Authorities in eastern Iowa, Monday, recovered a fire truck that was reported stolen late last week from southern Iowa’s Union County. Cedar Rapids Police Department Public Safety/Communications Coordinator Greg Buelow told KJAN News a tip from the public led Police to recover the 2004 Ford F-350 Super Duty grass/field fire attach truck late Monday afternoon.

He says the Police Department received a few calls at around 3:30-p.m.from residents in the vicinity of 29th Avenue and Huxley Avenue, that a there was a truck with fire department logos and lights parked on the street. Officers arriving on the scene found the vehicle had not been damaged, and the keys were still inside. Their investigation revealed the vehicle may have been there for as long as a week.

The truck was brought to the Cedar Rapids Police Department headquarters and turned over to officials with the Lorimor Fire Department, this (Tuesday) morning. Beulow says they have no idea why someone would take a vehicle that is important to public safety and the prevention of property damage. While not wanting to comment on the investigation into the theft, Beulow said more often than not in these cases, the public will provide the clues.

He says “It’s going to be other people. Somebody’s going to be out there bragging about it, talking about how they ‘pulled a good stunt,’ or whatever reason why they did it. I would encourage anybody with information about who did this to contact local law enforcement or the Cedar Rapids Police Department.” In the Cedar Rapids area, you can call 1-800-CS-Crime. All callers can remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a cash reward.

Beulow says he doesn’t know why, or under what circumstances someone would steal a fire truck. The bottom line is, there’s nothing funny about it. Besides the fact the crime is a Theft, the person or persons responsible took an emergency vehicle out of service. The theft left a town or township without a piece of fire apparatus for a week. He said the crime “Is not something people should be proud of.”

The truck and its equipment were valued at $15,000. Beulow, whose background is in the fire service, says he’s glad who ever stole the truck left it intact, because it’s something many small communities cannot afford to replace.

One person was injured during a single-vehicle, rollover accident Monday afternoon, in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 60-year old Karen Gay Spicer, of Shambaugh, was transported to the Clarinda Regional Health Center for treatment of unknown injuries, following the crash that happened at around 3:30-p.m., about two miles north of College Springs.

An investigation revealed Spice was traveling south on Nutmeg Avenue when her 2007 Ford Taurus drifted across the gravel and rolled once, coming to rest on its wheels in a ditch. Spicer was the only occupant of the vehicle.

Agencies assisting following the incident include: the Clarinda Ambulance Service, Clarinda Fire Department and College Springs Rescue.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) report Dr. Chad McCance will present “A discussion about colon cancer: Myths and Misunderstandings” during this month’s CCHS Healthy U, which will be held at noon on Thursday, March 17th in Conference Room 2 at Cass County Health System.

Dr. McCance is a board-certified general surgeon who joined Southwest Iowa Surgery in 2008. He received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Nebraska in 1992 and completed his general surgery residency in Des Moines at the VA and Methodist Hospitals in 1997. Prior to coming to CCHS Dr. McCance practiced in Price, Utah, for ten years. He performs general surgery, thoracic surgery and critical care procedures. Minimally invasive surgical techniques are used whenever appropriate. These include laparoscopic surgery, MIOS (minimally invasive open surgery), and thorascopic surgery (scope surgery of the chest).

Dr. Chad McCance

Healthy U is a free educational series offered by Cass County Health System that focuses on a different health topic each month. All registered attendees receive a healthy boxed meal in addition to the educational program presented by medical professionals.

For more information, or to make a reservation for Healthy U, call 712-243-7479.

Officials with Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) say they’ve recently learned of a phishing scam targeted at Iowans filing for unemployment insurance assistance. IWD wants the public to be aware of the scam and is warning its customers to protect their personal information.

IWD says it does not request sensitive account information through email communications. Individuals filing for unemployment insurance benefits will receive pertinent information regarding their account through the U.S. Postal Service. The email did not come from IWD or any IWD service.

For any individuals receiving the email, do not click on any of the links provided in the email, including the unsubscribe link. For those who may have provided credit card information, notify your credit card company or bank immediately. For individuals who may have provided a social security number and/or date of birth and are concerned about being the victim of identity theft, contact the Iowa Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 515-281-5926.

A young man from Guthrie County died in a crash Monday night in south Central Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports 22-year old Dylan Watson, of Menlo, died in the crash that took place at around 9-p.m. on Highway 65/69, about six miles north of Indianola.

The Patrol says Watson was killed when the pickup he was driving slammed into the back of a semi trailer. The driver of the semi, who was not injured, was making a U-turn into the southbound lanes at the time.

Authorities say charges may be pending, but the crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, IOWA — Representative Tom Moore announced his intention to seek reelection to the District 21 seat in the Iowa House of Representatives. District 21 is comprised of Adams and Union counties, and parts of Pottawattamie and Cass counties.

Moore was originally elected to the House in December 2015 in a special election to replace the late Rep. Jack Drake. Before serving in the House, Moore dedicated much of his life to working with Iowa’s youth. For 33 years he taught physical education, American history, world history, reading, and health to 6th – 12th grade students in the Grinnell and Griswold school districts. Moore also coached football, wrestling, and golf during those years. Following his retirement from education he served on the Griswold Board of Education from 2009 through 2015.

Rep. Tom Moore (right)

Moore continues his service to Iowa students in the House where he serves on the Education Committee and is Vice Chair of the Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Moore also serves on the Environmental Protection, Human Resources, and State Government Committees. His first vote in the House was to raise education funding by two percent for fiscal year 2016.

From 2007 to 2015 Moore worked as the Assistant Manager at Southwest Iowa Egg, where he gained insight into what it takes to successfully run an animal agriculture organization and a business in general. His second vote in the House was in support of coupling Iowa’s tax code with the federal code and save farmers and business owners thousands of dollars under Section 179, which allows for accelerated depreciation of new business assets up to $500,000.

Moore has been married to his wife Jewell Moore for 31 years. They have three children.

A bill that would make it easier for as many as 80 deceased veterans to reach their final resting place will be debated today (Tuesday) in an Iowa Senate committee. Michael Triplett, a lobbyist for the Iowa Funeral Directors Association, explains the problem.  “Sometimes when people are cremated there are occasions where the family just doesn’t come and claim the remains and they stay on our shelves for quite a while,” Triplett says.

Other states have passed laws that allow a veterans’ organization to claim the cremated remains of confirmed veterans who were homeless or indigent when they died, so those veterans may be burial with full military honors. “What we need to do, though, in order to make that work in the state of Iowa is to set up a framework where everyone’s rights are protected, including those who may want to claim the remains, but who haven’t gotten around to it, or haven’t been notified,” Triplett says.

The bill would allow Iowa funeral directors with unclaimed cremated remains to contact the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs six months after they’ve filed the death certificate, to find out if the deceased was a veteran. If he or she was a veteran, the funeral director will keep the cremated remains for another six months. “If after those two sets of 180 days no one has claimed the remains and they are an eligible veteran, a veterans organization can come and pick up the remains and they can give the person a proper military send-off in their Iowa Veterans Cemetery,” Triplett says.

Under current law, Iowa funeral directors are not allowed to release cremated remains to anyone but a family member. Triplett says as many as 80 veterans might be buried at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter if the bill becomes law.

The “Missing in America” project was launched in 2007 to seek out the “tens of thousands” of indigent veterans who have died, but who remain shelved in funeral homes around the country. The bill to address the problem in Iowa has passed the Iowa House and will be considered in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee later today (Tuesday).

(Radio Iowa)