DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Auditor Rob Sand says his office has uncovered misuse of at least $1.8 million by a former employee of the Metro Waste Authority. The organization is the trash collection and disposal agency for one county and 16 cities in central Iowa including Des Moines.

Sand said the state auditor’s office was contacted in October 2018 by the MWA executive director who noticed financial irregularities. Sand says an audit has discovered former Director of Operations Jeff Dworek had set up his own company to provide services to MWA without a bidding process and paid it $1.1 million.

Another $458,000 was paid other vendors who paid Dworek kickbacks. He resigned in March 2017. He has not been charged.

(Radio Iowa) — Plush toys that were once stuffed with fluff are now also bristling with technology, and Iowa parents are being warned to use caution when buying so-called smart toys as holiday gifts. Bess Ellenson, with the Better Business Bureau, says those fancy internet-connected playthings could put your family at risk.

“We’re seeing that some of these smart toys are collecting personal information, like names or email addresses, from the children that are using them,” Ellenson says. Some toys may also be able to report the user’s geolocations — and even recordings of the child’s voice.

Ellenson says some toys are capable of gathering personal data on a child which third parties can use to illegally open a credit card account. “They might not do it until years later because it doesn’t take a whole lot of personal information to be opening up accounts in somebody’s name,” Ellenson says, “but it’s probably not going to get known until they’re 18 years old and they go to open up their own credit card.”

The B-B-B urges consumers to research smart toys before buying them, and be sure to read the company’s privacy policy on data collection practices.

WASHINGTON (AP) – An election watchdog is filing a complaint alleging than an outside group founded by top political aides to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst violated campaign finance law in its efforts improve the Republican’s chance of reelection next year. It comes after The Associated Press reported earlier this month that Ernst’s work with the political nonprofit Iowa Values to raise money and build an electoral “firewall” potentially violated campaign finance and tax law.

The complaint by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center requests that the Federal Election Commission launch an investigation. An attorney represent both Ernst and Iowa Values did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some farm groups and farm-state lawmakers are expressing anger at the Trump administration over final ethanol rules that they say fail to uphold the president’s promises to the industry. The Environmental Protection Agency has released final renewable fuel standard rules for next year that do not include language President Donald Trump agreed to that would guarantee 15 billion gallons of ethanol is blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.

The EPA contends it’s fulfilling the promises. Industry groups say the language in the final rule is too vague and could allow EPA to miss the mandated ethanol requirements.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A former campaign manager who was accused of faking signatures on a petition document for a U.S. House candidate has pleaded guilty. Noah Wasserman entered the pleas Wednesday in Des Moines to five misdemeanor counts of tampering with records. The Des Moines Register reported that prosecutors dropped other counts in return for Wasserman’s pleas. He’d been directing the 2018 Democratic primary campaign for Theresa Greenfield in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. In March 2018 Greenfield withdrew her petition signatures shortly before the deadline and announced that her campaign manager had faked signatures.

(Radio Iowa) — The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a $145,452 civil penalty against the Sioux Gateway Airport for numerous alleged safety violations at the Iowa airfield. The F-A-A inspected Sioux Gateway Airport in May 2018, June 2019 and September 2019 and says there were violations each time, including failure to maintain surfaces, runway and taxiway markings, and visual wind direction indicators. City Manager Bob Padmore says the city is disappointed with the report and that reconstruction of the runways has been underway for several months.

“I don’t know if the inspection took that into account. My understanding is some of these deficiencies were unrelated to the construction,”Padmore says. “The city is committed and has been since that inspection time to address those deficiencies and correct them. We are also taking a a long term look at what we need to do to prevent that from happening going forward.” The F-A-A report states that in 2018 and June 2019, inspectors found the airport did not properly grade the Safety Areas for both runways to eliminate hazardous ruts, depressions or other surface variations. The report also alleges the runway and taxiway markings were not properly maintained and that wind indicators were faded, making them difficult to see. Padmore assures air passengers using Sioux Gateway that the airport will be safe.

“The safety of our airport is paramount to — not only our community — but the members who work at the airport. And we will do everything we can to make sure it is a safe well-run airport,” he says. The FAA says two taxiways were not properly marked in the September 2019 construction inspection, and one not properly maintained, creating potentially hazardous debris.
Padmore again says safety of passengers and planes is the top priority. “We’ve had maintenance issues — but not related to the safety of planes coming and going to the airport. We’re committed to maintaining a very safe airport,” according to Padmore.

Airport Director Mike Collett says his staff is working to correct the deficiencies and develop a corrective action plan to eliminate those issues for the future.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says authorities received a report on Wednesday, about a theft from a building in Yorktown. Troy Clark, of Clark Tree Service, reported that an unknown person(s) gained entry to a storage building at 407 Adams St. in Yorktown ,sometime between 3-p.m. December 13th and 10-a.m. Dec. 18th. The person responsible for the break-in stole two Stihl MS 201TC Chainsaws, a Stihl 026 chainsaw, and a Stihl BG55 leaf blower.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone with information to contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193 or their local Law Enforcement agency. A CrimeStopper’s reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading up to the arrest and conviction in this case. Informants will be given a number and do not have to give their names.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man is trying regain custody of a young coyote that he says has become his emotional support animal. Matthew Stokes told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that Drifter is a youngster who was left by a coyote family that had dug a den in his backyard on the outskirts of Waterloo. Stokes was suffering from a bone infection in a foot and was in danger of losing it. He says Drifter kept him going. The pup was corralled by a neighbor while roaming the area and placed with a wildlife rehabilitation agency. Stokes is considering seeking a federal license to keep a dangerous animal.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says 32-year old Christopher Robert Williams, of Colfax, was arrested at around 4:45-p.m. Wednesday at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Williams was arrested on a Union County warrant for Forgery. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond. And, an Afton man reported on Dec. 16th, at sometime overnight, someone entered his residence and took a Remington .22 Model 12 with hex barrel, a purse, a wallet, money, and a Motorola cell phone. Those items were valued at $1,950 altogether.

(Radio Iowa) — Leaders in Page County held two public hearings this week to gather residents’ comments on wind power, whether to allow more wind turbines to be built or to enact tighter regulations on the turbines. County Supervisor Chuck Morris says the purpose of the meetings is to find a way to balance property rights with economic opportunities. “Our intent in having an ordinance is to protect people,” Morris says. “I’m proud of that fact. Is it perfect? No, that’s why we’re debating here. How do we make this ordinance work best for everybody? It’s a tough issue. You have land rights that are important, whether that’s with a windmill or without a windmill.”

Morris pointed to other counties in the state which have no wind turbine ordinances. He says having something on the books promotes expansion of the industry while providing some sort of protection for property owners. “If you have an opportunity for some expansion in your economy and in your tax base, we’re not doing our job if we don’t take a reasonable look at it,” Morris says. “We very much appreciate the feedback. I wish that there was an answer that everybody is going to happy, but that’s not going to happen.”

Page County resident Rex Engstrand says if the county goes too far with setback regulations, wind energy companies will not invest the time or money to come there. “Any time you put ordinances in place,” Engstrand says, “you’re keeping companies from being able to come in — some for very good reasons — but you are limiting your tax base, you’re limiting your property owners the option to put windmills up.”

Resident Jane Stimson says one of the reasons she chooses to live in Page County is because of a lack of “visual pollution,” while adding wind turbines would negatively affect her view. “I appreciate being able to see the sunrise, the sunset and I’ve put trees in my yard so I could keep my view,” said Stimson. “I’ve got a pleasant ridge that I can pretend is a mountain ridge and to have windmills in that sight, would make me crazy.” Resident Galen Peery says he recently moved to Page County from Ida County, where about 150 windmills are located. “The biggest concern up there was the noise, the interference with televisions, if you’re just on an antenna,” Peery says. “We had a lady come in who had had one for several years. She said there was a crop reduction. The biggest complaint up there is that it messed up the scene of the outdoors.”

Robin Sunderman, who lives on a farm northwest of Clarinda, expressed concern over the decommissioning of wind turbines. She also outlined the dangers of turbines to the environment, as well as the impact on land values. “In my opinion, instead of having fields of dreams in Iowa,” Sunderman says, “we’re going to have fields of abandoned junk in the next 20 years.” Board members say any possible ordinance changes won’t take place until mid-January at the earliest.