Forecasters say scattered showers and thunderstorms are in today’s (Tuesday) forecast for much of Iowa with the chance of severe weather this afternoon. That includes the possibility of hail, high winds and tornadoes. A High Wind Watch is posted for late today into tomorrow, according to Frank Boksa, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in metro Des Moines.

High Wind Watch for counties shaded in brownish-gold

Boksa says, “We’re going to see winds out of the north and they’re going to increase to 30 or 40 miles an hour sustained and we could see gusts of 60 miles an hour or higher.” While the calendar says spring is due to arrive this weekend, Iowa may be returning to winter weather later this week.

“Since we’re bringing in colder air, especially at night, temperatures will likely drop to cold enough to change that rain over to snow or at least a wintery mix of rain and snow,” Boksa says. “That’s what we’re expecting Thursday into Friday.”

(Radio Iowa)

An ATV accident in Harrison County Monday afternoon claimed the life of a woman, her unborn twins and resulted in injuries to her three-year old son. The Iowa State Patrol says 27-year old Jordan Muxfeldt, of Logan died in the crash that happened at around 1:25-p.m. as she and 3-year old Wade Muxfeldt were traveling north on Morgan Avenue, north of Highway 127.

Officials say for reasons unknown, the 2010 Polaris four-wheel ATV they were riding made a sudden, right turn, causing the machine to roll over. The woman and her child were thrown onto the pavement. Jordan Muxfeldt was flown by LifeNet helicopter to Creighton Hospital in Omaha, where she was pronounced dead. Wade Muxfeldt was transported by Logan Rescue to the hospital in Missouri Valley, and later transferred by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Sioux City is considering an ordinance amendment that would prohibit the use of BB and pellet guns. The Sioux City Journal reports that the City Council voted 3-2 on Monday to approve a first reading of the amendment. City Attorney Nicole Jensen says the change follows a national trend to restrict the public use of simulated guns. The punishment for breaking the ordinance would be a misdemeanor charge.

Police Chief Doug Young says he wants air rifles and some projectile devices outlawed so that police don’t mistake them for deadly weapons and shoot at suspects. Councilman Pete Groetken, a former police officer, supported the proposal, saying it would prevent a tragedy someday. Mayor Bob Scott and Councilman Keith Radig voted against the ordinance, saying enforcement could be difficult.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning, will receive a request from the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department and Members of the Parks Board, for financial support in advance of an application for a CAT (Community Attraction and Tourism) grant. The grant application is for funds needed for the next phase of improvements at the Schildberg Recreation Area. The Supervisors are expected to act on pledging up to $40,000 as a grant match from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenues.

Earlier this month, the Atlantic City Council approved a request for $100,000 in support of the $360,000 grant application, which must be submitted to Vision Iowa by April 15th. The Parks and Rec Department must raise $180,000 in 50-percent matching funds in order for the Vision Iowa Board to consider the request for a CAT grant.

The Board of Supervisor’s meeting begins at 8:30-a.m., in their Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) – A San Diego-based alternative energy company has proposed building a $200 million wind farm in rural Plymouth County. County Zoning Administrator Alan Lucken says EDF Renewable Energy is interested in building the project between Le Mars and Kingsley. Company officials will meet with rural landowners this week to discuss the construction of about 100 windmills.

Lucken says the project is currently in the initial planning stage and that county officials haven’t entered any agreements. Private companies have pushed wind warms in rural Iowa in recent years, meaning that those counties have an increased property tax base. The proposed wind farm isn’t as large as O’Brien County’s Highland Wind Farm, which opened in Primghar in December 2015.

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

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An official with the Shelby County Conservation Board reports persons interested in reserving one of two the cabins at the Nishna Bend Recreation Area or the cabin at Manteno Park, can do so on the web at www.mycountyparks.com.

Director Nick Preston says all you need to do is to go to the interactive calendar and simply choose the date or dates you want, then place your reservation. You may pay securely using your credit card.

The service is available as much as 24 months in advance, but cabin enthusiasts are encouraged to reserve your dates soon before they all sell out.

The Internal Revenue Service says several thousand Iowans who didn’t file tax returns in 2012 are due several million dollars, but they’ll have to file that return before next month’s deadline. I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says there are all sorts of reasons why people may not have filed a return that year. “In some cases, people don’t file a tax return because they didn’t make enough money that year to require them to file,” Miller says. “They may not realize, however, there was probably taxes withheld from their paychecks and they can usually get that money back in the form of a refund.”

The agency estimates there are nearly 11-thousand taxpayers in Iowa who could be leaving nearly ten-million dollars in refund money on the table. They’re due back an average of 764-dollars, but for some, it could be much more.  “We really want to encourage especially students and others who didn’t earn much money to look into this situation because they may still be entitled to a tax refund,” Miller says. “Remember, there’s no penalty for filing a late return if you are due a tax refund.”

In cases where a tax return was not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window to claim a refund. If no return is filed to claim a refund within three years, the money becomes the property of the U-S Treasury. “Not only are many people due a refund on taxes withheld for 2012 but they may also be eligible for other tax credits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit,” Miller says. “That can mean an even-bigger refund.”

The Earned Income Tax Credit for 2012 could have been worth as much as 56-hundred dollars for a family with three or four children. The deadline to file tax returns for the latest tax year and for 2012 is April 18th. Current and prior year tax forms and instructions are available at www.IRS.gov on the Forms and Publications page or by calling 800-TAX-FORM.

(Radio Iowa)

The Better Business Bureau is warning Iowans about a very sophisticated scam that’s already cost one company in the region millions of dollars. Jim Hegarty, president of bureau’s Omaha-Council Bluffs chapter, says the ruse could also expose thousands of workers to identity theft as the hackers disguise themselves as a company’s C-E-O in an email.  “Recently, a company’s CFO received an email asking for all of the employees’ W-2 tax statements to be sent to him in PDF format,” Hegarty says. “The CFO did the right thing. He reached out directly to the CEO saying, ‘Do you really need this from me?’ and the CEO had no idea what he was talking about.”

The con artists will hack into a company’s internal email servers and do reconnaissance for perhaps several weeks before launching their attack. “Often, it’s the result of the cyberhackers being in your system for quite some time in the background,” he says. “They sort of learn what’s going on in your organization and then they target emails specifically to try to take advantage of the knowledge they’ve gained.”

A local company, which was not identified, fell victim to the scam. “There was a CFO that received a correspondence from the company’s CEO on a really high-level deal that was occurring,” Hegarty says. “He needed money transferred in order to make it happen. Everything was to be kept confidential and the losses for this corporation were in the tens of millions of dollars.”

The best defense is having strong firewalls and remaining vigilant to check up directly on email requests that seem out of the ordinary, involve employees’ personal information or large amounts of money.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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