The Atlantic Police Department reports a telephone scam is going around the area, from someone who claims to be from the “Clerk’s Office,” and is trying to collect for a bad check.  Chief Dave Erickson says the clerk’s office does not make calls to collect bad debt. One local woman told police she received the call for her daughter, and that they had to try and serve her last night, but were unable to. The caller said the matter needed to be taken care of quickly. Erickson said the caller knew personal information, including the last four-digits of her Social Security Number (SSN).

As the woman spoke with the caller, she was even transferred to a so-called lawyer by the name of “Don Harris.” The daughter then called them back and gave them her card number to handle the matter. It wasn’t until they put the number into a computer, that they learned the call was a scam. Erickson warns, if you have elderly family members, be sure and tell them not to give out any bank, credit card or personal information.

Erickson said there were numerous instances where people across the country have received similar calls, with the “lawyer” threatening arrest about a stolen check passed at an office supply store. The phone numbers potential victims of the scam received, varied from call to call.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than a dozen military veterans have been given a 30-day notice to leave a transitional housing facility in Des Moines. Station KCCI reports that a Department of Veterans Affairs official dropped off the notice at the 180 Degrees facility last week, but VA officials have declined to discuss the issue. The VA subsidizes 180 Degrees for each client and says there’s a dispute between 180 Degrees and the owner of the home, Makar Limited Partnership. Makar said in an email to 180 Degrees that expenses outlined by the rental agreement were not paid by 180, thus breaching the agreement.

Gerald Murphy is managing partner of Makar Limited Partnership, and he declined to answer specific questions regarding the dispute between Makar and 180 Degrees. Navy veteran Kurt Gabrielson lives at the home and says he has a post-traumatic stress disorder and problems with alcohol. He says that being forced out is “overwhelming.”

Creston Police say two people were arrested Sunday, and one incident of vandalism was reported, Saturday. Authorities say 41-year old Brandie Sue Whitney, of Creston, was arrested just before Noon, SUnday, on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court on a Driving While Barred, charge. And, at around 1:25-p.m., 43-year old Amy Louise Kay Smith, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on an outside agency warrant for Probation Violation, on an original Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense, charge.

Whitney and Smith were being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail, where Whitney’s cash-only bond was set at $4,000, and Smith was being held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

And, a woman residing in the 500 block of N. Chestnut Street, in Creston, reported Saturday evening, that sometime between 10:30-p.m. Friday and 4:40-p.m. Saturday, someone broke out the back window of her 1986 Olds Delta 88, that was parked across the street from her home.

(used in the 7-a.m. News report)

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say officers have captured an inmate who assaulted a jailer before fleeing custody in northwest Iowa. The Emmet County Sheriff’s Office says the 19-year-old attacked the jailer around 7:20 p.m. Friday and then fled out a door the jailer had just opened at the jail in Estherville. The inmate was apprehended 45 minutes later by an Estherville officer and a K-9.

The inmate has been identified as Divine Watkins. He’s been charged with escape and assaulting the jailer. He’d been jailed while awaiting prosecution on burglary and other charges.