DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The extended family of an American soldier killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan is traveling from Iowa to New York to attend his funeral. The Telegraph Herald reports about 50 family members of Technical Sgt. Joseph Lemm boarded a coach bus Tuesday in Dubuque. They were expected to fly from Chicago ahead of funeral services Wednesday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

Democrat presidential candidate Martin O’Malley, the former Governor of Maryland, will be the keynote speaker at a Cass County Democratic Party fundraiser this Saturday. The event featuring O’Malley and candidates for the U-S Senate and Iowa House, begins at 12:30-p.m. with a luncheon at the Cass County Community Center ( 805 W. 10th St.),  in Atlantic. The cost to attend is $25 per person. Reservations are requested by Dec. 30th.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle says proceeds from the event will be used to offset the expenses of the 2016 caucus and local campaigns. Speakers during the afternoon include:

• 1:00-to 1:10-p.m. Iowa Senator Tom Fiegen, candidate for U-S Senate.
• 1:10-to1:20-p.m. Bob Krause, Candidate for U-S Senate.
• 1:20-to 1:30-p.m. Scott Heldt, Candidate for Iowa House, District 20
• 1:30-to 1:40-p.m. Mike Sherzan, Candidate for U-S Congress, 3rd District
• 1:40-to 1:50-p.m. Jim Mowrer, Candidate for U-S Congress, 3rd District
• 1:50-to 2:00-p.m. Desmund Adams, Candidate for U-S Congress, 3rd District

Gov. O’Malley is set to speak at 2-p.m., but Toelle says his arrival may be delayed since he is coming from an event in Des Moines. For  more information or to make your reservation, call Sherry Toelle at 712-243-4861.

Firefighters were on the scene this (Tuesday) morning, of an apartment building fire in the western Iowa town of Sloan. The call came in shortly before 10-am. A Woodbury County Sheriff’s deputy says the top floor of the structure was engulfed in flames when he arrived. The deputy says two residents jumped to safety from a second floor window of the four apartment, two story structure.

Heavy smoke from the fire forced residents of a second building next door to evacuate. The sheriff’s department says a total of 15 people have been displaced by the fire from the two buildings. A church has been opened as a shelter for the residents and the American Red Cross is also assisting at the scene. No report on injuries at this time.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A federal appeals court is upholding lengthy prison terms for two Sioux City brothers convicted in the armed robbery of two drug dealers. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a life sentence issued to 24-year-old Jamal Dean. The court also upheld a 30-year term for his older brother, Levon Dean Jr.

In a separate case, Jamal Dean has also received a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempted murder in the April 2013 shooting of a Sioux City police officer. The brothers traveled together from Nebraska to Iowa and conspired to rob local drug dealers on two occasions in April 2013. After each attack, the brothers returned to Nebraska.

The appeals court rejected numerous arguments on appeal, calling it a “well-tried, multiple-count, joint-defendant criminal case.”

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest was made Monday in connection with a fire at a trailer park, in Lenox. 23-year old Nickolas Dale Stone, of Lenox, was arrested on a warrant charging him with Arson in the 1st Degree. He was being held in the Taylor County Jail on $25,000 bond.

The charge against him stems from an investigation into a fire at the Lenox trailer park that occurred December 11th, 2015. Authorities say Stone allegedly poured a flammable liquid near a mobile home and lit a fire nearby. The mobile home sustained about $300 damage.

HORNICK, Iowa (AP) – State auditors say the City Council in the small northwest Iowa city of Hornick failed to properly review financial reports resulting in improper spending of more than $134,000 by at least two city clerks. An audit was requested after the current clerk questioned previous financial transactions in the city of 225.

The audit, released Tuesday, shows the city clerk from 2001 to 2009 improperly spent more than $5,000 and failed to document more than $11,000 she paid herself. The clerk from 2009 to 2012 improperly spent more than $4,200.

Auditors say proper documentation couldn’t be found for $47,000 paid to former mayors and council members. No charges have been filed. Prosecutors and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation received audit reports.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following an accident early this (Tuesday) morning on Interstate 80. Officials says deputies responded to the two-vehicle collision that took place on I-80 westbound about a mile west of the Olive Street exit at about 12:22-a.m.

Authorities say a 2016 Ford F150 driven by 26-year old Charles Michael Robertson,  of Seagoville, Texas, was westbound on I-80 when the vehicle went out of control on the icy roadway, and entered the median. The pickup was subsequently hit by a 2005 Toyota pickup driven by 28-year old Andreas Dmitiri Spentzos, of Monterey, CA, which also went out of control on the icy road.

Damage from the crash amounted to $23,000.