More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Insurance Division says it now overseeing a program that will help the roughly 500-thousand Iowa Medicare users. The director of Iowa’s Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), Kris Gross, explains the program. “Medicare Patrol or S-M-P is a program to help Medicare beneficiaries prevent and detect fraud, errors and abuse,” Gross says.  Gross says there are a couple of ways Medicare users can help. “One is their Medicare summary notices — which shows what services they’ve had — and by monitoring those summary notices they can see if there are inappropriate charges, or things that they really didn’t receive services for,” Gross says.

And she says they can help by reporting scams that try to get personal information. “Remembering that Medicare and Social Security are never going to call you for your Medicare number. They have it,” Gross explains. “So, you should not be giving out those numbers to anyone who would just call you on the phone.”  The program allows you to call and talk to someone about any concerns. “If someone suspects fraud, errors or abuse, they can call S-M-P. Our 800 number is 800-351-4664. Or they can email us at smp@iid.iowa.gov,” according to Gross.

While she doesn’t have the state specific numbers — Gross says Medicare fraud added up to 50 BILLION dollars nationwide in 2017. “That’s a big number, and the S-M-P program and our S-M-P counselors across the state are hear to help people investigate those fraud errors and abuse — and if necessary — get them reported to the appropriate federal agency,” Gross says.  You are also are encouraged to visit shiip.iowa.gov/smp To learn about new Medicare insurance scams and discover tips and tools to prevent and report Medicare fraud.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Several schools, businesses and agencies are remaining closed as Iowa’s record-breaking and dangerous deep freeze continues. The National Weather Service has posted wind chill advisories or warnings for Iowa, but they’re expected to expire later this (Thursday) morning. The bitter cold that beset the nation’s midsection broke records in several Iowa cities Wednesday, including Des Moines. The minus 20 handily broke the 1965 low of minus 17. The Wednesday wind child hit minus 40.

The minus 25 degrees in Waterloo broke the Jan. 30 record of minus 24 set in 1951. Estherville, Lamoni, Mason City and Ottumwa also had record low temperatures. Here in southwest Iowa, many schools are running two-hours late this morning, due to the chilly weather.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of killing a 16-month-old girl is scheduled to go on trial next week in Pottawattamie County.  District Court records say 23-year-old Javon Jennings has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His trial is set to begin Tuesday in Council Bluffs. He’s accused of killing Jazlynn Harshbarger, who was pronounced dead at a Council Bluffs apartment on April 19 last year after officers and medics sent there to check a report about an unresponsive child . Police say he was the sole caretaker of the girl when she was fatally injured. Her injuries included a broken left leg.

Police in Red Oak conducted a traffic stop a little before 2-a.m. today in the 1800 block of Highway 48. As a result, 39-year old Meri Ellen Kling, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving While Barred. She was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $2,000 bond.

A man from Ringgold County was arrested Wednesday afternoon on drug charges in Adams County, following a traffic stop at 250th and Orange. When an Adams County Deputy approached the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana. The driver, 32-year old Tyler Dean Gage, of Kellerton, was arrested at around 2-p.m., for: Felony Possession of Meth – 18 grams; Felony Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and OWI/2nd offense. His bond was set at $32,000. Inside the vehicles’ emergency brake handle compartment, authorities found 18 grams of methamphetamine, 11 grams of marijuana, and a glass smoking device. Authorities say Gage was believed to be impaired, but he refused to give a urine sample.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill that would end tenure for professors at the three state universities has cleared the first procedural hurdle in the Iowa Senate and key lawmakers say they want to “keep the conversation alive.” Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, says too many courses are being taught by teaching assistants rather than professors.

“My job is simple: look out for the kids, the students,” Zaun says. About 10 percent of classes at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are being led by teaching assistants. Keith Saunders, a lobbyist for the University of Iowa, says if the bill becomes law, Iowa would be the only state that does not offer tenure to professors at its public universities.

“This bill would really relegate Iowa to sort of the backwaters of higher education,” Saunders says. “…Faculty would avoid Iowa. I think it’s everyone’s goal to have the best and the brightest teaching our next generation, but they would not come here if tenure’s not available to them.” Zaun questions some of the sabbaticals professors have been granted for research outside the classroom and Zaun says, to him, tenure “pretty much guarantees” a professor can’t be fired.

“I recognize there is brilliant professors at our three public universities. I’m not picking on them,” Zaun said. “It’s just frustrating to me.” Rachel Boon, the chief academic officer for the Iowa Board of Regents, says 25 tenured professors have been terminated or agreed to resign in the past decade. “I want to make clear tenure is not a blanket guarantee of job security or immunity from termination,” Boon says. The bill cleared a three-member senate subcommittee yesterday (Wednesday) with the votes of Zaun and fellow Republican Jerry Behn, a state senator from Boone.

“I think the underlying goal of all of this is to do what’s best for the students,” Behn said. “After all, that’s why all the professors are there, so I think it’s important to keep the conversation alive.” A similar bill has stalled in the senate in year’s past.  Tenure has existed for more than a century. The chief academic officer for the Iowa Board of Regents says tenure does protect professors who “make some people uncomfortable.”

“We can’t fire them because they do that really important work in an area that maybe makes the employer or some other external entity unhappy,” Boon says. Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat, is a tenured Iowa State University professor and he says this bill might lead to the suppression of research, like the “oleo” controversy of 1943. Iowa State economists suggested margarine compared favorably with butter and American should eat more of it because there was a shortage of butter for World War II soldiers. The dairy industry objected, the pro-margarine wording was retracted and 16 economics professors left Iowa State.

“That’s what happens when you challenge and undermine academic freedom,” Quirmbach says. Two of the professors who left Iowa State over the oleo controversy later won the Nobel Prize for Economics.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

JAMAICA, Iowa (AP) — The central Iowa town of Jamaica is set to appoint a new mayor after its previous mayor was arrested earlier this month on charges related to marijuana found growing in her basement. Acting mayor Tim McDermott tells the Des Moines Register that city leaders are expected to appoint a new mayor at a meeting Monday. Former mayor LaDonna Kennedy and her husband, Randy Kennedy, were arrested Jan. 16 after sheriff’s deputies found marijuana plants in the home.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The clearest path for Democrats to reclaim the White House runs through the upper Midwest, and the party could soon have multiple presidential contenders who have deep roots in the region. The two biggest Midwestern Democratic names in the mix for 2020 are Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. They’ve succeeded in states where it’s critical to appeal to rural and working-class voters _ groups Democrats are eager to court as they work to defeat President Donald Trump.

CHICAGO (AP) — The painfully cold weather system that put much of the Midwest into a historic deep freeze is expected to ease Thursday, though temperatures could still tumble to record lows in some places before the region begins to thaw out. Disruptions caused by the cold will persist, too, including power outages and canceled flights and trains. Crews in Detroit will need days to repair water mains that burst Wednesday, and other pipes can still burst in persistent subzero temperatures.

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — An Urbandale police sergeant is suing the city, saying he suffered harassment, discrimination and retaliation for the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered in the wake of the 2016 ambush killings of a colleague and a Des Moines officer. The Des Moines Register reports that Sgt. Mark Jorgensen was one of the first responders on the scene when Urbandale Officer Justin Martin was shot as he sat in his patrol car.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Friday, will announce their appointment of a person to fill a vacancy position for the Cass County Attorney’s Office. Earlier this week, the Board interviewed four candidates who had submitted their applications by the deadline: Robert Engler (With the Cambridge Law Firm, in Atlantic); Anne Rohling, a lawyer from Council Bluffs who owns her own law firm; Marti Sleister, an experienced trial attorney in criminal and juvenile law, with the Sleister Law firm in Fremont, NE; and Vanessa Strazdas, a lawyer from Omaha.

On Wednesday (Jan. 30th), the Supervisors discussed the four applicants.  During their meeting, it was noted that all four were well qualified.  One applicant is a current county resident and the other three noted they would be able to establish residence by date of appointment, therefore the board determined that all were eligible for appointment.  After due consideration, the board reached a decision on whom they would choose to appoint. That individual was reached by phone and offered the position. They immediately accepted the offer.

The person appointed during the Board’s meeting at 9-a.m., Friday, will immediately succeed Michael Hooper, who Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Jan/ 11th appointed as a judge in the Fourth Judicial District. Following the appointment of the new County Attorney, the Board will act on a Resolution to approve the number of, and appointment of Administrative Assistants to the Cass County Attorney.

They will also act to fill the vacancy term of a Cass Township Trustee (an appointed position).