Algna, Iowa — One person died in a large, northern Iowa fire Sunday morning. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, the fire was reported just before 4:30 a.m. at an acreage in rural Titonka. A female caller told dispatch she was woken up by the power going out in her house, and she could see the glow of fire at their workshop outbuilding west of the house. The woman also told dispatch she didn’t know where her husband was and that he had been out in the workshop earlier in the night.

The workshop building was fully engulfed in flames when crews from Titonka, Kossuth County and Bancroft arrived. 45-year-old Brian Leroy Janssen was found dead inside the building.

Janssen’s remains will be taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for autopsy to determine the cause of death. The State Fire Marshall’s Office is assisting in the investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office press release

DES MOINES, Iowa — [KCCI] A Waukee man accused in a wire fraud and money laundering scheme is now in custody. The FBI had been looking for 51-year-old William Jack Berg, since late March. Investigators say he used his position as a financial adviser to defraud more than a dozen clients, using more than $1.5 million of his clients’ money for his own personal benefit.

The FBI received a tip on Berg’s location and he was arrested without incident by the Shawnee, Kansas, Police Department on April 4.

Original post on March 30th:

OMAHA, Neb.  – The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Omaha field office is seeking the public’s help in locating an Iowa man wanted for alleged money laundering and wire fraud. The office says William Jack “Bill” Berg, 51, is wanted for allegedly defrauding over a dozen client investors in a scheme that resulted in the loss of over $1.5 million. It’s alleged that the victim investors provided Berg, a financial advisor in the Des Moines metro area, with funds for investment — only for Berg to use those funds for his own benefit. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Berg on March 19. He most recently lived in the Waukee and Adel areas and is suspected to have been in the Des Moines area as recently as Monday (March 25th).

William Jack Berg, (AKA Bill Berg) – FBI Photo

Berg is described as 5′11″, 195 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI’s Omaha field office at (402) 493-8688.

(Walnut, Iowa) – Two barns and their contents were destroyed in a fire, Monday afternoon, north of Walnut. The structures were lost when a grass fire near mile marker 48 along Interstate 80, spread north to a farm. The fire was reported at around 2:10-p.m., and was brought under control about an hour later.

Firefighters were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the home. The cause of the fire was not known. No injuries were reported.

A local farmer helped in the effort to contain the blaze, using a tractor and disk. Walnut Fire was assisted at the scene by crews from the Atlantic, Avoca, Elk Horn, Harlan, and Marne fire departments.

(Radio Iowa)- Some people from Iowa were out of state and got to see more of an impact from the solar eclipse than we saw here. Tim Loecke of Manchester, was in Indianapolis Monday to visit a friend and went to a watch party at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I didn’t expect it to kind of be overwhelmed by it, but really was, the whole totality thing,” he says. This was his third eclipse and it was much different from the first one.

“I guess it was 1979, I think I was in fourth grade or something like that,” Loecke says. “And that was kind of a nice experience. That was back in the day, we had like a popsicle stick, and looked down on the paper. For people old enough, I’m 53, you might remember something like that.” The second eclipse he saw was in 2017 and the sun was and 85 to 90 percent covered. He says seeing an eclipse with the full coverage was the best of the three. “No photograph is going to really explain what you see. It’s super cool. It’s unique,” he says. “And even though for me, it wasn’t a primary purpose to come down, I really wanted to hang out with some close friends, it was awesome.” Loecke says you could feel the excitement of everyone there.

“The weather cooled off, you’re starting to notice it’s getting really dark, and then all of a sudden, it’s like it’s there. And we had like four minutes here, which is a long time to have it,” Loecke says. “But just the vision of you can’t really describe it’s one of those things that you’re like holy cow. That’s just absolutely beautiful. And it does make you feel small in a big world.” Loecke says it’s also amazing that people are so educated about what goes on to be able to predict when the eclipses will happen.

(Radio Iowa) – A federal study finds instances of violence in healthcare settings are five times more likely than in other industries, and a clinic in northeast Iowa that was built in 1950 is planning to put up security cameras for the first time. Tom Eachus, executive director of the Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Clinic in Waterloo, says the plan to implement cameras is more preventative, designed to help everyone feel safe.

Eachus says, “We wanted to make sure that patients who come here for services, and staff who provide those services, family members who come with patients, are in an environment they feel safe and secure in.” Eachus says violence in the clinic hasn’t been a problem in his 35 years on the job. He adds, the cameras will be in place for long-term patient safety.

“So many of our patients have been with us 10, 20, 30, 40 years, and I think they feel comfortable here,” Eachus says, “but helping them feel safer in the event of a bad situation I think is just going to be more reassuring to them that it’s very welcoming.” Eachus says he’s only seen one or two instances of violence during his long tenure.

The clinic has spent the last several years partnering with local and county law enforcement to reevaluate what a safe mental health space looks like. The clinic serves about six-thousand patients in the region.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two women were arrested on separate charges Monday evening, in Montgomery County. According to the Sheriff’s report, 47-year-old Keyla Rae Churchill, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 6:40-p.m. in Red Oak, on two active Montgomery County warrants for Violation of Probation. Churchill was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 9:25-p.m., Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 26-year-old Gwendolyn Elizabeth Weston, of Elliott, for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Weston was arrested in Elliott and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was being held without bond. Red Oak Police assisted Deputies in handling the arrest.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — [KETV]-  A Pottawattamie County supervisor said he didn’t realize he had too much to drink when he was arrested for operating while intoxicated. In a phone interview with KETV in Omaha, Jeff Jorgensen said he was having a tough time mourning the loss of his wife, who died in May 2023, and he was self-medicating.

According to a police report, Jorgensen hit a vehicle on westbound I-80 in Council Bluffs and was pulled over on the shoulder. When he got out, according to the report, he fell into the interstate. The Iowa State trooper who arrested Jorgensen said he smelled of alcohol and “could not stand” without losing his balance. A breath test showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.168, or more than twice the legal limit.

Jorgensen, who was attending a Republican event in Fort Dodge, Iowa on Saturday, said he stopped at a few different spots on the way home to Council Bluffs to have a drink. Jorgensen calls himself a social drinker. He told KETV he was extremely remorseful and will seek grief counseling and alcohol treatment.

He was charged in Pottawattamie County Court with first offense operating while intoxicated and released from jail on Monday. Jorgensen was elected to serve until December 2026. The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors meets next on April 9. The county released a statement that it was aware of the incident but would not comment further.

Pott. County Democrats Chair Lisa Lima issued a statement, Monday night, calling for Jorgensen’s resignation. In the statement, Lima said “As proud residents of Pottawattamie County, we call on Supervisor Jeff Jorgensen to resign following the disturbing criminal events of Saturday, April 6th. Mr. Jorgensen was involved in a serious Operating While Intoxicated incident that resulted in criminal charges. This represents yet another public display of poor choices made by Mr. Jorgensen that hurts the hard-working residents of our county.

As supporters of law and order, we call on Mr. Jorgensen to resign from his position on the Board of Supervisors immediately. Our community deserves elected leadership that takes responsibilities seriously and acts with integrity. Mr. Jorgensen undermines the trust and confidence of Pottawattamie County citizens with his continued poor choices. We urge fellow community members, local officials, and residents to join us in demanding that our community values of respect, dignity, and accountability are upheld without compromise.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has voted to establish the new crime of “grooming” and a school employee accused of luring a student into a sexual relationship could be charged with a felony. Under the bill, schools would be required to report alleged grooming behavior of any school employee to state officials. Senator Chris Cournoyer of Le Claire says it also requires the Iowa Board of Education Examiners to notify law enforcement if officials believe a crime has been committed.) “Students, both male and female, should always feel safe at school,” Cournoyer says, “and until we get these predators out of our schools, we need to be vigilant to protect our kids.”

Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines says the bill was inspired by a recent case in which a woman discovered a teacher who had manipulated her into an inappropriate relationship was being sued for doing the same thing to another student in another state. “There was a big fear that this school teacher would return back to the state of Iowa to use Iowa classrooms as hunting ground, again, to prey on more students,” Petersen says.

The bill calls on the Board of Educational Examiners to create what essentially is a case number for each complaint about a school staffer’s alleged grooming behavior. Representative Brooke Boden of Indianola notes the bill passed the House and Senate unanimously. “I’d just like to commend everybody for working together on this very important bill,” Boden says. “I think this makes sure that we remove the bad actors from any of our children, any of our schools.”

Lawmakers say the vast majority of Iowa teachers and school staff are good people, but it’s time to crack down on the few who prey on students with flirtatious behavior that’s meant to groom students for a sexual relationship.