(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker will wrap up his four-day bus tour of the state this (Monday) afternoon with a holiday party at his campaign headquarters in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale. During a stop in Ottumwa Sunday night, Booker delivered his unity message. “If you Caucus for me, if you stand with me in this fight, I promise you that we will fight the only way I know how, which is bringing people together,” Booker said.

And Booker suggested Democrats will lose if the message is anger. “The last thing America needs is for our party to out-Trump Trump,” Booker said. “I don’t want to do that. You know what Martin Luther King said. It’s so beautiful: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness.’ Only light can do that.”

Booker’s other stops today (Monday) are in Mount Pleasant and Indianola. Pete Buttigieg will hold a town hall meeting this (Monday) afternoon in Ankeny. There will be a three-day lull on the Iowa Caucus campaign trail on the 24th, 25th AND 26th, then Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar return to the state on Friday the 27th. Klobuchar is making stops in three counties on Friday — and will complete a 99-county tour of the state.

Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, report a man from northwest Iowa was recently charged with three felony counts of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information, and three felony counts of Forgery (all Class-D Felonies).  64-year old Jay Wickey, of Sergeant Bluff, was charged following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau that began in February 2019.  It is alleged that Wickey submitted multiple fraudulent insurance claims to different insurance companies seeking payments he was not entitled to.

Jay Wickey (Woodbury Co. S/O photo)

On December 18, 2019, a warrant was issued for Wickey’s arrest.  On December 21, 2019, Wickey was arrested by the Sergeant Bluff Police Department and booked into the Woodbury County Jail.  He later posted a $5,000 bond and was released.  Trial will be set at a future date.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-242-5304.

(Radio Iowa) — The first confirmed cases of influenza are already being reported in Iowa, and it’s a reminder for people to use good hygiene habits as we head into the busy holiday week. Jeni Stiles, a disease prevention manager at Cerro Gordo County Public Health, says proper hand washing will help prevent the spread of the flu and other viruses.  “Make sure you’re washing your hands after you’ve been out in the community, when you get home,” Stiles says. “Wash your hands with soap and water before you’re going to eat, if you’re going to prepare food for anybody else. Just pick up that good hand hygiene habit throughout the season. That’s going to be your best way to protect yourself from spreading germs to other people and picking up germs.”

Stiles says if you have a holiday event planned and you’re not quite up to it, don’t force yourself. “If you are sick or not feeling well, don’t go, stay home. Keep the germs contained to one place,” Stiles says. “You can always meet up with family and friends later on, but we don’t want to go to a holiday event when we’re not feeling well and get everybody else sick.”

The latest figures from the Iowa Department of Public Health say influenza activity is -below- the typical numbers for this time of the year, but that activity has been increasing over the past few weeks.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman who told police she intentionally ran over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the girl was Mexican has been charged with a hate crime for a second incident. Nicole Franklin was charged Sunday with assault in violation of individual rights. She is also known as Nicole Poole. Franklin was charged with attempted murder following the Dec. 9 attack in the Des Moines suburb of Clive.

West Des Moines police say Franklin also went to a convenience store where she threw items at a clerk and directed racial epithets at him and customers. Her attorney hasn’t returned a call Monday.