(Radio Iowa) – The Powerball jackpot for tonight’s (Wednesday) drawing has hit 700 million dollars and is likely to go higher. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says this is when those who aren’t regular players start to take notice. “It’s definitely at the point where people are just talking about it everywhere you go and so that is causing a lot of interest in the game and that in turn is driving the jackpot just further and further up,” she says. Neubauer says sales pick up so much, the jackpot can change several times before the drawing.

“Even the best estimates right now aren’t keeping up with sales,” according to Neubauer. “I think it’s just something fun that people can talk about that you know maybe isn’t one of the heavier things that are going on in the world. We can all just have some fun dreaming about winning the jackpot.” The Mega Millions jackpot was recently won after it went above 500 million, ending the chances of seeing it keep pace with Powerball.

“The history of Mega Millions and Powerball is that states used to be either or so here in Iowa we were in the original Powerball state and then later we added Mega Millions. But here in Iowa even after all this time, Powerball continues to have higher sales than Mega millions — so when the Powerball jackpot is really big like it is right now we’re definitely seeing it here in Iowa,” she says. The predecessor to Powerball, Lotto America, has a jackpot of 29 million dollars. Lotto America tickets cost one dollar compared to two dollars for the other two games, and that means smaller overall jackpots.

“Its amount may not compare to Powerball’s — but it is at a record amount for that game — and some people prefer Lotto America just because it’s easier to win even though its jackpot is smaller,” Neubauer says. Neubauer says if you want to get into the big Powerball drawing, don’t miss the cutoff time. “The sales cut-off time here in Iowa is 8:59 p-m Wednesday night for Wednesday night’s drawing. If you buy a ticket after that time, you’ll still have a valid Powerball ticket. It just won’t be for that night’s drawing,” she says.

Neubauer says three tickets here in Iowa that came so close to taking the Powerball jackpot in Monday night’s drawing — missing by one number — giving them a prize of 50-thousand dollars. She says that’s a good reason to check every ticket for a prize, even if you don’t win the jackpot.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Tuesday evening, arrested 34-year-old Lucas James Bogart, of Red Oak. He was arrested in the 500 block of E. Prospect Street, for Reckless Use of Fire/Explosives (a serious misdemeanor). Bogart was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. Two other Red Oak men were arrested late Wednesday morning, in Red Oak.

Authorities say 20-year-old Jordan Leigh Holaday and 24-year-old Dawson Allen Squires, were taken into custody at around 11:37-a.m. at 103 E. Valley Street. Holaday was being held on a $1,000 bond for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Canabidoil [aka] THC wax), a serious misdemeanor. Squires was being held on $2,000 bond for PCS/2nd offense, an aggravated misdemeanor, and Child Endangerment, also an aggravated misdemeanor.

(Radio Iowa) – A man convicted of killing his grandmother in her kitchen four decades ago has died in prison at the age of 64. Court records show Steve Davidson drove to the Cedar Falls Police Department in 1982 and told officers he had beaten, stabbed and choked his grandmother to death.

Davidson had argued that confession should not have been used against him due to his mental illness, but the Iowa Supreme Court upheld his life prison sentence, ruling Davidson had been calm and coherent as he told police about the murder.

State prison officials say Davidson died Sunday morning in a prison hospice unit where he had been taken due to chronic illness.

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders from Grinnell College and the City of Grinnell are taking steps to respond after students say passing motorists have yelled racial epithets.  Grinnell College is distributing safety kits, has put up temporary lighting and may install security cameras in some areas of the campus. Grinnell Mayor Dan Agnew says a city street that runs through the campus was temporarily barricaded for a few days.

“Just a lot of verbal activity,” Agnew says, “and some of the students are starting to feel just a little threatened.” Earlier this month, racist graffiti was scrawled on cars and campus signs. Grinnell’s mayor and Grinnell College president Anne Harris have issued a joint statement, calling for anyone who sees or experiences racist harassment or vandalism to report it to Grinnell Police.

“We are as a community and then, specifically, black constituents, enduring this sustained and aggravated racial harassment,” she says. “…We really need it to stop. It’s affecting individuals profoundly. It is affecting our community and we need to pull together against this kind of behavior.”

Grinnell College operates a shuttle service and students who are uncomfortable walking at night are being encouraged to call for rides on and off campus. Students can pick up safety kits that include flash lights and whistles at the Black Cultural Center and three other sites on campus. Classes resumed this week after the Fall break.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests took place over the past few days. There were two separate arrests each day last Friday and Saturday. On Friday, 44-year-old Cory Reed Keinow, of Glenwood, was arrested at Highway 275/34 for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia ($300 bond), and, 27-year-old Dakota John Allen, of Hastings, was arrested at 1st & Main Streets, for Driving While Barred ($2,000 bond).

On the 22nd, 47-year-old Brent William Michael, of Malvern, was arrested at 1st and Main for Driving While Barred ($2,000 bond), and 27-year-old Austin Michael Parker, of Malvern, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Violation of Probation ($5,000 bond).

(Radio Iowa) – Healthcare providers are reporting increases in respiratory illnesses among kids. University of Iowa Healthcare pediatrician, Adam Brown, says they are seeing the common flu as well as increases in R-S-V. “We have seen a spike in the last several weeks — and it’s not a real common time of year to see that — typically, it’s more in January and February. So that’s a one that we’ll see sicker kids with too,” he says. “So I think a combination of those common cold viruses, plus viruses like R-S-V, that can be in kids, some kids more severe. I think that’s been the big change this fall.”

Doctor Brown says you can do some things so your child avoids getting infected. “One is families, you know, can use the same measures that we did during COVID-19. So, you know, washing your hands frequently, whether it’s with some water, if you’re able to do so, or hand sanitizer, if you’re on the go. Those are both great options to help prevent transmission of viruses, common cold viruses in particular,” Brown says. He says cases generally increase when cold weather hits as people are closer together inside. Brown says avoiding those crowds when you can will help.

“If you’re going out in public where there’s large crowds, that’s a more likely environment where you could be exposed to viruses, particularly ones we’re seeing right now,” Brown says. “So you kind of kind of plan your day around, going to the store, or going to different events.” Brown says there are some things you can look for to determine if your child may be infected. “How is your child feeding? How are they drinking? And then do you notice any what we call difficulty breathing? So you know, as your child, do you notice that they’re their chest is moving out really hard when breathing or they have fast breathing. You might notice that their belly goes in now kind of really hard or noticeably, when breathing that’s can be evidence of difficulty or increased work of breathing,” according to Brown.

He says you shouldn’t hesitate to check with your doctor if you think your child is sick. “I think it’s never wrong to call your doctor’s office and ask them say, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on with my son or daughter and what do I need to do?’,” he says. “And we can help you figure out whether we need to see them in clinic. And or you can stay at home. And then I think we can also figure if you do bring them in for an appointment, we can also help you figure out hey are they okay?”

Doctor Brown says you can take preventative action by seeing that your child gets the flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine. He says those can help not only prevent those diseases, but also keep kids from getting sicker.

DES MOINES – More than 13,000 students across Iowa made their voices heard by participating in Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Iowa Youth Straw Poll today. Students in K-12 schools were invited to vote for their preferred candidates in Iowa’s congressional and gubernatorial races. The purpose of the poll is to serve as a fun learning activity to engage young people in civics.

As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 25, Republican Kim Reynolds leads the Youth Straw Poll race for Governor, with 61% of the vote. Democratic Deidre DeJear has 30% and Libertarian Rick Stewart picked up 9%. Republican Chuck Grassley is ahead in the U.S. Senate race, 62%-38% over Democrat Michael Franken.

Iowa’s four U.S. House races were polled as well. In the First Congressional District, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads Christina Bohannon 60%-40%. Republican Ashley Hinson holds a 66%-34% lead over Liz Mathis. Democrat Cindy Axne is ahead of Republican Zach Nunn in Iowa’s Third District, 55%-45%. Republican Randy Feenstra has garnered 63% of the vote in the Fourth District, with Democrat Ryan Melton at 24% and Liberty Party Caucus candidate Bryan Jack Holder at 14%.

Traditionally, the Iowa Youth Straw Poll has served as a good indicator of how the actual elections will shape up. “I want to thank all the teachers, principals and staff that helped make the Youth Straw Poll possible, but most importantly, thank you to the students who made their voices heard,” Secretary Pate said. “This was hopefully a valuable, hands-on learning experience for them, and I hope all of them will continue to be a voter throughout their lives.”

Vote totals for this year and past years are available by clicking here. Numbers will be updated on Wednesday.

DES MOINES, IA – A Woodward man was sentenced on Thursday, October 20, 2022, to 12 months and one day in prison for wire fraud and false statements to the United States Small Business Association (SBA).

According to court documents, John Richard Stidolph, age 66, submitted numerous false applications to the SBA for COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Over the course of approximately one year, he submitted four fraudulent applications and received $359,800 from the SBA. As part of Stidolph’s sentence, he was ordered to pay restitution to the SBA and serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term.

U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

(Radio Iowa) – A report from State Auditor Rob Sand shows about $240,000 worth of state unemployment checks were written to prisoners and dead people in the early months of the pandemic.

Iowa Workforce Development officials say the agency saw an unprecedented spike in unemployment claims between March and June of 2020 and had to process five times as many claims as it normally did. Sand says hiring more staff to process those claims would have helped.

“No doubt the Iowa Workforce Development was pretty slammed during the pandemic,” Sand says. “They’ve got only so many people over there, but that certainly begs the question that why, if they were so busy over there, they didn’t use a portion of the surplus to hire additional staffers.”

Sand’s review found the agency shifted investigators over to answering phones and helping Iowans file unemployment claims and that led to a delay in cross-checking some death records. The review found that in the spring of 2020, Iowa Workforce Development issued unemployment benefits for six people who were dead.

“Oftentimes these Social Security numbers of deceased individuals are used by fraudsters to try to get unemployment benefits,” Sand says.

Sand says the Iowa Workforce Development agency did not cross-check the Social Security numbers on unemployment claims with a list of prison inmates and wound up cutting unemployment checks for eight prisoners. Starting in February of 2021, the agency began doing those cross-checks monthly.

(Radio Iowa) – If Senator Chuck Grassley wins reelection, he could be in the line of presidential succession again. Since the World War II era, the longest-serving U.S. senator from the party that holds the majority of seats in the senate serves as Senate President Pro Tempore. Grassley was in that role in 2019 and 2020 when Republicans held the senate majority.

“President Pro Tem isn’t so much being third in line to be president. It’s presiding over the Senate when the vice president can’t be there, which is 99.9% of the time,” Grassley says. “…It’s a leadership post and it puts me at the table with the leadership of the senate so that I can be in a powerful position to represent the people of Iowa.”

Eighty-nine-year-old California Senator Dianne Feinstein is about three months older than Grassley. Feinstein has said she will not take on the role of Senate President Pro Tem if Democrats keep the majority in 2023.