Iowans are being warned about a couple of new scams that target Facebook users. Jim Hegarty, with the Better Business Bureau in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says to be very wary if you get a message that appears to be from the founder of the social media giant. “First, people are contacted by people claiming to be Mark Zuckerburg or other senior executives, telling them they’ve won a Facebook lottery,” Hegarty says. “Victims are told some fees are needed to deliver the money and victims who pay are told there are more fees needed for clarification.”

There is no Facebook lottery. While getting a message from Zuckerburg should send up a red flag for most of us, we would tend to be much more trusting if the message is from someone we know. That’s the hinge of the other new scam. “Victims hear from a Facebook friend, telling them that the friend has won a large amount of money and saying they saw the victim’s name on a list of winners,” Hegarty says. “Of course, these contacts do not come from actual friends though that gives these a strong aura of credibility.”

That “friend” tells the victim to contact a third party to get their winnings, and again, there’s a fee for getting the cash prize but it never arrives. An elderly couple from Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, was drawn into a lottery scheme and recently came forward. Both were in their 80s and were showing signs of early dementia. Several con artists piled onto the couple over two years.

“They were on the hook with scammers that were working them from one end of the country to the other,” Hagerty says. “All kinds of reasons why they could never deliver the winnings. Over the course of those two years, they sent over $150,000 in wire transfers. They ended up losing essentially everything. Their life savings were gone.”

Nationwide last year, the BBB took 150-thousand complaints from consumers reporting scams. The estimated loss to victims is 117-million dollars, but Hegarty says that amount could be ten times higher as many people don’t report being ripped off.

(Radio Iowa)

SOME of the 20-thousand thousand residents and businesses in southwest Iowa that have been without drinking water for the past six days may get clean water in their taps this weekend. New “membranes” used to filter water supplied by the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association have been installed. Dan McIntosh, the utility’s general manager, says the water treatment system got back up and running at 11:30-p.m., Wednesday.

“We are producing good water at the treatment plant, but as of this (Thursday) morning that water hadn’t even left the treatment plant property because we had to fill up the clear wells and everything,” McIntosh says, “but hopefully this morning, sometime today, we’ll be getting good water into the Creston area.” The two water towers in the city of Creston are being drained to make room for the clean water.

“We’ve got the east tower drained and so the minute we get good water, we’ll start filling that because we didn’t want to mix good and bad water…When we’ve got water in it, we’ll get water flowing out to the west tower. We’ll take it out of service and fill it with good water,” McIntosh says. “And then, after that, you’re probably going to see a lot of flushing because once we have our towers filled with good water, the City of Creston can start flushing the city.”

McIntosh isn’t sure how long that will take, but he indicated it will probably be sometime this weekend. He says they will know when clean water has made its way through the system.  “We’re able to tell the good water from the bad water, basically, with fluoride,” McIntosh says. “We shut off the fluoride when this first happened.”

Fluoride is now being added to the “clean” water that’s been sent into the system. Water samples will be flown to a lab in Storm Lake to determine when each water tower in the system is providing clean water that may be used for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth. McIntosh is asking customers in Creston not to over-use water once the all clear is given.

“Such as washing the car or watering the lawn or whatever because the treatment plant is only at half capacity,” McIntosh says. “We need all the water we can to take to the other communities so we can get them off this drinking water advisory, too.”

While Creston is the largest community on the system, customers in nine counties are waiting, too. A few restaurants and bars closed during the outage, while many limited their food offerings. Casey’s stores in the area quit making pizza, for example. Businesses like the egg processing plant in Lenox that must have potable water to operate have had to furlough workers and wait for service to be restored.

(Radio Iowa)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — A state audit has found nearly $7,000 in improper and unsupported payments and undeposited collections at the University of Northern Iowa’s Study Abroad Center.

The audit found the problems from July 2011 to June 2014, when the program was run by Yana Cornish. Cornish left UNI in 2014 to become the director of education abroad at the University of Georgia.

Iowa State Auditor Mary Mosiman says the audit shows $5,768 in payments that did not comply with UNI policies, including hospitality and catering costs and a visa for a trip to Russia for Cornish’s daughter. The audit also found $922 in undeposited collections related to air travel costs that Cornish had paid with university procurement card. UNI withheld that amount from Cornish’s final salary payment.

The audit has been sent to various authorities, including the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and state and local prosecutors.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge has found that the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery, declaring that denying their care policy violates the state’s Constitution and civil rights law.

Carol Ann Beal of northwest Iowa and EerieAnna Good of the Quad Cities in eastern Iowa filed the lawsuit last year after the Iowa Department of Human Services denied surgery requests recommended by doctors.

On Thursday Judge Arthur Gamble said the denial violated their rights concluding Iowa “has not kept pace with law and medicine.” An Iowa attorney general’s office spokesman says no decision has been made on an appeal.

American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa attorney Rita Bettis says the women, born male but identified as female since childhood, may proceed with surgeries.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday, 32-year old Robert Lee Crawley, of Hamlin, was arrested May 25th and charged with two counts of Violation of Sex Offender Registry and five counts of Felon in possession of a firearm. Crawley appeared before the magistrate and was held until he later posted bond.

Audubon County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 31-year old Angela Dawn Foust, of Exira, on Monday June 4th. She was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for possession of a controlled substance. Foust saw the magistrate, was held and later bonded out.

And, 31-year old Lisa Marie Riskowski, of Exira, was arrested Monday, on an outstanding warrant for violation of probation. She was also seen by the magistrate and held.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Police in the central Iowa city of Ankeny have identified two people whose bodies were found earlier this week inside a mobile home. Police said in a news release Thursday that autopsies reveal 44-year-old Karen Jayne Edsinga and 45-year-old Lonnie Robert Perry died in the Autumn Ridge mobile home.

Their bodies were found Monday after officers were sent to check on their welfare. Police say it appeared the two had been dead for “an extended period of time.”

Police say the autopsy showed Edsinga died of a self-inflicted gunshot and that Perry also died of a gunshot wound. Police say they were unable to determine if Perry’s wound was self-inflicted or at the hands of Edsinga.

Investigators say evidence at the scene suggests both parties’ actions were consensual.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is sending the following information as a courtesy to the Nebraska Department of Transportation: Placement of pavement markings will require the temporary closure of the westbound Interstate 80 ramp to northbound I-480 beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, June 8, until 6 a.m. Saturday, June 9, weather permitting, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

Hawkins Construction Company is the contractor on this project. Motorists are urged to drive cautiously through construction zones, along detours and selected alternate routes.

An investigation into a single-vehicle accident at around 11-p.m. Wednesday, north of Shambaugh, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Missouri. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says 34-year old Sarah Jean Carpenter, of Burlington Junction, MO., was traveling south on Highway 71, when her 2002 Chrysler Town and Country van left the road and entered the west ditch. Carpenter tried to get the vehicle back on the road, but the van became stuck in the mud.

When a Deputy arrived, Carpenter was operating the vehicle, spinning the tires attempting to get the van unstuck. The Deputy noticed smoke coming from under the hood of the van. He then assisted Carpenter out of the van and called for the Clarinda Fire Department to be dispatched for the fire. The Deputy then assisted Carpenter up the bank, as the engine compartment of the vehicle caught fire. The fire was extinguished by the Clarinda Fire Department.

Carpenter was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. She was transported to the Page County Jail where she was being held on $1000.00. She later posted bond and was released pending further court proceedings. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Clarinda Fire Department & the Clarinda Ambulance service.

The Neely-Kinyon Research Farm Field Day is scheduled for Tuesday June19, 2018, 9:30 to 1:00 at the Neely-Kinyon Research Farm near Greenfield, Iowa. The public is invited to attend at no cost. This year’s program will begin at 9:30 AM, featured speakers are Tim Youngquiest, Agriculture Specialist II, speaking on SPRIPS Project that are underway this year on the Farm and Randall Cass, Extension Entomologist, will be discussing honey an native bee health in soybean and prairie landscapes. Complimentary lunch will be served at 12:00.

The Neely-Kinyon Farm is located 2 miles south of Greenfield on Highway 25, half mile east on 260th St, and half mile north on Norfolk Avenue. For more information contact the Wallace Foundation at 712-769-2650 or raelynb@iastate.edu.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig today (Thursday) announced that applications for the Farmers Market Nutrition Programs are now available for eligible WIC recipients and low-income older Iowans. The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs provide eligible Iowans with checks that can be redeemed for fresh, locally grown produce at authorized farmers markets and farm stands from June 1 through Oct. 31, 2018.

Naig said “The Farmers Market Nutrition Programs are designed to give WIC participants and low-income seniors better access to the fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables that can be found at farmers markets and farm stands throughout the state.” The Farmers Market Nutrition Programs are administered through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Department on Aging.

The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides eligible WIC recipients with nine checks valued at $3 each. WIC FMNP checks will be distributed statewide on a first-come, first-served basis. Eligible individuals may pick up checks at arranged appointments or at regularly scheduled clinic appointments. A combination of state and federal funds will be used to make benefits available to more than 16,000 eligible WIC recipients this year. Eligible individuals include children ages 9 months through 4 years, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and post-partum women that participate in Iowa’s WIC Program. The state’s 20 local WIC agencies have begun to distribute checks and nutritional education information. WIC recipients with questions can contact their local WIC clinic or visit https://idph.iowa.gov/wic/families for more information.

The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides eligible seniors with 10 checks for $3 each. In addition to produce, locally produced honey can also be purchased with Senior FMNP checks. The checks are available on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible recipients through Area Agency on Aging offices. A combination of state and federal funds will be used to make benefits available to more than 18,000 eligible seniors this year. Eligible seniors must be 60 years of age or older with a household income less than $22,459 if single or $30,451 for a married couple. Iowa seniors will be asked to complete a one-page application verifying their eligibility. The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) have begun to distribute checks and nutritional education information. To find an Area Agency on Aging near you, contact the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging (i4a) toll free at 866-468-7887 or at www.i4a.org.