Police in Red Oak say an 11-year old male faces a Reckless use of Fire charge, following an investigation into a garage/house fire that took place Wednesday evening. The youth’s name was not released because of his age. The blaze, which was reported at around 7:15-p.m., Wednesday, destroyed a residence at 211 West Reed Street. Authorities filed charges upon completion of a joint investigation by officials with Red Oak Police, Red Oak Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce told KJAN News Thursday, that the blaze appeared to have started in a garage next to the home, which had been converted into three apartments.  The Chief says the first crews on the scene saw flames shooting out of the garage, which extended into the two-story residence. Two people resided in one of the apartments, but they were able to safely escape, despite having no working smoke detectors to alert them to the danger.

He said because the building had gone through numerous renovations, there were three voids, or spaces between the apartments, that made the fire hard to fight. Mutual aid was requested from the Elliott, Villisca, and Essex Fire & EMS, Emerson and Stanton Fire, and assistance from several emergency agencies, such as the Red Oak Police, Montgomery County Communications, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County EMA, and the American Red Cross.

Crews were on the scene for about five-hours. No injuries were reported. The home was a total loss.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County, Friday afternoon, arrested a woman from Adams County. 49-year old Donna Marie Hansen, of Corning, was arrested at around 1:45-p.m. on a warrant for Harassment in the 2nd Degree. Hansen was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

RED OAK, Iowa (AP) — The Democrats’ national bus tour is motoring through Iowa, targeting vulnerable House Republicans who voted to repeal Obamacare. The ultimate goal for the party is upending the GOP majority in next year’s midterm elections. The vote against the Obama health care law looms large for 21 GOP lawmakers, including Iowa congressmen David Young and Rod Blum. It was politically tough vote with no payoff, as health care collapsed in the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines woman has been sentenced to prison for embezzling thousands of dollars while working for Bankers Trust. Station KCCI reports that 34-year-old Lacey Nicolino was sentenced Thursday in federal court to five months in prison for embezzlement. She also was ordered to pay nearly $70,000 in restitution to Bankers Trust. Nicolino pleaded guilty in March.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A disbarred Iowa attorney has been sentenced to prison for mail fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says 52-year-old Dennis Bjorklund, of Coralville, was sentenced Friday to 30 months in federal prison. He had pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts of mail fraud in a scheme to bilk his own clients charged with drunken driving by having them donate to a phony substance abuse charity he had set up.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The FBI has raided a Catholic Worker House in Des Moines looking for property of two women accused of damaging an oil pipeline that crosses Iowa and three other states. The Des Moines Register reports that about 30 armed agents and other officers entered the Catholic Workers’ Berrigan House around 6 a.m. Friday and left hours later with about 20 bags and boxes.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Three LeMars residents are each charged with forgery and theft following a counterfeiting investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation with assistance from the LeMars Police Department, Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, and Sioux City Police Department.

Brittany Anne Derby, age 29, and Jackelen Danielle Hartsock, age 27, were arrested on Tuesday, August 9th, 2017. Kurt Walter Jones, age 26, was arrested on Friday August 11th, 2017.  Each was charged with felony forgery and misdemeanor theft in Woodbury County.

According to the criminal complaints filed: The investigation stemmed after the defendants were observed making or attempting several cash transactions (purchases and cash change outs) at the Hard Rock Casino located in Sioux City on Saturday, August 5th, 2017. The paper cash used was found to be falsified counterfeit bills resembling US currency.

The investigation is still on-going.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The FBI has raided a Catholic Worker House in Des Moines looking for property of two women accused of damaging an oil pipeline that crosses Iowa and three other states. The Des Moines Register reports that about 30 armed agents and other officers entered the Catholic Workers’ Berrigan House around 6 a.m. Friday and left hours later with about 20 bags and boxes.

Former Catholic priest Frank Cordaro, who lives at the house, says the agents had a search warrant seeking property of Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya, who also live at the house. The warrant said items sought included financial records, clothing, computers, and tools capable of cutting metal.

The women have a history of arrests for protesting the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline that crosses North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. Last month, they announced they had burned construction machinery, cut through pipe valves and set fires along the pipeline route.

(A-P) — The Democrats’ national bus tour is motoring through Iowa, targeting vulnerable House Republicans who voted to repeal Obamacare. The ultimate goal for the party is upending the GOP majority in next year’s midterm elections.  The vote against the Obama health care law looms large for 21 GOP lawmakers, including Iowa congressmen David Young and Rod Blum, who represent competitive congressional districts where Democrat Hillary Clinton won or came close in last year’s presidential election.

It was politically tough vote with no payoff, as health care collapsed in the Senate. The bus stopped in Cedar Rapids, the biggest city in Blum’s eastern Iowa district. Emblazoned with “Drive for our Lives,” the black-and-gray motor coach was parked in downtown Cedar Rapids for a rally with about a dozen people.

Officials with the Sac City Police Department have filed charges against a man from Sac City and a man from Lytton, following an accident that occurred Wednesday. Authorities say at around 4:30-a.m., the Sac City Police Department responded to a motor vehicle accident at Oakland Cemetery. A black 2008 Chevrolet Colorado pickup was in Oakland Cemetery being operated in a reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner by spinning donuts in the grass.

As a result of the action, the vehicle – registered to Ronald Osborn, of Lytton – flipped over onto its top. The pickup was considered a total loss, with an estimated value of $12,000. Damage to the cemetery sod was estimated at $1,000. The Oakland Cemetery is owned by the City of Sac City.

The driver of the vehicle, Chase Meyer, of Sac City was charged with failure to have a valid drivers license and failure to maintain control, both simple misdemeanors. Karston Ausborn of Lytton, was charged with permitting unauthorized person to drive, a simple misdemeanor. Minor injuries were reported in the accident with one subject being treated at a local hospital.

The next “Healthy U” session made possible through the Cass County Health System, will take place Thursday, Aug. 17th at Noon, and features a presentation by Dr. Ben Howard on the topic of “Coughs.”  During his presentation, Dr. Howard will talk about the causes of coughs as well as the treatments available.

He says “Some coughs might be a symptom of a more serious health concern, so we will also talk about what we look for when we are evaluating the cause of the cough, and when it may need further testing and more aggressive treatment. Everyone’s had to deal with a bad cough at some point, and it’s a particularly common complaint from our older patients.”

Dr. Ben Howard

Dr. Howard is the newest physician to join Cass County Health System. He provides the full spectrum of family medicine care, including obstetrics. Dr. Howard graduated from Des Moines University in 2014 and recently completed his residency at Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Residency in South Bend, Indiana.

Healthy U is a free educational lunch series at Cass County Health System held monthly in Conference Room 2 just past the Atrium at the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic. The public is invited and welcome to attend, but reservations are required as lunch is provided for all attendees. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat

A pursuit that began in Pottawattamie County, ended on Interstate 80 in Cass County, Thursday evening. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office reports Deputy Logan Lieber was in a marked patrol car at around 6:27-p.m., when he ran a license plate through the computer. The records indicated the owner of the 2007 Volvo was barred from driving. After Lieber drove up next to the car to see if the driver matched the description of the owner, the Deputy conducted a traffic stop.

As he exited his patrol car and was walking up to the Volvo, the vehicle took off on I-80 eastbound at a high rate of speed. The pursuit ended when the Deputy executed a PIT maneuver on the Volvo, after the vehicle took exit 57 (Olive Street) and proceeded to head west on I-80. The PIT maneuver worked, and the suspect 23-year old Vinton Minh Nguyen, of Cedar Rapids, was taken into custody.

He faces numerous charges, including: Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (a red smoking pipe); Possession of a Controlled Substance (1.8-pounds of marijuana, 54.7 grams of marijuana wax, 1.5 grams of pot in a baggy in containers); Eluding; Driving While Barred; Reckless Driving, and OWI/1st offense. Nyguyen suffered an apparent minor injury during the PIT maneuver, but did not require treatment.

A man from Nebraska was arrested at around 4:30-a.m. today (Friday), on an OWI charge. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a Deputy responding to a call about a vehicle on the railroad tracks in the area of Town Lane and Joslin, found the vehicle and driver, 38-year Rosendo Lopez, of Omaha. Lopez consented to a Field Sobriety Test (FST) at the jail, and was placed under arrest on the OWI charge before being turned over to jail staff.

Earlier in the morning, today (Friday), a Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with expired tags. He noticed the driver, 27-year old Travis D. Cunningham, of Council Bluffs, had an odor of alcohol about him, and bloodshot, watery eyes. Cunningham consented to an FST and Breath Alcohol Content test, which registered .139 percent. Cunningham was issued a warning for the expired tag, and placed under arrest at around 2:40-a.m., for OWI/2nd offense.

Another, in what is expected to be a series of meetings related to Atlantic’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, is set to take place Tuesday, August 15^th, in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall. The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m, and any citizen interested in attending is welcome to do so.

The Celebration Committee is gathering ideas and suggestions for a year-long plan to make the 150^th Anniversary of the City’s founding, one for the record books. Initial ideas include having local groups and organizations pick a month in 2018, and doing something special by tying-in the number 150.

Historical data shows Atlantic was founded in October 1868, by Franklin H. Whitney and others. How those persons chose the name “Atlantic,” is a matter of debate, but most seem to think it was because the founders thought the community was about half-way between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A coin toss is believed to have determined the name.

Another reason for setting up stakes in preparation for building, is because Atlantic is located alongside the rail lines for the Rock Island Railroad.