A cable T-V ghost hunter show is featuring a building in southwestern Iowa tonight (Friday) that’s long been considered haunted. Known as Malvern Manor, it’s one of the oldest buildings in that Mills County town. It first opened in the mid-1800s as a hotel, according to co-owner Josh Heard, who says he’s had all sorts of creepy experiences in the aging structure.

“Disembodied voices, a lot of bangs, creeks and cracks all the way to shadow figures. Object manipulation, things tugging on your clothes, breathing in your ears, grabbing your arms and things like that,” Heard says. “It is literally all over this house and all the time.” He adds, even coming in to vacuum the floors can be “nerve-wracking.” After serving as a hotel for nearly a century, catering primarily to railroad travelers, the sprawling building became a nursing home in the 1950s and in the 1970s, was converted to a group home for people with various addictions and ailments.

“Any type of mental illness you can think of, everything from people with alcoholism to the more exotic cases like multiple personalities, schizophrenia,” Heard says. “It was a very odd population of people to have under one roof.” Heard conducted his own “paranormal investigation” inside the manor and the owner later decided to sell it and Heard snapped it up. The historic building is mostly empty today and it’s making a come-back of sorts, as people want to visit it and see if they can have an other-worldly experience of their own.

“If they want a guided tour, we do offer that,” Heard says. “It lasts generally about an hour. About a half-hour of just walking through the building, getting some of the history, some of the claims of activity and then we let you do what we call a ‘free roam’ of the place for about a half-hour, 45 minutes.” The huge building is full of twists and turns, narrow stairs, some original furnishings and lots of stories. Scattered about, you might see items that belonged to former residents as well as wheelchairs, beds, cafeteria trays and kitchen supplies.

The Malvern Manor will be featured on T-L-C’s “Paranormal Lockdown” at 8 p.m.

(Radio Iowa)

BENTON, Iowa (AP) — An early morning house fire in the tiny southern Iowa community of Benton has left two people dead. KCCI-TV reports Ringgold County emergency crews were notified about the fire about 3 a.m. Friday.

The county sheriff’s office says when crews from the Mount Ayr Fire Department arrived, they found the home engulfed in smoke and flames. Firefighters pulled 68-year-old Linda Gale Haley and 71-year-old Robert Fey Haley out of the building. Firefighters attempted CPR but were unable to revive either person.

The state fire marshal is investigating the blaze.

A fast food restaurant parking lot in Council Bluffs was the scene of a chain reaction accident Friday afternoon. Council Bluffs Police say 61-year old Michael Forbes, of Council Bluffs, was parking his 2002 Toyota 4Runner in the parking lot of The Great Wall restaurant in the 400 Block of East Broadway at around 12:45-p.m., when he apparently hit the accelerator pedal instead of the brake.

His vehicle jumped the curb and struck two vehicles that were parked in the Jimmy Johns parking lot. The passenger side tires of the SUV struck the front of a 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix, which caused it to ramp onto the driver’s side and come to rest against a 2015 Ford Fusion. All vehicles sustained moderate damage, but all remained driveable. The Grand Prix and Fusion were both unoccupied.

Forbes was not hurt, but he was trapped inside the vehicle until Fire Department personnel braced the vehicle and were able to extricate him. No citations were issued as the incident happened on private property.

Officials with the Cass County Health System in Atlantic said today (Friday), that the next session of Healthy U is scheduled to take place at noon Thursday, February 23rd, and will focus on Diagnostic Imaging. Director of Diagnostic Imaging, Carrie Schmitt, will present during the session.

Schmitt says she will “briefly cover all of the services [they] offer including radiography, MRI, CT, ultrasound, and more.”  The presentation will then take a more in-depth look at DEXA and osteoporosis, as well as mammography and breast cancer.

CCHS Director of Diagnostic Imaging, Carrie Schmitt (photo submitted)

Healthy U is a free educational lunch series at Cass County Health System held monthly in Conference Room 2. The public is invited and welcome to attend, but reservations are required as lunch is provided for all attendees. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat.

The Ambassadors were hosted by the Atlantic Parks & Recreation Thursday, February 9th, 2017. The Ambassadors had the opportunity to visit the Sunnyside Ice Skating Rink that opened the beginning of January. Seth Staashelm, Parks & Recreation Director, said the idea came to him when the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce hosted their Holiday Skating Rink event.

Staashelm received a lot of positive feedback from the community and their desires to have a more permanent rink available during the winter months. The rink is made up of six inches of ice with a protective liner covering the basketball courts, funded by the Community Promotions Commission, to protect the court from damage. The rink is open Sunday – Thursday, 6 AM – 10 PM and Friday – Saturday, 6 AM – 11 PM. For more information, visit the Sunnyside Ice Rink Facebook page.

Staff Pictured: Seth Staashelm (Director), Stuart Dusenberry (Board Member), Jolene Smith (Board Member)
Ambassadors Pictured: Haley Kickland, Debbie Leistad, Carole Schuler, Michelle Heath, Sue Muri, Melanie Petty, Tammy Waters, Casey Symonds, Dr. Jim Kickland, Donnie Drennan, Dr. Keith Leonard, Steve Anderson, Lucas Mosier, Kent Hanson and Dawn Marnin. (Photo submitted)