(Radio Iowa) — The Isle of Capri Casino in Bettendorf was fined 10-thousand dollars Tuesday by the Racing and Gaming Commission after a mother helped her underage son get onto the gambling floor in September. The administrator of the I-R-G-C says the mother then tried to extort money from the casino for allowing an underage player into the casino. Casino General Manager, Nancy Ballenger, says they did their best to stop the boy from getting in. “In this case, we turned the minor away twice. It was only when the mother distracted our staff that he was able to gain access to the floor,” Ballenger says.

Ballenger says the mother, Daniell Skrogstad, was charged and convicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She says this type of violation is a rarity. “The last time I stood before you with this type of incident was almost nine years ago. So, we’re really proud of our program and training that we offer to prohibit minors and to make sure that only those who allowed on the gaming floor gain access,” according to Ballenger. “That is why we were very concerned about this particular situation.” I-R-G-C commissioner Jeff Lamberti says the state needs to look at tough penalties for adults who try to help minors get into casinos. The Lakeside Casino in Osceola was fined 20-thousand dollars for allowing an underage male onto the gaming floor in August. General Manager, Dave Monroe, spoke to the commission. “We take this responsibility to keep minors off our casino floor very, very seriously and we put in place some of the toughest controls you can imagine,” Monroe says.

He says the security measures failed because they weren’t carried out. “We card everybody under the age of 40. You have to have a valid I-D even if we know you are 21 — if your I-D is not valid — we do not let you in,” Monroe says. “We card you again and again, so if you come back in we card you ever single time. Unfortunately, we had a situation where the training and everything we put in place was not honored.”  Monroe says they addressed the problem with employees. “I feel confident we have the proper controls in place. We’ve retrained all of our employees. We constantly have all of these conversations at our pre-shift meetings, and I don’t anticipate any further breakdowns,” Monroe says.

The I-R-G-C took the action during their meeting in Altoona.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County, Tuesday night, arrested 26-year old Matthew Duane Baker, of Red Oak. Baker was taken into custody for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and booked-in on the Class-D Felony offense. Baker was being held in the jail on a $5,000 cash-only bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Democratic Party has released additional results from Monday night’s presidential caucuses. After a daylong delay, the party has now made public 71% of results from all 99 Iowa counties. The new numbers released late Tuesday do not change the state of play for the candidates. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg holds a slight lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar trail behind. It is too early for The Associated Press to declare a winner.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s coveted position as the first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest faces its most daunting challenge in light of problems that prevented the state Democratic Party from reporting results Monday night. The caucuses were already facing plenty of headwinds amid criticism that the overwhelmingly white state isn’t representative of the country’s diversity. The Iowa Democratic Party said Monday night that results were indefinitely delayed because of “quality checks” and “inconsistencies” in some reporting. It’s an embarrassing complication that added a new layer of doubt in the caucus process that has come under increasing criticism.

Mills County Emergency Management officials said Tuesday, that in the regular meeting of the Mills County Board of Supervisors (Board) held on February 4, 2020, the Board signed an application to be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for funding, under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, on the property buyouts for the unincorporated area of Mills County. The total cost of the project is $17,342,050.00.

In conjunction with the application, the Board also signed a resolution authorizing the local match of fifteen percent (15%) for the project, or $2,601,307.50. Seventy-Five percent (75%), or $13,006,537.50, of the funding will be federal funds and the remaining ten percent (10%), or $1,734,205.00 will be funded through the State of Iowa. Mills County officials anticipate the application will be submitted to FEMA later this week. Local authorities expect a 30 to 60-day time frame for FEMA to review, process, and award the funds to Mills County.

Local match funds are expected to be provided through a Community Development Block Grant and other funding sources instead of the Flood Recovery Fund as originally planned.
On February 6, 2020, local officials and engineers will be meeting with members of the Iowa Flood Board in Des Moines to discuss and identify time sensitive projects located within the various levee and drainage districts in Mills County.

The Interim Mortgage Assistance Program is still active and available to those qualified individuals in need of assistance. Officials encourage those qualified individuals in need of assistance to fill out the application on the Mills County Flood Page or in person at the Mills County Auditor’s Office to begin the process. As a reminder, property owners must provide a mortgage statement from the lender, a forbearance letter (if applicable), and tax and/or insurance statements if not paid through an escrow account, along with any other correspondence with the mortgage holder that shows a need for assistance.

Qualified property owners should contact Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) by email at SWIPCO@swipco.org or by telephone at 1-866-279-4720 if they have any questions.