BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) –  A high school science teacher in Davenport has been accused of secretly recording nude videos of two females who’d stayed at his Bettendorf home. Clinton Van Fossen is charged with five misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy and with other crimes. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney. Associated Press attempts to reach him Monday were unsuccessful. Davenport Community School District officials say Van Fossen had been placed on administrative leave with pay. He is listed as a science teacher at Davenport West High School. He’s denied knowing about two spy cameras police say they found in his Bettendorf home.

(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says he’s enormously proud of his wife for publicly revealing she was sexually assaulted by her doctor. Her gynecologist pleaded guilty to two charges after Yang and 17 other women filed complaints. Andrew Yang says institutions must do more to prevent violence, but there must be a cultural change, too. “First, we have to listen to and respond and protect women,” Yang says. “We also need to work on helping our boys become strong, healthy men because strong, healthy men do not abuse and assault women.”

Yang plans to campaign continuously in Iowa until Caucus Night. Yang’s bus tour is in contrast to the three U.S. senators running for president who must be in D.C. for the impeachment trial. “I wish that the senators didn’t have to head to D.C. for this trial and that they could be here campaigning, too,” Yang says, “but our plan was always to be here and really eager to get our message out to Iowans over the next two weeks.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg will also be crisscrossing the state. The Iowa Caucuses are two-weeks away from today (Monday).

(Radio Iowa) — A weekend mishap at the Quad City International Airport is being blamed on the icy weather. A Delta Airlines jet slid off a taxiway at the airport on Saturday just before the plane was scheduled to take off for Detroit. There were no injuries reported among the 50 passengers or crew. Airport officials say the runways were clear but there was ice on the taxiway, while winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour were likely a contributing factor. The airport was closed by the snowstorm from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning.

OMAHA, Neb. (Jan. 20, 2020) – Creighton University Professor Guy McHendry, Ph.D. has conducted extensive research that examines the ripple effects of surveillance on our society and bias in surveillance technology. He says people may not realize how often they are observed, or the amount of data collected about them. McHendry, an associate professor in Creighton University’s Department of Communication Studies, teaches a course on surveillance culture, which he describes as the culmination of the ideas, beliefs, values, practices and laws in our society surrounding surveillance. “I have students record every interaction they have with surveillance for a 36-hour period, and the volume is overwhelming,” said McHendry. “We interact with surveillance practices whenever we browse online, make a credit card purchase or walk past a surveillance camera. Much of the surveillance we experience is not even visible to us.”

McHendry says companies build profiles that aggregate tens of thousands of data points to categorize consumers and predict and influence purchases. “It is not an exaggeration to say that most people are under some form of surveillance every minute of their life. If they have a smartphone that records location data, their every movement is tracked – including periods of inactivity while their phone sits next to them as they sleep. In addition, some cities have built large networks of license plate readers which could be used to map individual travel throughout a city.” McHendry said.

While vast amounts of data are collected, the technology and practices in use are frequently biased, and can lead to misidentification and misnomers, McHendry says. “They are designed by humans and reflect human ideas and priorities,” McHendry said. “For example, facial recognition systems struggle to recognize non-white faces because the data sets used to train the programs do not have enough non-white faces to build a predictive model. As a result, these systems are more likely to misidentify People of Color.”

McHendry also highlights bias posing potential dangers to women. “There is an entire stalking economy devoted to surveillance apps and devices. These technologies are disproportionately used by men to target women. Women are particularly at risk because of technology that makes every moment of life and location accessible. The volume of data makes it very difficult for someone to block or hide from an abusive partner.” While some surveillance practices are unavoidable, McHendry says there are some proactive measures that individuals could implement:

• Use a password manager or create unique, complex passwords for each online account.
• Use two-factor authentication whenever possible.
• Regularly review privacy settings on all apps and devices connected to the internet. Many apps and devices could collect data that is not required to use the full functionality.
• Undergo a regular “digital house-cleaning.” Unsubscribe, uninstall, delete and cancel obsolete apps, emails, online subscriptions and services.
• Regularly review web browser privacy settings.

McHendry says another proactive tactic is to educate children about surveillance, privacy and healthy online habits. McHendry is planning to continue additional research in late-2020.

The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on drug charges, Friday. 36-year old Clay Pettit, of Creston, was arrested following a traffic stop at around 11:50-p.m. He was charged with Driving While Suspended, and Possession of Paraphernalia. Pettit entered a Guilty plea when seen by Magistrate and was later released from the Union County Jail after serving his sentence. And, 41-year old Bobbie Jo Wilson, of Creston, was arrested a little after 3-p.m. Friday, for Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or Subsequent Offense, Possession of Paraphernalia and Child Endangerment. Wilson was later released from the Adams County Jail on $7,300 bond.

Saturday morning, 22-year old Wesley Oliphant, of Lenox, was arrested in Creston on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Conspiracy to Commit a Forcible Felony. Oliphant was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Saturday afternoon, 35-year old Ashley Riepe, of Afton, was arrested in Creston for Theft in the 5th Degree. Riepe was cited and released from the scene on a Promise to Appear (in court). And, 35-year old Karmyn Watson, of Greenfield, was arrested in Creston Sunday afternoon, for Theft in the 5th. She was cited and released from the scene on a Promise to Appear.

Creston Police said also, a woman residing in the 400 block of S. Walnut Street reported Saturday night, that sometime between Jan. 4th and the 18th, someone broke into her residence and stole cash, a laptop, an Amazon Echo and an Amazon Dot. Entry was made by breaking a window. The estimated damages and loss amounted to $800.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) –  Authorities say a collision between a semitrailer and a car left two people dead in Sioux City. The crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Police say the northbound semi collided with the eastbound car at an intersection. The 19-year-old man and 18-year-old woman in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. Police say the truck driver wasn’t injured. The names of those involved and other details about the crash haven’t been released.

(Des Moines, Jan 18)  Presidential candidate Tom Steyer will be back in Western Iowa for a quick trip on January 21st before coming back to Iowa full-time before the caucuses. Steyer’s campaign says the billionaire from California “will be using his time to energize supporters and encourage Iowans to join the movement that’s going to prioritize climate and beat Donald Trump.”

His schedule for Tuesday, Jan. 21st includes a Meet and Greet at “The Hub” (7 S. 4th St.) in Council Bluffs, from 10-until 11:30-a.m., and in Atlantic at the “Farmer’s Walnut Street Diner,” from 2:30-until 4-p.m.

Reservations to attend either Steyer event can be made through the campaign’s website.