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 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)