Lightening may have sparked a fire that destroyed a home in rural Guthrie County Saturday night. Guthrie Center Fire Chief Doug Kent told KJAN News this (Monday) morning, the call about a fire at 2667 Frontier Road came in at around 11:30-p.m.

Kent says the home, owned by Tyler Carney, of Adair, and located about seven-miles southwest of Guthrie Center, was being remodeled, and is considered to be a complete loss, with the roof and sidewalls gone. The structure was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported.

The Guthrie Center Fire Department received mutual aid in fighting the blaze from the Adair and Casey Fire Departments. They remained on the scene for over four hours.

 The Chief says a storm passed through the remote area at around 8:30-p.m., and it’s possible lightening may have struck the home and caused a fire to smolder for about three-hours before it engulfed the home, but the cause remains under investigation.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

B-17 “Liberty Bell”

Two World War Two aircraft will take to the skies over Council Bluffs this Memorial Day weekend. According to the non-profit Liberty Foundation, The Liberty Belle, a restored World War II B-17 “flying fortress” bomber and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk will take-off from the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 28th, as part of the Liberty Foundation’s “2011 Salute to Veterans” tour. 

Anyone interested will have an opportunity to take a ride in the restored warbirds. Cost for a flight in the B-17 is $390 for Liberty Foundation Members and $430 for non-members. Twenty-minute rides are available for $1,150 on the newly restored P-40. Longer flights are available upon request. Become a member for $40 and receive the member discount. The foundation relies solely on donations and contributions. Funds raised from the flights help to keep the aircraft flying.

Ground tours will be available after the flights. The event is open to the public. Those interested can call (918) 340-0243 to schedule a flight. For more information, go to the website at libertyfoundation.org.

Police in Council Bluffs say a Carter Lake man died Sunday evening, when he lost control of the All-Terrain Vehicle he was driving and hit a power pole. 24-year old Phillip Bigham was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near the intersection of East Manawa Drive and Navajo Street. A second, unidentified person on the machine was injured, and transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The crash happened at around 5:20-p.m.

An investigation revealed Bigham was operating a 4-wheel ATV on Navajo Street and approaching East Manawa Drive when the machine went out of control. The accident remains under investigation.

Today (Monday) marks the beginning of a statewide effort to crack down on motorists who are not wearing their seatbelts. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports Iowa is part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign, where law enforcement agencies across the state and country will not only be on the lookout for unbuckled motorists, but those who have defective or missing equipment on their vehicles, and other moving violations.

The campaign runs through June 5th, and will be held day and night. If an officer finds you on the road without your seatbelt on, you can expect a $127 ticket – NOT a warning! There will be no exceptions, and no excuses allowed.

“Click it or Ticket” efforts have resulted in a nearly 25-percent increase in seatbelt usage over the past 13-years. In 1997, only 75-percent of motorists in the state used their seatbelts during the daytime. By 2010, that number had risen to 93-percent.

Statistics from the Iowa DOT “Life Toll” program indicate 6,458 lives have been saved since the state’s seat belt law took effect, in July, 1986.

A Public hearing is scheduled to take place this evening in Audubon. The hearing, which will be held during the Audubon City Council meeting, is with regard to approval of a 2010-2011 budget amendment, and will be followed by a resolution to that effect. The meeting begins at 7-p.m.

In other business, the Audubon City Council will hear from a representative with Mid American Energy, with regard to franchise renewals….Audubon County Economic Development, about housing incentives, and the City Attorney, with regard to a Third Avenue Right-of-Way.

They’ll also review applications for a custodian, and act on a resolution hiring a custodian, along with a resolution pertaining to the hiring of part-time Summer help.

Vernon McEndree

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports a Corning man was arrested Thursday on nine counts of sexual abuse in the 3^rd Degree. Officials said Sunday (today) 71-year old Vernon McEndree was taken into custody just after 9-p.m. Thursday.

McEndree was being held in the Adams County Jail, with additional charges possible. No other details were available Sunday on the circumstances surrounding the charges, or the amount of his bond.

Severe weather this weekend brought large hail, strong winds and even a few tornados to the Midwest. Western Iowa was hit by the storms Saturday evening into late Saturday night, while the eastern half of the state was hit Sunday afternoon.

In southwest Iowa’s Fremont County, quarter-sized hail was reported near Randolph Saturday, at around 6:55-p.m. About an hour an a-half later, golfball-sized hail was reported near Logan, in Harrison County, and penny- to quarter-sized hail fell near Harlan, and Defiance, in Shelby County.

After the first round of storms passed through the area, another round of hail, ranging in size from quarters to half-dollars pummeled Pottawattamie and Guthrie Counties at around 8:40-p.m. Thunderstorm wind damage was reported about three-miles west of Schleswig, in Crawford County, just after nine-p.m. Saturday, and a severe thunderstorm watch that was to have expired at around that time, was extended to midnight.

Large hail was also reported Saturday evening in eastern Nebraska and in northwest Iowa.

There were no reports of injuries.

A central Iowa couple was injured this (Sunday) afternoon during an accident on Interstate 80 near Underwood. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 68-year old Wayne Maschmeier and his 64-year old passenger Patricia Maschmeier, both of Pleasant Hill, were injured, when the 2005 Buick LeSabre they were in left the road, drove into a ditch and off an embankment, before ending up in a creek.

The accident happened at around 12:40-p.m., on eastbound I-80, at about mile marker 20.

Officials say Patricia Maschmeier was flown by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, while Wayne Maschmeier was transported by Underwood Rescue to Mercy Hospital. A report on their conditions was not immediately available.

The accident remains under investigation.