712 Digital Group - top

IA Workforce Development warns of fake unemployment sign up

News

December 29th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

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)

4 animals perish in Red Oak house fire

News

December 29th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

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.

Forecast for Cass & surrounding counties, 12-29-11

Weather

December 29th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

326 AM CST THU DEC 29 2011

TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 50S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN IN THE EVENING. LOW IN THE MID 30S. WEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 30S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY. LOW IN THE LOWER 30S.

NEW YEARS DAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. WINDY…COLDER. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S.

MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. HIGH IN THE MID 30S. LOW 15 TO 20.

Insight Bowl coaches share strong connection

Sports

December 28th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The banquet before a bowl game can be an awkward time with the coaches of two teams about to play each mingling in the same room. For Oklahoma and Iowa, the Insight Bowl banquet was more like a reunion. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops played at Iowa when Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz was a coach on the staff and two of his assistants also have Iowa ties. Stoops wore Iowa gear to last year’s Insight Bowl while the Sooners were preparing to play in the Fiesta Bowl and says his wife, Carol, has their children yell “Go Hawks!” on Iowa game days. Stoops won’t be wearing the yellow and black Friday night, but his ties to his alma mater will remain strong after the game.

Ex-N. Iowa ticket office manager accused of theft

News, Sports

December 28th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former University of Northern Iowa ticket office manager is charged with theft after a state audit found more than $16,000 in transactions was diverted to his personal accounts. Former ticket office assistant director John Gogola of Cedar Falls was arrested Wednesday after the auditor released a review of ticket office records from August 2008 through August 2010. The review found more than $18,800 in improper transactions. More than $16,000 was diverted to Gogola’s personal credit and debit cards. The audit said Gogola had been authorized to record or reverse transactions in the school’s ticketing system. He resigned last year. The 44-year-old is being held on $50,000 bond. Jail officials and court records have no information about a defense attorney. A home telephone listing for Gogola is disconnected.

Corning woman arrested on drug and weapons charge

News

December 28th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports a a Corning woman was arrested this (Wednesday) morning on a trio of charges. 33-year old Tamara McCoy was taken into custody at around 10:30-a.m., after authorities executed a search warrant at her home. McCoy was charged with being a Felon in Possession of a firearm. She also faces charges which include Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. McCoy was being held in the Adams County Jail pending a court appearance.

ESPN.com: Big 10, Pac 12 Plan Scheduling Partnership

Sports

December 28th, 2011 by Jim Field

The Pac-12 and Big Ten have agreed to a long-term interconference scheduling “collaboration” that, if successful, could have far-reaching ramifications for both of their memberships.

Likely beginning as early as next year, the Pac-12 and Big Ten are going to significantly reconfigure their future football, basketball and Olympic sports schedules to feature games between their combined 24 member schools.

The conferences will announce their plans later Wednesday.

The cleverly constructed “collaborative effort” provides the Pac-12 and the Big Ten with some of the benefits of expansion without the messiness of exit fees, litigation and the loss of historical rivalries. And from a strategic standpoint, the arrangement could broaden the geographical, television and brand reach of both conferences.

“Rather than go down the road of just trying to add members, we thought this was a way to keep who we were and an increase value for everybody,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN.com’s Gene Wojciechowski. “It doesn’t mean you can’t expand one day. It seems to us this is an intelligent way to get stronger and do so with zero collateral damage.”

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told ESPN.com that “it’s a flexible approach to achieving some of the benefits of expansion without dealing with some of the other structural issues.”

Details remain fluid, but the probable first phase of the partnership would include increased Pac-12 vs. Big Ten games in men’s and women’s basketball, as well as in Olympic sports. Those changes will begin in the 2012-2013 academic year.

“Part of building our brand is getting our brand around to different places in the country,” Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said Wednesday. “The fact that this is an agreement that will connect a number of different sports, not just football, not just men’s basketball, but many, many of our other Olympic sports and team sports, it’s a great opportunity for us to travel and us to take our teams and our coaches and our brand to other parts of the country (where) ordinarily we wouldn’t be appearing a lot. So I think that’s significant.”

The scheduling transition in football will be slower because of existing non-conference contract commitments. But by the 2017 season, the two conferences are expected to have a full, 12-game Pac-12/Big Ten schedule in place, meaning each Pac-12 team will play a separate Big Ten program on an annual basis.

“We’ve obviously explored the possibility of going beyond 12 (teams),” Scott said. “I’ve been a believer, philosophically, of that if it made sense. Now I don’t see us expanding anytime in the foreseeable future. A lot of what we can do through collaborating with the Big Ten will help us accomplish some of the same things.”

JIM F. RUSH, 65, of Atlantic (12-31-11)

Obituaries

December 28th, 2011 by Jim Field

JIM F. RUSH, 65, of Atlantic died Tuesday, December 27 at his home.  Funeral services for Jim F. Rush will be held on Saturday, December 31 at 10:30 am in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic.  Hockenberry Family Care in Atlantic has the arrangements.

————————————————————————–

Visitation with the family will be Friday from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the funeral home

Burial will be in the Atlantic Cemetery

Jim Rush is survived by:

Wife: Violet

Son: Randy Rush of Knoxville, TN

2 Daughters: Tammy (Shane) DeBord of Atlantic, Cindy (Jason) Hackwell of Omaha

2 Brothers: Harold (Shirley) Rush of Randolph, Wayne (Barb) Rush of Walnut

3 Sisters: Nancy (Roger) Davis of Atlantic, Elizabeth (Chuck) Goodwater of El Dorado, MO, Marlene (Preston) Duke of Minot, ND

5 Grandchildren

VERA OPAL NIELSEN, 98, of Elk Horn (12-31-11)

Obituaries

December 28th, 2011 by Jim Field

VERA OPAL NIELSEN, 98, of Elk Horn died Wednesday, December 28 at the Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn.  Funeral Services for Vera Opal Nielsen will be held on Saturday, December 31 at 11:00 am in the First Baptist Church in Harlan.  Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan has the arrangements.

———————————————————————————

Visitation will be held on Friday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm at the funeral home with the family present from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Burial in the Merrill’s Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville

Vera Opal Nielsen is survived by:

Son: Norlan (Juanita) Nielsen of Chariton

Daughter: Nadine (Richard) Mortensen of Audubon

7 Grandchildren

14 Great-Grandchildren

Cass County Salvation Army donations nearly double those in 2010

News

December 28th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the Cass County Salvation Army’s Bell ringing campaign report Red Kettle donations this year were nearly double those received last year. Bell ringing campaign Co-Chair Teresa Kanning says donations this year amounted to $11,176. Last year’s campaign brought in $5,827.

The campaign began in mid-November, and wrapped-up the day before Christmas. All proceeds from the donations stay in Cass County, for various Salvation Army-related programs.