The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 10:40-p.m. on Friday, of Page County man who had a long list of moving violations. Authorities say 44-year old John David Stone, of Braddyville, was arrested for Driving While Revoked, with 27 withdrawals in effect. Stone was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and later released on $1,000 cash bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa has started mailing out 374,000 refund checks to residents who were tricked into signing up for buying club memberships, Attorney General Tom Miller said Friday. Miller said he wants people to know the refund checks are legitimate, and not a scam. He said the green checks are labeled a “State of Iowa Warrant” and signed by the director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.

Miller released the statement Friday after some recipients contacted state agencies seeking to verify that the payments were legitimate. He said he applauds their skepticism, adding that the state is not collecting personal information or sending emails or making calls related to the refunds. It’s expected to take the state’s settlement administrator two months to mail out all the checks. Consumers were notified by a mailing in July that the refunds would be coming.

The refunds are going to residents who paid for memberships with Vertrue Incorporated and two other buying clubs over the last 25 years, as part of a $40 million legal settlement. Most of the refunds will range from $6 to $40, but some will be $1,000 or more.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Rapids police on Friday arrested a man on suspicion of shooting into a vehicle with two people inside. Eighteen-year-old Brandon Don Gordon of Marion, faces several charges including attempted murder and two counts of going armed with intent. Gordon is accused of firing multiple shots into a vehicle outside a gas station. Eighteen-year-old Kirsten Lee Meyer of Cedar Rapids was shot at least once and was taken to a local hospital. A second person in the car was not injured.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A third person has been arrested and charged with arson in a string of house fires in Sioux City. Eighteen-year-old Javen Mobley was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with arson and burglary connected to a fire on September 1st, the Sioux City Journal reports.

TOLEDO, Iowa (AP) — A December trial has been scheduled for an Iowa man charged with the murder of his wife in Tama. The Tama County trial for 39-year-old Dustin Jefferson, originally was set to begin on April 20th. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports he’s charged with the slaying of Kerry O’Clair-Jefferson on September 25th, 2013.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh searches for its first 4-0 start since 2000 when the Panthers host Iowa on Saturday. Iowa blew an early 11-point lead in a loss to Iowa State last week. The Hawkeyes are averaging a modest 21 points a game, 102nd in the country.

Officials with the Stuart Police Department posted a note on their social media page Friday afternoon warning residents of the community about a utility payment scam. Authorities there have been reports of someone going door to door claiming to be a Stuart City Worker collecting late utility payments. The city of Stuart does not send workers to your door to collect payments.

Officials say if you find yourself in that type of situation to immediately contact the Stuart P-D at 515-523-1896 or the Stuart City Hall at 515-523-1280. They need you to try and get the description of the person and any vehicles he/she may be in/with.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican David Young has canceled some television airtime reserved for advertisements in his bid for Iowa’s 3rd congressional district, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission this week.

Young, a former chief of staff for Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, is running against Democrat Staci Appel in one of the nation’s closest congressional races. The seat is open because Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Latham is retiring in the district, which stretches from Des Moines to Council Bluffs.

Young’s campaign cancelled airtime scheduled from Sept. 16 through Sept. 22 on WHO-TV and KCCI-TV, according to contracts the stations provided to the FCC. Young spokesman Tim Albrecht declined comment.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is spending heavily on advertising in the race. Spokesman Tyler Houlton said he didn’t know why the ads were cancelled but expressed confidence about the race. “It definitely does not raise any questions about his abilities,” Houlton said. Isaac Baker, with the Democratic firm AKPD Message and Media, called the move a “very troubling sign for a candidate locked in a tight race this close to the election.”

Young had nearly $90,000 in his campaign account at the end of June. Appel, who didn’t face a competitive primary, had more than $725,000. Young finished fifth in a six-person primary, but won the nomination at a June 21 convention after five rounds of voting.

ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) — A union representing correctional officers said Friday the discovery of hundreds of pills inside a prison was a “major security breach.” AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan called on the Iowa Department of Corrections to release more information about the breach, accusing administrators of keeping key details from the public. State officials announced Thursday that 300 to 400 capsules containing an unknown substance were discovered inside the North Central Correctional Facility in Rockwell City.

Homan said that cell phones and chargers were also discovered — a fact that department spokesman Fred Scaletta refused to confirm or deny. Homan said that phones were the “worst kind of contraband” because they allow inmates to communicate with people outside the prison.

Homan also asserted that several inmates there have tested positive for marijuana since the discovery, but that no marijuana had been found. Scaletta declined comment on that claim. Scaletta confirmed Friday that some testing has been done on the pills, but refused to say what it found. He said additional testing is being done by the Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and that more information would be released next week.

Homan said he believes one or more members of the public were able to smuggle in the contraband “because of the lack of staffing and appropriate staff training.” Scaletta said that prison officials “do the best they can with the resources they have” to manage the facility. He said that steps will be taken to prevent a similar breach from happening.

Sheriff’s officials in Cass County say deputies arrested a Griswold woman on drug charges this (Friday) morning. 19-year old Tara Lynn Waters, of Griswold, faces charges that include OWI 1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Waters was taken to the Cass County Jail and later released.

On Thursday, Cass County deputies arrested 29-year old Amanda Fay Petrzilka, of Council Bluffs, on a charge of Driving While Revoked. Petrzilka was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released the following day on her own recognizance.

And there were two arrests Wednesday in Cass County. 45-year old Carl Daniel Wiechmann, of Griswold, was arrested on a charge of Domestic Abuse 2nd Offense. Wiechmann was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on $2,000 bond. Also, 33-year old Jessica Ranell Jamison, of Winterset, was arrested Wednesday, on a district court warrant for Probation Violation. Jamison was taken to the Cass County Jail where she is being held on $25,000 bond.

(12-p.m. News)

CARF International announced Friday (Today), that CASS Incorporated has been accredited for a period of three years for its Community Employment, Employment Planning, Organizational Employment, Community Integration and Supported Living services. The latest accreditation is the tenth consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that the international accrediting body, CARF, has awarded to CASS Incorporated.

The accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process. It has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality.

CASS Incorporated is a nonprofit organization with offices at 1406 SW 7th Street. It has been providing Community Supported services in the Cass County area since 1977. CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF International, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF website at www.carf.org.

A new study finds young people who don’t take driver’s education courses are more likely to be involved in collisions and they’re much more likely to get ticketed and be found guilty of traffic law violations. Gail Weinholzer, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for teenagers, both in Iowa and nationwide.  “Children under the age of 18 who do not participate in a driver’s education class are more likely, not only to be in crashes, but to receive convictions,” Weinholzer says. “We’ve got 30 states across the country that require driver’s education in some form and 20 states that do not.”

Iowa is among the states where driver’s ed is required. Some school districts in the state offer it as a regular course, while other districts require students to use a private, professional driver’s training company. “Obviously, we’re very pleased that Iowa has driver’s education and it’s required for all people under the age of 18,” Weinholzer says. “We certainly can always improve the system by enhancing the graduated driver’s license system, adding things like a parent education seminar, those sorts of things.”

The motor club’s report found students who took driver’s education courses saw a reduction in crashes by four-point-three percent and a drop in convictions by nearly 40-percent. It also found that teens who completed driver’s ed scored higher on the driving exam and demonstrated better knowledge over their peers who had no formal training.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – This time of the year is the peak season for two mosquito species most likely to carry the West Nile virus, which can cause high fevers and brain-swelling, an Iowa State University researcher said. Brendan Dunphy, an entomology researcher with the university, told The Des Moines Register that “we’re right in the thick of that time.”

Dunphy said the virus tends to be carried by the mosquito species, culex pipiens and culex tarsalis, and that late summer and early fall are the peak season for them. He said those species tolerate cool weather better than their cousins do. He said high numbers of mosquitoes buzzed into Iowa this summer, noting that in one week in July, special traps in Des Moines caught more mosquitoes than had been caught throughout the entire state in 2012. “The numbers were astronomical,” he said. “It was unbelievable.”

Overall, the bug numbers have fallen since July, but Dunphy said continued rainfall has helped the bugs continue to thrive in the state. “The bottom line is that water is the magic ingredient,” Dunphy said. Ann Garvey, deputy state epidemiologist, said that so far this year, the Iowa Department of Public Health has confirmed 11 illnesses and two suspected cases of the West Nile virus.

More than 40 Iowa residents were ill from the virus last year, which first appeared in the state in 2001. To avoid mosquito bites, Dunphy recommended repellents and emptying swimming pools and clogged rain gutters, where mosquitoes breed.