EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City man has been imprisoned for setting a fire that injured at least 11 people in Eagle Grove. Court records say 21-year-old Luis Huerta-Valadez pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison. Police say the house fire started early in the morning on Aug. 9. Two police officers and one firefighter were among the 11 people taken to hospitals.

Creston Police, Tuesday, arrested three people on separate assault, drug and theft charges. 23-year old Michael Cox, of Creston, was arrested at around 11-p.m., for Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. His bond at the Union County Jail, was set at $2,000.

45-year old Karen Broadsack, of Creston, was arrested at around 10:30-p.m., for Theft in the 3rd Degree. She was later released on $2,000 bond.

And, 40-year old Shelby Weis, of Creston, was arrested at around 10:05-p.m. Tuesday, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. She was later released from custody on $1,000 bond.

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

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The Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs is moving to bring back one form of dog racing after the live dog racing there went away in a consolidation agreement with the state. Iowa Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko says the casino and it’s non-profit partner, Iowa West Racing Association, have taken steps toward simulcasting. “They entered into a management agreement for simulcasting with William Hill Race and Sports Book,” Ohorilko says. He says William Hill does a lot of business in Nevada operating sports books.

Ohorilko says simulcasting would put the former greyhound racing venue back into service. “What the contract will do in the Council Bluffs area at the Bluffs Run facility — its contemplated that they’ll bring back simulcast horse racing and dog racing there in that area,” according to Ohorilko.

The live dog racing ended at Bluffs Run in a consolidation agreement with the state that shut down the track and shifted the management of dog racing in Dubuque to the Iowa Greyhound Association. He says if everything falls into place, the simulcasting of races could start up at the facility in a couple of months. Ohorilko says the simulcasting took a year of absence in 2016 and this could bring it back for this year.

Ohorilko says the management company has some added benefit. “As part of this management contract it looks like there will be some reinvestment into the property as well. William Hill will be putting some dollars into the property to try to get this area up that they want to use for simulcasting,” Ohorilko says.

The Racing and Gaming Commission approved the simulcast management contract at their recent meeting.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will meet in a regular session this (Wednesday) evening at 5:30, in the Media Center at the High School. During the meeting, the Board will hear a special presentation with regard to the Girls Swim Team, act on approving a contract with Gaylord Schelling as Head Varsity Baseball Coach and a Cost Proposal for RSP & Associates, with regard to an Enrollment Analysis.

The analysis will be used to project enrollment trends, in advance of a public hearing on a possible bond issue for additions and or improvements to existing District facilities. If the Board approves RSP and the $12,000 cost of the analysis, the company is expected to have a lengthy report ready for presentation and review in March or April at the latest.

Discussion items during the meeting will cover: The schedule for a possible bond hearing, vote and related matters, as well as the 2017-18 Budget. Prior to adjournment, the Atlantic School Board will enter into a closed session to discuss a possible real estate purchase.

Governor Branstad is urging lawmakers to pass a package of tougher traffic laws, including a crack down on texting while driving. “I’m asking you to take a hard look at these recommendations and evaluate which can be put into law to make our roads safer,” Branstad says.

Branstad says his worry is “distracted” driving and he has proposed boosting penalties for drivers who hit motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.  Motorists caught texting while driving. Senator Tim Kapucian, a Republican from Keystone, says the ultimate goal should be “hands-free” cell phone use within a vehicle. “Most of the newer vehicles have that capability,” Kapucian says. “I’ve always said our professional drivers are required to do that, the truck drivers, and as far as I’m concerned, we’re the amateurs on the road.”

Kapucian is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He expects the panel to review these and other proposals related to distracted driving but he’s not predicting what may pass. At least 402 people died in crashes on Iowa roadways in 2016 and state troopers say excessive speed was a factor in many crashes. Neither the governor nor Kapucian are proposing changes in posted speed limits or suggested increased fines for speeding at this point, but Senator Kapucian is concerned that too many motorists are weaving through traffic and driving too close to other vehicles.

“When I was in drivers’ ed, I specifically remember we were taught to respect the other driver,” Kapucian says, “and it just appears we’re in a ‘me first’ world today.”Governor Branstad discussed traffic safety near the end of his “Condition of the State” message yesterday. The governor read part of a letter from the parents of a bicyclist who was killed by a motorist who was texting while driving.

(Radio Iowa)

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A driver from western Iowa was cited for a Dallas County collision during which a West Des Moines police officer died. Online court records say 38-year-old Jeanette Keifer, of Stuart, was cited for failing to yield. Authorities say Keifer turned her car left into the path of 47-year-old Shawn Miller on Aug. 3 on U.S. Highway 169 near Interstate 80. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could comment for Keifer.

Authorities say Miller was driving back to West Des Moines on his personal motorcycle after testifying as an investigating officer at a court hearing in Adel. He’d been with the West Des Moines Police Department for 26 years.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday, reported the arrest Monday afternoon, of 27-year old Christopher Lee McDaniel, of Pacific Junction. McDaniel was taken into custody on a Warrant for Willful Injury, Willful Injury and Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond, in the Mills County Jail.

Christopher Lee McDaniel

Afton Police Chief John Coulter reports a woman was arrested last week for Unauthorized Use of a Credit Card. 50-year old Mary Ellen Tucker, of Afton, was taken into custody at around 6:30-p.m. on Jan. 3rd, and later released after posting bond.

Police in Red Oak, early this (Wednesday) morning, arrested 29-year old Nicole Marie Adkins, of Shenandoah. Adkins was taken into custody following a traffic stop at around 1:15-a.m., and charged with Driving While Revoked, as well as failure to have SR-22 Insurance. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash bond.