A licensed mental health counselor from Omaha who has three offices in southwest Iowa is accused of having sex with a client. According to online documents, in 2012 Amy Jo Murphy began counseling a couple at her clinic in Corning. After the couple divorced, the counseling continued for one spouse and the Iowa Board of Behavioral Science accuses Murphy of starting a romantic relationship with that client.

State regulators accuse Murphy of engaging in unethical conduct, for having “improper sexual contact” with a client. The Iowa Board of Behavioral Science has scheduled a hearing in February on this case.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The sign up period to get benefits under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul kicks off Saturday. The second enrollment period to get benefits starts Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15. A poorly functioning website and public confusion caused problems during the first enrollment period, but officials are hopeful things will run more smoothly this time.

Just over 29,000 people signed up for health insurance in Iowa using the federal insurance marketplace during the first enrollment period.  The health care law was designed to reduce the number of people without health insurance, both through an expansion of Medicaid and with new health care marketplaces where people can shop for private coverage and apply for government aid to pay premiums.

Flames that engulfed a home just south of Red Oak Thursday night could be seen up to a mile away. According to fire officials, the two-story structure owned by Duane Barkman, sustained an estimated $60,000 damage, but no one was hurt. .

According to Red Oak Fire Chief James Blount, the blaze at 2359 Highway 48 was reported at around 6:30 p.m. The first crews to arrive saw flames shooting from the roof on the north side of the home, prompting a call for mutual aid from Elliott, Essex and Stanton.

Efforts by firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the main portion of the house. The damage was primarily contained to an attached garage and living area. An investigation into the cause of the blaze was underway, but Blount said it did not appear to be suspicious.

With more than a month of fall left on the calendar, a winter storm is approaching Iowa that threatens to dump several inches of snow on the state tomorrow (Saturday). It’s already prompting doom-and-gloom predictions about how we may be facing one of the worst winters since the 1800s. Meteorologist Jeff Zogg, at the National Weather Service, says to relax, for now, it’s not Snowmageddon.

“Amounts will be relatively light, however, with it being our first snowfall, we’ll definitely have to be careful,” Zogg says. “We’re looking for amounts anywhere in the one-to-three inch range.” Some areas of the state could see isolated pockets of four or more inches of snow, while temperatures will remain well below normal, with highs mostly in the 20s. Strong winds blowing around the light snow may impact visibility while roads across much of Iowa will likely be quite slick. Zogg says an advisory runs from 9 A-M to 9 P-M on Saturday.

“We do have a winter weather advisory covering basically the western two-thirds of Iowa,” Zogg says. “That is just to call attention to the wintery weather we’re expecting tomorrow. Again, accumulations should be fairly light but with it being the first system of the season, we just want people to be extra-careful when they’re out and about.” A report attributed to the state climatologist indicates the last time Iowa had a cold spell this early during October and November was in 1991 — which led to the coldest November since 1880. Zogg says we don’t need to trade in our cars for dogs and sleds, not yet.

“We have heard the speculation about that, however, our official outlook right now is still calling for equal chances for temperatures for the winter season,” Zogg says. “That means there’s no strong indication it would be above, near or below normal at this time.” The long-range winter forecast for Iowa will be updated next Thursday. Keep up with the forecast at weather-dot-gov.

(Radio Iowa)

Attorneys in the case of an Oakland man charged with the first-degree murder of a rural Cass County woman have filed motions for another continuance in the case. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber and defense attorney Eric John Nelson filed their requests with the court Thursday, in the trial for 63-year old Robert A. Reynolds. Reynolds has plead not guilty to the murder charge. His trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 18th. A pre-trial conference is slated for 9:30-a.m. Monday.  If a continuance is granted by the court, it would be the sixth time the proceedings have been delayed.

Authorities say during the early morning hours of April 9th, 2014, Reynolds shot to death in his home, 64-year old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey, a resident of rural Cass County.

During an interview with law enforcement, Reynolds allegedly admitted he and Kinkade-Dorsey had a verbal dispute inside his residence, and that he then left the area to locate a firearm which he allegedly used to fatally shoot Kinkade-Dorsey.

Three other people in the home at the time the incident occurred were not injured

A man from Union County was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home, following an incident of domestic violence. Creston Police say 29-year old Christopher Claybaker, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 4:30-p.m. on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault by Strangulation. Claybaker was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

The Creston P-D reports also, a property located in the 100 block of south Sumner Street was vandalized. The homeowner reported on Nov. 3rd, that ceilings, walls, doors, flooring and lighting fixtures were damaged. The loss was estimated at $20,000.

And, on Thursday, the Creston P-D took a report of theft from a resident of a local apartment complex. The resident said someone entered the apartment at 219 north Maple Street and took an X-Box 360. The loss was estimated at $300.

With Ric Hanson.

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With News Director Ric Hanson.

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A house fire that occurred early this (Friday) morning in Massena has claimed a life. Massena Fire Chief Drew Williams told KJAN News a call about the fire at 208 Pine Street came in just before 1-a.m. When firefighters arrived, the house was already fully engulfed in flames. Crews were on the scene until about 5:30-a.m.

Williams would not release other details or the name of the victim. An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was expected to be on the scene later today. No other details are available.

The recent decrease in temperatures has led to an increase in home fires across Iowa. The Red Cross reports, since November 1, the agency has sent disaster teams to 28 home fires around the state. State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigle says a lot of fires at this time of year are sparked by the improper use of space heaters. He advises people to turn off the space heater when they leave the room and to use a newer model that shuts off automatically if it’s knocked over. “Make certain that you maintain at least a three foot area around the space heater, so it’s not up close to upholstered furniture or on a carpet,” Quigle said.

Space heaters should also be plugged directly into the outlet, rather than using an extension cord, according to Quigle. He’s also reminding Iowans to have smoke alarms installed on every level of their home and make sure they have fresh batteries. So far this year, 31 people have died in structure fires in Iowa. “This is a sharp increase over the same time period last year when we had 20 reported fire deaths,” Quigle said. “The big thing we see is 25 of the 31 reported fire deaths (this year) occurred in (homes or apartments) and only three had working smoke detectors.”

There were 25 fire-related fatalities reported in Iowa over all of 2013. That was down from 42 in 2012.

(Radio Iowa)