The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies responded to one accident and made two arrests this week. No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle collision late Wednesday morning in Massena. Officials say a 2008 Ford F-250 owned and driven by 56-year old Rick Emmert Larsen, of Lewis, was traveling west on Highway 92, when a 2003 Chevy Impala driven by 28-year old Shelby Deann McKinley, of Wiota, attempted to pass.  As she did so, McKinley’s car clipped the left front side of Larsen’s pickup, causing $1,500 damage altogether. McKinley was cited for Unsafe Passing.

The Sheriff’s Dept. says 30-year old Travis Giles Warren, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Warren was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $10,000 bond.
And on Thursday, Jan. 1st, 43-year old Jason William Sheldahl, of Boone, was arrested in Cass County on a charge of Driving While Revoked. Sheldahl was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on his own recognizance.

In  a report released Friday morning, the Union County Sheriff’s Office said a Creston woman suffered possible, unknown injuries during a rollover accident Wednesday night. 18-year old Haley Marie Darland was transported by private vehicle to the Greater Regional Hospital in Creston, after the vehicle she was a passenger in, went out of control on a gravel road and struck a road “Curve” sign before entering a ditch and apparently rolling several times.

Authorities say the 2007 Chevy Impala was being driven by 20-year old Amy Marie Dunphy, of Creston, when it crossed a bridge as it was traveling south on Willow Avenue at around 10:30-p.m., Wednesday. The car went out of control after it left the paved portion of the roadway where it became gravel on the other side of a bridge.

Dunphy was not hurt during the crash. The car she was driving was declared a total loss. The Union County road sign sustained $100 damage. No citations were issued.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – One person has been killed and one injured in a Council Bluffs house fire.
The fire began a little after 7:15 a.m. Friday, and arriving firefighters found two people who already had escaped. Fire Chief Justin James says a disabled man was rescued from the main floor and taken to a hospital. Another person’s body was found in the basement.

The names of those involved haven’t been released. James says the fire likely started in the basement. The cause is being investigated.

The U-S Small Business Administration saw a drop in both the number and total dollar amount of loans it made to Iowa merchants during 2014. Dennis Larkin, in the S-B-A’s Cedar Rapids office, says the agency made 440 loans during the year and 155 of them were to new businesses, while the rest were to existing businesses.  “We were down about 85 loans from the year before, from 2013,” Larkin says. “We’re disappointed to see that the decrease was spread across both of our major loan program types. We saw disappointing decreases in ethnic loan breakdowns, women and veterans as well.”

The total value of the loans to Iowa businesses for the just-ended fiscal year reached 149-million dollars, compared to nearly 195-million the previous year. Larkin says the agency needs to do a better job of working with Iowa lenders to help them understand how S-B-A programs could be of value, providing access to capital for their clients. Larkin says, “We’re going to redouble our efforts with Iowa lenders to try to understand what their needs are and how their needs can fit with our programs and do a better job on our part of promoting the programs that we do have and trying to find ways to help lenders tailor our programs to the situation, to the clients, the customers that walk in the door.”

While the S-B-A saw drops in both the numbers and dollar value of the loans made in Iowa, nationwide, S-B-A loan numbers were up 12-percent and rose more than seven-percent in dollar amounts. “We’re not quite sure just what it is that we can do to help boost the SBA lending activity in Iowa,” Larkin says. “We’re determined to do that but we’re going to have to do a lot of listening and a lot of soul searching to see if we can’t find ways to turn this around, to help more small businesses in Iowa.”

Loans were made during the fiscal year in 65 of Iowa’s 99 counties. The SBA report says the loans created 1,440 jobs in Iowa and retained 2,796 jobs. Larkin says more than 95-percent of all businesses in Iowa are considered small businesses. Larkin is Acting Deputy District Director of the S-B-A in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)