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

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The spokesman for the Food Bank of Iowa says food donations regularly decrease significantly this time of year. Danny Akright says while donations start to drop off — the number of people who need assistance has not dropped a lot since the Great Recession that started in 2008. “You would think that there would be a lot fewer people who are food insecure. But really at the peak it was about 14 percent in Iowa — 14 percent of Iowans were food insecure — but it’s only down to 12 percent.”

The organization covers 55 counties in central and southeast Iowa. He says there’s always a seasonal drop in food that’s available as the various garden programs and farms head into winter.  “Of course when the growing season ends that flow of produce kind of slows to a trickle,” Akright says. He says the Food Bank of Iowa has seen an increase in financial donations — which he says are important to keeping the pantry stocked.”We’re able to use those to buy the products that people don’t generally donate and that we’re not getting during certain times of the year,” according to Akright.

The Food Bank of Iowa brought in more than two-point-eight million dollars in donor support last fiscal year. The previous year fiscal year, that number was two-point-two million dollars. Akright says Money raised in November and December each year equals between 30 to 40 percent of their yearly total.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Clay Masters, Iowa Public Radio

Red Oak Police, late Monday night, arrested a Nebraska man on a charge of Public Intoxication. 34-year old Jared Alan Gresham, of Omaha, was arrested at around 11-p.m. in the 500 block of N. 6th Street, in Red Oak. He was being held this (Tuesday) morning in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — An official and relatives have identified two people whose bodies were found in a fire-damaged building in western Iowa. The bodies were found Thursday after firefighters extinguished a fire in a business in downtown Missouri Valley. The building also contained an apartment.

On Monday, relatives told the Daily Nonpareil newspaper the bodies were 44-year-old Stacy Larsen and 44-year-old Chad Stevens. John Kraemer, director of forensic operations with the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office, confirmed their identities.

Kraemer says they died from smoke inhalation and injuries from the fire. The fire was reported around 7:45 a.m. Thursday at CTI Electronics. Missouri Valley police say the fire’s cause hasn’t been determined and there was “no information to indicate anything suspicious or that foul play was involved.”

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

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — An official and relatives have identified two people whose bodies were found in a fire-damaged building in western Iowa. The bodies were found Thursday after firefighters extinguished a fire in a Missouri Valley business that also contained an apartment. On Monday, relatives told the Daily Nonpareil newspaper the bodies were 44-year-old Stacy Larsen and 44-year-old Chad Stevens. John Kraemer, director of forensic operations with the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office, confirmed their identities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Alec Baldwin is rallying Iowa Democrats with a mixture of his Donald Trump impression and advice of a serious, party activist headlining a party fundraiser in Des Moines. The actor, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Trump on “Saturday Night Live”, is entertaining 2,000 party faithful, first posing as a professor of the defunct Trump University, offering courses such as “political science fiction.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Advocacy groups have filed a federal lawsuit alleging officials at an Iowa school for juvenile offenders are failing to provide adequate mental health care. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Des Moines by Disability Rights Iowa and the national watchdog organization Children’s Rights. The groups allege that officials at the Boys State Training School administer “dangerous” psychotropic medications without adequate oversight and consent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Medicaid program will provide some patients with coverage under an old state-run system rather than the current privatized setup involving insurance companies. The Des Moines Register reported Monday the Iowa Department of Human Services will resume direct oversight of benefits for roughly 10,000 Medicaid members who tried to switch coverage to the private insurance company Amerigroup. Amerigroup said recently it wasn’t adding new patients.

Firefighters from Atlantic, Marne, Walnut and elsewhere, were called this evening to a reported field fire along Interstate 80 near mile marker 49.5 westbound, on the north side of the road. The flames started in the ditch and spread north, into an adjacent field. The fire was reported at around 4:30-p.m.  There’s been no word on how it started. (Photo’s courtesy Cass County Emergency Management Coordination Mike Kennon)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports three separate arrests on Monday.

At 10:38am Deputies arrested 24-year-old Dillon R. Karwal of Red Oak on a Montgomery County District Court Warrant for Violation of Probation. Karwal was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $5,000 cash bond.

At 12:08pm Deputies arrested 48-year-old Steven W. Wells of College Springs following a traffic stop in Stanton for Driving While Barred. Wells was also cited for No Insurance and Fraudulent Use of Registration. Wells was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 cash bond.

And at 1:06pm Deputies arrested 33-year-old Kaleb L. Wagaman of Stanton after an altercation at his residence. Wagaman was charged with Domestic Abuse-Simple Misdemeanor. He was being held without bond pending an appearance before a magistrate.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says a rollover accident this (Monday) morning resulted in one person transported to the hospital by private vehicle. The driver of the car, 18-year old Shianne Dakota Adams, of Atlantic, was taken to the hospital for evaluation, after the 2009 Dodge Caliber she was driving went out of control and rolled over one and a-halftimes before coming to rest in the east ditch.

The accident, which happened just before 8-a.m., occurred on 620th Street south of Memphis Road. Authorities say Adams, was traveling northbound on 620th Street when she lost control on loose gravel.

Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $6,000. Adams was given a warning ticket for Failure to Maintain Control.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday, 11/27) released a report on arrests. On November 27th, 30-year old Janae Nicole Anderson, of Omaha, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Anderson was taken to the Cass County Jail where she remains held on $2,000 bond.

On November 26th, Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 23-year old Maisie Sheryl Williams, of Atlantic, on two District Court warrants for Probation Violation. Williams was taken to the Cass County Jail where she remains held on $10,000 bond.

On  November 21st, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office charged 18-year old Kane Melvin Cooley, of Atlantic, with Simple Assault with regard to an incident among inmates at the jail. Cooley remains in custody at the Cass County Jail on a total bond amount of $32,300.

On November 20th, 33-year old Cody Keith Hanson, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Pottawattamie County. Hanson was taken to the Cass County Jail and later released to Pottawattamie County authorities.

On November 16th, Cass County Deputies arrested 54-year old James Van Henson, of Anderson, IN, on charges of Theft in the 5th Degree and Public Intoxication. Henson was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance. Also arrested on Nov. 16th, was 48-year old Pamela Joann Murphy, of Greenfield, who was wanted on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Murphy was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $2,000 bond.

And, on November 13th, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 25-year old Ashly Marie Rollins, of Atlantic, on a two District Court warrants for Violation of Probation. Rollins was taken to the Cass County Jail where she served time and was released several days later.

Crossroads of Western Iowa has joined #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that kicks off the holiday giving season and inspires people to collaborate in improving their local communities and to give back in impactful ways to the charities and causes they support.

Crossroads of Western Iowa is participating in #GivingTuesday by hosting The Give from the Heart Hygiene Drive, Nov. 28 – Dec. 1. Crossroads is asking its employees and supporters in the community to donate new/unopened toiletries at any of the designated collection sites. All donations will go to program clients.

Area collection sites include:

Crossroads Locations:

• 1851 Madison Ave, Council Bluffs
• 1732 Madison Ave, Council Bluffs
• 2307 S Olive St, Atlantic
• 602 Ontario St, Missouri Valley
• One Crossroads Pl, Missouri Valley
• 301 Tenth St, Onawa
• 835 Gordon Dr, Sioux City
• 322 Lake St, Cherokee

Midstates Bank Locations:

• 1851 Madison Ave, Council Bluffs
  Midstates Bank: 321 E Erie St, Missouri Valley

First Whitney Bank: 223 Chestnut St, Atlantic

Stangel Health Mart 821 Iowa Ave, Onawa

Crossroads would like to recognize Midstates Bank, First Whitney Bank, and Stangel Health Mart Pharmacy for serving as a collection site sponsor. Thank you to them and the community for your continued support.