Des Moines, Iowa- A man from eastern Iowa is facing a felony charge of insurance fraud. The Iowa Insurance Division reports 36-year-old Frank Paul Tarasi, of Hiawatha ,was charged with one count of Fraudulent Submissions (a Class D Felony), following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau.

The charge against Tarasi stems from an investigation which began in May of 2022.  According to a criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, while Tarasi was working as an insurance producer, he altered documents and submitted them in support of a life insurance policy knowing that they misrepresented material facts. Tarasi was seen for an initial appearance on September 2, 2022, and released on his own recognizance.

Frank Tarasi

And, a Davenport man, 42-year-old Jared Simmons, pled guilty on September 1, 2022, to one count Presenting False Information, a class “D” Felony, following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. The investigation began in January 2021 after the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau received information indicating Simmons had provided false information to an insurer following an automobile accident in Scott County.

The investigation determined Simmons had made false representations regarding the nature of the loss in an effort to secure benefits of the policy. Simmons claimed that his vehicle sustained damage after hitting a deer when, in fact, the damage was sustained when Simmons was involved in a single-car accident while he was intoxicated. Simmons was arrested on February 3, 2022. Following his guilty plea, Simmons received a five year suspended prison sentence and placed on supervised probation for a period of two years. Simmons was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,025.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University researchers are studying challenges facing Ukrainian refugees who settle in Iowa and they hope to build an app that will help groups to identify housing for refugees in the future. I-S-U civil engineering professor Cristina Poleacovschi wants to document the experiences of the refugees. She says stable housing is foundational to a refugee’s integration, but it’s not always readily available in the resettlement process. “Refugees are already a group of people who are experiencing trauma,” Poleacovschi says, “and whenever being resettled to a different place, if they are not provided with the right resources, that the effect of trauma on their quality of life is compounded.” She says the researchers will bring their work to policy-makers in hopes of improving conditions.

I-S-U political science professor Scott Feinstein says the team will document what the refugee are going through in hopes of bringing their often-marginalized voice to the forefront. “With the intent to bring the voice and challenges that refugees are facing to those who are planning cities, who are, you know, stakeholders in these communities,” Feinstein says. He says the project will also explore how refugee arrivals shape our national identity.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The Interstate 80 bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Le Claire, Iowa and Rapids City, Illinois needs to be replaced, but instead of demolishing the structure, an innovative proposal is emerging. The Bison Bridge Foundation wants to repurpose the bridge, opening it to pedestrians and wildlife, including a herd of American bison. Alexis Banks of Dyersville, a landscape and architecture student at Iowa State University, was part of a group that drafted design ideas for the proposed bridge.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is considering seven potential locations for the interstate’s Mississippi River crossing. A study on the existing bridge’s future is expected to be completed in 2023. The bridge opened in 1966.

(reporting by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City police were able to quickly arrest two people who allegedly drove by students leaving school and fired an airsoft pistol at them Tuesday. Sergeant Jeremy McClure describes what happened.

Airsoft guns fire rubber B-Bs. McClure says the school resource officer responded and the two suspects were taken into custody quickly.

The school district put all elementary schools on lockdown after the shooting was reported until the two suspects were arrested.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Shelby County met Tuesday morning at their meeting room, in Harlan. Auditor Mark Maxwell reports in his minutes of the meeting, that Todd Valline appeared before the Board to present current happenings and urgent notifications that are prevailing in the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Valline noted that the free lunch program initiated during the covid pandemic has been stopped, the Shelby County Food pantry is in dire need of food and funding.

Tony Buman, Shelby County Assessor, was on hand also, to present three separate parcels for tax abatement the parcels for abatement totaled $1,760.00. Two were not listed as exempt, one was a mobile home on another owners property that did not get taken off the tax rolls when it was removed several years ago. (The parcel numbers were 832812000006, 830727404900 and 832702000070). All three Supervisors voted in favor of the abatements.

Shelby County Treasurer Carolyn Blum reported her office was having software issues that had not been receiving immediate attention when the deadlines approach from the financial software vendor Tyler Corporation.

Bryce Schaben, Shelby County Roadside Manager, Wellness Coordinator and Safety Coordinator was present and announced his retirement to the Board of Supervisors. Schaben asked the Board to approve Melissa Arkfeld to his position of Wellness Coordinator starting November 2nd, 2022 and the Safety Coordinator position be approved to be Jake Holloway. The Supervisors approved both nominations.

Shelby County Auditor, Mark Maxwell advised the board that his office is preparing for the September 13th Harlan Community School District Election ballot that contains two measures for consideration. A portion of the Annex building has been vacated by Iowa community Kitchen. There are two trees that need to be removed from the Courthouse grounds, the Supervisors advised the Auditor to get someone from Shelby County to do the work. The annual TIF Debt Certificate was presented to the Supervisors for approval by Auditor Maxwell. The certificate details income and expenses by the County TIF ordinances in fiscal year 2022.

The Corley Community Club submitted application to the State of Iowa for their annual liquor license renewal, it requires Supervisors approval. Noting no issues with the Corley Community Club, a motion to that effect was passed unanimously.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors then considered the expenditure of the budgeted $6,000 to be paid out in fiscal year 2023 for a beaver bounty. Keeping the waterway damaging beaver population controlled has been a boon to county outdoor maintenance departments and has made soil and water conservation structures less prone to damage from the controlled population of the animals. The bounty was then approved by the Supervisors by a unanimous vote after a motion to approve a $25.00 per tail bounty including the fact that the tails are limited to 20 at one time per application and also 20 per person per week.

Brandon Burmeister, Shelby County Engineer, told the Board he is currently working on a wage scale for foreman positions in his department. The immediate need has been found in the Bridge Foreman position. The Board approved granting the bridge foreman an immediate $1.00 an hour increase in wages. The Supervisors then asked Burmeister to continue the wage scale discussions and present the wage scale proposal at budget time. Burmeister said also, a road grinder rented has assisted in the remakes of granular road surfaces. It was noted that the results seem to be turning out very well. Many other current projects were presented to the Supervisors before they adjourned their session.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in the Glenwood area are discussing what may happen to the property once the state facility that provides residential care to adults with intellectual disabilities is closed in 2024. Devin Embray, the superintendent of Glenwood schools, says his district had developed plans to build a new elementary school, but they’re now evaluating whether a building on the Glenwood Resource Center campus can be renovated.

Embray says the state would have to agree to turn over a building that’s ready for development, however.

The Glenwood Resource Center campus covers a thousand acres and at one time the middle school for the Glenwood Community School District was on the property. The Glenwood School District has just under two-thousand students and officials are concerned about enrollment losses as employees at the Glenwood Resource Center leave the community for work elsewhere. Embray says his district is working with Iowa Western Community Community College and Iowa Workforce Development about retraining programs for the state employees.

(Davenport, Iowa) – One person died when they were struck by a semi tractor trailer Tuesday night, on the northwest side of Davenport. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2018 Freightliner semi was traveling west on Interstate 80 near mile marker 291 at around 9-p.m.  A passenger car was stopped on the inside shoulder. An occupant of the car exited the vehicle and walked into the path of the semi, before being struck. The person died at the scene. Their name was withheld pending notification of family.

The driver of the semi, 46-year-old Kurt Von Dallmeyer, of Wellman, was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

Fort Madison, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reported Tuesday (today), that 82-year-old John L Barrett was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 1:25 A.M., Saturday, September 3, 2022 while in hospice at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Barrett was housed at the facility due to chronic illness.

Barrett had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 1st Degree from Pottawattamie County. He began serving his most recent sentence on August 1, 1986.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Tuesday afternoon, said a man from Warren County died from injuries he suffered during a rollover accident Monday night, east of Greenfield. The Sheriff says 42-year-old Sean Alein Hagen, of Prole, was driving a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, westbound on Highway 92 at around 10:30-p.m., when the SUV left the road and entered the north ditch near 2432 Highway 92.

The vehicle continued westbound and re-entered Highway 92 before going back into the north ditch. The SUV continued westbound in the ditch, striking a No Passing sign. It re-entered the roadway again, at the intersection with Orange Avenue and Highway 92, where the vehicle went into the north ditch and rolled about 3 1/2 times before coming to rest.

Hagen – who did not wear a seat belt -was ejected from the vehicle through the roof. While providing aid to him, medics advised they could smell alcohol coming from Hagen, and they advised he informed them he had previously consumed alcohol, prior to the accident. He died at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Michigan based Trinity Health completed its acquisition of the Iowa-based MercyOne medical system on September 1st. MercyOne C-E-O Bob Ritz says patients across Iowa won’t notice any immediate change as the early transition involves business systems. “We have two different sets of what I’ll call infrastructure, underneath operating our organization, we’ll be moving to one,” he says. “So rather than having two payroll systems, for example, we’ll have one.” Ritz says this process will take two years to complete and that’s when patients will notice the change.

“Patients will see a marked improvement in our ability to move their information with them wherever they go in our system of care. So we have upwards of 400 locations across Iowa,”he says, “and if a patient moves from location one to location two because they need to get additional services or see a different doctor, or whatever the case may be, all that information will go with them.”

He says that should be ready by the spring of 2024. Ritz says there are no plans to rename MercyOne, and they don’t anticipate any drop in employee numbers. Ritz says they are still struggling to find staff in what he calls the prolonged aftermath of a global pandemic. “We continue to rely on outside agencies to help us with temporary staffing. And we see that across the country. And I don’t want to use the word all hospitals, but I would I would bet safely that the majority of hospitals in the country are having the same type of situation,” Ritz says.

Ritz says staffing will continue to be an issue moving forward — just as it is for a lot of businesses. “It’s been a big challenge to help all the colleagues that are part of our organization, we get the help they need to take care of the patients we care for. We’ve relied on outside agencies, and they’ve been great for us. But it’s not, you know, it’s not a long term solution. And it’s, quite frankly, it’s very, very costly,” according to Ritz.

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the country with operations in25 states. MercyOne was founded in 1998 through a collaboration between Catholic Health Initiatives, now CommonSpirit Health, and Trinity Health.