For years, Iowans have heard how con artists posing as I-R-S agents may call our homes trying to steal our money, but we’ve always been reassured the I-R-S doesn’t make that type of call. Well, there’s a new wrinkle in that familiar story, according to Jim Hegarty, C-E-O of the Better Business Bureau office in Omaha-Council Bluffs. “The IRS has now hired four private contractors to do actual, legitimate collection work for them,” Hegarty says. “It’s possible that although we’ve been warning that these calls from IRS agents are imposters, it’s possible you could receive a legitimate call from one of these entities.”

Iowans won’t get such a call unless they owe back taxes, plus, you’ll get a letter first. Hegarty says, “You will not receive one of these calls unless you have first been notified by mail that your account is being turned over to one of these four companies and they may be calling you to talk about a plan to catch up on some back taxes.” Unlike scammers, he says these people will be professional, courteous and won’t demand you make a payment immediately. Hegarty says there’s a relatively easy way to distinguish a call from a legitimate I-R-S person and one from a con artist.

“They’re calling to say, ‘We owe you money and we need to verify that you are who we think you are’,” Hegarty says. They’ll ask for your grandmother’s maiden name, your mother’s maiden name, all sorts of information. “Those are scammers who are trying to get information from you in a different way.”

Any payments that are due will be sent directly to the I-R-S, plus, taxpayers can request information be sent by mail for verification.

(Radio Iowa)

The Harlan Police Department reports four recent arrests. Authorities say 28-year old Dwight Thomas Musgrave, of Harlan, was arrested April 24th on a warrant charging him with telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor/1st offense.  Musgrave was brought to the Shelby County Jail and posted a $2,000 bond. He was ordered not to have contact with the victim.

On April 26th, 59-year old Walter Charles Gaul, of Harlan, was arrested for Public Intoxication. On April 29th, Harlan Police arrested 22-year old Matthew Allen Strong, of Harlan, for Driving While Suspended. He was also cited for a seat belt violation.

And, on April 30th, 29-year old Mapiyid Hama Goha, of Kennewick, WA., was arrested for OWI, and cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a through highway.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has announced details about visitation and Memorial services for Deputy Mark Burbridge. He will be honored during a Memorial service on Monday, May 8th at 10:00-a.m., with the service will take place at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs (1 Arena Way). The public is welcome to attend the service. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office will be closed for the entire day on Monday May 8th for Deputy Burbridge’s Memorial Service.

Funeral procession information is still being arranged. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office will publish route information when it is finalized. There will be no graveside service.

There will be two separate visitations for Deputy Burbridge: A law enforcement-only visitation will take place on Saturday, May 6th from 1-until 5-p.m. at the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home in Council Bluffs. Non-uniformed officers must bring law enforcement identification to be allowed entry.

A public visitation for Deputy Burbridge takes place on Sunday, May 7th from 8:00-a.m. until 6-p.m., at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home. Community members are welcome to attend. The Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home is located at 1221 N 16th St in Council Bluffs.

Deputy Mark Burbridge

The City of Atlantic’s Community Protection Committee met Tuesday evening at City Hall to discuss the issues of fireworks within City Limits. The Committee members were looking to find ways to get around a bill the Iowa Legislature has approved, but that has not yet been signed by Governor Branstad. He has until May 22^nd to sign the bill into law.

Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said the Iowa Firefighter’s Association has sent a letter to the Governor asking him to veto the bill, but the prospects for him doing so are not good.  The bill (Senate File 489), gives city councils and county boards of supervisors the authority to ban or restrict the use of fireworks, but it does not allow them to prohibit their sale. It also allows cities to restrict where fireworks are sold. Those rules would be based on zoning regulations in each city.

Mark McNees said ideally, he would like to see a ban on, or at the very least a limit, on the use of dangerous fireworks within the City Limits of Atlantic, but he acknowledged it would be tough to enforce. Councilman Gerald Brink and Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson had some comments on the prospects of that happening.

Councilman Dana Halder said businesses, such as Fareway, lots have already been approached by fireworks vendors wanting to set up shop in the form of a tent, on their property. McNees said the issue then becomes, who will inspect them? Fireworks vendors pay fees for inspections by the State Fire Marshals Office, but McNees said there isn’t enough funding for all inspections, nor enough personnel, so the responsibility will likely ultimately fall on local, certified fire chiefs or some a law enforcement agency.

McNees said there’s no way any local ordinances regulating the use of dangerous fireworks can be placed in effect before the sale of fireworks is allowed on June 1^st. But the Committee was in agreement that they could make it tougher for fly-by-night vendors to set up shop by raising fees and more.

Mark McNees said the vendors could easily make up those fees by the volume of sales. The consensus of the Community Protection Committee is that the best the City can do right now, is conduct more research into what other cities in Iowa are doing in preparation for the bill’s signing, and see if their tactics can be deployed in Atlantic.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The last carrier of individual health insurance policies in most of Iowa might stop offering them to residents. Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Medica announced Wednesday that its ability to stay in the Iowa insurance market “is in question at this point.”

The company echoed statements by two larger carriers that already have announced their intentions to leave the market: Aetna and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield. All three cited instability in the market because of concerns about the Affordable Care Act.

The Des Moines Register reports that the carriers’ exits would not affect Iowans who obtain insurance through their employers or through a government program. But the exits could leave more than 70,000 Iowans who buy their own coverage without any options for next year.

(UPDATE 11:25-am.: The missing girl has been found. No other details are available.)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says it has taken a report of a missing juvenile from the 1600 block of Boxelder Avenue, northwest of Red Oak. 17-year old Jessica Lynn Dickerson was last seen Tuesday, May 2nd, at about 9:30-p.m.

Jessica has black hair, brown eyes, braces on her teeth with rubber bands. She stands about 5-feet 3-inches tall and weighs about 120-pounds. If you have any information about her location, please call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107.

Authorities said they do not suspect the girl is in danger, but no other details were released.

Photo provided by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department

Officials with the Veterans Administration (VA) say it has come to their attention, that a phone line has been set-up by an unknown party to potentially “mimic” the VCP (Veterans Choice Program) phone line. The imposter phone line may be intended to reach Veterans who inadvertently dial the VCP number incorrectly. The line allows Veterans to check their eligibility for the program and ask questions.

The VA says it takes the situation seriously, and steps are being taken to find those responsible for the fake phone line as part of a civil or criminal investigation. The real VCP phone number is 1-800-606-8198.

You have reached the wrong VCP phone line if the line offers a $100 rebate when IF you provide a credit card, and, the phone line DOES NOT state you have reach the “U-S Department of Veterans Affairs” or the “VCP phone line.” The incorrect line will confirm you had reached the VCP if you ask that question.

If you are not sure you have called the correct line, hang up and dial 1-866-606-8198 again. Once again, the correct line will say you have reached the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A public hearing will be held Thursday evening in Walnut, as part of the regular Walnut City Council meeting that begins at 5-p.m.  The hearing is with regard to a Budget Amendment for the Fiscal Year 2016-17 Budget. The Council will act later on during the meeting to approve the amendment.

In other business, the Walnut City Council will continue with discussions pertaining to the Streetscape Enhancement Project, Facade improvements Streetscape improvements, the Well project, the former school property, Antique City Car Show, and more.

Action items include the adoption of: A Code of Conduct; Residential Anti-displacement and Relocation Assistance Plan; Policies and Resolutions pertaining to the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) program; Equal Opportunity statement; Affirmative Fair Housing Policy and more.

The meeting takes place at the Walnut City Hall.

Some students at Iowa State University are likely having more fun than other students around the state — as they all scramble to finish class projects before the end of the spring semester. That’s because the ISU students, in James Lathrop’s computer science class, are making a video game. It’s not your traditional video game. Ryan Krause is among the students working with Microsoft’s HoloLens to make interactive holograms. “There’s just always new technology to keep up with and find new ways to make it fun for the people,” Krause says.

The holograms create an “integrated reality,” allowing users to interact with the games in their actual environment. Zachary Koehn, a senior at ISU from Atkins, Iowa, is among the group of students that spent an entire academic year developing a game from concept to finished product. “In the first semester, you just end with a prototype. So, all you have is blocks…just a cube on the screen. But, now that we have all of our artist friends doing stuff — we have monster models, actual cards on the field — it looks good now. It finally feels like a game,” Koehn says.

The class initially involved just computer programmers, but eventually, graphic design students like Quinn Van Maanen helped create the game’s characters. “I get to make creatures – like dragons, griffons, werewolves, and goblins,” Van Maanen says. “They’re just really fun to make.” Van Maanen is a 2013 graduate of Rock Valley High School. She’s now hoping to make a career out of what she’s learned at ISU. “I really do want to go into game design because it’s such a mixed media, so you get to touch everything,” Van Maanen says.

The ISU students are scheduled to preview the final version of their game tonight (Wednesday) at 6 p.m.

(Radio Iowa)