Law officers and banks are on alert in northwest Iowa after a man tried to defraud at least four banks in the region this week. Le Mars Police Sergeant Jay King says the suspect used the same tactics at each stop, including at Kingsley State Bank in LeMars. King says, “What he did is he would take a stolen check, a forged check, and write it out for a large amount, deposit it into a real account of somebody who was not involved in any of this but keep an amount of cash out, basically causing an act of theft for the amount he kited from the check.”

Police are circulating a photo of the man.

Bank fraud suspect

“The subject is described as a person of 40 to 50 years of age with a close-cut haircut,” King says. “He was wearing an Ace bandage on his right arm, dressed in business attire. He drove away in a white Chevy Impala.”

It appears the same suspect also tried the scam at two Sioux County banks — in Granville and Alton — and later at a bank in Sioux City. Officials would not say how much money was involved.

(Radio Iowa)

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency has discontinued the seasonal field/grassland Fire Danger notices. Local fire departments and businesses with the Fire Danger warning signs may move them in the “Low” category.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says thanks those who posted Fire Danger Boards and the media,  for emphasizing, the potential fire danger in Shelby County. “Public awareness, reminding citizens of the danger associated with open burning, and the availability of their Local Fire Chief to help them assess, and, plan safe burns” he says, “benefits all of us.”

Seivert says “Twice a week (During the planting and harvest season) we ask our Local Fire Chiefs to move or change the local fire danger boards. These are volunteers, and it shows their dedication, to prevent fires, as well as respond to them.”

The Fire Danger program will resume next Spring.

Three area men charged in connection with multiple Jan. 2015 hunting violations in Cass and Audubon Counties have had at least some of the charges dismissed in court. Online court records show Judge Karen L. Mailander, on November 29th, dismissed charges of Reckless Use of a Firearm and Trespass filed in Cass County, against Bradley Wendt, of Denison, and Donald Kinzie, of Stuart.

A charge of Reckless Use of a Firearm filed in Cass County against Dustin Hansen, of Adair, was dismissed by the Judge back on August 30th. Continuances were requested last January in connection with a Trespass charges filed against Wendt and Kinzie, in Audubon County.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources had filed the charges on Dec. 9th, 2015. Officials began their investigation after receiving calls from the public.

A spacecraft orbiting Saturn with University of Iowa-built instruments on-board is undergoing a course change this week that will take the robotic ship much closer to the ringed planet. U-I research scientist Bill Kurth says the 20-year mission of Cassini is nearing its end and this new direction will be both exciting and saddening. “This brings us to a new phase in the mission we call the Ring Grazing Orbits,” Kurth says. “The orbit will take us very close to Saturn’s F ring, which is a tiny ring on the outer edge of the main ring system.”

Cassini was launched in 1997 and has been orbiting Saturn and its many moons since 2004, so Kurth looks forward to exploring new elements of the mysterious planet’s unique rings. “Even though we fly through what is considered a clear zone, we’ll impact with probably hundreds of tiny dust particles per second,” Kurth says. “The Iowa instrument is sensitive to those impacts and we can understand how many of those dust impacts there are, giving us an idea of what the density of the dust is.”

Next April, new commands will be sent to the spacecraft which will propel it even closer to Saturn, into an orbit that just skims the cloudtops. Kurth says they’ll be able to analyze the lightning in Saturn’s thunderstorms which can sometimes last up to nine months. “This will be below the ring system, the D ring is the inner-most ring, and above Saturn’s atmosphere,” Kurth says. “It’ll be a fantastic opportunity to study Saturn from a vantage point that we haven’t had before.”

Next September, Cassini will be given a final command that will send it plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere where it will burn up, a maneuver which leaves Kurth with mixed emotions. “It’s bittersweet,” Kurth says. “Certainly, we don’t like to see the mission end. It’s been highly successful. We make new discoveries on a regular basis. Certainly, going into these new orbits will be almost like a brand new mission for us.”

Kurth is also one of the lead researchers for Juno, the NASA spacecraft now orbiting Jupiter, which still has many years before it.

(Radio Iowa)

The Creston Police Department reports a man was arrested at the Union County Jail, Wednesday afternoon, on a warrant charging him with Violation of the State’s Sex Offender Registry, 2^nd or subsequent offense. 30-year old Sean Stauffer, of Creston, was later released on a $5,000 bond.

Creston Police said they also took three reports of Theft, Wednesday. A resident of the 300 block of N. Cedar Street reported someone broke out the rear passenger side window of his vehicle, causing an estimated $200 damage. The incident took place sometime overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. A resident of the 1000 block of S. Sumner Street reported Wednesday afternoon, that someone broke into her vehicle and took a wallet. That happened sometime between 11-p.m. Tuesday and Noon, Wednesday. The loss was estimated at $20. And, a resident living in the 500 block of W. Spencer Street in Creston, told Police Wednesday night, that someone stole a Laser Light Project from the front yard of their residence. The incident, which happened sometime during the day, Wednesday, resulted in a loss of about $40.

(8-a.m. News)

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

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The director of the Iowa Public Information Board has quit so he can become secretary of the Iowa Senate. The Des Moines Register reports  Charlie Smithson told the board’s nine members in an email last week that his resignation is effective Thursday.

The board enforces the state’s open records and open meeting laws and began operation in July 2013. Smithson has been its director since Dec. 1, 2014. Margaret Johnson will be interim director while the board looks for someone to replace Smithson.

Ed Failor Jr. is an aide to Iowa Senate Republican leader Bill Dix, and Failor confirmed Wednesday that Smithson will be named secretary of the Senate when the GOP takes majority control in January.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Iowa Department of Corrections reports a man who failed to return from Work Release on Nov. 19th and was listed as escaped, has been apprehended. 30-year old David Michael Evans was arrested Wednesday and was being held in the Polk County Jail.

Evans had been placed on escape status after failing to return to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility from his place of employment. He was transferred to Work Release on Oct. 12th.

Evans’ 40-year sentence out of Polk County for Assault While Participating in a Felony and two counts of Prohibited Acts/Drug related, began Jan. 18th, 2013.

David Michael Evans

The Iowa Lottery’s top management is shooting to “make” 70 million dollars for the state treasury every year. “Powerball” and “Hot Lotto” ticket sales grab the headlines, but sales of scratch tickets are the steady, consistent money-maker for the Iowa Lottery. Terry Rich, the organization’s C-E-O, says that’s why the Iowa Lottery “refreshes” its scratch ticket line-up more than 40 times a year. “These are all basic, block-and-tackle, year-in-year-out business practices we do to make that $70 million base,” Rich says.

Sales for the Powerball, Hot Lotto and Mega Millions drawings are driven by how high the jackpots climb. “We have highs and we have lows,” Rich says. “Last January was huge, the largest jackpot ever and that really drove money to the bottom line. Now, we’ve had some good runs. We’re $12 million ahead year-to-date on sales already, but that was a $17 million dollar in January.”

Powerball ticket sales in a normal January are about 10-million. Rich says focusing on more than just those jackpot drawings, though, is important. He compares it to farmers who plant both corn AND beans. “One year you’ll have a good run with the corn — Powerball or Lotto — and one year you’ll have a good year with the scratch ticket and other operations that we have, so we work on all those,” Rich says. “And diversity of products is very important.”

During the last state fiscal year, the Iowa Lottery sold nearly 234 MILLION dollars worth of instant scratch tickets. That was more than twice as much as total sales for the Powerball, Hot Lotto and Mega Millions jackpots. Iowa Lottery retailers sold 100-million dollars worth of tickets for those drawings.

According to the Iowa Lottery’s website, the first ticket sold by the lottery back in 1985 was for a “Scratch, Match and Win” game. The Lottery is currently offering 49 different “scratch” ticket games for sale in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)