(Radio Iowa) – Officials say it appears an electric space heater sparked an overnight fire that has displaced the six residents of an apartment building in a small northwest Iowa town. Armstrong Assistant Fire Chief Wes Leach says the fire was reported at about 12:30 this (Wednesday) morning. “When we arrived on scene we saw heavy smoke coming from the one apartment complex,” Leach says. “We had determined that all residents had been evacuated prior to us getting there.” While there was a lot of smoke, Leach says the fire itself was confined to one apartment and was quickly put out.

“There was obviously some smoke damage to the rest of the apartments in the surrounding hallway,” Leach says. “…It looks like there was an electric space heater plugged in that started a blanket on fire.” Leach says fire fighters were able to use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, but stayed on the scene for about two hours. One of the building’s residents was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The U-S Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates about 12-hundred fires in the U-S will be caused by space heaters this year.

(Atlantic, IA) – Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller says three Atlantic FFA members traveled to Ankeny last weekend, to attend the State Officer Selection Process workshop and Amplify FFA Leadership Conferences. Making the journey to Ankeny on Dec. 6th, was Lauren Comes, Tenley Cappel and Tiegan Daniel.  FFA members from all over Iowa attended the conference, which taught them about leadership and student development.

Lauren Comes attended the State Officer Selection Process workshop (SOSP) in preparation for her potential run for an Iowa FFA State Officer position later this spring. The SOSP workshop focuses on the areas that all State Officer Candidates must prepare for. To start the process, each candidate must first complete an application. The first interview is a one-on-twelve interview where the candidates should capitalize on this time by making their first impression a lasting impression. Next is the Multiple Choice Test of key issues related to agriculture. Then the Round Robin 1 interview where State officer candidates will engage in a conversation with a knowledge area expert. The One-on-One interview is focused on two objectives. First, this is an opportunity for individual nominating committee members to develop rapport and get to know the candidates in a one-on-one setting.

On day two the candidates will start with a Writing Exercise 1 by completing an in-depth written essay. The written essay will be on a topic relevant to the theme of agriculture, FFA or the American agricultural education system. The next interview is called Stand and Deliver. State officers must consistently be knowledgeable and be able to verbally convey a message in front of a group or crowd. Candidates will have 20 minutes in a private room to prepare for delivering a 3-minute speech. The final interview is another Personal interview. The purpose of this interview is to ask a final set of questions developed by the committee to address competencies such as character, passion for success and influence.

Left to right
Tiegan Daniel, Tenley Cappel and Lauren Comes (Photo submitted with this story)

The AMPLIFY Conference focuses on student development. This year the conference focused on Purpose: Connect. Care. Create. Establishing a purpose as a daily practice and draft a leader purpose statement. Discovering how people are connected to purpose and identify their talents. Members also learned to discover what it means to live to serve as a leader and examine methods for serving others while pursuing purpose. All of this while Identifying the value in practicing practical self-care as a leader and discovering the difference between living with purpose and completing action items. To wrap up the conference, each member drafted a personal purpose team and identified how to live out a purpose plan at home.

FFA Advisor Eric Miller said, “These conferences are important to help develop the kind of leaders that we need in our school and community. I am glad the Iowa FFA provides us with the opportunity and the students are so willing to give their time to become better leaders.”

(Greenfield, IA) – The Adair County Board of Supervisor, during their regular weekly meeting this (Wednesday) morning, received information about a possible event tied-in to the America/Iowa 250 celebrations. Brenda Dudley, with Midwest Partnership, said the original idea was to hold a marathon road race on the 26-mile stretch of White Pole Road, but that idea was set aside over safety concerns by officials in Guthrie County. They then considered a relay race.

Supervisor Jodie Hoadley suggested tying that type of event (A poker run)-in with a car show.

Nothing has been decided on, with additional discussions yet to take place to try and come up with a plan for the celebration. In other business, the Adair County Supervisors heard from Courthouse Maintenance Director/Custodian Scott Roberts, with regard to an On-Call Custodial Assistant, for when Roberts is not available.

The Board approved hiring of the Mark Lantz as a fill-in custodian and snow removal person, at a rate of $20/hour, contingent upon his passing a test for the position. And, County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented for the Board’s approval, a Contract and Performance Bond with Gus Construction, for the W9 Lincoln (Township) Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert Project. The Board approved the documents as presented. Kauffman also provided his weekly Secondary Roads Department report on maintenance and activities.

In other business, the Board approved a Liquour License Renewal for the 5×80 Country Club near Menlo. And, prior to the conclusion of their meeting, the Adair County Supervisors held a Public Hearing on vacating a portion of 332nd Lane. Having received no comments, the Board passed a motion to vacate the roadway as presented.

(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM School Board met Monday evening at the high school in Anita. The retiring Board held a public hearing on the Instructional Support Levy, which Superintendent Dr. Pam Stangeland said pertained to resolution calling for a renewal of the current levy through Fiscal Year 2032.

Following an organizational meeting of the new CAM School Board, Cara Murphy was re-elected as President of the Board, and Julie Williamson was re-elected Vice-President. Dr. Stangeland said they are excited to have two new Board members in Adam Akers and Mallory Armstrong on the CAM School Board.

Stangeland summed-up the meeting by saying she feels positive about the direction the CAM School District is taking.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – The High Wind Warning expired this (Wednesday) morning, but strong gusts were continuing to blast across Iowa before they were expected to diminish this (Wed.) afternoon. National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff) says some winds early this (Wednesday) morning approached 70 miles an hour. “Sixty-eight is the highest recorded so far out in Carroll,” she says. “Des Moines has gusted to 66, and parts of western Iowa towards Nebraska and South Dakota have gusted towards 69 miles per hour.” No serious injuries are reported after multiple incidents of semis blowing onto their sides on Interstates 35 and 80. Tree limbs falling on power lines caused scattered outages, while many Iowa school districts delayed the start of classes two hours.

In southwest Iowa, a semi tractor-trailer was blown off of Interstate 80 westbound east of the Marne Exit. Minor injuries were reported. And, a semi was blown-off of I-80 eastbound, near mile marker 11 in Pottawattamie County. A Street/stop sign was snapped-off at its base at 4th & Walnut, here in Atlantic, and a tree or tree debris was blocking Highway 173 north of I-80 early this (Wed.) morning, but the road had been cleared by 5:15-a.m.  Elsewhere, a power power was snapped by the winds in Page County.

Hagenhoff says the forecast calls for another wintry mix of weather tomorrow (Thursday). “Parts of northeast Iowa could see a few inches of snow. As we get towards central Iowa, maybe a little bit of a rain/snow mix, perhaps some light ice accumulations with that are possible,” Hagenhoff says. “Anything that does accumulate will be very light.” She says yet more snow is possible this weekend for wide areas of the state. “Yeah, the third consecutive week we’re forecasting snow on a Saturday for Iowa,” Hagenhoff says. “Thankfully, this round looks fairly light, maybe an inch or two, but very cold — highs in the single digits to teens on Saturday and Sunday.”

The Thanksgiving weekend storm dropped more than 16 inches of snow on some parts of the state.

(UPDATED w/CPD Correction) – (Creston, IA) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 34-year-old Ashton James Olson, of Creston, was arrested Friday afternoon at his residence. Olson was charged with Animal at Large. He was cited and released on a Promise to Appear.

And, at around 2:20-a.m. Tuesday (12/9), Creston Police arrested 21-year-old Nikoli Ja’Hari Wilson, of Cumming (IA), for Possession of Controlled Substance Marijuana 1^st Offense. Wilson was cited and released on a Promise to Appear.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans are being invited to holiday gatherings for work and family, and those events can become a real challenge for anyone who’s trying to mind their calories. Shayna Schertz, a wellness education specialist at Emplify Health by Gundersen, says you may be able to temporarily set aside your healthy goals, just don’t go hog wild. “Go in to the party, choose what foods that you really want to eat, that are special, that aren’t there all year round, have a small portion of that food, and then move on,” Schertz says. “There’s always tomorrow to get back on track.” Splurging is likely okay on certain items like home-baked pies or grandma’s potato salad, as Schertz says you shouldn’t try to be so regimented that you feel restricted.

“They are the holidays, it’s good to indulge,” Schertz says. “However, if it’s something that you really don’t want, or you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to stick to certain goals, then I would just let them know, ‘Nope, I’m just not hungry right now,’ or you can politely decline.” She says there are a few tricks to attending parties and avoiding overindulging when you’re trying to watch your weight.”If you’re heading out to a party, make sure that you eat a well-balanced meal first. You don’t want to go into a party hungry,” Schertz says. “Second, peruse the table. Choose those whole nutrient-dense foods first, and then have smaller portions of the foods that you normally can’t have or normally aren’t around. Cheese and crackers? You can have that any time of the year.”

Portion size is also key, and she says to work toward striking a balance between fruits and vegetables and those -other- foods that are a treat. Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Radio Iowa) – D-O-T engineer Clayton Burke says the ferry taking people across the Mississippi River after the old bridge was closed has been running most of the time. He says they are averaging between 500 and 600 passengers a day with 300 to 400 vehicles every day. The old bridge was closed so work can continue on the new bridge. Burke says weather is the only thing that has stopped the ferry. “With that Thanksgiving storm obviously and the holiday we had to stop the ferry service for day and a half just because of the weather and and what-not,” Burke says. Burke gave an update to the Iowa Transportation Commission Tuesday on the new bridge, and says with the peers in place steel is going up.

Mississippi River bridge at Lansing. (File photo, Iowa DOT)

“The steel truss has been erected on the Iowa side through that first span on the left side of your sheet there. They’ve started with construction of the cantilever towards the Wisconsin side, they started construction of that part of the truss. Construction has slowed down a little bit, but they’re still out there working, obviously with the weather that’s going to slow things down,” Burke says. He says they will soon take down the steel from the old bridge.

“The implosion is coming up on the existing bridge, that’s coming up on December 18th,” Burke says. Burke says the ferry runs during holidays, but the reduce the hours to 12 hours a day instead of 16 hours.

(Red Oak, IA) – Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an assault charge, Tuesday evening. Authorities report 22-year-old Tylor Ray Adams, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 8:15-p.m., on a Montgomery County warrant charging him with Domestic Abuse Assault – a Simple Misdemeanor.

Adams was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A Republican has won Tuesday’s special election for a seat in the Iowa House. Unofficial results indicate Republican Wendy Larson of Odebolt finished 40 points ahead of Democrat Rachel Burns in the district, which covers Sac, Calhoun and Pocahontas Counties and a portion of Webster County. It was Larson’s second race in the district. She’s campaigned on protecting landowner rights in an area of the state where some property owners have opposed the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline. She came within 53 votes of defeating Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City in last year’s Republican Primary.

This fall, President Trump appointed Sexton to be state director of U-S-D-A Rural Development. Sexton resigned from the Iowa House September 19th. Larson’s win means Republicans have maintained their 67-seat supermajority in the Iowa House.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says Rachel Burns — the Democrat who ran against Larson — ran a gutsy campaign and did 11 points better in the district than Kamala Harris did in 2024.

This was the fifth special election this year to fill a vacancy in the state legislature. A sixth special election on December 30th will fill the seat held by state Senator Clair Celsi (SELL-see), a Democrat from West Des Moines who died in October. The 2026 Iowa legislative session begins January 12th.