The Cass County Extension Service says volunteers for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program are needed in southwest Iowa.  VITA  is an IRS-sponsored program that certifies community volunteers to prepare and e-file basic tax returns at no cost for low to moderate income individuals and families. Volunteers  are needed to prepare 2012 taxes. Anyone interested should have a basic understanding of income tax laws, an interest in helping others, and basic computer skills.

VITA volunteers are provided free training, self study materials, and software necessary to prepare basic income tax returns including Forms 1040EZ, 1040A, and 1040.  They must complete a certification exam and the IRS waives liability for volunteers if they prepare returns within the scope of their certification. To find out more about the VITA program contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 , or Mary Beth Kaufman, Extension Family Program Specialist at 712-755-3104 or e-mail: mbkaufma@iastate.edu.  Interested persons will need to complete a one page application.

The VITA program provides free tax preparation to low and moderate income families so they can claim the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Care Tax Credits.  In Southwest Iowa, the program is coordinated by Iowa State University Extension with funding and support from the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Human Services, and Iowans for Social and Economic Development (ISED).

Hurricane Sandy is blamed in at least 13 deaths in the U-S, while leaving more than six-million homes in 12 states without power. Allison Roach, with the Red Cross office in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says some volunteers from her chapter are already on the East Coast.  “We have many, many more who are on standby who are ready to go at a moment’s notice as soon as flights to those areas resume,” Roach says.

Several hundred disaster services volunteers in the region are offering a wide array of skills that will be needed in storm-damaged areas.  Roach says, “They will sign up and say ‘I am capable of going out’ and we will get a message from our national organization saying, ‘We need this many volunteers with these skills,’ and they’ll ask for these volunteers by name.” Roach says the best way Iowans can help is to make a donation to the Red Cross or by giving blood.

(Radio Iowa)

An Adams County man was arrested Monday night on a warrant out of Union County for Failure to Appear on a charge filed in April, of Animal Neglect.  Cody M. Jay, of Prescott, was taken into custody following  a traffic stop on Highway 34, at around 8:15-p.m. He was brought to the Adams County Jail and held.