WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two men suffered minor injuries after a fire broke out in a Waterloo duplex. Waterloo Battalion Chief Mike Moore says smoke alarms awakened at least one of the residents around 1:20 a.m. Friday, and she alerted other people in the building. The two men were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns. Two other occupants were not injured.

Firefighters limited the flames inside to just the bedroom where the fire began, but there was considerable damage to the front of the structure. The fire cause is being investigated.

An Audubon man who went missing last weekend returned home today (Friday). The family of 38-year old Jason Malloy had reported him missing, after they hadn’t heard from him for several days. Jason’s wife Tina told KJAN News he returned home at around 8-a.m. today (Friday), not knowing that anyone was looking for him. He apparently “wanted some time away,” and was staying with a friend in Omaha. Tina Malloy said February is a difficult month for Jason, because his mother passed away in February. The man suffers from depression, as well.

She thanks everyone who passed along word of his disappearance, and who kept an eye out for him.

Jason Malloy

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A former mayor in eastern Iowa is trying to revitalize a troubled neighborhood by encouraging more private investment with his move to the area. In September, former Davenport mayor Ed Winborn and his wife, Sandy, purchased a home at auction in a Davenport neighborhood filled with grand but often empty houses. The Quad-City Times reports that five of the 15 properties on the north side of the Winborns’ block are listed by the Scott County Assessor’s Office as owner-occupied.

Ed Winborn has also attempted to keep the city’s core from deteriorating by bringing together a group of stakeholders last month. Winborn called the meeting to brainstorm and identify other investors, including business owners, administrators of various trusts and representatives from local colleges.

House Republicans want Iowa to join a dozen states that bar lawsuits against doctors who do not provide pregnant women with information about abnormalities that might prompt some women to seek an abortion. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake is the top Republican in the legislature. “We want to make sure we’re protecting physicians in those circumstances,” Upmeyer says. “…If there was a legitimate medical malpractice claim or something, that’s separate from this issue.”

This fall, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled a Fort Madison woman had a right to sue her doctor after giving birth to a child with cerebral palsy. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, says the woman has argued she might have chosen to have an abortion if she’d known she’d give birth to a “severely disabled child that will never walk or talk.” “Whether you disagree with what decision that woman will make or not, we certainly deserve to have the information to make our health care decisions,” Wessel-Kroeschell says.

A bill eligible for debate in the Iowa House would prohibit so-called “wrongful birth” lawsuits that seek money to cover the lifetime costs of caring for a child with profound disabilities.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Supreme Court says the birth mother of an 18-month-old girl, paid as a surrogate to have the baby, is not legally the child’s parent. The opinion issued Friday means the girl remains with the Cedar Rapids couple raising her. The child will not be turned over to the woman who gave her birth. It’s the first time the state’s highest court determined surrogacy contracts in Iowa can be enforced.

The court says if the contracts were nullified it “would deprive infertile couples of the opportunity to raise their own biological children.” The case centers on Paul and Chantele Montover of Cedar Rapids who paid $13,000 to a Muscatine woman who wanted to keep the baby. The court concluded Paul Montover, as the baby’s biological father, gets permanent custody.

The Cass County Conservation Board has cancelled Saturday’s Sweethearts Snowshoe Hike, due to the lack of snow. The Sweethearts Snowshoe Hike was to be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods outside of Atlantic, 7-p.m. Saturday, February 17^th..  The Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend will still take place, however.

It’s a wonderful family program for bird watchers of all ages and is free of charge. All you need is basic knowledge of bird identification! It is not required that you record every species you see, only those that can be properly identified. To participate in the bird count go to the website: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/ and follow the instructions. Please help the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon Society by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. The bird count is February 16-19^th 2018!!!!

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s officials report the driver of a sanitation truck that overturned and ejected him Thursday afternoon near Crescent, died at a local hospital. The man was identified as 38-year old Jeremy Daniels, of Council Bluffs. The sanitation vehicle is owned by S & L Sanitation Enterprises, Incorporated. The accident remains under investigation.

Authorities reported Thursday, that the accident involving a 2007 Sterling sanitation vehicle, happened at around 1:10-p.m. on Mynster Springs Road, west of Old Lincoln Highway. A preliminary investigation determined the sanitation vehicle was being operated westbound on Mynster Springs Road from Old Lincoln Highway.  As the vehicle was negotiating a curve to the left, the vehicle over turned and the driver was ejected.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports, a man wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation, turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Thursday morning. 53-year old Timothy Allyn Marr, of Council Bluffs, was transported to the Pott. County Jail after being served with the warrant.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed over nearly $1.8 million in unpaid revenue-sharing funds from the former Argosy Sioux City riverboat casino. The Sioux City Journal reports that attorneys notified a U.S. magistrate last week of the tentative deal. The terms have not been disclosed.

The nonprofit Community Action Agency sued the Belle of Sioux City, which operated the Argosy, and Belle’s parent company, Penn National Gaming, on behalf of itself and other nonprofits that had received grants from Missouri River Historical Development Inc. That organization was the state-licensed nonprofit group that collected and distributed a portion of Argosy gambling profits to charitable and civic organizations.

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

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