The state Attorney General’s office has reached an agreement with a Florida buying club to refund money to 26-hundred Iowans. A-G spokesman, Geoff Greenwood, says they looked into Global Travel International after a call from a Des Moines woman who had gotten a postcard from the company offering a free store gift card. “So she calls to get the gift card and is told she has to pay a three-dollar, 95 cent shipping and handling card for the gift card. She asks some questions — rightly so — and she gets a confusing pitch, but is told ‘you are not buying anything’ this is just a handling charge for the gift card,” Greenwood says.

Greenwood says it’s a pitch that they have seen many times in the Attorney General’s office.
“Someone contacts a consumer and says you’ve got a free offer, the consumer enrolls and unwittingly enrolls in a buying cub that results in monthly transactions on their account,” according to Greenwood. He says they looked into this particular club and found some things that weren’t right. “The disclosures weren’t there, consumers were confused and consumers were unwittingly enrolled,” Greenwood says. “So, we’ve reached an agreement with the company, the company is to provide the state about 45-thousand dollars in refunds that we will distribute to approximately 26-hundred Iowa consumers.”

You do not have to do anything if you were one of the people who got into the buying club. “We’ve been provided a list by the company, a list that includes who has been charged across the state, and we will issue checks to those consumers,” Greenwood says. Greenwood says there are some key things to look for if you get this type of offer. “Consumers should just be naturally suspicious if a company wants to give you something for free, or a free trial offer out of the blue,” Greenwood says. “Some of these companies will give you the free trial offer and will enroll you unless you stop it. So consumers, whenever they hear the words free trial offer, free gift card, they should be suspicious.”

He says the companies often charge you small amounts for the buying club that tend to go unnoticed, so you should review all your financial statements to be sure you aren’t being billed for a club you did not want to enroll in. For more information or to file a complaint, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division through the Attorney General’s website at www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.gov.

The 7:07-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission will meet this evening at City Hall. On their agenda is a review of site plans for a development project along Ash Street and the Heritage House Addition, as well as a review of a rezoning request and a request to vacate a platted alley. None of the matters require a public hearing. The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m. in the Atlantic City Hall.

With regard to the Ash Street project, Marty Boose, owner of Boose Building Construction L.L.C. has submitted site plans to build six, single family residential homes on 77,793 acres, from 1405 to 1503 Ash Street. The project is estimated to cost $1.2-million.

City officials say Civil Design Advantage, the architectural firm for Wesley Life, the owner of Heritage House, has submitted site plans for a 6,813 square foot addition to their existing 68,585 square foot complex. The proposed addition will be located at 1200 Brookridge Circle.

In other business, the Commission will review a request from a resident to rezone a section of land from 3rd to 4th Street, from Hickory, east to the alley between Hickory and Birch. The resident requests the section of land be rezoned to residential instead of light industrial. And, the request to vacate an alley located north of 1st Street and west of Locust, is from Terry Hepler, who has maintained the “Phantom alley” for several years.

City Administrator & Zoning Administrator John Lund says the alley serves no connective purpose, and is recommending the Commission proceed with the process to vacate the property.  The Commission will forward its recommendation on each of the matters to the City Council for approval.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Despite an improving economy, a new Gallup report shows the number of Iowans who are struggling with hunger is on the rise. According to the survey, 14.6 percent of Iowa respondents admit they didn’t always have enough money to put food on the table last year, up from 12.4 percent in 2013. Among those who have seen the growing need firsthand is Barbara Prather, the executive director of Northeast Iowa Food Bank.

“We continue to see increases in the number of people we’re serving, especially through our backpack program,” she says. “Last year at this time we were serving about 3,500 kids every month. Now we’re serving about 4,500 kids every month through the schools.”

Prather notes those struggling to put food on the table in Iowa come from all walks of life. “It’s some people who might have been laid off. Locally we’re seeing more grandparents that are now raising their grandchildren,” she says. “People that are working and just having a hard time making ends meet, making tough choices of ‘Do I pay my utility bill or pay for food? Well, maybe if I can use the food bank I can pay my rent and pay my utilities.'”

Nationally, just over 17 percent of respondents reported food hardship, marking the lowest rate since Gallup began collecting food insecurity data in 2008. More information on food insecurity in Iowa and around the nation can be found at the Food Research and Action Center website at www.frac.org.

(Iowa News Service)

A traffic stop at around 2-a.m. today (Tuesday) north of Villisca, resulted in two men being arrested on drug charges. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 21-year old Kevin Eduardo Salinas, of San Antonio, TX., and 19-year old Alex Kristopher Tucker, of Cherokee (IA), were taken into custody on Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, charges. The pair were arrested following a traffic stop near Highway 71 and Highway 34. Both men were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond, each.

The senator who represents Mount Pleasant is lamenting the now permanent layoffs of workers at the two state-run Mental Health Institutes in southern Iowa. Senator Rich Taylor, a Democrat from Mount Pleasant, notes that Monday was the last day for three dozen workers at the M-H-I in his town. “What a tragic mistake I think we’re making in this state by closing these MHIs down and it’s not that I don’t think that maybe we could do something different,” Taylor says. “It’s mainly that we’re just not ready.”

Some legislators have suggested the closure of the state-run institutes for patients with acute mental illness needed to be delayed until adequate alernatives were in place, but Governor Branstad on Monday made it clear he believes he had the authority as chief executive of state government to close the facilities now. Taylor made an appeal to his fellow senators yesterday (Monday).

“I’d like to issue you all a challenge to contact the governor and tell him: ‘You know, just hold off for a while,” Taylor says. “‘See if we can work out a plan and make this work. If this is what we’re going to do, make sure that we make this work and these people get the services they need.'”

May 18th is the target date to complete layoffs at the Clarinda Mental Health Institute. May 31st is the target date for complete closure of the M-H-I in Mount Pleasant. Governor Branstad has said the state “can’t continue to just throw money at a broken system” and he told reporters on Monday he has was elected “to reduce the size and cost of government.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drought conditions are expanding across a large section of the U.S., from California to the Great Plains. The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska says the area covered by moderate drought or worse expanded by nearly five percentage points to 36.8 percent during March.

The drought monitor shows dry conditions broadened in the Midwest with 22 percent of the U.S. corn production area and 18 percent of the soybean area in some degree of drought. That’s up sharply from early March when just 6 percent of the corn growing area and 5 percent of the soybean region were in drought conditions.

Dryness worsened during March in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Two-thirds of California is in extreme to exceptional drought.

HARLAN, Iowa (AP) — A former western Iowa doctor charged with molesting a 10-year-old girl in 1999 has entered a plea deal. Eighty-two-year-old Wing Tai Fung, now of Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse and misdemeanor indecent contact with a child. A felony count of second-degree sexual abuse was dismissed.

A criminal complaint accuses Fung of molesting a girl in January 1999 while treating her for a knee sprain at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, Iowa. He was arrested in April 2014 in Chicago. Fung was sentenced in March to a two-year suspended prison sentence and two years of probation on each count. He also was fined $1,250.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

(Atlantic) — Widespread illness in Shelby County linked to Norovirus. Health officials advise if you experience symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps, to stay home and drink plenty of fluids. People with norovirus illness are contagious from the moment they begin feeling sick until the first few days after they recover. Some people may be contagious for even longer.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man accused of having sex several times with a teenage girl has entered a plea deal. Thirty-two-year-old Joshua Case pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. Court documents say a teenage girl reported having sex about 20 times over a nine-month period in 2013. Records show the girl was 14 or 15 years old throughout that time frame. Case is also accused of having photos of sexual acts with the girl.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to consider the “widespread harm” done by a nationwide salmonella outbreak in sentencing two egg industry executives whose company was responsible. Prosecutors say Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter ran a company that for years “routinely disregarded food safety standards and practices.” . The DeCosters face up to a year in prison when sentenced next week. Both have pleaded guilty to introducing adulterated eggs into interstate commerce.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified the officers involved in a shooting in Waterloo. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation says officers Thomas Frein and Mark Nissen fired several shots at a vehicle early Sunday morning after 27-year-old Javon Darnell Webb drove into Officer Steve Bose. The officers have been placed on administrative leave. The shooting remains under investigation.

Officials with Shelby County Public Health Monday evening, updated their report on recent incidents of vomiting and diarrhea. Authorities said they have recently received many more than usual reports of vomiting & diarrhea illnesses in the community over the past ten days. Calla Poldberg ARNP, Director of Public Health, announced that testing in multiple samples shows norovirus has been confirmed.

Norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S. Symptoms of norovirus illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. The illness lasts for about two days. If ill, the most important thing to do is keep drinking fluids and stay home. The most common complication from norovirus infection is dehydration.

Norovirus is found in the vomit and stool of infected people and it spreads quickly. People with norovirus illness are contagious from the moment they begin feeling sick until the first few days after they recover. Some people may be contagious for even longer.

Although sometimes called the ‘stomach flu,’ norovirus is not the same virus as the respiratory influenza. There is no vaccine to prevent norovirus infection or drug to treat it. Anyone can get infected with norovirus. It is estimated that a person will get norovirus about five times in their lifetime.

The public can help protect themselves and others by thorough hand washing with soap and water, especially after using the toilet, changing diapers, and always before eating or preparing food. People with norovirus illness should not prepare food for others while they have symptoms and for at least 2 days after they recover from their illness.

For more information contact the Shelby County Public Health office at 712-755-4422 or your local medical provider office.