(Creston, IA) – Firefighters from Creston responded early Saturday morning to a report of hay bales on fire at the Creston Livestock Market. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered 11 round bales burning. A second page was made within one-half hour of the initial response (at 12:33 a.m.), requesting additional firefighters for a working fire.

The bales were located against the east side of the brick building, near the train tracks. An employee used a skid loader to move the bales away from the structure and separate them, aiding firefighters in gaining better access to extinguish the flames. Their assignment was completed in about two-hours, but later Saturday morning, firefighters returned to extinguish the bales that continued to smolder.

Still frame image from a video by Dillon Daughenbaugh/CFD, of Creston Tanker 4 single-operator fire suppression unit. (Creston FD Facebook page)

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – A coach who’s also a member of the Iowa House is proposing an expansion of the time coaches are not allowed to have contact with Iowa students who participate in high school sports. Representative Skyler Wheeler, a former baseball player at Northwestern College, is head coach of the baseball team at Unity Christian High School in Orange City.

“Currently right now in the summer when baseball and softball (seasons) finish, you have a week off where you can have no contact as coaches with athletes,” Wheeler said. “It’s basically in place to allow parents and student athletes to take a trip together. They’re not going to miss any practices or things like that.” That seven-day period starts on a Sunday in late July and Wheeler’s bill would extend it for three more days.

The bill also calls for a one-week “no contact” period in November, a no-contact period from December 25th to January 1st and a seven day “spring break” that would give students a break from all sports. “I think this would be very popular with parents,” Wheeler said. “It may not be super popular with some coaches or some sports, but I think as we move this conversation forward, we’ll be able to get to a good spot with it.”

The bill easily cleared the House Education Committee last week on a 20-to-three vote, but not after some push back from Representative Daniel Gosa. He’s a former Davenport School Board member who has coached his son’s Little League baseball team. “November would be a huge problem for miscellaneous programs as teams that make playoffs in football would overlap with wrestling and cause major conflicts,” Gosa said. “December, the middle of the wrestling season, that would be bad news for, you know, giving wrestlers seven days off with weight management and endurance would drop.”

The non-contact and no practice policies outlined in the bill would also apply to theater productions, cheerleading, show choir and band. Wheeler says if you were to poll the students, they’d probably say they’d like more free time between sports seasons. “One of my schools won the state football championship this last year. The very next week they were playing basketball,” Wheeler said. “They are a decent basketball team. They almost got knocked off by probably one of the worst teams in their class simply because there was no time off, they were exhausted and they went right into basketball.”

Wheeler says the bill may be altered to line up better with winter sports like basketball and wrestling, but Wheeler says the goal is to get a vote in the full House on a uniform time-off-from-sports policy that gives kids a break. “If I take a whole off of sports and my team is practicing…from a coach’s perspective, that kid’s going to sit,” Wheeler said. “They’re not going to play that kid for a while and he’s going to get rusty.”

A designated “family week” started in the summer of 2021 to give Iowa high school students, coaches and teachers a week away from practicing for sports or band.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – Nathan Sage, a Democratic candidate for US Senate, announced Sunday he’s suspending his campaign. Sage, a Marine veteran from Indinanola, said in a statement in part, “This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life. I did not step into this race lightly, and I do not step away lightly.”

Sage said the campaign was “unable to raise the financial resources necessary to keep the campaign viable.” State legislators Zach Whals and Josh Turek are now the remaining two democrats looking to earn the nomination for their party.

Sage was the first Democrat to announce his campaign for the U.S. Senate.

(Red Oak, IA) – A traffic stop this (Sunday) afternoon in Red Oak, resulted in a felony drug-related arrest. According to Red Oak Police, officers stopped 40-year-old Aaron Lucas Allen, of Red Oak, at around 2:20-p.m.in the area of Highland/Coolbaugh Street,  for Driving While License Suspended. Allen was subsequently charged with Possession of Methamphetamine/3rd or subsequent offense – a Class D Felony.

He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $5,000 bond.

(Council Bluffs, IA) – The Council Bluffs Police Department is investigating a double shooting that occurred early this (Sunday) morning, which led to the apprehension of a suspect armed with a disassembled handgun. According to a press release, at approximately 3:43 AM on February 15, 2026, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 3300 block of 6th Avenue following reports of multiple gunshot victims. Upon arrival, officers discovered two adult males inside the home suffering from gunshot wounds. Medical treatment was provided to both victims and they were both transported to the hospital for further care.

Edder Morales-Solorio

Witnesses indicated that the suspect had fled the area prior to police arrival. Officers began an extensive investigation into the suspect’s location. Officers located the suspect, 22-year-old Edder Morales-Solorio, of Council Bluffs, and took him into custody. The shooting victims’ names are not being released at this time. Neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

Morales-Solorio has been charged with two counts of Attempt to Commit Murder, Going Armed with Intent, two counts of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, two counts of Reckless Use of a Firearm, and two counts of Willful Injury Resulting in Serious Injury.

This investigation remains ongoing.

(Washington County, IA) — No injuries were reported following a pipeline explosion in southeastern Iowa late Saturday morning. The incident occurred near the Skunk river not far from Brighton, in Washington County. Video from the scene showed flames shown belching into the air as the explosion took place.

Fire officials said they received reports of an explosion and large fire just before 11 a.m. Saturday. Multiple departments responded and identified a pipeline fire in the area.

No one in the area at the time, according to law enforcement. An investigation is into the incident is underway, and more information will be released when available.

(Henry County, IA) – A rollover accident Friday afternoon in southeastern Iowa claimed the life of the sole occupant of the vehicle, a teenage male from Wayland, IA.  The Iowa State Patrol, Saturday (today) identified the accident victim as 17-year-old Kyler Rugg, of Wayland (IA).

The accident happened south of Trenton at around 1:40-p.m., in the 1700 block of Franklin Avenue. Authorities say a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder was traveling southbound on Franklin Avenue when the driver (Rugg) failed to navigate a curve and lost control. The vehicle rolled multiple times. Rugg – who was not wearing a seat belt – died from his injuries after being flown by helicopter to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

(Warren County, IA) – A pursuit involving a Warren County Sheriff’s vehicle and a UTV early this (Saturday) morning, resulted in the UTV crashing, and two people being transported to a hospital by helicopter. The Iowa State Patrol says the UTV – operated by 31-year-old Arik D. Smith, of New Virginia – attempted to elude law enforcement as it was was traveling eastbound on SW 98th Avenue. The machine went out of control and entered the north ditch. It continued east until it came to a field drive before vaulting off the field drive and becoming airborne.

The UTV landed on the east side of the drive on the edge of the roadway, and began to roll. It came to rest on its wheels in the north ditch. Smith and his passenger, 20-year-old Wyatt T. Smith, of Indianola, were injured and flown by Mercy Air Med to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. The patrol says the men were wearing seat belts.

There was no information provided as to what initiated the pursuit.

(Audubon, IA) — A collision involving a car and a tractor Friday afternoon in Audubon County resulted in one person being transported to a hospital by helicopter. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office said the accident happened at around 1:30 p.m. on 190th Street.

The name of the person injured was not immediately released, and the accident remained under investigation, according to authorities.

(Red Oak, IA) – A traffic stop at around 9:45-p.m. Friday in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. According to Red Oak Police, 29-year-old Luis Ibrarra-Rodriguez was taken into custody in the 200 block of N. Broadway Street. Rodriguez was charged with Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)/1st offense. He  was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.