dog in the backseat of his car and then leaning over and with a closed fist, punching the dog repeatedly in the head,” Wilson said. The dog, an adult pit bull, does NOT have “obvious external injuries,” according to Wilson.

Willard William Street Mugshot

ARL staff removed a total of three dogs from Street’s property. Street is charged with one count of animal neglect and two counts of failure to license a pet.  All three dogs are now being cared for by the ARL. According to Wilson, this type of animal abuse is more common in the state than most Iowans probably realize. “We probably hear about one or two a month – something like this around the state,” Wilson said. “The really scary thing is this was reported because someone did get it on video, so you have to consider there are probably a lot of cases like this that never get reported.”

The ARL of Iowa is urging state lawmakers to pass legislation to strengthen punishments for animal abusers in the state.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say seven people have been killed — including two teenage sisters — on Iowa roads as a winter storm swept the state Monday, leading to dozens of crashes and a 50- to 70-car pileup near Ames. The Des Moines Register reports that 17-year-old Avery Arneson and 13-year-old Aiden Arneson, sisters from Decorah, died a two-vehicle crash around 8:30 a.m. Monday on a county road in northeast Iowa. Four other teens were injured and hospitalized in that crash.

In Cedar Rapids, two men died in a crash on Interstate 380 that police say was weather-related, and one person died and several people were critically injured in the pileup that closed Interstate 35 near Ames. On I-80, police say a person was killed in a crash east of Grinnell around 1:20 p.m., and another person died and two others were injured at 1:40 p.m. near Durant.

There were many accidents along Interstate 80 in western Iowa. Two separate crashes occurred in Cass County, one at around 4:30-p.m. at the Wiota Exit (Exit 64), involved multiple vehicles and blocked both lanes. Anita and Wiota Rescue responded to the scene, along with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol. Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac Ambulance along with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and ISP responded to a crash near the Highway 71/Atlantic Exit (Exit 60), late Monday morning. Another crash blocked I-80 westbound between Exits 110 and 113 (DeSoto and Van Meter. Other accidents were reported on I-80, near Avoca.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his neighbors say they’ve settled a dispute over a private road and the coach’s refusal to join a homeowner’s association. A trial was scheduled to start Tuesday in the dispute that pitted Iowa’s highest-paid public employee and his wife against the three other families who live on Saddle Club Road outside Iowa City.

Neighbors filed a lawsuit after the Ferentzes refused to join a homeowners’ association and ignored a $9,500 assessment for road repairs. Neighbors say the Ferentzes trespassed by erecting privacy fencing and landscaping in the shared easement and roadway. Homeowners’ association attorney Adam Tarr says his clients “look forward to working with the Ferentzes instead of against them.”

The Ferentzes’ attorney, Mark Roberts, says, “the neighbors will all be glad to resolve this matter without a trial.”

Despite many challenges in the ag industry, the new president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says he looks forward to the opportunities ahead in 2018. Gregg Hora (HORE-uh) of Fort Dodge replaces the retiring president Curtis Meier, of Clarinda. Hora says this is an exciting era to be raising hogs in Iowa. “The pork industry has been changing with the times, modernizing our facilities, the way that we house our pigs, the efficiencies and the health status of what we do with our pigs in the barns,” Hora says. “Part of that in this structured change is worker safety and worker productivity. We have new technologies that we’re implementing on the farms.”

One of his primary objectives is making more improvements across the industry in the year ahead. “Some of our goals have to do with continued training and education of our members from the environmental perspective, what we do around our farms and what we do around our pig buildings,” Hora says. “The PQA or pork quality assurance and the trucker quality assurance or TQA are two important aspects that we do with all of our farm workers.”

Hora says it’s vital that pork producers are good neighbors in their communities, calling the pork industry the bedrock of rural Iowa. He says the state’s pork industry continues to have annual growth of two-to-three percent which he calls a job creator. We always talk about efficiencies as an important aspect but consistent improvement is another aspect,” Hora says. “Iowa Pork, along with a number of different ag organizations, continue to have leadership training programs where we’re talking about quality improvements.”

Hora is a contract grower with three finishing sites in Webster County. He finishes 25-thousand hogs per year and raises corn and soybeans on nearly 2,000 acres. He is also the president for the Webster County Pork Producers.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds is signalling she’s likely to approve Republican legislators’ plan to provide a one percent increase in general per pupil support of Iowa’s public school. That’s a roughly 32 million dollar boost — less than the 54 million dollar increase Reynolds recommended last month.

The governor says this decision won’t be the last on school funding. She says “I think we can make it work, but I think it’s part of a larger picture and I don’t think you can talk about it in isolation. That’s the problem with funding. I mean, it’s not just one little piece. There’s a lot of additional funding that will be appropriated to school districts all across the state.”

Republicans in the legislature are debating how much to forward to schools to help cover transportation costs, particularly rural schools with bus routes that cover large geographical areas. There’s also discussion among Republican lawmakers about extending the statewide one-cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2029. That money is used to finance school infrastructure, but schools say they’ve already used most of those taxes as collateral for building projects underway.

(Radio Iowa)

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

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) — Authorities in Iowa say one person has died and several others were hurt after dozens of vehicles collided along a snow-covered stretch of Interstate 35 near Ames. Up to 70 cars, buses and trucks were involved in the string of crashes, which forced the closure of I-35 in both directions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has given an Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star more time to prepare a defense against a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Chris Soules who appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” faces trial after driving his pickup into the back of a farm tractor and killing a neighbor last April. Judge Andrea Dryer has waived a requirement that Soules’ trial must be held within a year of his arrest, allowing it to be scheduled past April.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a Denver woman to remain jailed in North Dakota while she awaits sentencing for shooting at law officers during protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Judge Daniel Hovland refused to grant a request by 38-year-old Red Fawn Fallis to be returned to a Fargo halfway house from which she went missing for an entire day last month. Fallis’ attorneys had argued that aside from the one slip-up, Fallis had been an “exemplary” resident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa caucuses will take place as planned despite snow that could complicate travel throughout the state. The state Republican and Democratic parties issued a joint statement Monday morning stating that officials realized the wintry weather would make it difficult for some to reach caucus sites. However, officials noted that after a review of state law and the party constitutions, there wasn’t a provision to postpone the caucuses due to weather. The meetings will start at 7 p.m. Monday.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Fremont County are investigating an incident of arson that took place in Sidney. Deputies were called to 901 Filmore Street at around 3:30-a.m., Monday, for a report of a structure fire. The structure was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one lived there.

Sidney Fire and Rescue, Hamburg, Fire and Rescue, and Tabor Fire and Rescue responded to the call.  A Fire Fighter suffered minor injuries in the fire and was treated and released from a local hospital.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Department of Public Safety State Fire Marshal’s Division and a criminal investigation was initiated.  A preliminary investigation has determined the fire appears to be intentionally set and is currently being investigated as an arson.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424, or the Arson Hotline at 800-532-1459. A financial reward may be available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the person or persons involved.