With the holidays approaching, many Iowans are sending and receiving packages but be warned. A new scam involves an email that claims there’s a problem with a package delivery and the message appears to be from U-P-S, FedEx or the U-S Postal Service. Jim Hegarty, head of the Better Business Bureau office in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says don’t be fooled. “Scammers use this time of the year, every year, to send these spoofed emails,” Hegarty says. “They look like they’re from legitimate delivery services but they’re designed to download malware into your system which can cause you all kinds of headaches.”

Should you get such an email, report it to your internet service provider and delete it. You can also call the agency to verify there’s no problem with your delivery. Hegarty also warns of recent scams on Facebook that appear to be from friends, touting federal grant money for people with disabilities. Hegarty says don’t accept “friend” requests on Facebook from people you don’t know.

“We’re in an environment now where this is a venue that’s being used very consistently to take advantage of people and get access to accounts,” he says. “We just have to be super cautious.” The grant scheme recently duped an Omaha-area woman out of more than two-thousand dollars, thinking she was following the advice of a “friend.”

(Radio Iowa)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year with local band Popcorn Button returning to the Elks Lodge to provide a holly jolly night of music and dancing on Friday, December 30th. As always, admission is free and dancers and listeners of all ages are invited to attend.

The sixteen-piece band will be playing a variety of classic Big Band era hits along with some special yuletide charts that will deck the halls and jingle bell rock all night for everyone to dance the night away to. There are even rumors that Santa Claus himself will be coming down to jam with the band to relax after his big day of deliveries.

Popcorn Button, founded in 2010, is a group of volunteer musicians from all walks of life. Many hail from the Atlantic community, including many alumni of Atlantic High School. Also featured are students and recent alumni from Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, Buena Vista University, and the community at large.

Since 2012, the band has operated the Popcorn Button Community Music Scholarship. This award supports young musicians from the community as they attend honor bands, band camps, and music lessons.

Holiday Ball is a free public event. All ages and dancing abilities are invited and encouraged to attend on Friday, December 30th at the Elks Lodge on 501 Poplar Street in Atlantic. A free will donation will be accepted at the door to defray the band’s operating costs. For more information on Holiday Ball or the scholarship, email info@popcornbutton.org or visit www.popcornbutton.org.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Friday evening, arrested a woman from Pottawattamie County. Officials say 18-year old Sarah Jeanette Croson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 6:20-p.m., following a traffic stop near the intersection of Boxelder/Highway 34, west of Red Oak.  Croson was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Firefighters from Westphalia and at least four other departments responded to a house fire Friday night, at around 6:15-p.m., at 107 4th Street, in Westphalia. Scanner reports indicated crews from Earling, Panama, Harlan, and Portsmouth were called to the scene. When Westphalia Fire arrived on the scene, the roof of the single-family structure was fully engulfed in flames.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Photos submitted to KJAN

A central Iowa man was injured during a head-on, wrong-way vehicle collision Friday night, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 22-year old Ryan I. Evans, of Johnston, was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse eastbound in the westbound lane of Interstate 80 about two-miles north of the exit to Highway 6 on the east side of Council Bluffs, when his car struck a 2013 Freightliner semi. The accident happened at around 10:11-p.m. in the right lane of westbound I-80.

Following the collision, the car came to rest in the median, and caught fire. The semi, driven by 57-year old Marvin L. Fielder, of Omaha, came to rest in the west ditch. Fielder was not injured in the crash. Evans, who was wearing his seat belt, was flown by LifeNet to the UNMC in Omaha.

The Patrol says the accident remains under investigation, but alcohol does NOT appear to be a factor in the crash.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report officers were involved in the pursuit Friday afternoon, of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was seen at around 3:20-p.m. traveling southbound on the South Expressway. The vehicle eluded officers when they attempted to stop it and they pursued it through the city. At one point the vehicle left the traveled portion of the roadway and also drove in the wrong lanes of traffic on two other occasions.

Officers were able to follow the vehicle until it went into Omaha and communicated with dispatchers who relayed the information to Omaha Police Department (OPD) Officers. A short time later, OPD officers located the vehicle in the 5800 block of South 14th Street. Two suspects were also located in the area.

The OPD Auto Theft Unit is handing the investigation. Police have not yet released the names of those two suspects.