DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The National Weather Service is warning of snow and strong winds across much of Iowa and Nebraska. The storm is expected to bring up to 4 to 7 inches of snow in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa beginning Saturday night and continuing into Sunday. Even heavier snow is possible in southeast Iowa. The snow could be accompanied by winds of up to 40 mph, creating near blizzard conditions. About 2 to 4 inches of snow is forecast for Des Moines and Omaha.

Blizzard Warnings were posted late Saturday afternoon for the southern two tiers of counties in southwest Iowa. The warnings go into effect early Sunday morning and run until 9-p.m. for all but the far southwest corner counties.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Officials in north-central Colorado have released the names of two people who were killed when their vehicle was struck by a stolen vehicle in Fort Collins. The Larimer County coroner’s office say the victims of Thursday morning’s crash were 55-year-old John Nees of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and his daughter, 38-year-old Nicole Nees of Fort Collins.

Authorities say the stolen vehicle involved in the fatal collision was used to crash into a pawn shop where guns had been stolen a few hours earlier. Fort Collins police said Friday 19-year-old Marcos Orozco was arrested on suspicion of burglary, eluding and motor vehicle theft in connection with the break-in. Police say more charges are possible pending the outcome of the investigation into the wreck.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A variety of factors may be behind a 4 percent drop in Amtrak ridership in Iowa, but some passenger rail advocates remain hopeful service will one day increase in the state.
The National Rail Passenger Corp., which operates as Amtrak, reported that 57,955 people boarded Amtrak passenger trains at Iowa’s six stations during the 12 months ending Sept. 30. That’s more than 4 percent down from the previous year and nearly 16 percent less than Iowa’s record ridership year of 2010.

The California Zephyr travels daily eastbound and westbound through Iowa, stopping at Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Osceola and Creston. The Southwest Chief stops in Fort Madison.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari blames the decline on more people driving due to low gasoline prices. He also thinks higher-performing vehicles lead more people to drive themselves.

“Our competition, for the most part, is driving, and as people buy newer cars that get better mileage, part of me wonders if people aren’t finding themselves driving because their cars are higher performing than they were 10 years ago,” Magliari told The Des Moines Register .

Iowa rail advocates also note Amtrak has cut its ticket agents at train stations, making it harder to buy at a depot. “There are still people who come into the station wanting to buy a ticket and who maybe have never ridden Amtrak before,” Krebill said. “When there is no ticket agent, there is really no one there to answer questions and tell people how to get on a train and where to get on a train.”
Iowa’s ridership drop came even as national ridership remained steady and revenue climbed 2.2 percent over the previous year.

Rail supporters continue to push for expanded service, especially a route from Chicago traveling through Iowa City and Des Moines to Omaha, Nebraska. Sen. Matt McCoy, of Des Moines, has long sought state funding for rush a route, and he said he’ll continue advocating for rail in his new position on the Polk County Board of Supervisors. Krebill said there’s plenty of support for a line through Iowa linking Chicago to Omaha, and others have called for a line through Des Moines that links Minneapolis-St. Paul to Kansas City. Des Moines lost its regular passenger trains in 1970.

(Radio Iowa) — The annual financial review of IPERS — the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System — was completed last week. IPERS C-E-O Donna Mueller says the report shows the pension system had 32-point-three billion dollars in assets on June 30th. “That’s after paying $2.1 billion in benefits for the past fiscal year. Of that amount, $1.8 million was paid to Iowans,”Mueller says. “We currently have…110,000 retirees.”

In total, about 360-thousand public employees who are retired — OR — are STILL working are IPERS members. “A misnomer — everyone thinks that it’s only state employees. No, state employees only make up 14 percent of the membership,” Mueller says. “Education continues to be over 50 percent.” The other public employees invested in IPERS are city and county employees. IPERS was established in 1953 to provide pension payments to public employees in Iowa.

Investments account for about 70 percent of the benefits paid out, according to Mueller. Actuaries calculate the net investment return in the past fiscal year was nearly eight percent.

(Radio Iowa) — It’s smart policy for Iowans to keep their smartphones locked with a password or a fingerprint, according to consumer protection advocate Michelle Reinen. She says having an unlocked phone is one step from having your identity stolen. Even if unlocking the phone takes a few extra seconds, Reinen says it’s worthwhile to secure it.

Reinen says, “While it can be an inconvenience, it’s really hard to argue that inconvenience against the valuable data those devices hold.” Smartphones, for many of us, provide access to a large portion of our lives, from banking information to our personal communications and our social interactions. “You want to make sure that people can’t get into the device and get all your contacts and email messages and if you have a password app, those types of things that can sit on those devices,” she says.

If you have a work-issued business phone, safeguarding it can be crucial to keeping company data secure. “That’s certainly a larger larger consideration beyond the identity theft and the cyber scams that are out there, and worth consideration as well,” she says. If your phone has the fingerprint technology for locking, use it. If you prefer a passcode, be sure to use a number that’s not easily guessed, like a birth date, and never use four zeros.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of the last one-screen movie theaters in the Des Moines area will soon close. The Des Moines Register reports the Varsity Theatre in the Drake Neighborhood will close next month.

Owner Denise Mahon announced Friday on the Varsity’s Facebook page that the theater across the street from Drake University will close after the Sunday matinees Dec. 30. Mahon’s father bought the theater in 1954 with a partner and became sole owner in 1975.

Denise Mahon started running the theater in 2009, when her father died. Mahon declined an interview request but called it “a very nostalgic day and difficult decision.”

w/ Chris Parks

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The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 32-year-old Gordon Thomas Ryan of Dubuque at 12:20am early Saturday on the east side of the Highway 34 and Highway 48 intersection. He was charged with OWI 1st Offense. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Lottery C-E-O Terry Rich says due to recent “jackpot runs” for Powerball and Mega Millions, Iowa Lottery sales and profits are running about a month ahead of projections. “We’re still, per capita, are in the middle in the number of dollars spent per person,” Rich says. “You go to the east coast, it’s probably three or four times per person what they spend on lottery and gaming than what we do in Iowa.” A recent one-and-a-half BILLION dollar Mega Millions jackpot was won by a player in South Carolina.

A woman in Redfield, Iowa, recently claimed half of a nearly 690-million dollar jackpot for the October 27th Powerball drawing. Rich says “jackpot fatigue” is a concern, as players now expect those huge prizes. “Used to be at $10 million we had lines out the door,” Rich says. “Now, it’s probably $400 million before even the press start taking a look at it.” Rich delivered a financial report to the governor last week.

Officials project the Iowa Lottery will submit 70 million dollars in profits to the state treasury in the next budgeting year. About 24-hundred Iowa retailers sell Lottery products. Those retailers will be paid about 22-million dollars in commissions, according to Rich. Despite all the chatter about the multi-state jackpot games of Powerball and Mega Millions, the Iowa Lottery consistently makes more from sales of scratch games.

(Radio Iowa) — The director of the Iowa Department for the Blind says there is “rapid growth” in the number of Iowans who are losing their vision — and Emily Wharton is asking the governor and legislators to set aside 80-thousand dollars so she can hire another “independent living teacher.” Wharton already has a team of five teachers who travel the state, helping Iowans over the age of 55 who are losing their vision due to conditions like glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetes.

“These folks are wanting to enjoy their retirement and finding it difficult to do a lot of the basic tasks in life,” she says. “They don’t know how to get around if they’re, maybe, unable to drive. They don’t know how to cook or clean their house safely, how use their technology to stay in touch with family and friends and how to really participate in activities that they enjoy and be a part of their community.”

The agency’s “independent living teachers” work with individuals, train small groups and seek out local volunteers who can provide support to Iowans in their communities who are suffering vision loss. Wharton says the goal is to keep people living independently in their own homes.  “If we can just keep one person from having to go into a nursing home or a really restrictive assisted care facility, we do end up saving quite a bit of money,” Wharton says.

The department recently changed the travel patterns for its independent living teachers. “Clients are grouped into geographical areas, so the teacher will go into a certain smaller geographical area for a period of four weeks and see each of those clients in that area once a week and this enables the clients to practice what they’re learning during that week and come back with questions and ideas,” Wharton says, “and we found that this really increases retention, reduces frustration and we’re seeing a lot quicker progress.”

An estimated 54-thousand Iowans currently have “low vision” and about eight-thousand of them have registered with the Iowa Department for the Blind. A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine predicts the number of visually impaired Americans will double by 2050.