CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – The Linn County auditor says the last four digits from thousands of voters’ Social Security numbers accidentally have been emailed to four email addresses. Auditor Joel Miller blamed a computer error by a worker fulfilling a legal request for voter data from the Linn County Republican Party. The mistake occurred Friday morning.

Miller says his staff has reached people at three of the four email addresses. They told his staffers that the emails have been deleted. He says the fourth address could be that of an inactive email account. The state secretary of state’s office has been notified.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Federal authorities have accused a contractor employee of altering and submitting false invoices that resulted in nearly $808,000 in overcharges to the Iowa Transportation Department. The Sioux City Journal reports that Jenna Wilson is charged with making false statements. Court records say she filed notice Thursday that she intends to plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for Monday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

The records say Wilson raised the per-unit price on polystyrene fill used in the 2016 reconstruction of the Interstate 29 interchange at Salix. The polystyrene fill was properly invoiced by its original supplier.

The Creston Police Department says no injuries were reported following a collision that caused a total of $11,000, Friday. Vehicles driven by 64-year old Sandra Peterson, of Corning, and 42-year old Carrie Lynn Adamson, of Huxley, collided at the intersection of Townline and Lincoln Streets, at around 2:30-p.m.

Officials say Peterson was traveling east on Townline, while Adamson was traveling south on Lincoln Street. Peterson said she saw a vehicle stopped at the next intersection and someone walking around it. She was watching the other vehicle and entered the intersection against a red light. Peterson’s 2005 GMC Envoy struck Adamson’s 2010 Toyota broadside.

Authorities cited Peterson for Failure to Obey a traffic control device.

The Creston Police Department reports a man from Adair County was arrested Friday morning on drug and other charges. 49-year old Jack Howard Davis, of Orient, was arrested at around 10-a.m. in the 200 block of S. Peterson Street, in Creston, for Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Driving While Revoked. Davis was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.  40-year old Kerry Lee Starlin, of Creston, was arrested at around 2:45-a.m. Sunday, for Simple Domestic Assault. The woman was later released from the Ringgold County Jail on a $300 bond. And, at around 9:15-p.m. Sunday, 50-year old Michelle Schell, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for 5th Degree Theft. Schell was cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court.

The Creston P-D says also, two residents of the community reported break-ins, Saturday. A person residing in the 1000 block of N. Birch Street, told police that at around 12:30-a.m. Saturday, someone broke a window on the south side of his residence. And, a woman living in the 100 block of E. Irving Street reported to police that someone broke the driver’s side rear window out of her vehicle, while it was parked outside her home. The two incidents resulted in a combined loss of $400.

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

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Three people from Council Bluffs were injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident Sunday night, in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2003 Ford Explorer driven by 35-year old Brandy Huddleston was traveling south on Interstate 29 at around 9:05-p.m., when the suv partially entered the grassy median. Huddleston over-corrected, sending the vehicle out of control. It rolled over and came to rest in the west ditch.

Two of the three occupants, Huddleston, and her passenger, 30-year Raylnn Francisco, were flown by separate LifeNet helicopters to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. Another passenger, 21-year old Ramsey Edenburn, was transported by ambulance to the hospital in Missouri Valley. The Patrol says Huddleston and Edenburn were wearing their seat belts, but Francisco was not.

The crash, which happened a few miles south of Modale, remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Another Democrat is joining the race to be Iowa’s secretary of state. Des Moines small-business woman Deidre DeJear formally announced her candidacy Sunday. The 31-year-old owns Caleo Enterprises, a marketing firm that helps small businesses with branding.  She says one of her priorities would be to boost turnout in local and midterm elections as well as presidential and other statewide balloting.

DeJear was a field organizer for the 2012 Obama campaign and directed the campaign’s outreach to Iowa’s African-American voters. Already in the Democratic race to replace Secretary of State Paul Pate is former congressional candidate Jim Mowrer. The Republican Pate hasn’t publicly said whether he’ll seek another term.

Firefighters say a cigarette likely caused a house fire that destroyed a home in the Buchanan County town of in Brandon on Sunday morning. Neighbors say the home in the 800 block of South Street is connected to Roger Bentley and James Bentley. Twelve years ago, Roger was living in the home. He is currently serving time in prison for kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old girl. His brother James is serving time for taking pornographic photos of the girl. The men’s father, Howard Bentley, bought the home more than 30 years ago. He still owns it and rents it to tenants. The tenants got out without injury.

An Iowa State University study finds domestic violence interventions that help men recognize and deal with emotions have higher success rates, when compared to traditional programs. Amie Zarling, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at I-S-U, is the paper’s lead author.
She says traditional intervention which tries to change men’s thinking towards women isn’t effective in preventing domestic violence. The new program she created takes a different position.

“Facilitators facilitate from a stance of collaboration, a non-judgmental stance toward participants,” Zarling says. “They are in the same boat as participants. We’re all human. We all have flaws. We may make different choices and things, but we all have the same weaknesses.” The program doesn’t come from the standpoint of lecturing, giving advice or problem solving. She says it’s more about teaching the men how to change their behaviors so they can change their lives.

Zarling found those who received the intervention she developed are nearly half as likely to reoffend. “We tried to generate some of those uncomfortable emotions in group and help them through responding to them in a different way,” Zarling says.

The research finds men convicted of domestic violence are nearly 50-percent less likely to reoffend if they participate in the intervention that emphasizes emotional awareness. Zarling’s study was published in the journal “Psychology of Violence.”

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Sarah Boden, Iowa Public Radio)

DES MOINES, Iowa – An expanded version of Iowa’s medical cannabis law received the signature of then-Gov. Terry Branstad three months ago, but legal questions and implementation issues could delay its enactment. At least 50 potential cannabis business operators have contacted the Iowa Department of Public Health, but the medical cannabis board that will review applications and issue licenses hasn’t yet been established.

Randy Mayer, coordinator of the Office of Medical Cannabidiol for the Iowa Department of Public Health, says the goal of having producers licensed by December is ambitious. “I think to make the Dec. 1 deadline for licensing and manufacture, everything would have to work perfectly,” he states. “And I think that it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that there might be some hitches along the way.”

Under the law, the department can license to out-of-state sellers, but there are questions about whether that would violate federal law. The Health Department is asking the state attorney general for clarification.
Prior to the expanded law, only people suffering from epileptic seizures could legally use cannabis. Now a variety of ailments, including cancer and Parkinson’s disease, qualify as legal justification for use.

To legally use medical cannabis, Iowans have to apply for and receive a registrant card. Mayer says fewer than 120 people have done so, possibly because of the $100 yearly fee, which might be wasted if the program isn’t up and operating in a timely fashion.

Mayer says the Legislature conducted research on the potential number of medical cannabis users in the state. “They estimated about 6,000 Iowans might be interested and eligible to sign up,” Mayer relates. As the state works through its application process, Mayer reminds Iowans that they are breaking the law if they purchase medical marijuana by mail and have it shipped across state lines.

(Iowa News Service)