The first day of winter is two months away according to the calendar. But, for the Iowa Department of Transportation, the winter season has already arrived. Craig Bargfrede, the DOT’s winter operations administrator, says they’re busy preparing equipment and materials for that first big snowfall. And the agency is hiring snow plow operators.

“We’re looking at somewhere around 600 of those slot available across the state. So far, we’re getting a pretty good response for getting those positions filled,” Bargfrede said. For the DOT, the winter season runs from mid-October through mid-April. Snow plow drivers can earn quite a bit of cash if it’s a harsh winter.

“The starting wage is $17.28 an hour and it varies from location to location, but it’s basically an on-call type of program,” Bargfrede said. The Iowa Department of Transportation is responsible for snow and ice removal on more than 9,000 miles of Iowa highways.

(Radio Iowa) – More info. at https://www.iowadot.gov/careers

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of crashing his car into a river in western Iowa, killing a teenager, has been found guilty of vehicular homicide and eight other charges.

The Sioux City Journal reports that a Crawford County jury convicted 26-year-old Ramon Hernandez on Friday. Besides the homicide count, Hernandez was found guilty of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, one count of delivery or possession with intent to deliver and four counts of providing alcohol to a minor.

Authorities say Hernandez drove through a farm field with four teenagers in his car before it plunged into the Boyer River on Jan. 19. He and three of the others reached safety. The body of 15-year-old Yoana Acosta was found a week later on Jan. 26.

Authorities in Union County said today (Friday), that “Text 2 911” is now live for U.S. Cellular customers in Union County.  Chief Dispatcher Mark Williams said they want the public to know that this option is available to them if needed.  Voice calls are the preferred method of contacting 911.  Call if you can, text if you cant.

Text 2 911 is primarily for the deaf, hard of hearing or those with a speech impediment.  It is also beneficial to those who would be put into a dangerous situation to make a 911 call. Unlike voice calls, you must have an active cell phone plan to text 911.  Currently, any phone can make a voice call to 911, regardless of service status.

Text e 911 capable counties shaded in tan. (as of 10/20/17)

You cannot send a picture or video message to 911. Williams said “Abuse of 911 applies to both text and voice calls for 911.  Please use it only in emergencies.”

Currently all counties in the KJAN listening area have Text 2 911 capability, EXCEPT Pottawattamie and Monona. Three counties in southeast Iowa are also not yet capable of receiving text 911 messages.

DES MOINES, IOWA – The Department of Human Services (DHS) reports today (Friday), the DHS was the target of a phishing email campaign on August 23, 2017. Hackers were able to mask their identities and send very carefully designed phishing emails to employees to appear like they were sent from another trusted DHS employee. As a result, nine DHS employees provided their passwords which gave the hackers access to their email accounts.

Officials say fortunately, the campaign was discovered the same day the phishing email was sent to DHS, and the employees changed their passwords as soon as possible to block access to their email accounts and to minimize the potential for confidential information to be exposed. All DHS employees were quickly alerted to the phishing email campaign to prevent access to additional email accounts.

The hackers potentially accessed Protected Health Information (PHI) for 820 individuals during the timeframe before passwords were changed. At this time, DHS does not have any evidence to indicate the hackers actually accessed any of the exposed emails.

All individuals potentially affected are being notified by mail. Although the chance that these individual’s personal information will be misused is small, DHS will provide up to a year of credit monitoring through TransUnion Interactive at no charge to all those affected.

Since phishing emails are often sent to government agencies, DHS takes a number of steps to continually educate staff on how to recognize and report phishing emails and to protect their usernames and passwords. Information on encrypting all emails that contain confidential information is being sent to all DHS employees. DHS is also implementing technological controls to prevent a hacker from accessing DHS email accounts by obtaining a user’s password. Also, all DHS employees are required to sign an annual confidentiality statement and complete annual confidentiality training.

The DHS employees who inadvertently provided their passwords when they received the phishing email were required to re-take the annual confidentiality training sessions which include detailed information about phishing emails and password protection.

If you suspect your identity has been stolen, contact your local enforcement officials or call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-888-777-4590. For more information, please visit https://dhs.iowa.gov/news-releases/data-breach-notifications or contact Matt Highland at mhighla@dhs.state.ia.us or 515-281-4848.

Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson reports the arrest at around 8-p.m. Thursday, of 50-year old Brenda Suzanne Blanco, from Exira. Blanco was charged with Public Intoxication, following an investigation into an incident that occurred in the 100 block of East South Street, in Exira. She was brought to the Audubon County Jail, held, pled guilty before a magistrate, was fined and then released.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer today (Friday), released a report on recent arrests and incidents. At around 7-p.m. Thursday, Deputies arrested 59-year old Robin Clark Latham, of rural Braddyville. Latham was taken into custody in Clarinda on a warrant for Failure to appear, on an original charge of OWI 1st Offense. He was unable to post the $1,000 cash only bond and remains in the Page County Jail pending further court proceedings.

At around 4:40-pm. Thursday, the Page County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a Burglary that had occurred within the last couple of hours, at 307 Jefferson Street in Yorktown.  The residence is owned by Jason Lee Berringer of that address.  An investigation showed that sometime between 1:30- and 4:20-p.m., Thursday, a person or persons unknown gained entry into Berringer’s residence and stole electronic devices.  Some of the devices have since been recovered. Charges are pending at this time. Sheriff Palmer says no further information is available at this point in the investigation.

At around 3:40-a.m. Wednesday, Page County Deputies were notified of a single vehicle accident on Maple Avenue just north of the intersection with 255th Street (about 2 miles northwest of College Springs). An investigation determined 59-year old Donald Vaughn Gay, of College Springs, was driving a 1993 Ford Ranger northbound on Maple Avenue, when the left front tire blew out. The pickup swerved into the west ditch and rolled several times before coming to rest on the wheels.  Gay suffered undisclosed injuries and was transported to Clarinda Regional Hospital by the Clarinda Ambulance Service. No citations were been issued. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Clarinda Fire Department, Clarinda Ambulance, and the College Springs Fire and Rescue.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers are keeping a law that makes it illegal to transport most alcohol into the state despite police saying regulation is rarely enforced. The Telegraph Herald reports that the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division issued a bulletin this month to remind residents about the rules. Department spokesman Tyler Ackerson says residents can’t purchase beer or wine in another state and transport it into Iowa. The law allows for 1 liter of liquor purchased in the U.S. or 4 liters from outside the country to be personally imported.

Officials say the reminder was prompted by an increase in inquiries about the law.  Police say enforcing the law would require too many resources.  Ackerson says the division tried to reverse the law last year, but the Legislature didn’t act on it.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate declined slightly in September to 3.2 percent, reversing a small increase in the previous month. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the unemployment rate drop came as the number of unemployed residents dropped to 54,600 in September, about 4,500 lower than in August. The August rate was 3.3 percent.

There were 1.63 million Iowa residents with jobs in September, an increase of about 4,500 from August but down 4,400 from a year ago. Iowa’s unemployment rate compares to a national rate of 4.2 percent.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports four people were arrested on separate charges this past week. On Wednesday, Deputies arrested: a 14-year-old male from Atlantic,  on a charge of Delivery of a Controlled Substance. The juvenile was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center and held while awaiting a hearing. And, Shane Dean Jenkins was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Jenkins was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond.

On Monday, Cass County Deputies arrested 34-year old Zachary Alan Frank,  of Lewis, on charges of felony Domestic Abuse and felony Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. Frank was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $10,000 bond.

And, last Saturday (Oct. 14th), 18-year old Frazier Rodney Antrelle Mack, of Fremont, NE, was arrested in Cass County on charges of Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense and OWI 1st Offense. Mack was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on his own recognizance.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS