Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Several residents of rural Adair County received unwelcome visits Thursday night from a band of traveling door-to-door vacuum sales persons. According to one resident who lives in the northern part of the county, a van with two men inside pulled up at around 8:15-p.m. Thursday, and tried to sell them Kirby vacuums. One of the salesmen (whom the resident described as a “seedy looking character”), asked to use the residents’ phone to call a number in Nebraska, and when the resident saw the vehicle drive away, they noticed it had Nebraska plates. 

The rural resident called the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, who confirmed they had received a number of calls from concerned citizens about Kirby salesmen making their pitches well into the late evening hours. In the past, the practices of some of Kirby’s independent distributors have been subject to criticism. Many of the complaints involve older customers who, once they let the salespersons in, are subject to lengthy, high-pressure sales pitches.The resident KJAN News spoke with in Adair County last night, said the salesmen wanted credit card numbers and other personal information very soon after they started to make their pitch, but the resident denied them the information.

Anyone receiving these types of visits should call your local law enforcement authorities, to verify if the company has a permit to sell in your area, and to report the salesman’s license plate number to law enforcement, so they can speak with those individuals about their late night sales practices.

A few weeks ago, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office warned residents about a phone scam taking place in the area. Now Cass County authorities are saying the same thing. As we’ve warned you time and time again, these phone scams target mainly the  elderly, and they involve calls from someone claiming to be a persons grandchild. The supposed grandchild always says they are in trouble with the law, and need money wired to them right away.

Another age-old phone scam involves the caller saying you’ve won a prize, but in order to receive it, you need to wire a certain amount of money to persons out of state. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says if you receive the “grandchild in trouble”  type of calls, make certain you are sure of the caller’s identity. Before wiring money to someone who seems like they are a relative, hang up the phone and attempt to call that relative or other relatives on your own, to be sure of the situation. You can also call the law enforcement agency where the alleged “grandchild” was being held, to confirm their status.

If you receive a prize-winning-type call, keep in mind that winning a VALID prize will not require you to pay anything to anyone. Most importantly…do not give out any personal information to persons who may call you, such as social security number, bank account number, credit of debit card information. Following this simple rule, can help prevent identity theft, a loss of your hard earned money, and a bad credit rating resulting from stolen financial information.

Authorities in southwest Iowa say a rural Clarinda man was arrested recently on charges he impersonated a public official, on more than one occasion. 20-year old Ryan Joel Kaleb Christie, of Clarinda faces three-counts of Impersonating a Public Official, an aggravated misdemeanor, after an investigation was conducted into traffic stops he allegedly made on Highway 2, on January 22^nd and 29^th. 

Taylor County Sheriff’s officials say a joint investigation into Christie’s alleged activities was conducted with the assistance of the Bedford Police Department, Iowa DNR, the State Patrol and Page County Sheriff’s Office. During the investigation, authorities looked into reports a young man – later identified as Christie — had made traffic stops on Highway 2 during the early morning hours of January 22nd and 29th. Witnesses said the man claimed to be with the Sheriff’s Office or the Fire Department.

Christie was being held in the Taylor County Jail on $50,000 bond.