(Radio Iowa) – A familiar pit stop for motorists traveling along Highway 20 near Rockwell City was reduced to rubble in a massive fire Tuesday. Multiple media outlets report a semi parked at the pumps right beside Sparky’s One Stop caught fire and the flames quickly spread and engulfed the building. The convenience store burned to the ground and is a complete loss with damage estimated around five-million dollars.

The truck driver was hospitalized and treated for smoke inhalation but no one else was hurt. Investigators are working to determine what caused the truck to catch fire.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is issuing a stellar financial report, after just emerging from a major labor dispute. Quad Cities-based John Deere reports 4th quarter net income of nearly one-point-three billion dollars compared to 757-million a year ago. Deere also shows its fiscal-year-end net income of almost six-billion dollars. That’s more than twice the two-point-seven billion with which it ended the last fiscal year. Last week, the U-A-W ended its 35-day strike against Deere and the new contract includes immediate ten-percent raises. Deere announced Tuesday all salaried workers are getting eight-percent raises.

More area News from Ric Hanson.

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(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Motorists may not exactly be driving “Over the river and through the woods” to get to grandma’s house in time for Thanksgiving, but one thing is certain…they seem to be in a real hurry. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ryan DeVault, in Council Bluffs, told KJAN News, he and his colleagues are frustrated by the ever increasing number of excessive speeders.

He says there can be consequences (besides a speeding ticket) for persons traveling in excess of 20-to 50 miles per hour over the posted limit. “The chances for serious injury and death at that point goes through the roof at those kinds of speeds,” he says.

ISP District 3 Trooper Ryan DeVault (Ric Hanson, photo)

Trooper DeVault says “Driving needs to be the most important thing. If you’re behind the wheel of a car, that’s your only responsibility.” He says they try and drill that concept into the cadets at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy when they are in training.

He said “time management” is something most drivers need to do a better job of, when getting from Point A to Point B and back.

DeVault said also, drivers should be on the lookout for deer, and even though it’s a natural reaction to want to “Veer for the Deer,” don’t.

He says hitting the deer (or other animal), is better than you ending up with serious injuries or death in by trying to avoid the collision.

(Radio Iowa) – NASA is releasing a video of Iowa native astronaut Raja Chari and four of his crewmates aboard the International Space Station as they prepare for Thanksgiving in orbit. Chari, who grew up in Cedar Falls, says he’ll be keeping alive a tradition with his wife and kids tomorrow (Thursday) even though he’s some 250 miles up and moving at nearly five miles a second.

The 44-year-old Air Force colonel and three other astronauts lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 10th, two weeks ago today.

Raja Chari (Photo via nasa.gov)

Daily exercise is vital in the weightless environment of the space station and previous residents have used this holiday to re-create a 5-K run after their meal, since they can’t easily go outside for a walk.

In the video aired on NASA-TV, Chari appears upside down as he sorts through the clear plastic packets of freeze-dried food which they’ll fill with hot water for their Thanksgiving dinner. Chari and German crewmember Matthias Maurer, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, discovered a treasure trove of edible goodies.

This is Chari’s first space mission and the plan is for him and his crew to be aloft six months.

See the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K66Nb8Jw9Q&t=137s

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court rules against a group of inmates at the Newton prison who said their constitutional rights were violated by a delay in getting sex offender treatment need to be considered for parole. The ruling says the Iowa Department of Corrections has not postponed treatment in order to delay parole. It says it is a numbers problem where there are more male sex offenders in Iowa’s prison system than spots available for treatment.

Newton Correctional Facility (Iowa DOC photo)

The ruling notes the Corrections Department has been actively addressing the need for sex offender treatment by increasing the number of classes and counselors. And says prioritizing the admission to treatment based on the tentative discharge date is a reasonable way to decide when a prisoner gets admitted to treatment.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Medicare sign-up period is once again underway, and that means scams related to Medicare are making a come back. The Atlantic Police Department, Tuesday, issued a warning to residents about a Medicare scam, whereby the person calling pretends to be with Medicare and already has the name and phone number of the potential victim. The caller then reads off a Medicare number for the potential victim to verify. A-PD says “This is a bogus number and they ask you to read them your actual Medicare number.”

The scammer threatens the potential victims’ Medicare will be denied if you don’t provide them with the number. “The caller has been trying to use these scare tactics to get your personal information,” according to Chief Dave Erickson. “They tell the potential victim that they need to replace their current paper card with a plastic card with a magnetic strip.”

Erickson warns “Do not give out any personal information over the phone or computer.”

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a collision Tuesday evening, in Elliott. The accident happened a little before 6-p.m. at 110th and Elm Streets. Officials say one vehicle was stopped in the westbound lane and preparing to turn left to head south, when the second vehicle struck the first from behind. Deputies determined the second driver was distracted by the use of their cell phone, prior to the collision. Because both drivers were minors, their names were withheld by the Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities remind drivers to “please don’t use your handheld devices while driving, and to always remain aware of your fellow travelers and yourselves.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Tuesday, announced this year’s annual Scrooge Contest brought in a record amount of food and cash, with contestants raising the money and collecting non-perishable food items for the Atlantic Food Pantry. This year there were 2,299 items of food donated and $24,177.25 in cash.

The recording-breaking year was capped-off with a last minute donation from Atlantic Bottling Company. Ray Paulin with Atlantic Bottling was named this year’s Scrooge. Paulin collected 401 food items and $8,621 in cash (total points 43,506). Tom Cappel, with Deter Motor Company and the Atlantic Fire Department, came in second with 933 food items and $8,419.28 in cash (total points 43,029.40). Kelli Anstey, with Fareway, came in third with 965 food items and $7,136.97 in cash (total points 36,649.85).

Last year the four Scrooge Contestants brought in $23,348.10. Ray Paulin will be the Grand Marshal of the Lighted Parade 6-p.m. Dec. 4th, in downtown Atlantic. The Scrooge contest was organized in 2002, by the late Eleanor Hoover.