A fire late Wednesday night in Coon Rapids, has destroyed an historic building. According to reports, the blaze at the 1911 I.O.O.F (International Order of Odd Fellows) building was called-in at around 11:30-p.m. Crews from Coon Rapids, Dedham, Bayard and Carroll were on the scene early this morning, trying to keep the flames from spreading to the Post Office and Northeast side Recreation Parlor. The fire in the building located in the middle of downtown Coon Rapids, apparently started in the back part of the structure, upstairs.  A woman living in an upstairs apartment was able to safely evacuate the building.

The structure was one of four, two-story brick buildings constructed between 1906 and 1911, in downtown Coon Rapids.

(7-a.m. News)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Ankeny man whose baby died after becoming wedged between a mattress and a wall has been given two years of probation. Court records say Matthew Cohara also was fined $625 and granted a deferred judgment at his hearing Tuesday. A deferred judgment allows his conviction to be removed from court records if he completes his probation terms. Cohara had pleaded guilty to child endangerment and other crimes.

Police were called to the Ankeny home of Cohara and Michelle Atwell on Aug. 26 after the 7-month-old baby was found not breathing. Police say the baby became wedged and suffocated after Atwell left her on the bed for hours after breast-feeding her. An autopsy found a cocaine byproduct in the baby’s system. Atwell’s trial is set to begin April 30.

One person died and four others were injured during a collision Wednesday night in northwest Iowa’s Calhoun County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2005 Dodge Caravan was traveling east in the westbound lane of Highway 20 at the same time a 2017 GMC Yukon was traveling west in the same lane. After the van hit the SUV, both vehicles came to rest in the median. The 37-year old driver of the van, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. Three of the SUV occupants were transported by ambulance to Trinity Regional Hospital  in Ft. Dodge. Another person in the SUV was flown by Life Flight to Iowa Methodist in Des Moines.

No names were released. The crash, which happened at around 8:30-p.m., Wednesday, remains under investigation.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say an inmate head-butted a guard at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. The assault occurred around 8:25 a.m. Wednesday when the guard and another were escorting the inmate, who’d been placed in restraints because of previous misconduct. An Iowa Corrections Department news release says the inmate used his head to strike the guard’s face.

The guard was treated at Fort Madison Community Hospital and released. The names of those involved haven’t been released.

Lawmakers say the stories they’ve heard from patients and families are spurring some major reforms of Iowa’s mental health care system. Mary Neubauer of Clive wrote a widely-read obituary for her son, Sergei, in late September after he took his own life. This is how Neubauer explained her family’s predicament during a news conference in early March:

“When it became obvious that Sergei needed long term, residential mental health care for his illnesses, it simply didn’t exist in Iowa and that is a horrible feeling.” Senator Charles Schneider of West Des Moines met with Sergei Neubauer’s parents shortly after the young man’s funeral. Schneider says the meeting helped him better understand the shortage of treatment options for Iowans who need in-patient treatment, but not in a hospital psych ward.

“That’s the problem that they experienced when they were trying to find help for their son,” Schneider says, “so that’s how it helped me and I’m sure that story, if it helped me, probably helped every other legislator they talked to.” Today (Thursday) Governor Kim Reynolds will sign two related bills into law. One will require school employees to undergo at least an hour’s worth of suicide prevention training each year. The other seeks to address flaws in the system for treating mentally ill Iowans.

Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo says during a meeting earlier this year, she kept her head bowed as Neubauer spoke of trying to find treatment for her son’s depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.  “Although we’re ripping a scab off of a wound, that’s how we get stuff accomplished down here,” Brown-Powers says. “And those stories do matter.” A University of Northern Iowa political science professor says studies confirm personal stories rather than raw statistics are what move people to action.

Advocates who worked on these two bills say the next step is to lobby legislators to provide more MONEY for the mental health care system. Peggy Huppert is the state director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “We’ve reached a tipping point on this issue,” Huppert said. “Mental illness affects tens of thousands of Iowans and they’re raised their voices to say in unison: ‘More must be done.'” The governor is scheduled to sign the two bills into law later this (Thursday) morning.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Ron Corbett says he has filed a lawsuit, hoping a judge will rule his name should be on the June Primary ballot as a challenger of Governor Kim Reynolds. On Tuesday, a state panel concluded Corbett’s nominating petitions were eight signatures short of the number required to qualify as a primary candidate. “This is about being treated fairly and there’s something just in my gut that tells me this isn’t right,” Corbett says.

Corbett spoke at a news conference in Cedar Rapids Wednesday afternoon, blasting the “Republican establishment” for challenging that paperwork. “You see the establishment doesn’t take too kindly when someone tries to threaten their power,” Corbett said. Corbett expects a ruling next week. Timing is crucial, as primary ballots are being printed soon. Corbett says it’s “tough to beat the donor class, special interests and the establishment.”

“And that’s the trio behind Governor Reynolds, but that trio can be defeated, but only if people unite behind them and the only way that people can unite behind them is to have a ballot choice,” Corbett says. Corbett’s campaign is arguing it’s been penalized for its “over-diligence” in crossing off “legal and valid names” on Corbett’s nominating petitions. Corbett’s lawsuit asks the judge to count those names — something the review panel refused to do Tuesday.

“Maybe you’re a football fan like I am, but once in a while the referee on the field throws a flag,” Corbett said. “…We’re just throwing a ‘coaches challenge’ out there and we’re asking for a judge to review.” Corbett says one reason he filed the lawsuit is because Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller “sided with” Corbett, while the two other members of the review panel voted against letting Corbett on the ballot.

(Radio Iowa)