(Radio Iowa) – The Internal Revenue Service opened the tax filing season today (Monday). I-R-S Commissioner, Chuck Rettig spoke with reporters and says there are three things you can do to speed up the process. “File electronically, file accurately, and request a direct deposit of refunds,” he says. Rettig says it has been tough during the pandemic to process all of the tax returns and the challenges continue. He says that’s why it is important to get everyone to file the most accurate return they can.

“If there’s a problem with their return it can create an extensive delay and I-R-S notices sent in the mail than then the back and forth between the taxpayer and their representative. And we are trying to avoid that to the extent that we can,” Rettig says. He says electronic filing is a key to getting your refund quicker. “If they avoid errors when they file, we still anticipate that most people will not experience delays. They will receive their refund within 21 days when they file electronically requesting a direct deposit. And we fully expect the vast majority of folks to receive their refunds in a timely manner,” according to Rettig.

Rettig says there are still issues with calling the I-R-S for help. “Phone lines have been jammed — our phone lines we anticipate will continue to be jammed up for the foreseeable future…there’s just many, many reasons — but the demand is significantly up. Our folks are working as hard as we can, we’ve automated and made automated changes during the course of the past year to the extent that we can. But we anticipate an extremely high call volume as well going through this filing season,” Rettig says. He says going online is the best option to get information.

“To the extent people can, we are encouraging people to use the various online resources through IRS.gov, that will be the fastest way to get information,” Rettig says. The federal tax filing deadline is April 18th.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates say waiting lists are still growing for child care slots in Iowa and it will take more money from all sorts of sources to boost the pay AND benefits for child care workers. Dawn Oliver Wiand is C-E-O of the Iowa Women’s Foundation, which has a program focused on helping communities come up with new child care options.

“This issue is really big,” Wiand says. “…It’s going to take multiple solutions in multiple ways. We need to see both federal and state dollars, but we also need to see business dollars and philanthropic dollars.” Alex Glenn is the human resources director for Generation Next, a company that has 250 employees working in five different child care centers in central Iowa. The company recently increased benefits for its workforce, but Glenn says it may not be enough to keep employees.

“Once they leave us, they don’t go another child care center. They leave the field entirely. They go to somewhere where there’s less burnout, where there’s less stress and where they have better benefits,” he says. “…Nobody goes from Wells Fargo to child care.” Glenn and Wiand made their comments this weekend on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

Iowa lawmakers are considering a series of proposals to boost child care options for Iowa parents, including regulatory changes for building and operating a child care center as well as tax incentives for opening a child care business.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports six people were arrested over the past week, including a man from Yutan, Nebraska, who was arrested on a warrant charging him with three counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. 22-year old Ross William Manly was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the Douglas County, NE., jail. His bond at the Mills County Jail was set at $75,000.

Also arrested Wednesday afternoon, was 28-year-old Daevon Deshione Sanchez, of Omaha. Sanchez was arrested following a traffic stop on I-29, and charged with OWI/1st offense ($1,000 bond). There were two separate arrests last Thursday, in Mills County: (as previously reported) 35-year-old Tamara Elizabeth Herrera-Alberto, of Shenandoah, was arrested at the Page County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and a Drug Tax Stamp Violation (Bond $30,000); 32-year-old Tyler Eldon Buckner, of Emerson,was arrested on Jan. 20th, for Driving Under Suspension (Bond $300).

This past Saturday afternoon, 44-year-old Angela Marie Wagman, of Omaha, was arrested in Mills County, following a traffic stop. She was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for OWI/1st offense (Bond $1,000). And, at around 12:40-a.m. Sunday, 62-year-old Kenny Joseph Sousa, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested on I-29 in Mills County, for OWI/1st offense (bond $1,000).

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass Health Foundation reports $10,000 Cass Health Foundation scholarships are available to Cass County high school graduates who are enrolled-in or have been accepted into, a college of nursing or medicine, and, will complete a LPN, RN, BSN, or MD degree. Dave Chase, Cass Health Foundation Board Member and Scholarship Committee Member, says “The Hansens believed strongly in the importance of education and the need for well–trained healthcare professionals. We are proud to continue this scholarship in their memory.”

Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded with consideration given to applicants’ academic, citizenship, and leadership abilities. In 2021, Cass Health Foundation was able to award three
$5,000 scholarships to MaKenzie Waters, Jennifer Steffens, and Genevieve Martinez.

Applications are available at casshealth.org and are due no later than April 1, 2022. For further information, contact Dawn Marnin, Cass Health Foundation Director, at 712–243–7409 or mardd@casshealth.org.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, today (Monday), reported three arrests from the past week. Friday night, 48-year-old Ryan Lee Cumming, of Des Moines, was arrested in Des Moines, on an Adair County warrant for Driving While Barred. He was released from custody early Sunday morning, after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond. On Jan. 17th, 55-year-old Kristina Marie Merical, of Greenfield, was arrested at around 7:10-p.m. by Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies at the Casey’s Store, in Greenfield. Merical was taken into custody on an Adair County Felony warrant for a Controlled Substance Violation/drug trafficking 5 grams to 100 kilograms of Meth. She was released a few hours later on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

And, at around 6:11-a.m. on Jan. 16th, 24-year-old Ethan James Holman, of Bridgewater, was arrested at an apartment in Bridgewater, following a physical altercation with his girlfriend. Holman was charged with Domestic Assault with Bodily Injury/1st offense. He was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Fifty-five Republicans in the Iowa House are co-sponsoring a bill to immediately exempt retirement income from the Iowa income tax. The idea is part of the tax plan Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has presented to lawmakers. Representative Gary Mohr is the bill’s lead sponsor. “The governor’s plan calls for starting this in 2023. Mine makes it retroactive to January 1, 2022. Either one’s fine with me,” Mohr says. “It’s just important to me that we get this enacted.”

Mohr cites Iowa Public Employees Retirement System data showing benefits are sent to 19-thousand Iowans who’ve retired and moved to out of state. Mohr says many have moved to states like Florida, where their retirement income is not taxed. “There’s a lot of people in Iowa who move out of Iowa once they retire, particularly where I live, and frankly I’d like to stop that out-migration as quickly as possible,” Mohr says. Mohr, who is from Bettendorf, says retired people in his area often move to the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, since Illinois doesn’t tax pensions.”The thing I’ve noticed with my constituents when they change their state of residence…they not only take their investments with them, they take their expenditures with them,” Mohr says, “…but they lose some interest in Iowa.”

And Mohr says that means less support for Iowa civic and non-profit organizations as long-time Iowans shift their attention to similar groups in the state where they’ve moved. It’s unclear whether this retirement income exemption will remain a stand-alone proposal in the House or may be incorporated in a larger bill addressing some of the governor’s other tax proposals. Mohr says it’s perfectly understandable some Iowans want to spend time in a warmer climate during the winter, but he sees this proposal as one way of keeping them from establishing a permanent residence in another state.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Polk County man was sentenced Friday in U-S District Court, to serve 183 months (15-years) in prison, in connection with a drug, robbery and shooting incident. A United States District Court Judge sentenced 25-year-old Darreon Earl Wright, of Des Moines, on charges that include: conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery; interference and attempted interference with commerce through robbery; and possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.  Wright was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term.

According to court documents and evidence presented at the two-day federal trial held in September 2021, shortly before 9:00 p.m. on February 19, 2020, Wright and his co-conspirator lured the victim to an apartment complex in Des Moines under the false promise of selling the victim marijuana. Upon the victim’s arrival at the apartment complex, Wright’s co-conspirator led the victim to an enclosed stairwell within the apartment complex where Wright was waiting with a loaded gun to ambush and rob the victim of the $6,900 in cash he brought to purchase the marijuana. When the victim entered the enclosed stairwell, Wright’s co-conspirator grabbed the victim, and Wright shot the victim two times—once in the arm, and once in the chest. Wright fled the shooting scene with his pistol. The victim survived.

The investigation was conducted by the Des Moines Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Section. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board has approved state tax benefits for three businesses with the promise of 84 new jobs. Hormel Foods Corporation plans to add new equipment at its subsidiary in Dubuque to expand its SPAM production line to meet increased demand. The company received tax incentives with the promise of 38 new jobs. Klauer Manufacturing Company of Dubuque is expanding its sheet metal business — and is expected to create 16 new jobs.

The 3-M Company plans to expand its facility in Knoxville there which makes industrial adhesives and tapes. The board awarded this company nearly 40 million dollars in tax benefits with the promise of 30 jobs.

(Radio Iowa) – New research shows COVID-19 vaccines like the Pfizer and Moderna shots are effective in preventing another severe illness affecting children, called multi-system inflammatory syndrome. It causes fever, inflammation and severe illness in two or more organ systems. Its cause is unknown, but it appears to affect children who have had the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Dr. William Ching is a pediatric physician at UnityPoint Health St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.  “The effectiveness of two doses of the mRNA vaccine was 91% in preventing multi-system inflammatory disease in children,” Ching says, “and across 24 pediatric hospitals and kids 12-to-18, all children that were critically ill, named requiring heart or lung life support, were unvaccinated.”

Ching says studies show m-R-N-A vaccines are extremely effective at preventing multi-system inflammatory syndrome, also known as M-I-S-C. “Of the children who are hospitalized with MISC, 95% were unvaccinated,” Ching says, “and the vaccine, the mRNA vaccine was 91% effective in preventing MISC.”

According to state data, just 18% of Iowans ages 5-to-11 are fully vaccinated. Ching made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio program Talk of Iowa.

(by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – A woman is in custody after a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle on Saturday. The pursuit started near the Meskwaki Casino in Tama County and ended in Marshalltown. A Tama County Sheriff’s deputy initially discovered the stolen vehicle at around 1:20 p.m., at which time the deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The driver, who was later identified as Kathleen Dolan, 29, of Marshalltown, instead led authorities on a high-speed vehicle pursuit along U.S. Highway 30 into Marshall County, with the chase eventually coming to an end after her vehicle was disabled by police just north of the main downtown area of Marshalltown.

Dolan was taken into custody and charged with second-degree theft of a motor vehicle – a Class D felony; operating while under the influence; and possession of a controlled substance – methamphetamine. Dolan was placed in the Marshall County Jail following her arrest before being granted a supervised release on Sunday. She was ordered to report to the Iowa Department of Corrections for further disciplinary action. Additional charges against Dolan are pending in Tama County.