(Grant, Iowa) — A vacant home in Grant was destroyed in a fire, early Wednesday evening. According to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, firefighters in Grant were called-out to a residence just north of Grant at 1194 U Avenue, at around 6:15-p.m., after flames were scene coming from a structure on the property.

When firefighters arrived, they found the two-story residence showing flames. It was also determined the home was unoccupied.  Multiple agencies assisted in battling the blaze, including firefighters from Elliott, Villisca and Red Oak. Others assisting at the scene include Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Villisca Ambulance Service, Alliant Power, Southwest Iowa Rural Water. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center coordinated activities at the scene.

Photo courtesy of Grant Fire Chief Greg Vetter

Firefighting operations were terminated at 12:06-a.m. today (Thursday). No injuries were reported. The property–owned by Phillip and Dawn Chalmers–was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report 24-year-old Roseann Brown, of Glenwood, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant for Child Endangerment.  Brown was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, pending an appearance before a Magistrate.

(Griswold,Iowa) – The City of Griswold has posted a notice seeking people interested in joining the City Council. A seat became available with the announcement Xavier Johnson chose to vacate his elected seat. He was one of three people elected this past November to the City Council At-Large. Johnson currently serves as Assistant Librarian at the Griswold Public Library.

The City says “Due to section 362.5(A) of the Iowa Code, an elected city officer is not entitled to receive any other compensation for any other city office or city employment during that officer’s tenure in office, but may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred.” City Clerk Carmen Sorensen told KJAN News Johnson could have remained on the Council if he would have resigned from his position with the library.

Persons interested in filling the City Council seat in Griswold should contact City Hall at 712-778-2615, or e-mail cityclerk@griswoldia.gov.  The deadline to express your desire to sit on the Council is February 9, 2024, in order to be appointed during the Council’s meeting on February 12th (2024).

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The Exira-EHK School District’s Board of Education met Tuesday evening, in a regular monthly session. According to the meeting minutes provided by Exira-EHK Business Manager & Board Secretary/Treasurer Mallory Meyer, the Board appointed board member Kevin Petersen to the Shelby County Conference Board, and Tamie Fahn to the Audubon County Conference Board as representatives of the School Board.

The Board approved setting the following dates for upcoming Public Hearings:

• March 19, 2024 at 5:30-p.m. (Prior to the regular meeting) for the 2024-25 Calendar Year Public Hearing
• FY 25 Budget – Public Hearing #1: 5:30-p.m. March 26, 2024
• FY25 Budget – Public Hearing #2: 5:30-p.m. April 16, 2024 (prior to the regular meeting)

In other business, the Exira-EHK School Board approved Early Retirement Incentive applications from 3rd Grade Teacher Page Halbur, and Special Education Teacher/Asst. Track Coach, Cassidy Nerland. They also approved the resignations of both individuals. And, they approved the hiring of Kourtney Hollingsworth as Food Service worker.

The Board’s next regular meeting is at 6-p.m. on February 20th, in the Elk Horn Building Conference Room.

(Radio Iowa) – Another winter storm is headed for Iowa but forecasters say it shouldn’t bring anywhere near as much snow as the two monster storms of last week. A Winter Weather Advisory is posted for most of Iowa from this (Thursday) afternoon through Friday morning. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Small says this latest blast won’t drop the heavy, wet snow that caused so much consternation for Iowans in last week’s first winter wallop.

“It’ll be the light fluffy variety, probably amounting to about one-to-three inches before it’s done by late evening,” Small says. “The bad news is though, that will be followed by sharply increasing winds, not to the extent we saw with the previous blizzard, but still sufficient to cause some blowing and drifting snow and low visibilities tonight and into early Friday morning.”
Small says it’s about to get really cold, again, though we just have to get through the weekend.

“We’re going to see lows well below zero, even in the teens below zero, depending on the part of the state you’re in, Friday night and Saturday night,” Small says. “It doesn’t look too long-lasting though. We should rebound next week for a period of above-normal temperatures. As a matter of fact, for starting the next work week, Monday morning, much of the state will probably be at freezing or just above.”Small says temperatures in the 30s next week will likely mean an end to the snow, at least temporarily, though it’s something of a trade-off.

“Just barely enough for a cold, miserable rain, nothing extreme, but it’ll be a soggy mess next week with melting snow and a little bit of rain on top of it,” Small says. “No travel impacts probably, but kind of a mess when we go the other direction after this snow and cold.” Parts of Iowa saw more than 25 inches of snow combined in last week’s two storms.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety is proposing that someone caught making a so-called “swatting” call that prompts a massive law enforcement response to a FAKE threat be charged with a felony. Josie Wagler of the Department of Pubic Safety says in 2021, there were four reports of swatting calls in Iowa. Last year, there were 39. “Our purpose really is to just try and deter bad actors from tying up emergency resources and trying to k p the public and emergency response agencies safe,” she says. Under the proposal, a person who makes a fake call about a violent attack, an armed intruder or a bomb threat could be charged with a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.

Representative Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, says a call intended to prompt SWAT teams to show up somewhere isn’t like a prank call to 9-1-1.  “And I just want to make sure we don’t get people caught up in the bow wave of doing something stupid versus being very malicious and intentional about it, which I think this bill addresses,” Meyer says.

Public Safety Communications – APCO Int’l. (photo)

Earlier this week, the White House was the target of a fake “swatting” call after someone called 9-1-1 to falsely claim the White House was on fire and someone was trapped inside. Several elected officials around the country have been subjected to these kind of incidents in recent weeks. The mayor of Boston has been targeted with several fake calls to 9-1-1 about shootings at her home.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Shelby County, during their regular weekly meeting Tuesday morning, passed two resolutions. The first was to claim lost revenue from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. Shelby County Auditor/Board Secretary Mark Maxwell reports the Board approved allocating $18,582  as lost revenue to spend on government services to residents. Along that same line, they passed a motion to claim unused sewer repair grant monies to the general fund and the conservation fund, to make repairs on a building at Manteno Park.

The Board discussed and passed a motion with regard to authorizing a grant to cover the costs associated with Medical Examiner training. Shelby County Jail Administrator Kyle Lindberg requested and received approval for, an expenditure of dollars from the Jail Room and Board Fund, to purchase a new camera system. Interim Shelby County EMS Director Jordon Sanders presented to the Board of Supervisors, a new wage scale for EMS employees for addition to the countywide handbook. The matter will be considered during the Board’s meeting on February 6th.

Shelby County Engineer Brandon Burmeister, Tuesday, presented his weekly report to the Supervisors, including fuel bid results for the rest of calendar year 2024. The Board accepted a low bid of Agriland FS in the amount of $637,979. The Board then considered and approved a five-year law enforcement contract with the City of Shelby.

And, they passed a Livestock Master Matrix Construction Evaluation Resolution, with regard to potential (new) livestock confinements in Shelby County. The State of Iowa says “only counties that have adopted a (Master Matrix) and submitted an adopted resolution, may contest the DNR’s decision regarding a specific application,” received from Feb. 1, 2024 through Jan. 1, 2025.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a Grundy County man who shot and killed an Iowa State Trooper in 2021. Michael Lang is serving a life sentence. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and assault on an officer. Lang shot and killed Sergeant Jim Smith during a standoff. Smith was a 27-year veteran of the force.

Police say Lang led officers on a chase, assaulted an officer who pulled him over, then barricaded himself inside his home in Grundy Center. Officers then entered when Lang refused to surrender. That’s when Lang shot Smith.

Lang argued he should’ve been able to claim self-defense because officers used excessive force, but the Iowa Court of Appeals says he can’t make this argument since it was not made in district court.

(DENISON, Iowa) — Police in Denison, Wednesday evening, issued a statement with regard to an investigation into a bomb threat at the Denison High School earlier in the day, Wednesday.   According to a news release, at about 1:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, the school got a call from an unknown phone number. The caller allegedly said that they would “blow up the whole school” and was on the way there. They then hung up when asked who they were, the release states. Officers arrived at the school, and the entire building was put on lockdown, with all routes into the area blocked.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations used location tracking and found out that the phone number had been used to call other Iowa schools that same day. When officers received information that this may have been a swatting call, they stayed at the high school for security purposes as students were dismissed. No threats were found when officers and administration staff did a full search of the building.

Read the entire press release below:

DES MOINES, Iowa [KETV] –  Iowa joined 37 other states in suing TikTok. Attorney General Brenna Bird said the Chinese-owned app deceives parents by exposing young children to graphic materials, including sexual content, self-harm and illegal drug use. “TikTok has kept parents in the dark,” said Attorney General Bird. “As a mom and prosecutor, I am committed to equipping parents with information to keep their kids safe and to holding TikTok accountable.”

The lawsuit claims there are workarounds for parental controls, so the app’s 12+ rating is inaccurate and therefore violates the App Store guidelines. TikTok maintains it has safeguards to protect children.

You can read the lawsuit here.