SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say Sioux City firefighters have rescued a woman and three children who were trapped by flames in their second-floor home. The fire was reported a little after 7:10 p.m. Wednesday at the duplex across a street from the Morningside College campus. Firefighters say flames in a stairwell kept the occupants from escaping the danger. The firefighters set up a ladder against a balcony, and the four were helped to safety on the ground. No injuries have been reported. The fire cause is being investigated.

The Creston Police Department says a Creston resident reported early this (Thursday) morning, that someone had stolen his ATV, sometime between Tuesday and 1-a.m. today (Thursday). The yellow, 2000 Bombardier DS-650 taken from the residence in the 500 block of N. Walnut Street, was valued at $5,000.

Authorities said also, 28-year old Christopher Fannon, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Driving While License Denied or Revoked. Fannon was later released from the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – Fake American money marked with Chinese symbols has been showing up in Mason City. The Mason City Police Department said Wednesday that bills were found at a business and in a bank deposit. Officials say the bills are not valid currency and are typically used to train bank tellers in China. The fake bills also have been reported in the Sioux City area.

One person is dead and three others were injured, during a collision Wednesday evening at 189th Street and Highway 370, in Mills County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2012 Peterbilt semi driven by 56-year old Danny Lee Wells, of Oskaloosa, was traveling westbound on Highway 370 at around 5:35-p.m. and beginning to turn north onto 189th. A 2003 Chevy Cavalier, driven by 73-year old John Everette Miner, of Emerson, was also traveling westbound behind the semi, and pulled into the path of oncoming traffic, contrary to the highway markings.

A 2013 Dodge Dart driven by 23-year old Dallas Jean LePorte, of Coin, was traveling eastbound on the highway. The Dodge and Chevy collided head-on. Both sustained heavy damage. Also, during the collision, the rear end of the Chevy collided with the semi, causing minor damage to the semi.

John Miner, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported to Creighton Hospital, where he died from his injuries. His passenger, 71-year old Mary Miner, who was wearing a seat belt, along with Dallas LePorte, and his passenger, 17-year old Cody Ray Gaylan, of Glenwood, were injured. Mary Miner and Dallas LePorte were both transported by Glenwood Rescue to Creighton. Gaylan’s injuries did not require him to be transported to the hospital.

Police in Council Bluffs said this (Thursday) morning, that over the last few days Council Bluffs Police Department has received several reports of multiple windows being damaged on vehicles and homes. Authorities say it appears a BB/Pellet gun is being used to cause the damage. If you have any information about the incidents, please call crime stoppers at 712-328-7867.

Listed below are the dates, report times, and general locations of the damaged vehicles:
Date          Time   Location                             Description
12-20-16   23:36   400 Block of Grace St.         2 vehicles multiple windows
12-21-16   00:24   600 Block of Grace St.         1 vehicle multiple windows
12-21-16   04:12   400 Block of Voorhis St.       2 vehicles multiple windows
12-21-16   23:33   600 Block of Franklin Ave.   5 vehicles multiple windows
12-22-16   01:07   800 Block of Grace St.          1 vehicle multiple windows

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say two people have been killed and another injured in a West Des Moines highway crash. The crash occurred around 8 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 235. Authorities say an eastbound pickup ran off the roadway and rammed into a concrete bridge support. The man driving the truck and a small child were killed. Another child was taken to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

The victims’ names haven’t been released. The crash is being investigated.

Advocates of a “voucher” program, so state tax dollars “follow the student” to a public OR private school, made their case to the governor last (Wednesday) night. Susan Fenton is a lobbyist for the Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education. She uses the phrase “Educational Savings Accounts” rather than “vouchers” — but it’s the same concept. Parents would get state tax dollars and use that money to send their child to a public OR a private school.

“An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system,” Fenton says. Fenton spoke Wednesday night in Governor Branstad’s office, during a public hearing on the state budget. Fenton envisions school vouchers being used for expenses beyond school tution, covering the costs of textbooks, tutoring and even fees for online courses. Audra Meyers of Clive, a former principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Des Moines, says it’s time for “robust education choice” in Iowa.

“Education Savings Accounts would allow parents who are enrolling their children in a non-public school to receive state funding into a savings account and parents would be free to use those funds for a variety of educational choices that would meet their child’s specific needs,” Meyers says. “…Many families are not in a financial position to select the type of education that is best for their child,” Meyers says. “Instead, their address determines the education that their child will receive.”

Meyers, who also taught in a public school in the past, has two young children who are currently enrolled in two different Catholic schools in the Des Moines area. Critics of school “vouchers” argue sending state tax dollars to private parochial schools is a violation of the separation of church and state. Governor Branstad and his wife sent their three children to Catholic schools in the Des Moines area.

Branstad told reporters Wednesday night that he is a “strong supporter” of private schools, but Branstad says in a “tight budget’ year, there are “a lot of issues” to consider. Others who testified at last night’s public hearing made appeals for increased state funding in a variety of areas — from remodeling Y-M-C-A facilities to assistance for brain-injured Iowans.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Court of Appeals says three members of the Harrison County Board of Supervisors must pay thousands of dollars in court costs and a fine for failure to hold meetings open to the public. The case centers on two November 2013 meetings the supervisors held after they had been sued by local farmers upset that a failed levee hadn’t been repaired.

ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — Officials at Prairie Meadows casino say the Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn its challenge of the Altoona center’s tax exempt status. Prairie Meadows CEO Gary Palmer announced the IRS decision Wednesday at a board meeting. The decision was a dramatic change following an investigation that found the casino operated as a business with little government oversight. The determination could have cost Prairie Meadows roughly $60 million in back taxes and penalties.

PLAINFIELD, Iowa (AP) — The state Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that human remains found in Bremer County are those of a 76-year-old woman with dementia. The Bremer County Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday that the remains found Oct. 19 were those of Cloris Mehmen, who had been reported missing July 5. Public safety officials had joined with hundreds of volunteers for a search on the ground, by air and on the water, but the remains weren’t found until months later by farmers harvesting corn.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo police officer who’s been accused of excessive force is now facing criticism for an illegal search in which he seized a loaded gun. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Mark Nissen’s warrantless vehicle search in 2014 was unreasonable. It overturned Ezekiel Phillips’ conviction for illegally carrying weapons, ruling the evidence is inadmissible. The city recently paid $170,000 to settle cases in which Nissen was accused of using excessive force.

Ten small Iowa communities (including Massena and Adel) are being named to take part in what’s called Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program in 2017. Sandra Oberbroeckling, spokeswoman for the Community and Economic Development department at Iowa State University, explains the purpose of the program, which targets Iowa towns with populations under ten-thousand.

“We help them develop ideas and set priorities for transportation enhancement planning,” Oberbroeckling says. “That can include trails, streetscapes, a lot of communities have done entrance signs.” The communities will get help from the pros on making their downtowns prettier and more practical both for visitors and locals.

“Say putting in the bump-outs on the ends of the curbs and crosswalks and maybe adding some vegetation,” Oberbroeckling says. “A lot of small towns, their main street used to be a highway and in many cases it still is, so it’s usually just this large expanse of cement and they like to make it more pedestrian friendly.”

Oberbroeckling says both I-S-U and Trees Forever play important roles with the visioning process for each of the ten communities. They are: Adel, Clarion, Granger, Greene, Humboldt, Lester, Massena, Morning Sun, Scranton and Varina. The results of the program will be released next November.

(Radio Iowa) – Learn more at http://www.communityvisioning.org