Sheriff’s Deputies in Fremont County are investigating an incident of arson that took place in Sidney. Deputies were called to 901 Filmore Street at around 3:30-a.m., Monday, for a report of a structure fire. The structure was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one lived there.

Sidney Fire and Rescue, Hamburg, Fire and Rescue, and Tabor Fire and Rescue responded to the call.  A Fire Fighter suffered minor injuries in the fire and was treated and released from a local hospital.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Department of Public Safety State Fire Marshal’s Division and a criminal investigation was initiated.  A preliminary investigation has determined the fire appears to be intentionally set and is currently being investigated as an arson.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424, or the Arson Hotline at 800-532-1459. A financial reward may be available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the person or persons involved.

Separate crashes on snow covered roads in two Iowa counties resulted in four deaths and numerous other injuries. The Iowa State Patrol reports one person died and two others were injured in eastern Iowa’s Cedar County, Monday afternoon.

The Patrol reports 21-year old Josephina Mae Buffington, of Fairfax, died at the scene of a 19 vehicle pile-up on Interstate 80 in Poweshiek County. Due to road and weather conditions, three vehicles were on the shoulder of the road at the westbound 190 mile marker, with one vehicle, a 2014 Econoline van, on the inside median shoulder and the second vehicle one the outside. A 2011 Freightliner semi driven by 31-year old Daniel James Mahoney, failed to stop in-time to avoid to avoid a collision with the vehicle on the inside median shoulder. Multiple other vehicles failed to stop or take evasive action, and collided with the original vehicles. An unknown, female driver of the van and an unknown passenger were injured. Both were transported to the Grinnell Hospital Emergency Room.

The Patrol says a 2010 Pontiac G6 struck a 2003 Toyota Corolla in the westbound lane of Interstate 80 westbound near Durant, at around 1:40-p.m. The driver of the Pontiac exited their vehicle and was standing in front the car, when a 2017 Ford Escape went out of control and hit the Pontiac, pushing it into the driver of that vehicle. The names of the victims in the crash had not been identified as of late Monday evening. The accident remains under investigation. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Tipton Ambulance, and Durant Fire/Rescue.

An accident in northeast Iowa’s Winneshiek County left two teenagers dead and four others injured. The Patrol says the accident happened at around 8:30-a.m. on County Road W-40, about one-half mile south of 173rd Avenue. A 1999 Oldsmobile Alero driven by 17-year old Avery Arneson, of Decorah, was traveling north on W-40, while a 2008 Ford F-150 was traveling southbound.

The Oldsmobile went out of control, crossed the center line and slid sideways before being struck on the passenger side by the pickup. Arneson, and his passenger, 13-year old Aden Arneson died from their injuries. Three other teens in the car were injured: 14-year old Alexander Arneson, 14-year old James Arneson, and 15-year old Jack Arneson. The passengers were all from Decorah.

The driver of the pickup, 15-year old Gage Dahlberg, of Decorah, was also hurt. All of the injured were transported by ambulance to the Winneshiek Hospital, except Alexander Arneson, who was taken to the Gundersen Hospital. All the occupants were wearing their seat belts.

AMES, IA (AP) — Authorities in Iowa say one person has died and several others were hurt after dozens of vehicles collided along a snow-covered stretch of Interstate 35 near Ames.

Up to 70 cars, buses and trucks were involved in the string of crashes, which forced the closure of I-35 in both directions. Story County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Barry Thomas tells The Des Moines Register he couldn’t see from one end of the wrecks to the other.

Thomas says one person was killed and from three to five people were injured. Authorities didn’t release the names of those killed or hurt.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Creston man on Sunday night. At 9:49pm Deputies responded to a call of a person walking on Highway 34 at the 34 mile marker. 27-year-old Brian Caron of Creston was found to be intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with Public Intoxication. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

A third-grader from the George-Little Rock School District in northwest Iowa, was the victim of a house fire Sunday. Riley Meyer perished in the blaze that took place a little after midnight on February 4th. According to reports, the fire broke out at the home of Heather Wilkerson.

George Fire Chief Bill Sprock says it took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze. He says crews from six communities helped battle the flames. Their effort was hampered by cold temperatures that caused water from the trucks to repeatedly freeze.

The George-Little Rock School District has set-up a GoFundMe page to help the family cover Riley Meyer’s funeral expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/riley-meyer-funeral-expenses

Atlantic Rising, formerly known as Young Professionals of Atlantic, hosted a Trivia Night at The Venue Saturday, February 3rd. Atlantic Rising raised funds for the Christmas Box Program that was previously organized by the Atlantic Jaycees. Thirteen teams were registered. With combined earnings from raffle tickets and mulligans on top of registration fees, the organization was able to raise $2,244 that will go toward The Christmas Box program this year.

Chamber Programs Director Ashley Hayes said “The event was a success and a great way to kick-off Atlantic Rising’s new beginning. There was a lot of buzz throughout the night about what we were doing and people already planning for next year’s Trivia Night.” She said also, “We plan to make this a yearly fundraiser.”

Teams were encouraged to create a theme and come dressed up or decorate their table in their theme. There were a few teams that took advantage of this opportunity and the team theme winners had a superhero theme. They were awarded movie passes and concession tickets for their creativity. The Trivia Night consisted of three sections with two to three rounds each; each round had a theme. Emcees for the night were Atlantic Rising members, Ann and John McCurdy, who had costumes for each round. At the end of the night, the winning team was a group out of the Griswold area. They kindly donated their $200 winnings back to Atlantic Rising and The Christmas Box program.

Another purpose for the night was to announce changes made to the young professionals’ organization and share what Atlantic Rising has in store for members this year. Attendees were encouraged to sign up that night. Several that attended took advantage of this opportunity to be more involved in the community. For more information on Atlantic Rising and to sign up, contact Ashley Hayes at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-3017 or visit www.atlanticiowa.com.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert reports, the Shelby County Emergency Management Office in cooperation with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Harlan Police Department will be working on updating our emergency contact information for all the businesses in the county. This information will be used to assist responding emergency departments with calls to local businesses such as an open door after hours or a fire.

Any new businesses that do not receive a call from the Emergency Management Department by 3/1/18 are urged to call (712) 755-2124 so that we can add their information to the list. Information obtained is not shared,  sold, or used for any other purpose.

AMES, Iowa – Feb. 5, 2018 (12:45 p.m) – The Iowa Department of Transportation is reporting that southbound Interstate 35 between exit 113: 13th Street and exit 111: US 30 (Ames) is blocked due to numerous crashes. See the latest traffic information on https://hb.511ia.org.

At least two accidents were reported on Interstate 80 in Cass County, late this morning. According to dispatch reports, an SUV rolled into the ditch just west of mile marker 60, and a semi vs. car collision occurred just east of the 60 in that same area. So far, injuries appear to be minor, but authorities are just arriving on the scene. Atlantic Fire and Rescue, along with Medivac and Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies were en route to the scene.

Other accidents were reported to have occurred in Greene County on Highway 4, between Jefferson and Bagley, and on Highway 30 between Jefferson and Grand Junction. Road conditions have been rapidly deteriorating across central and western Iowa. Visibilities are limited as well by the snow and blowing snow.

The City of Harlan is asking for the cooperation of the citizens of Harlan with snow removal operations. 2-4 inches of snow are forecast. Please keep vehicles off the city streets starting tomorrow (Tuesday 2/6/18) This will allow city crews to get your street plowed quickly and efficiently. It will also eliminate the need to write parking tickets.

Thank you for your assistance and feel free to call City Hall with any questions at 755-5137.