The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Lorimor was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center Saturday afternoon. 35-year old Katie Loraine Campbell was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Campbell was being held for Union County, in the Ringgold County Jail.

And, the Sheriff’s Office says no citations were issued, following an accident that happened at around 2-p.m. Sunday, at Highway 169 and 167th Street. Officials say a 2017 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 85-year old Richard James Ide, of Shannon City, was pulling an empty hay rack and had turned left onto 167th Street. The driver of a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van, 55-year old David Donald Thomas, of Lorimor, told deputies that he saw the pickup & trailer slowing down, and decided to pass on the left. Ide claimed he was going to slow down and flip on his turn signal, when his pickup was struck by the van. A passenger in Thomas’s van, 43-year old Jamie Rene Thomas, of Lorimor, said she could not see the blinker because of the empty hay rack, yet when the deputy sat in the same seat, he could tell the hay rack was not blocking view of the turn signal. Jamie Thomas complained of pain and was transported by private vehicle to the Winterset Hospital, to be evaluated and treated, as necessary.

Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000 for the pickup/trailer, and $5,000 for the van.

In an update to our earlier reports, Shelby County Sheriff Neil Gross told KJAN News this morning, that while he doesn’t have a whole lot of information, he was confident the subject of a pursuit that ended northwest of Atlantic Sunday evening, was wanted for a Controlled Substance Violation, and out of Nebraska for possessing a stolen vehicle. The Sheriff says it’s his understanding a pursuit of the unidentified subject began near Manning, Harlan Police picked up the chase just before 5-p.m., and Shelby County Deputies, along with the Iowa State Patrol engaged in a chase that wound its way through Shelby County and into Cass County, where deputies deployed stop sticks to slowly deflate the vehicles’ tires.

The vehicle went toward Marne, before (according to dispatch reports), driving through a field, and finally ending up in a ditch off of Highway 83, about two-miles west of Highway 173. The chase ended with the suspect taken into custody shortly after 6-p.m. The driver was brought to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance, and later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Nebraska. Also assisting during the chase, was the Iowa State Patrol. Marne Fire and Rescue and Atlantic Fire were dispatched to the accident scene, as well.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police Department said today (Monday), a man residing in the 1200 block of N. Sycamore Street reported Saturday, that a .357 revolver was stolen from his home sometime between Dec. 20th and Jan.1st. The gun was valued at $600.

And, there were two arrests over the past few days, in Creston. Steven Christopher Lamer, of Creston, was arrested Friday on a charge of 5th Degree Theft. Lamer was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 cash or surety bond. Trey Vincent Mills, of Creston, was arrested Saturday, for Driving While Suspended. Mills was released from the Union County Jail on bond.

Authorities said also, no injuries were reported following a collision a little after 10-a.m. Saturday, on S. Elm Street, in Creston. A 2017 Chevy Equinox driven by 68-year old Pamela Jo Morrison, of Creston, and a 1997 Buick Lesabre driven by 25-year old Amanda Lea Thompson, also of Creston, were traveling south on S. Elm, when Thompson’s car sustained a possible brake malfunction, and ran into the Morrison’s SUV, hitting it on the corner of the right rear bumper. Damage from the accident amounted to $1,000. No citations were issued.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The president of the Iowa Association of Realtors is touting a program launched this year that’s designed to make it easier for Iowans to save for their first home. Mark Kamps says a bill signed into law last year allows individuals or couples to save money in a tax-deductible savings account to go toward the purchase of a home. “So, first-time buyers or any buyer who hasn’t owned a home in the previous three years are going to be able to put away $2,000 per year, for an individual, for a maximum of 10 years,” Kamps said. “If it’s a married couple, they can put away up to $4,000 per year for a 10-year time period.”

There’s no limit on annual contributions to a First Time Home Savings Account, but tax deductions are capped at contribution totals of $4,000 for married joint filers and $2,000 for all other filers. “Our hope is that’ll help young people get started saving toward that first purchase and encourage them to do so, so they’ll have a down payment when the time comes,” Kamps said. The new program is similar to the popular College Savings Iowa program. Kamps notes contributions can be made to a First Time Home Savings Account for up to 10 years, though he doubts most people looking to purchase their first home will wait that long. “But, parents or grandparents could start putting away money for their children to purchase a home in 10 years. That way, they could get the tax deduction for that time period, as long as their child purchases a house in the State of Iowa,” Kamps said.

(Radio Iowa)

A recent report shows ten-percent of all Americans lack access to high-speed internet service, but 39-percent of -rural- Americans lack that same access. Iowa is the nation’s 38th most-connected state, according to the study from Broadband Now-dot-com. U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says one of his priorities in the 2018 Farm Bill is connecting America through better rural broadband coverage. Perdue says, “We want to take the federal spending, that, along with state and local spending as well as the private sector, and focus them strategically like a laser in how we go across this country with a multi-year plan of becoming ubiquitous with broadband coverage across the country.”

Backers say broadband provides access to a range of resources, services and products, including: Telehealth & telemedicine, economic development, public safety, education and entertainment. Perdue says he wants the U-S-D-A to help spearhead the effort in getting broadband coverage to even the most remote parts of the country. “We think we can be a facilitator to get this done,” Perdue says. “We will continue to push because I think it’s that important for rural America. If you’re really talking about the quality of life for rural America, then broadband has to be a part of that.”

The Broadband Now report shows 21-percent of Iowans are underserved by their internet provider.

(Radio Iowa)

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Voters will decide on a proposed $25.5 million bond issue to pay for improvements at Iowa Central Community College. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the bond issue on Tuesday’s ballot would pay for work at facilities in Eagle Grove, Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and Webster City. Voters in Buena Vista, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster and Wright counties will decide on the request. To be enacted, the bond needs approval by 60 percent of people who cast ballots.

If approved, the measure would increase property taxes by $12 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. Projects that would be financed by the bond include a new student center in Fort Dodge, a new industrial training facility in Storm Lake and a new biofuels testing lab.

GEORGE, Iowa (AP) — One person has died in a house fire in the small northwest Iowa city of George. George Fire Chief Bill Sprock says the fire started early Sunday and took firefighters several hours to extinguish. He says crews from six communities helped fight the fire, which was complicated by cold temperatures that caused water from the trucks to repeatedly freeze.

Officials didn’t immediately identify the person killed in the fire. George is a city of about 1,000 people, located about 40 miles north of Le Mars.

The Iowa Caucuses are tonight (Monday). These precinct-level meetings are national news every four years when participants make their presidential picks, but Iowa’s two major political parties hold Caucuses in EVERY election year. The leaders of both parties say they expect newly-engaged people to show up tonight (Monday). Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price. “There’s a lot of energy out there,” Price says. “and then, on top of that, with the crowded primaries we have in some of our congressional races and our gubernatorial race, you know there’s interest in the caucuses because this is the first step to electing delegates to our state convention.”

If none of the Democratic candidates running for governor win 35 percent of the vote in June’s primary, the party’s nominee will be selected by delegates at the state convention. Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann expects some of the first-time G-O-P voters who cast ballots for Trump in 2016 to show up at the Republican caucuses tonight (Monday). “People that go to these caucuses can expect, if they have something to say about an issue, they’re going to have a chance to say it. They’re going to have a chance to talk about it and discuss it. There’s going to be back and forth,” Kaufmann says. “I mean, it really is a true conversation.”

These philosophical debates are the opening round in development of the party’s platform — the document that outlines the policies each party formally embraces. “Caucuses are the best way to give the grassroots a chance to speak,” Kaufmann says. Price says there’s one other wrinkle in the Democratic Party’s process that could play out tonight (Monday). Participants at each caucus site have the option of splitting into “preference groups” related to candidates in a specific race — like the contest for governor — or on issue that’s dividing the group to see where the majority lies. “We’ve been training and making sure our folks know that process,” Price says “so that’s going to be something to watch for.”

Participants in tonight’s (Monday’s) caucuses may find themselves being asked to sign petitions, too. Candidates are required to collect a specific number of signatures on nominating petitions in order to have their names printed on the June primary ballots.

To locate your caucus site, click on the following link:

Republicans… https://www.iowagop.org/2018/01/10/2018-iowa-gop-precinct-locations/

Democrats… https://iwillvote.com/locate/?locale=en&state=IA

The meetings begin at 7 p.m.

(Radio Iowa)