The Internal Revenue Service is launching a new campaign with the Iowa Department of Revenue and the state’s private sector tax industry to nudge Iowans into taking more precautions with their sensitive financial information. Christopher Miller, a spokesman for the I-R-S in Iowa, says identity thieves are becoming more sophisticated all the time and taxpayers need to keep up or they may become victims.

“We want to encourage people when they file their taxes at home and whenever they’re working with personal information at home, to use security software to protect their computers,” Miller says. “That includes firewalls and anti-virus protection.” Authorities say I-D thieves are using personal data from real taxpayers to create fake state and federal tax returns to claim real refunds. Miller says Iowans have to be on guard for crooks who are trolling to rip you off using telephone and email “phishing” cons.

“If you get a call from someone posing as an IRS agent and they threaten you with jail or lawsuits, it’s a scam, hang up,” Miller says. “We also want to encourage people to protect their personal information. Do not routinely carry your Social Security number.” Also, oversharing on social media gives identity thieves even more personal details. The new I-R-S campaign is called “Taxes. Security. Together.” and it aims to raise public awareness that even routine actions on the Internet and with personal electronic devices can affect the safety of financial and tax data.

“Your tax returns are sensitive data so you have to treat that information just like you would cash, don’t leave it laying around,” Miller says. “Properly dispose of old tax returns and other sensitive documents by shredding them before you put them in the trash.” The campaign includes several components, including YouTube videos, consumer-friendly Tax Tips each week and local events. Several IRS publications are being added or updated to help taxpayers and tax professionals at IRS.gov, state web sites and platforms used by the tax preparation community.

The campaign will continue through the April tax deadline. Learn more on the web at https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Taxes-Security-Together

(Radio Iowa)

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

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Motorists in Iowa are reminded to buckle-up, slow down and make sure they obey all traffic laws during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. Officials with the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Bureau say a Special Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) will be in effect, with law enforcement officers from various agencies on the lookout for motorists who are not wearing their seat belts, speeders, erratic drivers, and persons with defective vehicle equipment (Such as tail lights out, expired license plates, etc.).

Authorities say the holiday period (6-p.m. Wednesday, November 25th – to 6-a.m. Monday, November 30th) is the busiest travel time of the year for American motorists. Unfortunately, more motorists on the roads increase the likelihood of traffic crashes. Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to prevent injury or death in a crash. The risk of a fatal injury goes down by 45% when seat-belted in a passenger car and 60% when in a light truck.

During the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend (the last year in which information is available), there were 301 people, nationwide, lost their lives on roadways (two in Iowa), in which a staggering 58%were not wearing seat belts. Preliminary numbers indicate that there were three fatalities in Iowa during the same period in 2014. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 12,584 lives were saved by seat belts in 2013 and an additional 2,800 more could have been saved if everyone had worn seat belts.

Iowa has one of the highest seat belt compliance rates in the nation at 92.96 percent but the unbuckled 7.04 percent represent 46 percent of the fatalities. The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) Chief Patrick Hoye stated, “This is really troubling, almost half of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes were not wearing their seat belts; we see way too many preventable fatalities in crashes.”

The Iowa DPS and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau reminds you that whether you are traveling near or far take a moment to simply buckle your seat belt.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has issued a disaster proclamation for Sioux County following recent severe weather. Branstad said in a news release Monday the proclamation will allow state officials to better assist the northwest Iowa county, which was affected by a winter storm that began Saturday.

Issues in the area included the explosion of an electrical distribution transformer box, a water main break and other electrical failures. It resulted in damage to public property and power outages throughout the city of Sioux Center.

The number of students taking courses at Iowa’s community colleges this fall is down. The Department of Education’s Community College administrator, Jeremy Varner, says this report gives a quick look at what’s happening at the school’s. “This is really just a slice of those credit students who are enrolled in fall. And essentially what we’re seeing, is that at Iowa’s 15 community colleges, enrollment this fall has slipped about point-six percent, to just over 93-thousand students statewide,” Varner says.

He says the report that they’ll put out in January will look at the entire school year enrollment, but this gives an early look of what is happening. “Iowa’s community college enrollment throughout its history is generally a history of growth. There aren’t too many years where we’ve seen declines,” Varner explains. “We had such tremendous growth during the recession we’re seeing that correction — and now it appears to be sort of leveling off.”

Varner says the overall drop in the fall came as there has been an increase in high school students taking community college courses. “That was up over five percent. Over the past several years we continue to see year-over-year growth in that area. Students graduating from high school today have many more opportunities to pursue college credit course work than students did ten years ago,” Varner says.
Varner says you need to look at the individual community colleges to get a clearer picture of the enrollment.

“We had about six see enrollment gains, while eight saw declines this past year. And there is a variety of different factors and you have to kind of look at the trend lines to really see what is going on there,” according to Varner. “You know there is a lot of different reasons for that variability, but some saw declines as much as eight percent this fall, and some saw growth as much as eight percent.”

He says keeping enrollment steady is important to these schools. “Community colleges are more tuition dependent than they were 15 years ago. So, when institutions see declines in enrollment, they really feel it,” Varner says.  Iowa Valley saw the largest drop in fall enrollment at seven-point-six percent, Des Moines Area Community College dropped five-point-two percent, Western Iowa Tech last three-point-eight percent, Northeast Iowa one-point-four percent, Iowa Lakes lost one percent of its enrollment, while Iowa Central and Iowa Western lost nine-tenths of a percent. North Iowa Area lost one-tenth of one percent. Indian Hills saw the biggest gain of eight-point-two percent, followed by Kirkwood at three-point-eight percent, Southwestern at three-point-five, Northwest was up three-point-one, Eastern Iowa had a three percent increase and Hawkeye Community College saw a one-point-five percent increase.

Varner says each school has some key things that impact their enrollment. “Each institution has its own context, it has its own labor market conditions, they have their own recruitment efforts, they have their own competitors, all these things sort of bleed over each other.”  The community college enrollment is made up of 90 percent Iowans, and around 40 percent are full time students.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has pardoned two turkeys as part of an annual Thanksgiving tradition in Iowa. Branstad issued the special proclamation Monday outside Terrace Hill in Des Moines for two turkeys named Zoey and Spike. Branstad noted during brief remarks that the birds had survived bird flu this year. The disease killed more than 1.1 million turkeys in the state.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman has been killed in a single-vehicle crash in Des Moines that also injured a man. Des Moines police say 22-year-old Scalicity Boyd was a passenger in a vehicle that struck a utility pole Monday morning. The driver, 24-year-old Troy Lee Mure Jr., was injured and transported to a local hospital.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa regulators are transferring money that they had withheld for months from university research centers that study alternative energy and global warming. Yesterday’s reversal by the Iowa Utilities Board comes after critics said the board was violating the law by hanging on to $5.1 million that it collected from utilities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa egg farms are gradually recovering from the bird flu that destroyed 25 million of the state’s egg-laying hens this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in a report Monday that Iowa egg production during October was 753 million eggs. That’s up 2 percent from September but down 47 percent from a year ago. Iowa, typically by far the nation’s leading egg producer, fell behind Ohio.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa egg farms are gradually recovering from the bird flu that destroyed 25 million of the state’s egg-laying hens this spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in a report Monday that Iowa egg production during October was 753 million eggs. That’s up 2 percent from September but down 47 percent from a year ago.

Iowa, typically by far the nation’s leading egg producer, fell behind Ohio where hens laid 18 million more eggs last month. Nationally, nearly 7.8 billion eggs were produced in October. That’s down 9 percent from a year ago. Wholesale egg prices remain about a dollar a dozen higher than a year ago in some markets but the USDA expects prices to fall below that level by the second half of next year.

Sheriff’s deputies in Adair County arrested a Greenfield woman last Friday, in connection with the Oct. 27th theft of prescription drugs from an apartment in Greenfield. 40-year old Heather Louise Dunmire was arrested for allegedly having in her possession 10 Tramadol pills for which she did not have a prescription. The drug is used to treat moderate or severe pain.

Dunmire was charged with Criminal Trespass, Theft in the 5th degree, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and a Prescription Drug Violation. She was being held in the Adair County Jail on $300 bond.

A Pottawattamie County man was arrested Monday afternoon on attempted murder and other charges, following a domestic disturbance that resulted in a weapon being fired. According to Council Bluffs Police, 29-year old Mackland Thomas, of Council Bluffs, was shot in the leg as he allegedly attempted to run over two women, one of whom was holding her child.

Mackland Thomas

The incident began at around 3:50-p.m. at 1022 5th Avenue, in Council Bluffs. An investigation determined 22-year old Samantha Butler, of Council Bluffs, was in her bedroom talking to several people and 18-year old Craig Anson, of Council Bluffs, when Thomas arrived and attempted to kick the bedroom door in. After he entered the room, Thomas attempted to lunge at Anson.

Butler got between the men, but Thomas pushed her out of the way and against a door, causing Butler to suffer minor injuries. Thomas then got on top of Anson and began hitting him in the face. 41-year old Kimberly Trotter, who was also in the home, retrieved a hand gun from her bedroom and began striking Thomas with the hand grip in an attempt to get him to stop assaulting Anson.

Persons in the home were able to get Thomas off of Anson and push him outside of this residence. Butler and Trotter were standing on the grass just off of the porch when Thomas got into his 2003 Ford Escort and backed his vehicle up. Thomas then allegedly intentionally drove on the grass towards both women, narrowly missing them. Butler was also holding her infant child at the time of this incident.

Trotter then fired the hand gun one time at vehicle driver side door striking Thomas in the leg. Thomas then fled in his vehicle from the scene to 820 Ave H. He was transported to Mercy Hospital by Council Bluffs Rescue, treated for the gunshot wound and released. Thomas was then arrested and booked into Pottawattamie County Corrections charges that include two counts of attempted murder, assault while participating in a felony, child endangerment, and domestic abuse/serious assault.

Police in Council Bluffs say one person suffered non-life threatening injuries after a vehicle crashed into a home at around 9:05-p.m., Sunday. Officers were dispatched to 105 Glenview Drive on a single vehicle accident in which a vehicle drove into this residence. Officers arrived on scene and located the passenger of the vehicle and were told by witnesses that the driver (later identified as Andrew J. Smook, of Omaha) fled the scene. Officers secured the passenger (Jim Schafer, of Council Bluffs), and checked 105 Glenview Drive for occupants.

Officers located three occupants, all of whom were not injured. Schafer was taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha as a precaution for treatmeant of his injuries, which appeared to be non-life threatening. The city Building Inspector was contacted, upon his arrival he inspected the duplex and found the damage to be only to the window area of the home and not effecting
the support structure.

Officers eventually located Smook at an address in Omaha, and cited him for various traffic offenses and released by Council Bluffs Police. The charges include Exhibition Driving, Failure to Maintain Control of a Vehicle and Leaving the Scene of an Injury Accident.