Owners of the state’s gas stations and convenience stores are asking Iowa lawmakers to set up a state grant program to replace aging underground storage tanks for gas and diesel. Dawn Carlson is president of the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa, representing more than two-thousand business locations in the state. “A majority of these tanks are approaching or exceeding their useful life of 25-30 years and therefore over time they will become suceptible to leaks and other environmental hazards,” Carlson says. “and they are certainly not compatible with ethanol blends higher than 10 percent.”

Since 2006, the state has been offering grants to retailers who promise to offer E-85 to customers. The grants of up to 50-thousand dollars each are to help retailers pay for new equipment to dispense the higher blend of ethanol. Carlson’s group is asking for an expansion of that program, so tanks that have been in use for more than 25 years can be replaced with a “green” underground storage tank. “By removing and replacing these tanks we will be protecting the environment and also help ensure that fuel does not leak into Iowa’s groundwater,” Carlson says. “Additionally, underground storage tanks currently in place were not designed for these higher level blends. Installation of new tanks that are compatible with up to E 100 will enable retailers to sell higher blends of renewable fuels in the future.”

Carlson suggests the expense of a new underground tank may be out of reach for many Iowa retailers.
“While many of our members display the logo of a major oil company at their store, they are indeed owned and operated independent of the oil companies,” Carlson says. In 1989 state officials set up a fund for removal and clean up of underground storage tanks that are already leaking. Over six-thousand sites have been evaluated over the past 25 years. According to the Legislative Services Agency the state has spent over a quarter of a billion dollars removing the tanks and cleaning up the underground leaks.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Creston report three people were arrested over the weekend. On Sunday, 54-year old Thomas Morton Mullins, of Creston, was arrested for 2nd offense Public Intoxication. Mullins was being held in the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond.

On Saturday, 22-year old Marlana Reed and 20-year old Mariah Noelle Johannes, both of Creston, were arrested at the Wal-Mart store on charges of Theft in the 5th Degree. Both women were released on a citation to appear in court at a later date.

The 7:07-a.m. News with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska woman is still hoping to find out what happened to her son, two months after he was reported to have driven a stolen pickup into the Missouri River north of Council Bluffs. Kim Allmon, of Omaha, told The Daily Nonpareil that her son, 23-year-old Michael Ogborn, has been missing since Oct 29. Allmon says she was told he drove the truck into the river north-northwest of Crescent. Two people in the truck with him swam to safety, but he hasn’t been found.

Chief Deputy John Reynolds with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says authorities searched the river on Oct. 29 and for several days afterward. Allmon says she wants answers and closure. She says she lost Ogborn’s father in a drowning.

A man from Ringgold County was arrested early this (Monday) morning on a charge of Public Intoxication, in Montgomery County. 57-year old William Spencer Powell, Jr., of Diagonal, was taken into custody at around 3:10-a.m. and booked into the Montgomery County Jail. His bond was set at $300.

A sting by law enforcement officials in Fremont County resulted in the recent arrest of four teens and one adult – all from Shenandoah –  on Burglary and other charges. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports an investigation and sting operation happened following burglaries  involving the repeated theft of tools from a farm near Farragut. The suspects allegedly burglarized the farm on several different occasions from September through November, 2014. Items taken during the burglaries were recovered at two separate residences in Shenandoah.

Officials say 18-year old Shea Thibodeaux, of Shenandoah, was taken into custody on: 3 counts of Burglary in the 3rd Degree; 6 counts of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor; 2 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Burglary in the 3rd Degree; Theft in the 5th Degree; Child Endangerment and Criminal Mischief.

17-year old Levi Glines, of Shenandoah, faces charges of Burglary in the 3rd degree and Theft in the 4th Degree. 16-year old Lane Overby, of Shenandoah, was arrested on 2 counts of Burglary in the 3rd Degree and Theft in the 4th; 14-year old Nathan Priest, and 13-year old Connell Racine, both of Shenandoah,was arrested on 3 counts each of Burglary in the 3rd Degree, Conspiracy to Commit Burglary in the 3rd Degree, and a single count each of Theft in the 4th Degree.

The juveniles were released to their parents. Thibodeaux was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $15,000 bond. Authorities say additional charges are pending in the case.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest Sunday evening of 22-year old Michele Lynn Eden. The Red Oak woman was taken into custody just before 7-p.m. at 100 E. Oak Street, on a charge of Disorderly Conduct. Eden was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Data shows the number of Iowa school buses flagged for repeated safety citations has nearly doubled since 2012. The Des Moines Register reports nearly 22,000 bus inspection citations have been issued since June 2012. They include unsafe tires, inoperable warning signals or strobe lights and dysfunctional wheel bearings.

PRESCOTT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man faces charges in connection to a Christmas night stabbing in southern Iowa. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says 47-year-old Kirk Frederick of Corning faces charges of willful injury causing serious injury and going armed with intent.

MARION, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in eastern Iowa say a man fatally shot himself while a police officer stopped him over a traffic citation. Marion police say an officer stopped the man Saturday night as he was driving a vehicle. The officer suspected the man was intoxicated. Authorities say the officer went back to his squad car to request another officer. While the officer was away, police say the driver shot himself with a handgun. The driver was later pronounced dead.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials have removed caged wild animals from a “mall zoo” in Des Moines following a court order over their care. Agencies including the Animal Rescue League of Iowa helped remove the 31 animals early Saturday from Merle Hay Mall. They will be sent to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado and the World of Reptiles in Des Moines.

In an update to our story posted Christmas Eve, the Logan-Herald Observer reports a fire that destroyed  a home in rural Harrison County, south of Logan, was caused by a wood stove adjacent to the home. The blaze at Ben and Rhonda Collins residence at 2882 Price Place, was reported at around 2:30-p.m. on Dec. 24th.

Logan Fire Chief Craig Charbonneau told the paper fire fighters from Logan, Missouri Valley, Persia, Woodbine, Magnolia and Modale responded to the scene. When they arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. The Chief said Ben Collins had tried to put the fire out with a garden hose, but was unable to do so because the hose was frozen. Collins ran to a neighbors home to report the fire, but was unable to locate them. He ended up flagging down a passing motorist, who called the fire in.

Firefighters were called back to the scene three times to put out hot spots after the flames were thought to have been completely extinguished Wednesday evening, including twice on Christmas Day. Crews ended up pushing the walls into the basement. No injuries were reported, but the home was a total loss.

A woman from Iowa and a man from Indiana were injured during a crash Sunday night on Interstate 80, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol says 29-year old Miriam Carolina Almaguer, of Des Moines, was critically injured and transported by Avoca Rescue to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, while 51-year old Raymond J. Facco, of Ft. Wayne, IN., was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the same facility, after their vehicles collided on westbound I-80, about two-miles east of the Avoca exit.

Officials say Facco’s 2014 BMW 435-i hit the back of Almaguer’s 1997 Ford Explorer, causing the SUV to roll into the median. As it rolled, Almaguer, who was not wearing her seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and ended up on one of the eastbound lanes of  travel. A semi blocked eastbound traffic until rescue personnel and law enforcement could arrive on the scene. Until the scene could be cleared, eastbound traffic was re-routed to Avoca and then east toward Walnut before heading north again to I-80.

The accident, which occurred just before 9:30-p.m., remains under investigation.