(Radio Iowa) — Iowans need to beware of a holiday gift exchange called “Secret Sisters” that’s popping up on Facebook and other social media sites. Jeff Niebaum, with the Better Business Bureau in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says it sounds like a great way to get a sleigh full of gifts in the season ahead for a modest investment, but don’t be tempted.

“It’s a post that claims participants will receive up to 36 gifts in exchange for sending just one gift, valued at $10,” Niebaum says. “The users are encouraged to invite others to participate.” It translates to an illegal pyramid scheme, he says, and if you get the email, just delete it. Do not send them your information and don’t send a gift — as you won’t get one back, let alone 36 gifts.

“Those who have reached out to us at the Better Business Bureau have told us they’re kind of unsure of what’s going on,” Niebaum says. “They participated, they sent their information and they sent a gift but they never received anything.” If you get a message from a friend asking you to take part in this exchange, let them know it’s a scam and not to share your data with the crooks.

“They’ll ask for the person you’re sending it to, their information, and your information,” Niebaum says. “Once you give them that, they’ll have your mailing information, your name, and they’ll contact you in the future with other scams.” Niebaum says this hoax may be considered illegal gambling and could result in participants facing some sort of charge.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are telling people to avoid eating romaine lettuce because of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 32 people in 11 states. The Food and Drug Administration says it’s working with officials in Canada, where people are also being warned to stay away from romaine lettuce. The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year, but it appears similar to one linked to leafy greens last year.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency doesn’t yet have enough information to request suppliers issue a recall. But he says suppliers can help by withdrawing romaine products until the contamination can be identified.

No deaths have been reported. The last illness was reported on Oct. 31. Most E. coli bacteria are not harmful, but some produce toxins that can cause severe illness.

The Harlan Police Department today (Tuesday), said 33-year old Terri Lynn Hallas, of Harlan, was arrested Nov. 17th, following a traffic stop. Hallas was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with driving while barred and failure to prove security against liability.

Police in Council Bluffs are asking for your help in finding the driver of a stolen vehicle that was involved in a pursuit this (Tuesday) morning. Authorities say that around 8:10-a.m., an officer in an unmarked car located a stolen vehicle driving in a reckless manner South on Harrison Street. The officer followed the car until a uniformed patrol car could get the car stopped.

The vehicle continued to drive recklessly and struck a vehicle at 2nd and West Broadway. The stolen vehicle continued to Peirce St. where a second unmarked car located the vehicle until a uniformed patrol car caught up to the suspect vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop. The vehicle continued to elude officers and eventually crossed over into Omaha.

Omaha Police located the suspect vehicle in the area of 30th St. and Interstate 480. The incident remains under investigation, if you have any information please contact crime stoppers at 712-328-7867.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate arrests took place, Monday. At around 11:15-a.m., 29-year old Christopher Lee Peterson, of Glenwood,  was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. Peterson was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

And, at around 11:40-p.m., 39-year old Shad Edward Mahanke, of Council Bluffs, was arrested near 195th Sttreet and Highway 34, for Driving While Barred ($2,000 bond), and two warrants out of Pottawattamie County.

NORTHWOOD, Iowa (AP) — Officials say some of the nearly 170 dogs seized from a puppy mill in northern Iowa are being placed with shelters and rescue groups across the Midwest. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced Tuesday that dogs have been sent to Iowa shelters in Mason City and Waterloo; to the Wichita Animal Action League in Wichita, Kansas; and to the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha, Nebraska. The ASPCA says the other dogs will remain at an undisclosed shelter where experts can assess them in the investigation.

The dogs rescued Nov. 12 — all Samoyeds — were described as “fearful and undersocialized.” Officials say the dogs were kept in kennels that provided minimal protection from the elements and that they had no access to clean water. Animal neglect charges are pending against the owner.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A longtime Roman Catholic priest in Iowa has been removed from the ministry for a year after a girl complained that he improperly touched her. The Diocese of Sioux City says the fourth-grader alleged that the Rev. Brian Danner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Humboldt rubbed the top of her leg while taking her confession. Diocese lawyer Michael Ellwanger says the girl’s parents were “extremely upset” and complained. Church officials reported the incident to the county attorney and indefinitely revoked Danner’s ability to function as a priest.

Ellwanger says a diocese review found that Danner’s actions were inappropriate but didn’t constitute sexual abuse. Authorities did not pursue a criminal investigation after a representative for the girl’s parents indicated they were unsure whether they wanted to move forward.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is taking President Trump to task for Trump’s public criticism of his White House chief of staff. In a weekend interview, Trump spoke negatively of General John Kelly’s job performance and suggested he may be considering firing Kelly or that Kelly might want to leave on his own. Grassley says Trump’s comments were inappropriate. Grassley says, “The words that are used are very important and those words have been disrespectful of a person that defended our country and was a leader of the U.S. Marines for 46, 47, 48 years.”

Kelly retired from the U-S Marine Corps in 2016. In his tweet, Grassley said: “I wish President Trump would never discuss any ill feelings he has about his chief of staff, General Kelly.” Grassley notes, the president is certainly entitled to make any changes in his staff he sees fit, but he shouldn’t be speculating about those individuals on national T-V. Grassley says, “The president could fire him for justified reasons, the president could praise him for justified reasons, but those sorts of words should never go public.”

In a weekend interview on Fox News, Trump said he isn’t happy with Kelly’s performance as chief of staff: “Certain things I love that he does and there are certain things I don’t love,” Trump said. “There a couple of things that just aren’t his strength. It’s not his fault, it’s not his strength.”

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Governor Kim Reynolds is planning to call on Iowa lawmakers to pass a series of criminal justice reforms — and a new path for restoring voting rights to an estimated 52-thousand Iowa felons may be among her proposals. “I’m looking forward to making some recommendations next year, so stay tuned,” Reynolds said. Reynolds told reporters today (Tuesday) she’s just begun discussing options with her staff. “We’re going to have a conversation and talk about that,” Reynolds said. “…I want that to be a part of what we’re looking at next year.”

Iowa, Florida and Kentucky have been the only states to permanently bar felons from voting once their sentences have been completed, unless the governor acts to restore voting rights to an individual applicant. Earlier this month voters in Florida passed a referendum to override that policy, restoring voting rights to about one million felons. “That’s why we’re going to take a look at it,” Reynolds told reporters.  In addition, a legislative advisory board last week recommended that Iowa’s current policy on felon voting rights be abandoned. Reynolds has continued the process set up by her predecessor, Terry Branstad, that requires felons to apply to the governor to have their voting rights restored. In the 18 months Reynolds has been governor, she’s granted that request to 88 felons.

“I was at my grandson’s basketball game…this weekend, being a grandma and I had a gentleman walk up to me and he had had his rights restored,” Reynolds said. “And he said: ‘Not only did I get a letter, but your team personally reached to me with a phone call to make sure that I knew that my rights had been restored.’ And he said: ‘I can’t even begin to tell you the dignity that I felt because I had gotten my life back, to be able to go in and vote.'” Reynolds says her staff worked to make sure all the applications for voting rights restoration were processed before Election Day. In 2005, Governor Tom Vilsack issued an executive order the automatically restored voting rights to felons who had been released from prison and completed their parole, but in 2011 Governor Terry Branstad rescinded that, reverting to the voting rights restrictions for felons he had in force during his previous 16 years in office.

(Update 10:30-a.m.) Emergency crews responded at around 9:45-a.m. today (Tuesday), to a rollover accident involving a crane, south of Wiota. The accident happened on 690th Street (Cass County Road N-28), south of Lansing Road. Cumberland Fire Chief Sean South told KJAN News the driver of the truck had to be extricated by mechanical means (The Jaws of Life), after he was trapped in the vehicle. The accident happened, he said, when the northbound truck/crane got too far over onto the soft shoulder, and rolled into the ditch. The unidentified driver was conscious and breathing, and talking with rescuers before he was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac.

Both lanes of N-28 were blocked for a time.  Cumberland Fire and Rescue, Anita Rescue and Wiota First Responders, along with Medivac Ambulance, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management Agency responded to the scene.

Photo courtesy Mike Kennon, Cass County EMA