DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The board that oversees Iowa’s three public universities says it wants to use a new two-year budget system that would include some tuition increases. The Iowa Board of Regents announced Tuesday it wants the Legislature to support a plan that would increase state funding to the universities by two percent each year for the budget years that end in 2018 and 2019. Additional money would go to the University of Northern Iowa in the first year.

The plan would also increase tuition rates by two percent each year for in-state undergraduate students. The board will vote in September on a $12.7 million request in new dollars for the first year. That includes $4.6 million for the University of Iowa, $3.7 million for Iowa State University and $4.4 million for UNI.

Firefighters from Marne and Atlantic were called early this (Wed.) morning to report of two semi-tractors on fire at the exit 51 off-ramp of Interstate 80 eastbound. The call came in at around 4:50-a.m.   One of the semi’s was pulling another. Both were said to have been fully engulfed in flames and were a total loss. No one was in either cab when crews were dispatched. Flames were visible at least one-mile away, by law enforcement and fire fighters responding to the scene.

Images from the Marne Fire and Rescue Facebook page

In a separate incident, Griswold Fire was called to the scene of an overturned fuel truck at around 5-a.m. today (Wednesday). The accident happened near 650th and Wichita Road. No injuries were reported. Some diesel fuel was leaking from the vehicle after the crash. No other details are available.

A traffic stop in Red Oak Tuesday afternoon resulted in a man being arrested on OWI and other charges. Red Oak Police say 47-year old Michael Sean Colebank, of Red Oak, faces a felony OWI/3rd offense, charge, as well as Driving while revoked. He was also cited for having no insurance and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Colebank was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $5,000 cash bond.

With school back in session, a new round of scams is surfacing that are targeting college students. Jim Hegarty, president of the Better Business Bureau in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says scammers are using social media to offer tempting deals on student loans.  “We’ve been warning for a few weeks about a scam that’s popped up on Facebook offering education grants,” Hegarty says. “We need our young people need to understand that they’re vulnerable and that they are being targeted just like seniors are and they need to be cautious.”

The first scam makes it sound very easy to get thousands of dollars in education grant money. “Kids are taking the bait on that, thinking they’re going to get access to some great college education money,” Hegarty says. “Of course, it involves processing fees, they’ve gotta’ get Green Dot money pack cards and send off some money in advance.” Any money they do send off in advance is usually lost.

Other scams offer students free trials on all sorts of programs which end up charging a monthly fee. The bureau is also warning students who may still be looking for a place to live near campus to watch where they click. Con artists are offering great apartments for rent and excellent prices, but the apartments either don’t exist or they’re not really owned by the advertiser. “It’s either individuals that are claiming that they’re looking for a roommate and they won’t be in the area for a few weeks,” he says, “or it’s scammers who have lifted legitimate properties that are on the market and they’ve just created their own ads on Craigs List.”

Hegarty warns that if a deal sounds like it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.

(Radio Iowa)