An Iowa based organization is planning a cross country event this summer to raise money for cancer research. Marathoner Steve Cannon says the Million Dollar Marathon will involve a series of nonstop marathons through 15 states. “It’s called the Million Dollar Marathon for a reason. Our goal is to raise a million dollars. That’s the kind of money that can really move the needle to help those people who are in the fight,” Cannon said. The relay will involve runners passing a baton every 26.2 miles — covering a total of 3,850 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic.  “We will end up with 160 runners, each running a marathon one after the other and each with their own cancer story,” Cannon said. “Many of them will be cancer survivors. Some of them will be people who are actively in treatment. Some of them will be people who have incredible stories to tell of loved ones lost or loved ones who are in the fight.”

Cannon is no stranger to raising money and awareness for those in the fight against cancer. In 2009, he ran the entire RAGBRAI route and last summer, he became the first person to run around Lake Michigan. That 1,037 mile journey was completed in just 40 days – as Cannon averaged a marathon a day. Cannon has partnered with the Des Moines based group Above + Beyond Cancer on plans for the Million Dollar Marathon. Mercy Cancer Center Director Dr. Richard Deming, founder of Above + Beyond Cancer, said each marathoner will be joined by other runners — basically anyone who wants to participate. “Just yesterday I saw a patient and she just turned 90 years old. She’s a survivor. She has a walker and she wants a piece of this marathon,” Deming said. “We find the opportunity for people like her, a 90-year-old breast cancer survivor with a walker, to carry the baton and be a part of this.” Each of the 160 marathon runners selected will be asked to reach a fundraising goal of $7,000.

Deming started the Above + Beyond Cancer organization a year ago. He noted while 600-thousand (600,000) people will die of cancer in the United States this year, there are also 14-million Americans who are living with cancer or beat it.  “Cancer no longer has to be a death sentence,” Deming said. “One can overcome cancer and cancer can actually be a springboard to teaching you so many things about life.” Charlie Wittmack, the only American to have climbed Mount Everest and swim the English Channel, is executive director of Above + Beyond Cancer. He’s led cancer survivors and others touched by cancer on several expeditions – including climbs to a Mount Everest base camp and to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

“It’s truly been an extraordinary year – four expeditions, hundreds of speaking events, hundreds of hours spent advocating, days and days devoted to fundraising, service and volunteerism,” Wittmack said. “It’s hard to believe we’ve done all of that in the course of a year.” The Million Dollar Marathon is scheduled to begin on June 21 in Washington State. It’s unclear when the relay will pass through Iowa. Deming said ceremonies honoring the runners will be held in Denver, Colorado, Des Moines and Washington, D.C.

More information: http://coasttocoastforcancer.org

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Lottery say an Atlantic woman was the latest big instant-scratch game winner in Cass County during calendar year 2012. Jennifer Hansen won $30,000 in the “Crossword” game, with a ticket purchased at the Casey’s General Store’s  west location on southwest 7th Street. And, Tamara Wiley, of Lewis, was the county’s latest and biggest lotto winner during the same period, winning $40,000 in the Powerball game, with a ticket purchased at Casey’s east, on east 7th Street, in Atlantic.

In fiscal year 2012, Iowa Lottery sales hit a record $310.9 million and have continued at a record pace in the months since then. Officials say a significant number of tickets expire each year without being claimed. In fiscal year 2012, more than $1.1 million in lotto prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed. Prize money left unclaimed after redemption deadlines goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Check your numbers on the Iowa Lottery’s website at www.ialottery.com, where you can also find a current list of unclaimed lotto prizes of $10,000 and above. Winning lotto numbers may be checked by visiting the lottery website or calling the winning numbers hotline at (515) 323-4633. They may also be checked by visiting a lottery retail outlet or calling the lottery at (515) 725-7900 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The driver of a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am was transported to the Shenandoah Memorial Hospital following a single vehicle accident Tuesday morning south of Shenandoah. The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports 23-year old Jessica Lynn Strange, of Riverton, was traveling north on Highway 59 at around 7:45-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the car went on to the east shoulder of the road. When the woman over-corrected, the car crossed the road and went on to the west shoulder of Highway 59.

When Strange over-corrected a second time, the car went into the east ditch and slid sideways over a metal post before coming to rest next to some small trees. Strange suffered possible, unknown injuries during the mishap. Her car sustained about $1,600 damage. No citations were issued.

The Trustee in the case of the Portsmouth-based G and R Feed and Grain Company Incorporated bankruptcy case, reports an informational meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 5th at 1:30 p.m. at Club 191 in Portsmouth. The meeting is informational only and claim forms will be available. Trustee Deborah Petersen says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has sold all stored grain. Each producer with a warehouse receipt for stored grain will receive a letter in the next couple of weeks from the USDA. Producers
can expect to receive a check for their stored grain from the USDA within 4 – 6 weeks after all grain is removed. Petersen says at this point, there is no action for producers to take with the USDA.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture has sent letters to producers who sold grain to G & R for cash or who sold grain on an unsigned contract and were not paid. Such individuals may qualify for the Indemnity Fund and may receive up to 90% of their claim, with certain limits from IDALS. These producers can file their claims with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, as well as with the
Bankruptcy Court. If you have a claim for a deferred price contract, or other amount due you, you should take action
to timely file a claim with the Bankruptcy Court. If you have a contract for future delivery of grain, you will soon receive notice of rejection or assumption of that contract, as the Trustee will not be fulfilling those contracts, but may have offers to purchase them or assign.

Once the decision is made, the Trustee will file the necessary notice with the Court and all holders will receive notice of the Trustee’s action. Contracts that are rejected, once approved by the Court, will have no further action required. If contracts are assumed or sold, then the producer will be required to fulfill the contract. The Trustee is gathering other information and working on liquidating all assets as soon as possible, as well as collecting all accounts due G & R, which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on January 1st, 2013. The company’s estimated debt is between $1 million and $10 million. Its estimated assets are up to $50,000.

Iowa’s Senior Medicare Patrol has issued a warning that scammers posing as Medicare officials are phoning Iowa’s seniors and attempting to visit them in their homes.  They are trying to obtain personal information to commit financial fraud.  Their hook is to convince the potential victim that they have new and critical information about their Medicare benefits.

Deb Yankey, State Coordinator for Iowa Senior Medicare Patrol, advises, “Watch out for a caller who says they want to bring details about a new Medicare Summary Notice or deliver a new Medicare card to you.  Medicare officials do NOT phone seniors to discuss changes and they do NOT visit your home.  It’s shrewd to be rude – hang up the phone and don’t open your door to a stranger.”

These calls have been received by seniors in Polk and Marion counties within the last few days.  Senior Medicare Patrol expects that calls will spread statewide.  The scammers have discovered that Medicare will soon be sending a redesigned “Medicare Summary Notice,” which is the explanation of benefits sent to persons on Medicare for all services or supplies billed to Medicare.  Scammers typically use the occurrence of a change in a government program, to design new fraud schemes.  Iowans will begin to see the new Medicare notices in their mail over the next several months.

Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) asks for Iowans to report if they receive this type of call, to SMP at 800-423-2449 or to Medicare at 1-800-633-4227.   SMP will report directly to Medicare, how these calls are affecting Iowans.    However, if you give out your bank information to a person you suspect is a scammer, the first and most important thing to do is immediately call your bank and local law enforcement.

For more information, call Southwest 8 Senior Services at 712-328-2540 or toll free at 800-432-9209.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democratic legislators are pushing to expand Medicaid in Iowa.  Sen. Jack Hatch and Rep. Lisa Heddens, both Democrats, introduced legislation Tuesday that would broaden eligibility requirements for the state program, which covers low-income people, including children and the disabled.  President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul provides funding to states that do this expansion.

If expanded, as many as 150,000 people could be added to Iowa’s Medicaid rolls, mostly low-income childless adults.   Gov. Terry Branstad has opposed an expansion, based on the cost to the state. The federal government would pay the full cost of the expansion for three years and then the state would gradually assume 10 percent of the costs for the new enrollees.

Officials with the City of Carson are urging citizens to watch for discoloration in their water. The water discoloration is due to mechanical failure at the water treatment plant causing higher concentration of potassium permanganate in the water in Carson. The city maintenance supervisor recommends that residents do not drink the water until the water color clears up. The supervisor also recommends not washing white colored clothing at this time.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Google will invest an additional $50,000 into its public wireless Internet service to cover more of Council Bluffs.  Google announced the plan to expand its Wi-Fi network near its data center in Council Bluffs today (Tuesday).

Google’s existing Wi-Fi network already provides high-speed Internet connections across downtown Council Bluffs, the Mid-America Center and the city’s recreational complex. That network was built with a $154,462 Google grant.  The expansion in 2013 will provide Wi-Fi service to the interior of Council Bluffs City Hall and the new River’s Edge Park.

Chris Russell, who runs Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, says the company is happy to provide Internet access to the surrounding community.  Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan says Google has been a great corporate partner.

A former employee with the Mills County Treasurer’s Office was sentenced Monday to 25-years in prison on a negotiated felony charge of Ongoing Criminal Conduct. 43-year old Tammy Jo Gammon, of Glenwood, had faced seven charges, including 1^st degree theft, felony misconduct in office, and 5 counts of forgery. The sentence she received under the plea bargain was the maximum allowable by law.

The charges against Gammon were the result of a State audit that uncovered more than 182 transactions, which resulted in more than $36,000 being stolen from the Mills County Treasurer’s office.

While Senator Tom Harkin says he won’t seek reelection in 2014, Iowa’s other U-S senator says he isn’t ready to think about retiring yet. Senator Chuck Grassley will be turning 80 years old in September but says stepping down when his term is up in 2016 simply isn’t on his radar.  “I don’t have my eyes set on 2016 because right now, we have all of these big fiscal problems, economic problems, all of those are related to are we going to get unemployment down?” Grassley says. “We’ve gotta’ get this economy turned around and that’s going to take up all my thought.” Harkin’s announcement over the weekend took many people by surprise. Grassley says he won’t be thinking about quitting until maybe a year and a half before his term is up — perhaps in another 18 months from now.

“Right now, I’m doing those things that you’d have to do if you’re running for reelection,” Grassley says, “be very vigorous as a legislator, work very hard for the Republican party, help other candidates, raise money for my own campaign, raise money to help other people campaign, and that’s what I’m doing.” Harkin is 73 and a Democrat while the 79-year-old Grassley is a Republican. Democrats now hold power in the Senate and Harkin’s departure could be seen as placing pressure on Grassley to try and stay in office to help the G-O-P gain power, but Grassley says that’s just not the case.

“I haven’t felt any pressure at any time to run, the first time or anytime, for reelection,” Grassley says. “I think if you have a lot of politicians saying, ‘Yeah, I’m getting all kinds of pressure to run for this job or that job,’ I think you’d better, well, I don’t think they’re entirely truthful.” Prior to heading to Congress, Grassley served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959 to 1975. Grassley was first elected to the U-S House in 1975 and has served in the Senate since 1980. By the time Harkin finishes his term in 2014, he’ll have served 40 years in Congress — 10 in the House and 30 in the Senate.

(Radio Iowa)