Two people died and another was injured during two separate crashes Tuesday night in eastern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 17-year old male died in a rollover accident in southeast Iowa’s Marion County. The Patrol says the teen was driving a 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup too fast on a 90% ice and snow packed road south of Pleasantville at around 7:50-p.m., when the vehicle went out of control and rolled into a ditch before landing on its top. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died at the scene. His name was not immediately released.

The second accident happened in Marshall County, when a 1998 Chevy K-1500 pickup driven by 21-year old Kyle Borota, of Garwin, went out of control on a gravel road and entered a farm field before rolling over. Borota was ejected from the truck as it rolled. He was not wearing a seat belt. His passenger, 18-year old Cole Purdy, of Marshalltown, was injured and transported to Unity Point by ambulance. Purdy was also not wearing a seat belt.

An electric space heater is “highly suspected” as the cause of a house fire Tuesday night, in Atlantic. Firefighters were called to 1308 Birch at around 7:44-p.m. Fire Chief Mark McNees told KJAN when they arrived, flames were shooting out of a window. Crews got a quick knock-down from the outside before entry was made into the rental home. For a time, it was unclear whether the persons who lived there – Dean Barber and his adult son – were home or not, but McNees said they learned the two were on the way to eastern Iowa where they planned to have Thanksgiving with Barber’s daughter. The pair were planning on returning to Atlantic sometime today.

Ric Hanson/photos

McNees said one of two electric space heaters is the likely cause of the blaze, which caused substantial damage to the inside of the home. The State Fire Marshal’s Office will be contacted to get a second opinion on which of the devices are to blame. One of the heaters, McNees said, was near a couch. The contents of the home were a substantial loss, but McNees said Barber has rental insurance. The Red Cross will be contacted today to offer assistance as needed.

Crews were on the scene until about 10-p.m. Atlantic Fire and Rescue was assisted at the scene by Atlantic Police, Medivac Ambulance, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies, Atlantic Municipal Utilities, ce and the Cass County Emergency Management Agency.

(Radio Iowa) – Today (Wednesday) is expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year and many savvy Iowa air travelers are spending a little extra for a big convenience. Kevin Foley, executive director of the Des Moines Airport Authority, says T-S-A Pre-Check allows for expedited security screenings, which is a big plus as the regular line for X-rays and screenings may be many hundreds of people long. “You don’t have to take your shoes off, you don’t have to take your coat off, you don’t have to worry about taking your laptop out of the bag,” Foley says. “You don’t have to take hardly anything out of your bags so the throughput is much greater and even though the lines are growing a little bit, they still have a set goal of no more than a five minute wait in that Pre-Check line.”

The cost of T-S-A Pre-Check is 85-dollars for a five-year pass. “People often ask me, ‘I only fly once a year, is Pre-Check worth it?’,” Foley says. “If you fly once a year and Precheck ends up costing you $15 a year, that’s $7.50 when you go out from Des Moines and $7.50 when you come back and it’s worth every penny.”

To sign up for T-S-A Pre-Check, you’ll need to fill out a form, make an appointment to be fingerprinted and have a background check run. If approved, you’ll be issued a K-T-N or Known Traveler Number which you can use when booking a flight. If you’re planning on air travel to other countries, Foley has another suggestion.
“Global Entry is the Customs and Border Protection side of things,” Foley says, “but it includes Pre-Check as well and it gets you through Customs if you’re going internationally, kind of in the similar process as Pre-Check.”

Global entry costs $250 and also lasts five years. Learn more about both programs at tsa-dot-gov.

Red Oak Police, Tuesday evening, arrested 51-year old Mark Ray Maley, of Red Oak. Maley was taken into custody at around 6-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Corning Street, on a charge of Public Intoxication. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday), arrested 55-year old Scott Timothy Brown, of Grant. He was taken into custody at around 2:30-a.m. following a traffic stop, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail. Brown was wanted on a Pottawattamie County Bench warrant for Failure to Appear in court, on an original charge of Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $10,000.