w/ Ric Hanson

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The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), approved the 1^st reading of an Ordinance designed to penalize those to illegally dump refuse in County ditches and elsewhere. The action followed a public hearing, during which a man who works for a local trash hauling company said he was fully in favor of the Ordinance. 

The ordinance which was presented to the Board during their meeting by Cass County Attorney Dan Feistner, was tweaked for minor wording changes, but other than that was left intact. Its purpose is to prohibit illegal dumping in public places and on private property within the unincorporated areas of the County. Supervisor Frank Waters said it’s really meant to get people to use the County Landfill, and discourage the throwing of appliances, tv’s, building and other, potentially hazardous materials or trash, into the ditches. 

The ordinance, which is expected to be adopted following the next and final public hearing and second reading next Wednesday, says the penalties for persons who knowingly dump trash in the unincorporated areas of Cass County, will face fines ranging from $100-to $1,000, depending on the combined weight of the trash that was dumped, and the number of times the offense has been committed. The person or persons will also be responsible for the complete abatement, cleanup, removal and disposal of the items dumped.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a 9-1-1 call for help early this (Wednesday) morning resulted in the arrest of 33-year old Matthew Ronald Corey, of Clarinda. Corey who has a long history of run-in’s with the law, now faces a misdemeanor Assault charge, after officers responded to the Parkview Apartments on East Main Street, at around 1:45-a.m. According to Brothers, the 9-1-1 call was with regard to a woman who could be heard screaming for help. When officers spoke with the woman, she  alleged that she had been assaulted by Matthew Corey, who resides in the apartment with the woman. Corey was taken into custody and brought to the Page County Jail, where he was held without bond pending an initial appearance before the Page County Magistrate Court. Brothers said the female did not sustain any injuries that required medical attention.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad says he’ll propose during union negotiations that state employees pay 20 percent of their health care costs.   Branstad told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday that, “Everybody ought to have some skin in the game and ought to pay something toward health insurance.”   Iowa legislators and most state employees don’t share the cost of the insurance premiums.
 
Officials calculate that Branstad’s initiative could save the state almost $111 million a year.   State union leaders have said that not having to pay health care premiums is the employees’ trade-off for the lower pay in government jobs.

More than 800 residents of Iowa are 100 years old or older and Iowa Department on Aging spokesperson Machelle Shaffer says that places the Hawkeye state third in the U.S. in terms of per capita number of centenarians.

photo from the 2011 Centenarian's recption

The Iowa Department of Aging will be honoring Iowans 100 years of age or older at a reception in Des Moines later this year. Shaffer says it’s interesting to hear from the centenarians about the secrets to a long life. “Nine times out of 10 they’ll say the same thing: ‘hard work.’ And a lot of it was hard work on a farm,” Shaffer says. “They talk about walking a lot and not having access to an automobile. So, that Midwestern/Iowa work ethic…is helping people live longer, healthier lives.” Centenarians are encouraged to contact the Iowa Department on Aging so they can be included on a registry and the invite list for 2012 Centenarian Honors Celebration reception. It’ll be held October 23 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.

“We just want to encourage folks, if they know somebody who is 100 or will be turning 100 by the end of October, to give us a call at 1-800-532-3213,” Shaffer said. The reception on October 23 will be open to all of Iowa’s centenarians – both those new to the registry and those previously honored.

(Radio Iowa)

Offficials with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Nebraska, South Dakota and southwest Iowa are warning consumers to be cautious if working with home improvement sales contractor Rick Warner. The BBB says it received a complaint from a consumer stating that she had signed three separate documents with a home improvement company located in Omaha, NE., to make repairs to her home and to replace a shed that had been damaged by hail. Rick Warner was the salesperson hired in August, 2011 as an independent sales contractor to handle arrangements and contracts with the company’s customers.

The consumer provided three documents to the BBB: a job summary and two contracts. According to the consumer, they were signed in the presence of Warner. Although the job summary included the provision of a new shed and specific home repairs needed, the home improvement company told the consumer that they do not sell sheds. The first contract, dated August 20, 2011 listed specific home repairs including windows and roofing. It also stated that the proceeds from the consumer’s insurance would be used for payment. A second contract, dated November 29, 2011 was a supplement for repairs to the home that were not covered by the consumer’s insurance. The consumer paid the company just over $3,887 for the contracts.

Because the replacement of a shed was not included in either contract, Warner said that he would provide the shed, and the consumer paid him a little more than $1,000 for it. To date, no shed has been delivered.Unfortunately, the consumer wasn’t the only one victimized by Warner. The company found out that Warner had charged $10,000 for building materials and was using the business’ name to acquire an additional $20,000. Warner was fired in November, 2011.
Previously, Rick Warner was known to the BBB in 1998 as president of Classic Renovations.  BBB records indicate that it went out of business in September, 2006 and the principals may have moved to Tennessee.  At this time, Warner’s whereabouts are unknown. There is currently a warrant for his arrest in Nebraska involving “Felony Theft by Deception.”

BBB President Jim Hegarty advises, “If you are considering home improvements, it’s important to find a contractor that you can trust. “Always check with the Better Business Bureau for the company’s Business Review to make sure they are reputable. This will help you avoid being victimized.” One tip is to remember the rule of thirds and follow it:  Pay one third at the start of the project, one third when work is 50 percent completed and one third after completion. Hegart says you should always make payments directly to a company, and never write a check made out to an individual for payment. Always make it out to the specific company that was hired. BBB has Business Reviews on more than 100,000 general contractors across North America, available for free at bbb.org/search.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

State officials have a new way to track down delinquent taxpayers. A state law passed two years ago let the Iowa Department of Revenue access to cell phone customer lists, but the agency has only recently had the staff to analyze that information. Victoria Daniels of the Department of Revenue says the agency can subpoena other utility records, but cellphone accounts are especially helpful. “If you have DirectTV, you probably have an address and we could probably find you that way,” Daniels says. “The cellphone is really something that you can kind of have and remain anonymous, for the most part.” Officials estimate up to 20 percent of cell phone customers in Iowa owe back taxes to the state, but haven’t been traced because their name doesn’t appear on any other bills.

“There are just a lot of ways to hide if you really don’t want to be found,” Daniels says. According to the Legislative Services Agency, as much as one-point-seven million dollars ($1.7 million) in back-taxes may be owed by people who’ve been hard to locate, but now can be tracked down via cell phone records. The program is modeled on a Department of Human Services initiative to track down parents who owe child support.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Transportation Commission approved the annual update to its five-year transportation improvement plan during its meeting today (Tuesday). John Ranney is the director of the D-O-T’s office of program management. Ranney says “A major component of the program is the highway section, which includes investments to the primary highway system. And for the next five years, it is forecast that two-point-six-BILLION dollars will be available for highway right-of-way and construction activities.”

The highway portion includes construction on the interstate highways in the Quad Cities on the eastern side of the state, and Sioux City and Council Bluffs on the western side of the state. Dozens of other projects are set across the state as Ranney says the goal is to modernize the primary highway system. He explained  “As projects get completed, other projects are started. And another program objective that the commission does have is to add capacity and system enhancement projects.”  He says there were 10 projects added to this program covering 2013 to 2017, and there were four projects that were advanced in the program. The five-year plan also includes money for airports, rail crossings, trails and other transportation issues.

See the complete five-year plan at: http://www.iowadot.gov/program_management/five_year.html

(Radio Iowa)