The Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) is holding a town hall informational meeting for Lewis residents, on Tuesday January 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lewis Activity Center. Officials say the purpose of the town hall meeting is to discuss the housing rehab application process with city officials and residents, in the target area. Staff will help any residents who would like to apply that evening fill out the application and give them examples of supporting documentation needed. Community Development Director Dan Lee said “We really wanted to have a face to face with as many of the potential applicants as possible, walk them through the application and explain the process of the program once they are income qualified. So many homeowners struggle to understand what we need, why we need it, etc. There is a lot of back and forth via the mail, telephone calls, and fax. We hope to eliminate that and expedite the entire process by helping them in the beginning.”

Lewis received a housing community development block grant to assist low to moderate income homeowners within a set target area in 2017. The grant is for $238,242 to repair six homes within the set target area. Each approved home is eligible for up to $24,999 in repairs. Lee said “This amount of money allowed per home through this program allows us to do much more than with our other forgivable loan programs. We may do a roof, siding, windows, etc.”

Community Development Block Grants are awarded annually by the Iowa Economic Development Authority with funding from the department of Housing and Urban Development. SWIPCO is a council of government serving the eight counties of southwest Iowa with public transportation, community development, and housing. SWIPCO is an equal opportunity employer, provider, and lender.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office wants to make everyone aware of a new scam that just surfaced in the area. A resident advised they received a call from a company by the name of Northpoint Recovery. The representative of the company identified himself as Alex Martins and he was attempting to collect a debt. He requested a credit card payment over the phone and stated that if the debt was not settled over the phone that a courier was going to stop by the person’s residence to have some papers signed. He stated that if the courier showed up that the debt would grow by several hundred dollars.

Officials say it’s interesting to note with this scam, that the individual had a lot of personal information, including phone numbers, addresses, and debt history. The number that called was restricted but a voicemail that was left gave a number to call back of 1-866-711-1349. Upon searching this number on the internet it does come up as a scam with numerous other names used other than Alex Martins. Fortunately, the citizen checked into it, and did not become a victim.

Authorities encourage everyone to check into any such inquiries fully before providing any sort of payment, and to avoid making any sort of payment over the phone if at all possible. If you are questioning the legitimacy of the call then hang up and call the company directly. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says they are always happy to assist you if you think that you are being scammed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The estimated Powerball jackpot has climbed to $460 million, making it the nation’s 10th largest lottery prize. Players have until Wednesday night to spend $2 for a chance at the big prize, awarded to anyone matching five white balls drawn from one drum and a red Powerball drawn from another. The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million. It’s the biggest Powerball jackpot since a $758.7 million prize won last August.

The $460 million prize refers to the annuity option, paid over 29 years. The cash prize would be $291 million, which would be trimmed further by taxes. Lottery players also can vie for another giant prize, as the Mega Millions game now offers a grand prize of $418 million. The next drawing for that game is Friday.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Dubuque couple were arrested after a social worker discovered their 4-day-old baby and her six other children were living in malodorous squalor. Court records say 34-year-old Tiesha Martin and 33-year-old Jermaine Watson were charged Tuesday with child endangerment. Watson also is charged with four drug counts. Police say Watson is the father of the baby and that Martin is the mother of all seven children. The oldest is 13. The records say police and the social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence Tuesday found garbage, feces and rotted food throughout. The children were sharing one dirty bedroom.

They were taken by state workers and then turned over to a relative of Martin.