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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
Three southwest Iowa fire departments were called to combat a trailer home fire Monday night in Hancock. Cindy Guyer, a member of the Hancock Volunteer Fire Department, says the fire at 126 north Scott Street was reported at around 5:40-p.m. It didn’t take crews long to respond, since the fire station is located very close by. Guyer described what they saw upon arrival. She said there was smoke coming out of the mobile home’s furnace stack. They could see it at the fire station located right across the street.
Hancock firefighters immediately started hosing down the structure. It wasn’t long before crews from Oakland and Avoca arrived to help them battle the blaze. Guyer said those crews worked on cutting holes in the structure to gain access to burning insulation. Despite their combined efforts, the fire spread quickly. Guyer said that’s because it was an older model trailer, which had been in town since the 1970’s.
While the home was a total loss, there were no injuries reported. Guyer said the family was home, but when the called 9-1-1, they were advised to get out. They lost all of their possessions. The family spent the rest of the night with family members. Firefighters were on the scene for a little over two-hours, but they had to return to the scene very early this (Tuesday) morning. Guyer said they were called out at around 2-a.m. because insulation in the metal home was still smoldering and rekindled.
Donations for the family are being accepted at the Hancock United Methodist Church, AHST School District or at NAPA in Avoca. The family has clothing needs, especially for their school-aged children, and the parents. A cause for the fire has not been determined.
(Joel McCall/KNOD)
A collision between three vehicles was reported just before 8-a.m. at 10th and Maple Streets here in Atlantic. According to dispatch reports, a Mercury Mountaineer SUV rolled over into a small ditch near the intersection. Another vehicle involved in the collision was a Chevy Suburban.
According to reports, a northbound Ford Taurus pulled into the intersection and was hit by the SUV. The car spun around and collided with the Suburban, while the SUV ended up in ditch. The car and Suburban came to rest in the middle of the intersection. No injuries were reported. Additional details are expected later today.
Rescue crews from in Atlantic have been called to a multi-vehicle accident this morning on I-80 in Cass County. The call came in at around 6:28-a.m. from Interstate 80 westbound at the 60 mile marker, or just west of the Highway 71 interchange. At least two people were hurt, including a man with a shoulder injury, and a pregnant female who was having trouble breathing. Crews from Atlantic Fire & Rescue, Anita Rescue and Medivac were called to the scene.
No other details are available. Another accident reported at the 48-mile marker westbound has a car on its top in the traveled portion of the road. At 6:51-a.m., the Iowa Dot’s Website at 511ia.org reported I-80 westbound between Exit 46 (County Road M-47) and Exit 51 (County Road M-56 near Walnut) was blocked due to an accident.
(update 6:46-a.m.)
Police in Council Bluffs are investigating yet another armed robbery of a convenience store. Sgt. Dave Dawson says just before midnight, Monday, a white male in his 20’s entered the Kum- & Go store at 2024 5th Avenue, in Council Bluffs. The man grabbed a bottle of pop and approached the clerk at the counter. The suspect then reached into his right pocket and pulled out a hand gun, pointed it at the clerk and told him to open the cash drawer and give him all the money.
The suspect told the clerk he had quote “10 seconds to open the drawer, ” or he was going to kill him. The robber then took off with an undetermined amount of cash. It was the second time in the past 3 days the store was robbed. In this most recent incident, the suspect had brown hair, wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, black gloves, and a scarf over his face.
An investigation into the incident continues. Sgt. Dawson it’s not known if the suspect(s) in the robberies are connected. Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press …
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Forecasters are predicting several inches of snow to fall across southern Iowa, creating hazardous driving conditions. The National Weather Service says a winter storm warning will be in effect between 9 a.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday. Meteorologist Roger Vachalek says officials predict between 5 and 8 inches of snow, especially in areas closest to the Missouri state line.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — State officials say the destructive emerald ash borer has been found in a sixth location in Iowa. The finding in Waterloo means a statewide quarantine restricting the transfer of some wood materials out of the state will be issued Tuesday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa Senate subcommittee has approved extra money to help low-income families pay their utility bills. The proposal would appropriate $2 million to Iowa’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The legislation comes amid a propane shortage and resulting price spike.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Years after a 2008 flood exposed flaws in emergency communications, first responders in Iowa’s second-largest county are using a new radio system to talk to each other. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner says his office and police departments in Hiawatha, Mount Vernon, Lisbon and Robins started using the new digital system Monday. Marion started using it last week, and Cedar Rapids is scheduled to make the switch Feb. 11.
The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will hold the first of two work sessions on the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. The first session will come on the heels of Wednesday’s regular council meeting, which takes place at the Atlantic Senior Center, beginning at 5:30-p.m. The next budget work session will be held Feb. 11th. The Council is slated to adopt the preliminary budget during their meeting on Feb. 19th, and hold a Public Hearing prior to adoption of the Budget during their regular session, on March 12th.
In a nearly one-inch thick FY 2015 Budget Report, City Administrator Doug Harris said the proposed budgets for all operating funds amounts to $9.373-million, which is a decrease of $481,863 or 4.9%, from the total estimated expenditures in FY 2014. Even though the budget is lower than last year, the tax rate for the City is going up. Harris said the rate would be $18 per $1,000 of assessed taxable value, which is an increase of 32-cents or 1.8%, over the last Fiscal Year. Of the six tax-levying funds available to the City, only two are responsible for the increase in taxes: The Employee Benefit Fund (EBF) and Debt Service Fund (DSF).
Harris says the EBF is up 18-cents per thousand, or 4.36%, while the DSF is up nearly 14-cents per thousand, or 2.9%. The biggest dollar increase in the EBF is for Health Insurance Premiums, which Harris says are up 14.9%. Fewer Workers Compensation claims have brought the City a $4,00 savings, and brought all other non-health insurance costs down to a net increase of just one-half percent.In increase in the DSF according to Harris, reflects a change in accounting for equipment purchases, the expenses for which were double-counted under the old system when debt payments and capital expenses for capital equipment purchases were charged to the fund. The current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) does not call for issuing any more general obligation bonds in 2014.
The largest tax levy fund is capped by the State at 8.1-mils, or $8.10 per $1,000 taxable value. Property tax assessment legislation passed by the State last year will continue to contribute upward pressure on property tax rates, according to Harris, and the resulting gradual shift of the tax burden onto residential tax payers.
The new legislation rolls back the assessed values of commercial and industrial properties, and reclassifies multiplex apartment buildings from commercial to residential. The change in assessment practices, Harris says, will constrict tax revenue in the City’s General Operating Fund, and increase taxes on residential tax payers for the five other funds supported by property taxes.
One person suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident early this (Tuesday) morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. According to dispatch reports from the Cass County Communications Center, the accident happened at around 2:14-a.m. on I-80 eastbound, about a mile east of the Walnut exit (Exit 47). One person in the vehicle suffered a head laceration. Medivac Ambulance tiered with Walnut Rescue in response to the accident.
Roads in the area were partially-to-completely covered with snow at the time. No other information is currently available.