(In an update to our previous report) Firefighters from Earling were called a little after 6-a.m. Thursday, to the 500 block of Main St., in Earling, for a reported structure fire. Authorities say as the first engine arrived on scene, they declared a working fire. At that time Westphalia Fire was paged to provide mutual aid. Firefighters with Earling began an offensive attack on the fire located on the first floor of the residence. Fire Departments from Panama and Defiance were also called to assist with manpower, and to haul water to the scene.

(Photo courtesy Jason Anastasi)

Officials say the fire entered the walls of the residence and worked its way up to the second floor, attic and finally, through the roof. At that point, firefighters’ means of attacking the flames was moved to defensive positions, outside. With the help of Harlan Fire and their ladder truck, the fire was contained to the residence only.  All the occupants made it out of the house safely prior to firefighters’ arrival, and there were no injuries.

The house is believed to be a total loss.

Iowa District 21 Republican State Representative Tom Moore reports the House Human Resources Committee passed four bipartisan bills this week to address childcare access. Moore says “Since March, 81 child care centers and 41 childcare development homes has closed due to the pandemic. Ensuring access to childcare is an important step in getting people back to work.

Rep. Tom Moore (R) – Griswold

Another bill of note, according to Moore, include: Parental Choice in Education, which allows each individual students’ parents to decide if their student will attend in-person classes, rather than the school district making a “Blanket decision.” The bill was debated on the House floor Thursday, and passed with a vote to 59-to 39. It has received Senate approval and was expected to be signed into law Friday morning.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest Thursday night, of 36-year-old Jeremy Ray Dilocker, from Red Oak. Dilocker was taken into custody at around 7:45-p.m. in the 500 block of N. 4th Street, for Public Intoxication. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A proposed gun rights amendment will be up for a statewide vote in 2022. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says the amendment is designed to preserve the right to keep and bear arms. “It is the Second Amendment in modern day language, born from the wisdom of experience,” Holt says. “For decades, progressives and those folks who…placed the blame on an inanimate object instead of the person pulling the trigger have assaulted this fundamental right.”

Democrats in the House and Senate opposed the language in the proposed amendment. They said it goes beyond the U-S Constitution’s Second Amendment and will lead to repeal of gun-related laws. Senator Kevin Kinney, a Democrat from Oxford, is a retired deputy sheriff. “To me, this is going to make law enforcement more dangerous,” Kinney said. “It’s going to allow background checks not to be done, people freely carrying weapons.”

Every Republican present in the Iowa House and Senate on Thursday voted to place the amendment on the 2022 ballot. It’s the culmination of a progress that started in 2018 and was delayed at one point by a filing error in the Secretary of State’s office.

(Note: the legislation that passed was a resolution, not a bill. That means it does not go to the governor for her approval or veto. Also, members of the House and Senate were technically voting for the language proposed, not the amendment itself.)

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has approved Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ plan to give the parents of a few hundred K-through-12 students state scholarships to attend a private school or be home schooled. Republican Senator Amy Sinclair of Allerton says the eligible students are attending 34 public school buildings flagged for failing federal standards. “Thirty-four schools that have gotten so bad that they need federal assistance to try and improve,” Sinclair said. “…We don’t have time to study it. These children are not being educated.”

All the Democrats in the Senate opposed the bill. Senator Claire Celsi is a Democrat from Des Moines. “Republicans are prioritizing the expansion and fiscal health of private schools, some of them being religious schools, over the fiscal and education well-being of Iowa’s public schools,” Celsi said. Senator Jeff Edler, a Republican from State Center, says the bill will help parents exit failing public schools. “I’ve heard people say this is the camel getting the nose under the tent,” Edler said. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, if we’re doing our job, we will tip that tent upside down to find better outcomes for Iowans…Is it so radical to ask for success?”

Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says private schools that accept these student transfers aren’t being required to accept all students, which IS a requirement for public schools.  “I see it as money laundering to side step civil rights protections and that is incredibly troubling for me,” Trone Garriott said.

While Republicans have a 32-vote majority, the bill cleared the Iowa Senate Thursday with just 26 Republican votes, the bare minimum required. Similar legislation is eligible for consideration in the Iowa House.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa legislature have voted to force every Iowa school district to hold all classes in-person, 100 percent of the time. Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, says 15 public school districts and one private school aren’t doing that today. “Parents are upset. Parents want their kids back in class,” Zaun says. “They recognize that their kids are falling behind.”

The bill now goes to Governor Reynolds, who has said she wants it to be the first bill she wants to sign into law this year. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says school boards made hard decisions during the pandemic to have students attend every other day or shift all classes online. “This bill is nothing more than Governor Reynolds settling a political score with large urban school districts that disagreed with her,” Bolkcom said.

Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says legislators should have ensured teachers and school staff were vaccinated for Covid first. “We all want the kids back in the school as soon as we can do that safely,” Quirmbach said, “and it’s not just the kid’s safety we need to protect. It’s the teachers and staff as well.” Representative Phil Thompson, a Republican from Jefferson, was the bill’s floor manager in the House. “Classrooms provide much, much more than quality academic curriculum, although that is a major factor in proposing this bill,” Thompson said. “In-person learning provides social support, mental health support, nutritious meals and many other benefits parents weigh in choosing the education method that works best for their children.”

Legislators of both parties expect the governor to sign the bill into law today (Friday). Once that happens, Iowa schools that aren’t holding all classes in-person will have until February 15th to make the change. Districts could choose to also offer virtual classes in addition to face-to-face instruction.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 38-year-old Sioux City man who was impaired and texting on his cellphone before he hit a bicyclist who later died has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Edy Guevara was sentenced after pleading guilty Tuesday to vehicular homicide and operating while intoxicated. Prosecutors said Guevara hit 64-year-old Charles Fluharty on his bicycle in June 2019. Fluharty, who was dragged about 66 feet, died a week later. Guevara also must pay $150,000 in restitution to Fluharty’s estate. Court documents say Guevara told investigators he was texting on his phone when he hit Fluharty.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old Missouri woman has been sentenced to five to 20 years in prison for her role in a stabbing death in Nebraska. Krystal Martin, of Hawk Point, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to being an accessory in the June 26, 2018, death of Brent Quigley during a robbery at his home in Bellevue. Martin and her boyfriend, Raymond Davis, of Des Moines, Iowa, fled to Chicago before being arrested in Troy, Missouri. Davis will be sentenced next month after he was found guilty of first-degree murder and two other counts in Quigley’s death. Three other people also were charged in the case.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A announcement of a second positive case of coronavirus at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday again raised the issue of safety in the building. Iowa House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson says a person associated with the House tested positive on Wednesday. It is the second positive coronavirus test in the building since lawmakers convened more than two weeks ago. Democrats have complained daily that Republican leaders refuse to initiate a mask mandate in the building. House Speaker Pat Grassley says leaders have done what is needed to ensure a safe work environment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say an Iowa prisoner serving a life sentence for the January 2003 shooting death of his wife has died after contracting COVID-19. The Iowa Department of Corrections says in a news release that 89-year-old Harold Duncan died Tuesday from complications from the virus and other pre-existing medical conditions. The department says Duncan was in a hospice room at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville at the time his death. Duncan was 72 when he was convicted of first-degree murder for shooting and killing his wife, 62-year-old Karen “Kay” Duncan. Authorities said Duncan then turned the gun on himself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.