(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson has sponsored a bill in response to a video showing a nighttime government charter flight of immigrants into the country. “This legislation is pretty simple, it would prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding the transport of illegal immigrants into our country, into our communities. Whether that is by plane or by bus,” Hinson says. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says the Biden administration isn’t answering any questions on the flights.

“We know the video footage that was made public last week was from August. The truth is, we don’t know how many of those flights there have been since then — because the administration won’t come forward with that information,” Hinson says. She says her “Stop the Betrayal Act” is an attempt to get the administration to live up to its promise to be open about what it is doing.

“Flying illegal immigrants into the country in the dead of the night doesn’t exactly scream transparency to me,” according to Hinson. The Iowans I’ve talked with about this are frankly outraged. They don’t want their tax dollars to fund these flights. They want to know how much was spent, where else has the administration flow illegal immigrants. Are they tracking them once they are here?

Hinson says instead of securing our border by enforcing the Remain in Mexico policy, giving border patrol agents the resources they need, and completing the wall–the Administration is pursuing a “catch and release” policy and secretly flying illegal immigrants into the country with no way to track to them.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A West Des Moines man was sentenced today (Friday) to 97 months in federal prison for multiple federal offenses, including money laundering and making false claims for tax refunds. The court also ordered restitution in the amount of $404,440.85 and a special assessment of $925. Authorities say 50-year-old Jeffrey Allan Kock was convicted by a jury on September 29, 2021, of a total of 13 counts, including five counts of the willful failure to file individual income tax returns; two counts of making false claims against the United States; wire fraud; mail fraud; three counts of money laundering; and concealment of an asset.

The trial evidence showed that Kock made false claims for tax refunds on two IRS Forms 1041, which is a form used by estates and trusts. Kock fraudulently requested refunds in the amounts of $20,671 and $10,921,192, which were initially paid by the Internal Revenue Service. Kock used some of the proceeds to purchase three luxury automobiles, which were eventually recovered by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to federal seizure warrants.

The trial evidence also showed that Kock attempted to purchase a multi-million dollar residence, but that the transaction was not successful. Shortly after the second fraudulent refund was paid, the Internal Revenue Service recovered most of the fraudulently-obtained proceeds. The trial evidence also showed that Kock worked in the local restaurant and bar industry during the years 2014-2018, earning sufficient income to require the filing of individual income tax returns. However, IRS records showed that Kock did not file individual returns for these years.

(Radio Iowa) – The number of Iowa hospital patients who’ve tested positive for COVID has dropped 20 percent since last Friday (Jan. 28th). State health officials report 741 patients in an Iowa hospital today (Feb. 4th) have COVID — 55 percent of them were admitted specifically for treatment of the virus. Governor Kim Reynolds says the coronavirus is similar to the flu and other infectious illnesses and state agencies will start managing COVID-19 as part of normal daily business.

The Public Health Disaster Proclamation the governor first issued in March of 2020 will end on February 15th and the Iowa Department of Public Health will take down its online vaccine finder and no longer publish the number of Iowa nursing homes with COVID outbreaks. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, says this is an interesting time to make this move.

“I want the pandemic to be over,” Konfrst says. “We all want the pandemic to over, but shouldn’t we have access to tools that help us keep our families safe? And so my frustration isn’t necessarily with the ending of the pandemic Emergency Proclamation, it’s with what goes away. It’s with access to vaccination information. It makes it harder to know where outbreaks are.” Konfrst says statewide data about the pandemic helps Iowans make good decisions.

“Yes, we’ve been in this for a while, but we still have thousands of cases,” Konfrst says. “We still have people getting sick, so I think the important thing here is to remember that more information, accurate information is the most important thing we need.” Konfrst made her comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

Kelly Garcia, the interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says similar agencies in more than half of states are making similar changes to manage COVID as they do other contagious viruses.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is warning citizens of a phone scam that makes it appear the caller is the County Sheriff. Officials say on Friday (Feb. 4th), “The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of a SCAM phone call involving the name of Sheriff Darby McLaren. This scam call, allegedly from Sheriff McLaren, is asking residents to provide personal information over the phone and/or to present themselves in person at the Sheriff’s Office for “good news and/or bad news”.

Authorities stress that “This phone call is a SCAM and is not coming from Sheriff McLaren. Furthermore, Sheriff McLaren encourages people to NOT give personal information out over the phone. If you have any questions regarding this scam, please call our office during business hours at 712-243-2206.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen, Friday (today), reports the City of Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department is accepting applications for the Sunnyside Pool Manager. The Pool Manger will which ensure efficient and effective operation of pool facilities including personnel management and training. Duties involve all swimming pool operations, including first aid, rotations, scheduling for staff, public relations, janitorial duties, limited pool maintenance including daily chemical analysis/testing, pool cleaning, cleaning of bathrooms and concessions stand area, and all other duties necessary or required.

Successful candidates must have experience and demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively, communicate effectively, lead/supervise multiple staff and volunteers. Applicants must be 18 years old, a high school diploma or GED equivalent. Applicants must also have or obtain a CPO and CPR certifications.

The City Council on Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, approved a wage of $14/hour for the position. For a full job description go to contact the Parks and Rec Office at (712) 243-3542. Complete an application and return to either City Hall, 23 E 4th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022 or complete the online form at atlanticia.seamlessdocs.com/f/poolmanagerapplication.

Applications are due by February 18th at 5:00 pm.