The Union County Sheriff’s Department reports 26-year old Nathan Allen Vicker, of West Des Moines, was arrested on Tuesday night at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Vicker was arrested on two Union County warrants for probation violation.  He was being held in the Union County Jail on $10,000 bond.

The man who was the subject of the best-selling book and movie “Catch Me If You Can,” was in Iowa Tuesday teaching people how to spot and avoid scams. Frank Abagnale was a scammer who was caught and then became an adviser to the F-B-I and others on how to avoid scams. He visited Iowa on behalf of A-A-R-P and it’s program to educate members. They started to search around to see where you could get information to help consumers deal with all these scams that were going on — and there were no services anywhere with government or outside of government — so they started what was called Fraud Watch Network,” Abagnale says. “And they contacted me to see if I would be their ambassador to set up the program, talk about the things and go out and speak to people.”

Abagnale says he focuses on educating people. He says he’s a big believer that education is the most powerful tool to fight crime. “So if you can explain to someone the most common scams going on, then when they get that phone call, that e-mail, they’ll know not to do what they are asking them to do because they already understood how it worked.” Abagnale says his approach is simple. “The simple solution to all of these scams is a simple two words: stop, verify,” Abagnale says.

He says there is pressure by the scammers to act quickly and that’s why he says it’s important to stop and verify. “No matter who the caller is, everything is based on you have to do this immediately, has to be done now, right away. The urgency of the call right away is a red flag,” Abagnale says. “So even if it is the I-R-S…you hang up the phone, you look up the I-R-S in the phone book and you call and ask if they made that call. Simply, if you live by those two words — you won’t get conned.”

While he talks with A-A-R-P members, Abagnale says the advice works for people of any age. “If they’re asking you to part with some money or some information, and they’re asking you to do it immediately, then you need to check. So if it says it’s your bank’s credit card company, then you hang up and you take your wallet out and you get your credit card out and there’s an 800-number on the back and you call customer service and you ask them if they made that call. And of course they didn’t,” he says. “So that’s all I ask people to do no matter who they are — young, old or otherwise — is to stop and verify. There’s nothing wrong with being a little skeptical.”

Abagnale between the ages of 16 and 21 successfully posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a doctor and cashed millions in fraudulent checks before turning it around to help catch those committing fraud. Abagnale says his notoriety from the book and movie probably helps him get his message across a little better. He spoke at an event in Johnston last night.

(Radio Iowa)

AMES, Iowa (AP) – An Ames pediatrician has entered the Democratic race to oppose U.S. Rep. Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. John Paschen announced his candidacy Tuesday, saying that lawmakers should put aside politics “to pass bills and solve real problems.” He says that if he were elected to the U.S. House, he’d focus on fixing the broken health care system, bringing new jobs to the 4th District and reforming immigration laws.

Paschen has been president of the Child Abuse Prevention & Education Council and is chairman of the Story County Board of Health. The three other Democrats who have entered the race are bus driver Paul Dahl, of Webster City, Spencer councilwoman Leann Jacobsen and former baseball player J.D. Scholten, of Sioux City.

The 4th District covers northwest and north-central Iowa.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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An Iowa City man had a decision to make after winning the “Lucky for Life” drawing. Chuck Svatos won the drawing on September 25th that comes with a prize of 25-thousand dollars each year for the rest of his life. There’s a guarantee of a minimum of 20 years of payments, and there’s also a cash option of 390-thousand dollars. Svatos is 92 years old — he chose the cash option — after taxes he nets 273-thousand dollars. Svatos says he’s been trying a long time to win at any lottery game and the most he’d ever won was around four dollars. He plans to use the money to do some traveling, possibly to Hawaii or Switzerland.

(Radio Iowa)

Schools in Algona are closed today (Wednesday) after a threat was made against the district late last night. Local law enforcement notified school officials around 10:15 PM Tuesday about a threat that had been made against the Algona District. Since the credibility of the threat could not be determined prior to the start of classes today, law enforcement and school officials decided to cancel classes for the Algona district. Police and school officials are continuing to work to determine the credibility of the threat which comes a day after classes were canceled in Johnston after a threat was made late Monday night.

(Radio Iowa)

Red Oak Police say no injuries were reported following a collision early Tuesday afternoon, between a pickup truck and an SUV. The accident happened at around 1:33-p.m., at the intersection of N. 8th and E. Coolbaugh Streets. Authorities say a 2013 Ford Edge driven by 60-year old Steven Wayne Hoppock, of Coffeyville, KS., was traveling north on 8th Street, and was at the intersection of E. Coolbaugh Street. Hoppock didn’t realize that Coolbaugh was a one-way Street, west of 8th. He turned left and ran into the left front corner of a 1999 Dodge RAM 1500 pickup registered to Tracy Brian Schooling, and driven by 16-year old Kristian Kelly Schooling, of Red Oak. The accident happened as Schooling was traveling south on 8th Street.

Hoppock was cited for Failing to Yield upon left turn.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – A suburban Des Moines district plans a late start to school Wednesday so buildings can be checked. Johnston Community School District officials decided Monday night to cancel classes for Tuesday because of anonymous and threatening texts parents and others received around 8 p.m. Monday. Johnston Police Chief Dennis McDaniel said at a news conference Tuesday that federal, state and local investigators couldn’t substantiate “any credible or imminent threat.”

The district says the two-hour delay means secondary students will start at 9:45 a.m. and elementary students will start at 10:35 a.m. Classes will be dismissed at a normal time – not the Wednesday early release time. Extra officers will be stationed at the schools. The closure affected about 7,200 students and 1,000 employees.

The Adair County Auditor’s Office report Absentee Ballots are now available in the Auditor’s Office, for the Cities of Adair, Bridgewater, Fontanelle, Greenfield, Orient, and Stuart.  Voters may vote in the Auditor’s Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or they may request a ballot be mailed to them.  The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 3, 2017.  The last day to vote absentee in the Auditor’s Office is Tuesday, November 7, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Absentee Ballot request forms are available in the Auditor’s Office or they can be downloaded at the Secretary of State’s website at http://www.sos.state.ia.us.

Officials with the Harlan Police Department, Tuesday afternoon, issued a report on arrests and incidents that took place over the past couple of weeks. Authorities said there were three people taken into custody on active warrants. On September 22nd 51-year old Joell Rea Onstad, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.  She was transported to the Shelby County Jail. On September 28th, 29-year old Eric Richard Brandt, of Harlan, was arrested on an active warrant out of O’Brien County.  He was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was also charged with prohibited acts penalties, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance. And, following a traffic stop on September 29th in Harlan, the driver of the vehicle, 34-year old Wayne Earl Johnson, of Harlan, was cited for driving while suspended.  A passenger, 43-year old Darline Jean Bothwell, of Portsmouth, was arrested on active warrants out of Plymouth and Cherokee County.  Bothwell was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

In other Harlan Police News: On Sept. 22nd, 28-year old Alisha Marie Hutt, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. She was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with driving while suspended and failure to prove security against liability. And, on Sept. 30th, 31-year old Eugene Chron Cardine, of Harlan, was cited for driving while suspended following a traffic stop at 19th and Garfield.

There were also four separate accidents in Harlan, none of which resulted in injury. Two of the accidents took place Sept. 22nd, one on Sept. 30th, the other was on Monday, Oct. 2nd.