CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been accused of setting two fires in Cedar Rapids. Linn County court records say 48-year-old Carolyn Mittman is charged with two counts of arson. Mittman’s next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28. Court documents say Mittman told investigators that she’d set a fire Oct. 22 at an apartment and set one on Oct. 13, 2017, at her former home to collect insurance money.

Red Oak Police say no injuries were reported following an accident Monday afternoon. Authorities say a 2012 Freightliner Semi-tractor trailer registered to XPO Logistics and driven by Beau Kinney, of Glenwood, was traveling south on Broadway Street from the intersection of Highway 34. A 2004 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Jeffrey Steven Whitt, of Villisca, was merging onto Broadway from Highway 34, when he failed to yield to the semi in his lane. The semi hit the car on the driver’s side, causing minor damage. Whitt was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a highway, and Failure to show proof of insurance.

And, the Union County Sheriff’s Office says there were three accidents on Friday. At around 2:30-p.m., a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 15-year old Tessi May VanScoy, of Creston, was traveling south on Highway 25, in an area where cars were slowing for another vehicle that was being pulled from a ditch. VanScoy slowed down as well, but was unable to stop due to the road conditions. Her car hit the rear of a vehicle that then left the scene. Damage to the Pontiac was estimated at $3,000. No injuries were reported.

Just before 6-p.m. Friday, a 1999 Chevy Tahoe driven by 27-year old Samantha Kay Gyles, of Knoxville, was traveling east on Main Street in Lorimor, when the vehicle went out of control on the snow covered road. The SUV hit a legally parked 2008 Honda Accord, which in-turn, was pushed into a legally parked Volvo. There were no injuries. Damage from the mishap amounted to $4,000.

And, At around 6:30-p.m. Friday, a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by 70-year old Roger Henry Shephard, of Creston, went out of control due to the slippery road, as it was traveling south on Cherry Street Road. When the van swerved into the northbound lane, a 2018 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 31-year old Kody Karl Nielsen, of Guthrie Center, struck the left rear of the van. The impact caused the van to spin around and slide backward into the west ditch. Shephard was transported the hospital in Creston by ambulance to be checked-out. Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines City Council has been urged to adopt a ban on racial profiling by police. Creation of a civilian review board was among the proposals aired at the council meeting Monday night. The proposals include bans on what were described as “pretextual stops”: traffic stops in which police use minor traffic violations as excuses to pull over people officers find suspicious because of their race or sex.

The council also was urged to make marijuana possession Des Moines’ lowest police enforcement priority because, the activists said, it unfairly targets minorities. The council voted to instruct City Manager Scott Sanders to research and report on each of the proposals. Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert disagreed that the city needs a civilian review board. He says that’s something for cities with major problems within their police departments.

Sheriff’s deputies in Adams County arrested an Adair County man at around 2:35-a.m. today (Tuesday). Delson Grantham, of Fontanelle, was taken into custody after authorities received a call at around 2:15-a.m., about a suspicious vehicle in the 1300 block of Walnut Avenue. Upon further investigation, Grantham was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, Carrying a firearm while under the influence, and Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $2,300.

(Radio Iowa) — A northwest Iowa man has returned home from the West Coast, where he tried to save his mother’s home from wildfires that destroyed much of the town of Paradise, California. Andrew Duran of Sioux City is a retired carpenter who had been working on his mother’s home in the days before the fires swept through the area. He stayed behind as his mother and two brothers fled the approaching flames. Duran says he used a hose to “drench” the outside of their homes.

“I just kept watering around the house, under the car port and everything, just trying to get it as wet as I could,” Duran said. “About 45 minutes later, I saw the house across the street go up (in flames). Then, the next door neighbor’s house went up.” Duran quickly found himself fighting a losing battle and realized he was also in danger of being trapped. He shot and narrated a cell phone video of the homes going up in flames around him as he made his way towards nearby firefighters.

“There’s my mom’s house, going up right now. Sorry, mom,” Duran says in the video. Looking back, Duran said he was focused on saving his mother’s home and not worried about his own safety at the time. “I didn’t have time to think about me,” Duran said. “My number one concern was not to let my mother’s home burn…she’s not going to be homeless.”

Duran’s mother and other family members made it safely to a nearby Wal-Mart that was transformed into a make-shift “refugee site.” They are currently staying with other relatives in California and trying to decide if they’ll eventually rebuild or move elsewhere.