(Radio Iowa) – With Thanksgiving behind us now, many Iowans are turning their thoughts to decorating their houses for the holiday season ahead. Andrea Vastis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says those colorful lights can be a beautiful accent to your home, but they can also pose a serious fire hazard. “When you’re going to be decorating outside, make sure the lights that you use are approved by a testing laboratory and that they’re rated for outdoor use,” Vastis says. “That is really critical.”

Putting lights outside that are supposed to be for indoor use only could quickly lead to an electrical short — and a fire. If you’re trying to obtain a Clark Griswold-level of outdoor decoration perfection, she warns, it can be easy to overdo it. “A general rule of thumb is to not plug in more than three strands at a time, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on the box,” Vastis says. “If you’re opening your tub of old lights and trying to pull them out and see what you have and if anything is frayed or old, it’s time to get rid of it.”

Some newer L-E-D-style lights allow you to connect a few dozen strings of lights and plug them into just one outlet, but she says to read the labeling very carefully. For many Iowans, it’s simply not the holidays if the fragrance of fresh pine isn’t wafting throughout the house, but if you have a “real” tree, it’s important that your electric lights are safe. “For the indoor lighting, make sure that what you’re using is not overloaded in a circuit with a number of other items,” Vastis says. “Make sure that if you’re putting those lights on a Christmas tree, that the Christmas tree is in good shape, that it’s watered so that the lighting doesn’t cause a fire.”

An association study finds electrical distribution or lighting equipment was involved in more than two of every five (44%) home Christmas tree fires.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — A semi-truck driver from New Jersey was in a Des Moines hospital Tuesday, with charges pending against him, after he led authorities on a 75-mile chase from western to central Iowa on Interstate 80.

Iowa State Patrol troopers began looking for the vehicle shortly after 6:30 a.m. Tuesday after 911 dispatch centers received multiple reports of a semi-truck dragging a chain, creating sparks on Interstate 80 near Underwood. The Iowa State Patrol says the vehicle was located around Avoca, but the driver, who has not been publicly identified, did not respond to commands to pull over.

Various law enforcement agencies deployed stop sticks as the vehicle approached the Des Moines metro in the eastbound lanes of I-80, successfully deflating multiple tires, the Iowa State Patrol says. The vehicle continued driving on its rims until about 8:10 a.m., when pursuing officers forced him to pull off at the weigh station between the exits for Van Meter and Waukee.

Pursued semi approaches “Stop-sticks” set across EB I-80 Tuesday morning (12/3/24)

Photo shows the semi w/deflated tires crossing the stop sticks

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater posted on the Adair County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page (Adaircountyso), a brief video taken from his body camera, of the semi passing by his position along I-80, just before he and an Iowa State Patrol Trooper deployed stop-sticks. Vandewater said in one of the still frame photos, you can see the semi was “already driving on its rim at this point.” (Images shown below)

Authorities used tear gas to force the semi’s driver out of the cab, and he was taken to a Des Moines hospital for evaluation.

Sgt. Alex Dinkla, spokesperson for the Iowa State Patrol, said it’s unclear why the driver didn’t pull over for authorities, but it didn’t seem like he intended anyone harm, because he was taking other drivers’ safety into consideration – he just didn’t want to stop for law enforcement.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican lawmakers are promising to produce a plan that reduces property taxes. House Republican Leader Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley says legislators heard complaints about property taxes repeatedly during the 2024 campaign. “People want to make sure that their homes are affordable,” Windschitl says, “and if they made the investment into their homes, that they’re not getting taxed out of them.” Windschitl says a previously-passed cap on property tax growth will be part of the equation.

“There are a lot of different players that are going to need to be around the table to figure out how we do this,” Windschitl says, “and how we do it appropriately.” Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny, says Iowans are seeing big increases in property taxes collected by cities and counties.  “An average of a more than 7% increase for counties and 6% for cities? That’s money out of property tax payers’ pockets. It’s money out of Iowans’ pockets and it’s making it more expensive to live in Iowa,” Bousselot says. “We have to address that this session. We will address that this session.”

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says if the property tax cuts are too deep, it may leave cities high and dry when the time comes to pay for the roads. “We’re listening to local community leaders because they know their cities best,” Konfrst says, “and they’re a little tired of getting big policies handed down from Des Moines that hurt their local community.” Senate Democratic Leader-elect Janice Weiner says she believes in local control — giving officials at the city and county level authority to do their jobs.

“We heard from local communities during the last round of property tax reform,” Weiner says. “They came in from the very beginning to express their concern that there were local priorities that needed to be funded.” Weiner served on the city council in Iowa City before winning a seat in the Iowa Senate in 2022.

(Marshalltown, Iowa) – The body of an elderly female was found in a home that caught fire Monday afternoon, in Marshalltown. According to Marshalltown Police, firefighters were dispatched at around 1-p.m. to a residence in the 1400 block of S. Center Street in Marshalltown, where they found a single-family, split-level home with a fire in the living room.

The woman’s body was discovered after the flames were extinguished. Marshalltown Police Detectives and Special Agents with the Iowa Arson and Explosives Bureau were called-in to handle the incident.

The cause of the fire was undetermined as of the latest information, and remained under investigation. The name of the victim was not released.

(Rockwell City, Iowa) – The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office says a central Iowa man was sentenced Monday (Dec. 2, 2024), to 10-years in prison, following his conviction in Iowa District Court for Calhoun County, of sexually abusing a 14-year-old child. His actions took place in Lohrville (IA) in May, 2023.

Chief District Judge Adria Kester sentenced 20-year-old Matthew Edward Wilson, of Des Moines, to the maximum term in prison, and ordered him to be placed on the State’s Sex Offender Registry for life.

The case was investigated by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by the Calhoun County Attorney’s Office.