WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Officials say the injured mother of two children killed in a Waterloo house fire has also died. The Courier reports that 33-year-old Amber Dawn Everman died shortly before noon Friday at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where she had been taken after being pulled from the burning home Thursday morning by firefighters.

Two of her children also pulled from the fire — 9-year-old Amari Burkett and 6-year-old Ava Everman — were pronounced dead Thursday at a Waterloo hospital. A third child, a girl, was able to escape by crawling through her bedroom window.
Authorities have not yet determined how the fire started.

Firefighters say several dogs and a cat also were killed in the fire.

Firefighters pulled three people from a burning home at 1815 Commercial St., Waterloo, Iowa, on Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Jeff Reinitz/The Waterloo Courier via AP)

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports 42-year old Nathaniel Gene Teeters, of Yorktown, was arrested in Clarinda a little after 3-p.m. Friday (today), on Page County warrants. The warrants were for Violation of Probation and Domestic Abuse Assault impeding air / blood flow causing bodily injury.

Teeters was held being without Bond in the Page County Jail. The Page County Sheriff’s Office and the Clarinda Police Department worked together in taking Teeters into custody.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — At least two dozen cats and some cat carcasses have been removed from a Des Moines home that authorities say had several inches of feces and garbage on the floor. Police officers and Animal Rescue League of Iowa workers responded Wednesday to odor complaints about the house. Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says charges are pending against the resident. The city maximum is six dogs and cats per household, and not more than three can be dogs.

Parizek says the Rescue League identified eight dead cats and kittens, but there may be more because several carcasses were so decomposed they weren’t readily identifiable as cats. The Rescue League set out traps to catch and rescue an estimated 10 more cats hiding in air ducts or the house walls.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A medical supply company says its plans for a $20 million facility would bring more than 100 new jobs to Dubuque. The Telegraph Herald reports that Medline Industries Inc. wants to start construction on the building this summer and begin operating there late next year. The project is contingent on financial incentives from Dubuque and the state.

Medline Industries has about 480 workers at its current customer service facility in Dubuque. The company opened its first Dubuque location in 2000 with 25 employees.

A House committee has adjusted a Senate bill that would have ended mandatory charges on utility bills that are used to finance energy efficiency rebate programs. The Senate voted to give consumers the option of making the monthly payment and participating in the programs. Advocates say making the program optional would be a death knell to energy efficiency efforts. Attorney Robert Kelter is with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. “In the long term, energy efficiency means fewer power plants, fewer transformers and lower bills,” he says.

Dave Hein of Bulb Guy Lighting in Des Moines says without the rebates from utility companies, small businesses and churches won’t be able to afford installing energy efficient lighting.  “I’ve been in lighting long enough to see us go from incandescent to halogen, from halogen to flourescent, from flourescent to LED,” he says. “…But innovation comes at a cost and, without an incentive, most people aren’t going to do it.”

The House Commerce Committee has voted to continue the mandatory charge, but limit it to two percent of the total bill. Some customers were being charged up to nine percent.

(Radio Iowa)