Republican presidential contender Ron Paul is back in Iowa, running strongly in the polls and questioning why the U.S. needs troops in former Cold War hot spots. In an appearance Wednesday in Newton, the Texas Congressman strongly suggested U.S. forces be withdrawn from South Korea, Japan and Germany. The 76-year-old obstetrician also drew laughs when he said that American troops have been in Korea since he was in high school. Paul GOP presidential rivals have attacked him this week for allegedly not caring whether Iran obtains a nuclear weapon.

Ron Paul will campaign in both Atlantic and Council Bluffs today. He’s scheduled to hold a town hall meeting at the Cass County Community Center, beginning at 3:00 p.m.  Afterward, Paul travels to the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs,  for another town hall meeting, at 7:00 p.m.

Here’s the Skyscan Weather forecast for the KJAN listening area….

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Police in Red Oak report three young people were arrested early this morning for being in possession of alcohol. 19-year old Brian Axl Schooling and 18-year old Natacia Raynae Houston were cited for Possession of Alcohol Under the Legal Age, while 17-year old Dillon Makenzie Terry was cited for being a Minor in Possession of Alcohol. All three are from Red Oak. They were taken into custody at around 3-a.m., cited and released, with Terry being released to the custody of a parent.

Iowa Workforce Development is warning people who are out of work to watch for unemployment scams. Workforce Development spokesperson, Kerry Koonce, says you may find websites that offer to help you file for jobless benefits. These sites guarantee acceptance for a minimal fee, and she says unfortunately people are trying to sign up at these sites, but they haven’t really signed up for unemployment. “On the worst side, they are giving up a Social Security number or they are giving up credit card information to try pay for immediate acceptance and guaranteed approval, and so they are also getting into risk of identity theft and those kinds of things as well,” Koonce says. A request to pay to file for jobless benefits should raise a red flag.

“There shouldn’t be any services that you pay for related for unemployment, when you file on-line through our system you are going to get an e-mail back saying your claim has been accepted and we are in the process of processing it,” Koonce says. If you are filing a new claim, Koonce says there is a 10-day period where an employer can protest the claim. If there is a protest, then you get a fact-finding hearing, and if there is not a protest and you have earned benefits, then the unemployment would begin. Since there is no payment involved, the state will not ask you for financial information. “The only time we would ask for any type of financial-related information would be if you choose to have your payments direct deposited into your checking account, and there is a form you fill out for that,” according to Koonce. “But you would never be asked for credit card information to pay for filing up front.” Koonce says it is understandable how someone might mistakenly try to use a bogus site.

Koonce says anyone can go and search for unemployment and have one of the bogus sites come up. She says the only site you should use to file an unemployment claim is www.iowaworkforce.org. You can file a claim at the I-W-D site 24 hours a day.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

A fire at a home in Red Oak has claimed the lives of four animals. Red Oak Battalion Fire Chief Randy Askey said firefighters were called to the scene of the blaze at around 12:30-pm on Tuesday, at 207 4th Avenue. Askey said the intense heat and unstable conditions in the home prevented firefighters from gaining entry to the structure to extinguish the flames, which were eventually knocked down from outside the home, before the interior fire was brought under control about an hour after they first arrived on the scene. Askey said the owner of the home was away when the fire broke out, and no fire crews were harmed fighting the fire, but four family pets died. The house sustained extensive damage. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.