State Fire Marshal Dan Wood has lifted the ban on open burning in Mills County. His action followed a request by fire chiefs in each Fire District in the County. The burn ban was officially lifted Monday morning. It had been in effect since Dec. 27th.

A wheel came off of a northbound vehicle on Highway 169 Saturday morning south of Lorimor, in Union County, and struck an SUV traveling in the opposite direction. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports no one was injured when the wheel of a 2012 KIA broke off the lug nuts, and went into the path of a 2020 GMC Denali. The wheel caused $4,000 damage to the Denali, driven by 34-year old Cody Wayne Tucker, of Lorimor, and resulted in pieces of the SUV coming off. The debris punctured the left rear tire of the vehicle.

Damage to the KIA, driven by 33-year old Samantha Jo Berch, of Lorimor, was estimated at $1,500.  No citations were issued.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 55-year old Joseph George Gonzalez, of Council Bluffs, was arrested late Monday night on drug and other charges, plus a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear. Gonzalez was charged with two counts/possession of a controlled substance; Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia; and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability. He was being held in the Mills County Jail on $2,300 bond for those charges, plus $1,000 bond on the warrant.

And, 24-year old D’Angelo Thomas Monson, of Glenwood,was arrested Monday afternoon at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a Probation Violation warrant. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Fire heavily damaged a Waterloo bowling alley early this (Tuesday) morning. Firefighters from Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and four surrounding communities were called to Maple Lanes just after 4:30 AM and discovered thick, black smoke rolling out of the building. Waterloo Fire Chief Pat Treloar says the fire started after an apparent robbery and is being investigated as an arson.

According to Treloar, an employee working overnight inside the building walked to a nearby fire station and reported that someone broke into the bowling alley, assaulted him, and then set fire to the building. Treloar says their is significant damage to the bowling alley, but the building is salvageable.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two men from Lorimor, 34-year old Cody Wayne Tucker, and 20-year old Cruz Dean Tucker, were arrested late Friday morning at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. They were each arrested on a Union County warrant for assault causing bodily injury and were released from the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond, each.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The state of Iowa has agreed to pay a man $3.5 million to settle his negligence lawsuit against the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics over the deaths of his wife and newborn child. The Gazette reports that Tiffany Boyce went March 12, 2016, to a Des Moines hospital complaining of cramping, vomiting and a headache. She was treated and discharged but admitted the next day for similar complaints. She was flown to the Iowa City hospital on March 17, where doctors delivered the Boyces’ son, Brantlee. The lawsuit says Tiffany Boyce died later that day, and the baby died March 22.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Democratic Party says delays in reporting the outcome of Monday’s caucuses were due to a coding issue that has been fixed. The party says it hopes to release results “as soon as possible.” In a statement Tuesday, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price says, “We have every indication that our systems were secure and there was not a cyber security intrusion.” Price says independent cybersecurity consultants tested the systems in preparation for the caucuses.

Candidates left Iowa Monday night for New Hampshire without the outcome of the contest being announced, a debacle that renewed criticism of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status and the caucus format. Price says as results came in Monday night from more than 1,600 caucus sites the state party ran them through “an accuracy and quality check” and “it became clear there were inconsistencies with the reports.” Price says it took time to investigate the cause, which was later determined to be a coding issue in the app precinct leaders were using to report some data.

Price says state party staff used “pre-planned measures and entered data manually,” which took longer than expected. He says the party has used required back-up paper documentation to verify data recorded in the app was accurate and to calculate delegate counts.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Creston Police report 20-year old Jeffrey Arnold, of Creston, was charged Monday with Theft in the 4th Degree. The charge stems from an incident that took place Jan. 24th, during which a TV was stolen from the Creston Wal-Mart. Arnold was being held in the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond.