(Radio Iowa) — The Internal Revenue Service is focusing on small business owners and self-employed individuals in a campaign during this National Small Business Week. Spokesman Christopher Miller says the organization will feature information on a variety of topics in their social media. “Like data security tips, tax withholding for their employees, estimated taxes that businesses and self-employed people have to make throughout the year. Available business credits and deductions, and new things like the expanded tax benefit for the depreciation and expensing for items like equipment,” Miller says.

He says they will have some information for relatively new types of small businesses. “We’re also going to have information on the sharing economy for people who are ride share drivers or rent rooms etcetera, people involved in that growing segment of the economy,” Millers says. “This is information that we think will help a broad base of small businesses and self-employed individuals understand their tax responsibilities.” He says small businesses don’t have large internal departments that take care of a lot of these issues for them. “Definitely smaller businesses have an uphill battle to get all the resources they need and the information they need to grow — especially when it comes to things like data security,” Miller says.

Miller says the data security issue is one that has grown with the small businesses. “It’s an important topic, because routinely now cyber thieves are targeting business people. Because if they are successful, they know that they can get large amounts of information on employees and clients,” according to Miller.

Miller believes the efforts to educate small businesses in protecting their information is working. “We believe it’s having a positive impact. Last year the I-R-S a drop of nearly 70 percent from the previous year in the number of businesses that reported their email had been compromised for instance,” Miller says.”So, although overall I-D theft continues to be a problem and it is growing — we are having some success as it relates to I-D theft related to taxes.”

For more information, go to the Internal Revenue Service website at: www.irs.gov.

(Radio Iowa) — U-S Postal Service letter carriers across Iowa will be doing more than just delivering the mail this Saturday, according to Harley Tapper, the postmaster of Webster City. Tapper says, “Letter carriers, both city and rural, will be picking up non-perishable food items to support the local food pantries.”

Post cards are going out to all Iowans this week to remind them of the annual Stamp Out Hunger Day, sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Many Iowa homes will also be given a plastic grocery sack as part of the effort. “There’s a bag you can put your non-perishable items in, put it out by the mailbox and we’ll pick it up,” Tapper says. “The community has always been real supportive.”

Last year, the food drive nationwide brought in more than 71-million pounds of food. Since 1993, it’s been America’s largest one-day drive, each year on the second Saturday in May.

www.stampouthungerfooddrive.us

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A plea deal for one southeast Iowa woman means there will be no trial in the case stemming from the death of a 12-year-old boy. 37-year-old Amber McIntosh-Crear, of West Burlington, pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor child endangerment causing injury. Prosecutors lowered the charge in return for her plea and also agreed to drop a child endangerment charge filed against 41-year-old Bobbi Crear.

The women were accused of not providing enough nutrition to 12-year-old Rylan McIntosh, who died in September 2017. Authorities say the boy’s medical conditions required that he be fed a nutrition drink through a tube to his stomach. An autopsy report lists the cause of his death as undetermined.

Des Moines County court records for McIntosh-Crear say she acknowledged her usage of methamphetamine could have caused a substantial risk to her son’s health.

(Radio Iowa) — A study ranks Iowa above the national average in health emergency preparedness, being ready to respond to everything from tornadoes to terrorism to a tuberculosis outbreak. Glen Mays, director of the National Health Security Preparedness Index, says it measures 129 different areas, from the percentage of bridges in good condition to the prevalence of hazard planning in public schools. “Overall, things are going quite well for Iowa,” Mays says. “You’re right in line with the national average in terms of overall levels of health security protections and in several areas, Iowa is leading the nation, has above-average levels of health security.”

All of the categories are boiled down to a ten-point scale on which Iowa scored a six-point-eight for preparedness, compared to six-point-seven for the United States as a whole. The scores indicate the ability to protect the health status of residents from incidents like infectious diseases, extreme weather conditions and terrorist attacks. In several categories, Iowa was out front nationally. “In particular, in the incident management domain, which is the ability to respond rapidly to a disaster or emergency event,” Mays says, “and also Iowa does very well in environmental occupational health, being able to monitor for hazards in the environment and in the workforce and being able to respond to them.”

Iowa scored poorly in one category, community planning and engagement. It involves the ability to build and maintain strong relationships between government agencies, community organizations and individual households. “Iowa has fewer numbers of volunteers, particularly health professionals that volunteer as part of medical reserve corps, people who agree to go out and respond to hazardous events when they occur,” Mays says. “Part of that is related to Iowa’s large rural populations and you have health workforce shortages that make it a little more challenging.”

Iowa should continue building on its strengths, Mays says, while looking for opportunities to improve in areas where there are deficits. Mays is a professor of health policy at the University of Kentucky. The National Health Security Preparedness Index program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.     https://www.nhspi.org/

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Court records say a man accused of shooting a Davenport police officer has been charged with attempted murder. Scott County District Court records say 27-year-old Brett Dennis also is charged with weapons possession by a felon. The Scott County attorney’s office says in a news release that Dennis shot Davenport Police Officer Ryan Leabo on April 25 after a foot chase and struggle. The release says Dennis had run away when Leabo tried to talk to him and another man. They’d been seen rummaging through a car.

The release says one shot from Dennis hit Leabo in a leg and a second gunshot was stopped by Leabo’s bulletproof vest. The release says Leabo then shot Dennis in a leg. Dennis later told investigators he wanted Leabo to shoot him. The release says Leabo’s use of force was justified.