The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest was made Monday in connection with a fire at a trailer park, in Lenox. 23-year old Nickolas Dale Stone, of Lenox, was arrested on a warrant charging him with Arson in the 1st Degree. He was being held in the Taylor County Jail on $25,000 bond.

The charge against him stems from an investigation into a fire at the Lenox trailer park that occurred December 11th, 2015. Authorities say Stone allegedly poured a flammable liquid near a mobile home and lit a fire nearby. The mobile home sustained about $300 damage.

HORNICK, Iowa (AP) – State auditors say the City Council in the small northwest Iowa city of Hornick failed to properly review financial reports resulting in improper spending of more than $134,000 by at least two city clerks. An audit was requested after the current clerk questioned previous financial transactions in the city of 225.

The audit, released Tuesday, shows the city clerk from 2001 to 2009 improperly spent more than $5,000 and failed to document more than $11,000 she paid herself. The clerk from 2009 to 2012 improperly spent more than $4,200.

Auditors say proper documentation couldn’t be found for $47,000 paid to former mayors and council members. No charges have been filed. Prosecutors and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation received audit reports.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following an accident early this (Tuesday) morning on Interstate 80. Officials says deputies responded to the two-vehicle collision that took place on I-80 westbound about a mile west of the Olive Street exit at about 12:22-a.m.

Authorities say a 2016 Ford F150 driven by 26-year old Charles Michael Robertson,  of Seagoville, Texas, was westbound on I-80 when the vehicle went out of control on the icy roadway, and entered the median. The pickup was subsequently hit by a 2005 Toyota pickup driven by 28-year old Andreas Dmitiri Spentzos, of Monterey, CA, which also went out of control on the icy road.

Damage from the crash amounted to $23,000.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship today (Tuesday) announced that the order cancelling all live bird exhibitions at county fairs, the Iowa State Fair, livestock auction markets, swap meets, exotic sales and other gatherings of birds due to avian influenza will be lifted on January 1st, 2016.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said “This is very good news and another sign that we continue to recover from this devastating animal health emergency. We know the ban on exhibitions caused some real challenges for those anticipating showing or selling birds, but we appreciate everyone cooperating as we worked to stop the disease and then allow the industry to recover.”

The Department issued the order prohibiting poultry exhibitions on May 21 in the midst of the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The ban was put into place to minimize spread of HPAI and protect the state’s domestic bird population. Lifting the poultry exhibition ban comes as a result of no new cases of HPAI in Iowa since June and the lifting of the final quarantine on December 1. Iowa is now considered free of HPAI.

Total of 77 premises and 31.5 million birds were affected with the disease in Iowa. There are 35 commercial turkey flocks, 22 commercial egg production flocks, 13 pullet flocks, 1 chicken breeding flock, 1 mail order hatchery, and 5 backyard flocks.

More information about the avian influenza situation in Iowa can be found at www.iowaagriculture.gov/avianinfluenza.asp.

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

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The area’s top news at 7:07-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A traffic stop Saturday in Fremont County resulted in the arrest of a passenger in the vehicle on drug charges. The Fremont County Office says deputies made contact with a vehicle stopped for mechanical issues, on the side of the road in the 2300 block of Hwy 275.  When the Fremont County K9 Unit deployed a narcotics K9, dog indicated the presence of a controlled substance in the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle revealed paraphernalia used to ingest marijuana and methamphetamine. The passenger, 35-year old Clinton Gabriel Cook, of Sidney, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Cook was transported to the Fremont County Jail and released on $300 bond. Additional charges are pending

More than 12-hundred (1,200) Red Cross volunteers in Iowa gave 41-thousand (41,000) hours of service to disaster victims this year. The regional communications officer for the Red Cross in Iowa, Kara Kelly, says floods and wildfires across the country have kept the relief agency busy.

“Certainly, nationally, it was busier than usual,” Kelly said. ” Of course, here in Iowa, we’re always busy responding to mostly single-family home fires, but certainly across the country, we’ve seen a lot of disaster activity.” At least 40 Iowans were deployed to lend aid nationwide in 2015. In Iowa, Kelly said volunteers responded to 632 house fires over the past 12 months.

“The large disasters certainly get a lot more attention, but our Red Cross volunteers are on call 24/7 and mostly respond to individual incidents like home fires,” Kelly said. According to Kelly, Iowans gave more than 36,850 lifesaving blood donations in 2015. The American Red Cross opened its first branch in Iowa in 1916.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been sentenced to two years in prison for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in 2014. Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says 43-year-old Danny Lee Barnes, of Sioux Center, was sentenced on a charge of assault with intent to commit sex abuse. Authorities say Barnes had sex with a 14-year-old girl at a park during the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2014. The girl was a friend to Barnes’ family.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Dubuque say a 14-year-old boy was injured after he was pinned under a car following a one-vehicle crash. The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office says Caleb Sweat was ejected from a vehicle that lost control on Highway 61. The car, driven by 45-year-old Jason Sweat, entered a ditch and rolled. Authorities say Caleb was pinned under the car. He was extricated and taken to a local hospital with injuries to his legs. Jason Sweat, Caleb’s father, was cited for failure to maintain control of his vehicle.

Attorneys for an anti-abortion group who successfully challenged part of an Iowa campaign finance law want taxpayers to reimburse them for $300,000 in legal fees. In court filings this month, lawyers for Iowa Right to Life argued their clients should be considered prevailing parties in the case and the state should be on the hook for their costs of bringing the lawsuit. They’ve asked a federal judge to award $271,000 to the Bopp Law Firm of Terre Haute, Indiana and $28,000 to Des Moines-based BrownWinick.

A former tower guard at a maximum-security Iowa prison has been sentenced to 17 months behind bars for being a drug user in possession of a firearm. Ethan Darrow will surrender later to begin serving the sentence issued by U.S. District Judge Linda Reade, who also ordered a $5,000 fine. Federal authorities announced charges against the 29-year-old and three other former guards in October. Darrow pleaded guilty after admitting that he was a regular user of marijuana and cocaine in 2014.