LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged a northwest Iowa man with forgery and insurance fraud totaling nearly $29,000. Court records say 39-year-old Scott Leininger is scheduled to be in court Dec. 4. He didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday at a number listed for him in Le Mars.

Authorities say Leininger submitted false paperwork to back his claim to Homesite Insurance for damage he said his disability equipment sustained during a lightning storm. Court documents say the company discovered that the paperwork was bogus and didn’t pay the claim.

Iowa Congressman Rod Blum voted for the tax package that cleared the U.S. House last week. However, Blum is hoping senators make at least two big changes in the bill. Under the House plan, the wind production tax credit would be reduced. “Keep those incentives in the tax code because Iowa is a leader nationwide. I think a third of our electricity is generated by the wind here in Iowa, which is great,” Blum says. “I’ve talked to MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy and, obviously, they’re concerned.”

Blum, a Republican from Dubuque, says federal tax credits for renovating historic properties should be maintained as well. “Here in Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, a lot of the warehouse districts that are being rehabilitated –these old buildings — just wouldn’t be economically feasible if it wasn’t for the historic tax credit,” Blum says, “Because we just can’t charge high enough rents in towns in Iowa to make these projects cash-flow out for the developers.”

The credit is currently worth 20 percent of the cost of fixing up a dilapidated property. “And it pays for itself,” Blum says. “Rutgers University did a study showing that tax credit returns more money to the treasury than it costs.”  Blum says “most deductions had to go” though in order to get a bill that reduces rates and simplifies the tax-filing process.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:12 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than a third of patients in Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program will be unable to switch into one of two remaining insurance companies as originally announced because the company doesn’t have the capacity to add more people. The Iowa Department of Human Services made the announcement Tuesday. It means UnitedHealthcare will keep about 215,000 patients being sent to it after a third company, AmeriHealth Caritas, said it was leaving the program over failed negotiations regarding money.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors want to move out of Lee County the trial of a boarding school owner on sex abuse and other charges. A motion filed Friday in Lee County South District Court cited pretrial publicity in seeking a new location for the trial of Ben Trane. He’s pleaded not guilty. Investigators allege Trane used his position at the for-profit Midwest Academy in Keokuk to pursue sexual relationships with teenage students.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Top Iowa Senate Republicans announced Tuesday they will release a document related to an internal investigation into alleged sexual harassment in their caucus, following pressure from within the party to provide findings. Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix says he will provide, by the end of the week, an “internal review document” related to the investigation. The shift came on the same day he announced a former GOP state lawmaker will advise their Senate office on “workplace culture.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say five more people from the Dubuque area have pleaded guilty to participation in a phone call scam. The five entered the wire fraud pleas in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Prosecutors say the scheme consisted of phone calls to elderly people across the country, telling victims that relatives were jailed and that money should be wired to free them. Earlier this year five other people pleaded guilty to similar or related charges.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — City officials in western Iowa are moving forward with an ordinance that would require massage therapy businesses to obtain a license through the city and undergo annual reviews.

The Sioux City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance designed to fight prostitution, human trafficking and drug dealing on Monday. The Sioux City Journal reports that the proposal follows the Iowa Legislature’s removal of a state code that forbid cities from regulating massage businesses.

Businesses would be required to submit identification and information on their employees. Licenses could be withheld based on background checks into any owners, managers, employees or business agents. The city would prosecute violations as a misdemeanor.

City officials have agreed to work with local massage therapists to finalize the drafted regulation and gather feedback.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some patients in Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program will be unable to switch into one of two remaining insurance companies as originally announced because the company doesn’t have the capacity to add more people.

The Iowa Department of Human Services says in a press release Tuesday that Amerigroup will continue to serve people currently enrolled in its coverage but not additional patients.

The announcement means UnitedHealthcare will keep about 215,000 patients being sent to them after a third company, AmeriHealth Caritas, said it was leaving the program over failed negotiations regarding money.

DHS says it’s received federal approval to temporarily suspend patient choice in the privatized system. Amerigroup did not immediately return a message. A DHS spokesman was also not immediately available to comment.