(Radio Iowa) – With the federal tax filing deadline now one week away, a University of Iowa accounting professor suggests America adopt what’s being done in many European countries, where the government prepares your taxes for you — for free. Professor Ryan Wilson says our current electronic filing process is automated, so it wouldn’t be a great stretch for the I-R-S to go the next step and prepare our taxes, too. Wilson says the government already has most of the information it needs to pre-populate tax returns, and those with more complex investments could always opt out. For the majority of Americans, Wilson says it would reduce anxiety while saving time and money.

He says a program called ReadyReturn is already being used in the U-K, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, where the government prepares its citizens’ taxes. In some countries, you get a text from the government and if you text back ‘YES,’ then you’re done.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak arrested a man this (Tuesday) morning. 37-year-old Brian Paul Anderson, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the vicinity of 1660 E. Summit Street, at around 4:22-a.m. He was charged with OWI/1st offense. Anderson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed a former Republican legislator to lead the Iowa Utilities Board. Current Iowa Utilities Board chair Jeri Huser will remain on the board, but the governor has appointed Erik Helland to take over as chair in May. Helland, who is an attorney, served two terms in the Iowa House representing the Des Moines suburb of Johnston. Helland will lead the Iowa Utilities Board as it considers applications for construction permits for three carbon pipelines.

A year ago, the governor appointed Helland to serve on the Iowa Employment Relations Board, but Democrats in the Senate blocked his nomination. Republicans won 34 seats in the state senate last November and that’s equal to the number of yes voted Helland would need for confirmation to this new role.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill eligible for debate in the Iowa House would require permission from a parent before Iowa teens between the ages of 14 and 17 could have an account on Instagram or other types of social media. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake says that’s a change from the original bill, which would have barred any minor in Iowa from having a social media account.

“We are at least trying to get that parent to have some skin the game and understand: ‘Maybe my kid is acting this way because they’re actually being bullied or maybe something’s happening on social media and I need to monitor that,'” Wills says. Studies have shown social media use can be a major distraction for teenagers by disrupting their sleep and promoting unrealistic views about their own body image. Wills says for those and other reasons, it’s time to try something.

“It’s not going to be perfect,” Wills says, “but with the number of suicides and with the (amount) of cyberbulling and all of these other things…there needs to be some additional protections from the government.” A federal law prohibits social media platforms and other online sites from collecting data about children 13 and under without parental permission — essentially requiring a parent to sign off on a sign up for Instagram, TikTok and other social media.

The bill cleared the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday (Monday) with the support of all but two Republicans. Democrats on the panel opposed it. Some are pressing for more changes in the bill to ensure it does not prevent students from using social media platforms for homework and other school activities.

(Radio Iowa) – Federal officials say nearly three-thousand workers hired to euthanize chickens and turkeys struck by bird flu in 2015 are eligible for back pay. According to the U-S Department of Labor, the workers were underpaid and they are owed, as a group, one-point-seven million dollars in wage. The U-S-D-A hired a Massachusetts company during the bird flu outbreak of 2015 to manage killing and disposing of infected commercial flocks and then cleaning the facilities.

Federal officials say in some cases subcontractors hired by the Massachusetts company failed to pay overtime or the hourly wage that was paid did not match the federal guidelines. A news release from the Department of Labor indicates it’s searching for eligible employees who worked eight years ago at sites in Osceola, Sioux City and Cherokee.

In 2015, Radio Iowa reported there were confirmed bird flu outbreaks in Osceola, Sioux and Cherokee COUNTIES, but not in those cities.

(Radio Iowa) – A Dubuque man who bought a lottery ticket on April Fools’ Day that ended up being a winner of a record 40 million dollar jackpot thought it was a joke. Sixty-one-year-old Earl Lape says the called him from the store where he bought the ticket and told him he had to come in.

He says they told him he’d won and he laughed and said “yeah its’s April Fools.” Lape is a retired mechanic, and finally started to believe the news when he took his winning ticket to the local store where he bought it and had it checked on the lottery terminal. Lape chose to receive his winnings in the lump-sum option of just more than 21 million dollars.

He says he plans to invest his winnings so the money could help his family for generations to come. He also is planning donations to organizations that benefit children with medical issues, specifically the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, and Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

(Iowa Lottery photo)

He says a lot of parents don’t have money and a lot of insurance companies don’t cover some of the issues the kids have. The jackpot he won was a record for the Lotto America game after no one won since July 2021. The previous record had been around $23 million in 2018.

Lape bought his jackpot-winning ticket at Eichman’s, a restaurant and convenience store on Highway 52 in Dubuque. This is the second Lotto America jackpot won in Iowa. A Davenport man won a little more than $4 million jackpot in the game in May 2018.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a passenger in an SUV that struck a pickup Friday afternoon west of Creston, was transported to the hospital in Creston, for treatment of a head injury. Authorities say a 2002 Jeep Liberty driven by 45-year-old Alan Wayne Blazek, of Fontanelle, was southbound on Clover Avenue at around 1:20-p.m., Friday. He noticed a 2005 Dodge RAM 1500 pickup driven by 72-year-old Michael James Wolfe, of Creston, was crossing the intersection with 160th Street. Blazek tried to press on the brakes to avoid hitting the pickup, but was unsuccessful.

The Jeep struck the pickup on the passenger side. A side airbag curtain deployed in the pickup upon impact. A passenger in the Jeep, 48-year-old Velma Blazek, of Fontanelle, was injured and transported to the hospital by ambulance. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says Wolfe failed to yield the right-of-way from the stop sign. Wolfe told authorities he didn’t see the Jeep when it went into the intersection.

Wolfe was issued a citation for failing to yield from a stop sign. Both vehicles were able to be driven from the scene. Damages amounted to $3,500.

Des Moines, IA – A Muscatine County man was sentenced Friday, April 7, 2023, to twenty years in prison following his guilty plea for Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Child.

According to court documents, from February 2022 to September 2022, David Franklin Duncan III, 33, used cellphones and Facebook to communicate with a person he believed to be a fifteen-year-old child. During the conversations, Duncan attempted to employ, use, persuade, entice, or coerce the person he believed to be a child to capture and send Duncan images and videos of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct, to travel to Duncan’s location or meet him at an agreed location for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and to engage in commercial sex acts. Duncan also sent images and videos of his penis and of him masturbating. Unbeknownst to Duncan, the person he was communicating with was an undercover law enforcement officer.

Following his prison term, Duncan must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Altoona Police Department, in conjunction with the Iowa Crimes Against Children Task Force, investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Essley prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests:

Saturday afternoon, 53-year-old Raquel Ann Hansen, of Sunrise Beach, MO., was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She was taken into custody at around 2:40-p.m. following a traffic stop on I-29 at mile marker 43. Bond was set at $1,000.

And, at around 9:45-a.m. today (Monday), 60-year-old Thomas Dean Schroder, of Carson, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail on a Mills County warrant for 2 counts of Possession of Controlled Substance and Drug Tax Violation. His bond was set at $36,000.

April 10, 2023 (DES MOINES, IA) – Today, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced innovation funding for three startups through Iowa’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The companies are located in Ames, Iowa City and Washington.

The SSBCI program invests in Iowa’s small businesses through federal assistance targeted at expanding access to capital that supports growth. The Innovation Fund, one of four areas established under the initiative, increases funding opportunities across Iowa’s innovation continuum to assist entrepreneurs through concept, launch and expansion.

 Three startups approved for Innovation Funds

Based in Ames, Nebullam Inc. offers a full-service subscription opportunity selling produce directly to consumers. Their vertically integrated indoor farms grow a variety of produce for sale via their online platform with fresh local delivery. The company was awarded a $250,000 Innovation Acceleration Launch Fund loan for key personnel.

Iowa City’s SmartScripts Holdings, LLC is a data provider focused on patient outcome solutions. Their platform facilitates distribution between pharmaceutical manufacturers and patients to help lower costs. The company was awarded a $1,000,000 Innovation Acceleration Expansion Fund loan for product refinement, key personnel, equipment and software development.

Continuum Ag, based in Washington, provides farmers with a digital roadmap for soil health success. TopSoil, their proprietary software, helps farmers profit from the regenerative practices they implement on their farms. The company received a $250,000 Innovation Acceleration Launch Fund loan for key personnel and IP development and evaluation.

Award recommendations for the SSBCI innovation funding are made by the SSBCI Review Committee to the IEDA executive director for approval. The committee met on April 4, 2023, to review eligible applications. Additional information on application process, deadlines and eligibility can be found at iowaeda.com/innovate.