BLUE GRASS, IA (IRN) – Four people died Christmas morning in a fire in the eastern Iowa town of Blue Grass. The Quad Cities Times reports that one of the occupants was able to exit the residence and was transported to the hospital but died later. The victims haven’t been identified, but outside the home were children’s toys, including a little yellow car and a wheeled vehicle for a small child.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines police officer has been accused of drunken driving.
KCCI-TV reports Brett Vanderpool is a probationary officer who is scheduled to join the regular force January 3. Vanderpool’s blood tested out at nearly twice the legal limit.

FORT MADISON, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man who spent 48 years in prison for killing a 10-year-old girl has died in custody. The Iowa Department of Corrections says Robert Anthony Williams died Wednesday of natural causes at the State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. Williams was convicted of killing Pamela Kay Powers, of Urbandale, on Dec. 24, 1968. The girl was abducted from the downtown Des Moines YMCA while attending her older brother’s wrestling tournament.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque firefighter was injured while responding to a fire on Christmas Day. KGAN-TV reports the fire was extinguished quickly, and the injured firefighter was treated at the hospital.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A parking lot altercation almost ended with someone in jail Saturday. WHO-TV reports a man was backing out of a parking spot and almost hit a woman with his car. When confronted by the woman and her husband, the man flashed a pistol at the couple. Police say if the new stand your ground law wasn’t in effect, charges likely would have been filed.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – There were special deliveries made at Mercy Children’s Hospital in Des Moines Sunday. KCCI-TV reports the Huebsch family from Ankeny made and delivered hundreds of fleece-tie blankets for children spending the holiday season at Mercy. In 2013 the family was at the hospital during Christmas because one of their daughters became sick and then died, and a nurse brought her two sisters blankets to comfort them. The sisters keep the program running through grant money and donations.