A business that caught fire early this (Monday) morning in Oakland is a complete loss. Flames consumed the Buck Snort Restaurant at 310 Dr. Van Zee Road. Pottawattamie County Chief Deputy Sheriff John Reynolds told KJAN News the fire began at around 3-a.m., after being seen by employees of the Casey’s Store across the Street.  Upon arrival, a Deputy dispatched to the scene found heavy smoke coming from the business, which was reportedly being sold.

The fire apparently started in the kitchen area and spread from an old roof line to a new roof line before flames spread further. Firefighters were forced to enter into a defensive mode when the smoke and flames became too intense for them to enter.

Firefighters from Oakland, Carson, Hancock and Macedonia battled the flames. The State Fire Marshal’s Office has been notified, as part of a standard procedure.

More area and State news from Ric Hanson.

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Three people were arrested on separate charges early Sunday morning, in Creston. According to Creston Police, 45-year old Randy Etheridge, of Lenox, was arrested at around 1:45-a.m. for OWI/1st offense. At around 2:35-a.m., 28-year old Adam Drake, of Creston, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct. And at approximately 4:10-a.m., 43-year old Steven Jehn, of Creston, was arrested for 2nd offense Public Intoxication.

Jehn and Etheridge were subsequently released from the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond, each, while Drake was released from custody on a promise to appear later, in court.

The 7:05-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A July survey suggests there will be slow to no economic growth over the next three to six months in nine Midwest and Plains states. A survey report issued Monday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index slumped to 50.6 in July from 53.0 in June.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says businesses tied to agriculture and energy “continue to report pullbacks in economic activity, and this is spilling over into the broader regional economy.”

The survey results from supply managers are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests economic growth, while a score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A tornado has ripped through farm fields in southern Iowa as thunderstorms elsewhere in the state dropped heavy rain and loosed hail that approaching the size of baseballs. Thirty-year-old Mike Gillespie told The Des Moines Register that he watched the tornado switch directions and miss his parents’ farm north of the township of Williamson in Adams County late Sunday evening.

The storm tore up fields of corn and other crops and also damaged farm buildings. No injuries have been reported.

The National Weather Service says a preliminary storm survey is set to take place today (Monday) in Adams County, with regard to the severe thunderstorms that passed through the area Sunday evening. At least four tornado events were reported in the county, near the Adair-Adams-Union County lines, with video and photographic evidence of some tornadoes on the ground. Damage was also reported just before 7-p.m., to some rural buildings and other structures near Cromwell, at 120th and Urban Avenue.

In addition to the confirmed tornado on the ground near Cromwell Sunday at about 6:30-p.m., there were numerous reports of hail ranging in size from marbles near Creston, in Union County, to golf ball-sized near New Market, in Taylor County. In east central Iowa’s Jasper County, tennis ball-size hail was reported at around 6:20-p.m., near Monroe. Winds in Lucas County gusted up to nearly 60 miles per Sunday evening, as well.

A survey team will begin their storm damage assessment in southern Adair County this morning and proceed from there, in an effort to determine the track of a tornado or tornadoes.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man Sunday night on a serious misdemeanor charge of Driving While Revoked. 28-year old Donnie Clark Patterson, of Emerson, was also cited for Failure to Provide proof of insurance, after the vehicle he was driving was stopped at around 11:30-p.m., in Red Oak. Patterson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. The citation for having no proof of insurance will cost Patterson nearly $398.

Cass County Attorney David Wiederstein reports a warrant has been requested for the arrest of a Harrison County man,  in connection with the death of a Nebraska man who was killed in a crash on Interstate 80 on May 16th. 50-year old Paul William Marshall, of Modale, faces a felony Homicide by Vehicle charge in the death of 31-year old Peter John Underwood, of Lincoln, NE., who died when a 2009 Dodge pickup driven by Marshall headed the wrong way on I-80 eastbound and collided with Underwood’s crossover SUV.

Following the crash, Marshall’s pickup came to rest in the median, and Underwood’s car ended up on the shoulder. Underwood, who was an assistant soccer coach at the University of Nebraska who was on a recruiting trip. He died at the scene.

The warrant requested for Marshall states that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or a combination of those substances. His blood alcohol content was .08 or more, as determined by tests.

In an update to our story posted Sunday afternoon at KJAN.com, the Iowa State Patrol says a couple from New Jersey were injured when the 1999 Harley Davidson touring bike they were riding, crashed about a mile west of the Marne exit on Interstate 80.

The cycle, driven by 37-year old Dominic R. Napoli, of Butler, New Jersey, was traveling west at around 3:30-p.m., and pulling a small trailer. When a tire on the cycle went flat, the driver lost control, causing the bike to leave the road and enter the median, where it overturned. Napoli, and his passenger, 37-year old Jennifer A. Napoli, also from Butler, NJ., suffered incapacitating injuries. Jennifer Napoli suffered from neck and back injuries, while Dominic Napoli had injuries to his head.

Both were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. They were later transferred to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, with the woman taken there by LifeNet helicopter, and the man transported by Medivac Ambulance. Both are expected to recover from their injuries.