The electronic billboard signs on Iowa interstates are including the message “Where’s Baby? Look Before you Lock” this week to remind people to not leave kids in hot cars. Iowa Department of Transportation spokesperson, Andrea Henry, says the campaign comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: “This week’s message is an important one, especially given the high heat this week. We want to make sure that people are paying attention when they leave their vehicles,” Henry says. She says children die of heatstroke across the country every year after being left in locked vehicles.

“Any time one child dies in a situation like this it’s tragic so if we can prevent even one death or one child getting sick because they left their child for a small amount of time I think it’s worth it,” according to Henry. Henry says the billboard message was planned even before this week’s high temperatures.

The federal government reports that on average nearly 40 children die of heatstroke each year, and more than half were left in vehicles unintentionally.

(Radio Iowa)

A northwest Iowa man is jailed in the Omaha area on a charge of selling several thousand dollars worth of stolen camera equipment through the website Craigslist. La Vista (Nebraska) Police Chief Bob Lausten (LAW-stun) says it’s an open-and-shutter case.  “Back in May, we had a photographer from California that was staying at the Courtyard Marriott,” Chief Lausten says. “When he checked in with all of his equipment, one of his bags didn’t make it up to his room and he reported it lost or stolen. On July 4th, he sent me an email that said he’d seen a Craigslist ad that had what he believed was his equipment for sale by somebody from Sioux City.” La Vista police detectives posed as buyers and contacted the seller.

“Detectives had an idea this might be our victim’s property and asked the suspect to send us the serial numbers so we could make sure it wasn’t stolen,” Lauston says. “He sent us the serial numbers, we verified it was the stolen property. The suspect still wanted to come down and make the sale. He showed up in La Vista with the stolen camera equipment and he was taken into custody.” The suspect is identified as Keegan Ingram of Sioux City and the chief says Ingram has his version of events.

“His story was that he’d bought that from somebody else, so this may’ve been the second or third time this property had been sold,” Lauston says. “We don’t know exactly who stole it but we know who had possession of it.” The camera equipment is valued at four-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa)

Nearly 300 Iowans, who hoped to become teachers, will be getting refunds after taking classes from an online college and later learned their education degree would not allow them to teach school in Iowa. The students took classes with Ashford Online, a subsidiary of Bridgeport Education of San Diego. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners had not approved Ashford for certification for Iowa teachers. The students who were “deceived,” according to Miller, will be splitting refunds totaling more than $5.2 million.

“The checks range from $1,000 up to $55,000,” Miller said. “All of these folks, but particularly the people getting larger checks, have student debt for (Bridgeport), including federal loans, far beyond the checks we are delivering, but they are substantial checks.” Ashford has a physical campus in Clinton that will be closed down next year. Miller said around 99-percent of the students taking Ashford courses do so online. Christina LeBlanc, of Camanche, was shocked to learn she wouldn’t get a teaching certificate after her time at Ashford, but she’s planning to take classes elsewhere in hopes of one day becoming a teacher.

“I’m going to keep pushing forward, so it’s an obstacle and I’ll jump over it,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc is getting a $21,000 refund as part of the settlement between Bridgeport-Ashford and the Iowa Attorney General’s office. That will cover less than half of her student loan debt. “I’ve got about $50,000 and I’ve still got so much further to go,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc said she was drawn to Ashford because she could take classes online, continue to work full-time and take care of her family.

(Radio Iowa)

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says a Corning man was arrested on a simple misdemeanor charge of Harassment, Wednesday evening. Jay John Russell was taken into custody at his home at around 6-p.m., and was being held in the Adams County Jail without bond pending an appearance in front of a magistrate.

The Atlantic Police Department today (Wednesday) issued a clarification with regard to the arrest of a Cumberland woman on a charge of 2nd Degree Theft.

Tiffany Lillard (Booking photo)

Police Chief Steve Green said “As a result of an internal investigation conducted by Hy-Vee loss prevention personnel, and in collaboration with an investigator with the Atlantic Police Department, Tiffany Lillard, of Cumberland, was arrested for Theft in excess of $9,800 that she allegedly perpetrated over a period of several months.”

Green said “The charge alleges that Lillard falsely showed that she was charging prescriptions to nursing homes, when in actuality, she was simply diverting Hy-Vee store funds to gift cards for her own use.”

Green concluded by saying that “No patient accounts or nursing homes were ever falsely charged, and that only internal funds belonging to Hy-Vee were diverted.”

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have passed a Resolution calling for the securing of a loan to refinance the purchase of a County-owned building across the street from the Courthouse. Their action today (Wednesday) will save the County about 2.5-percent in interest and approximately $8,000 over the course of the initial loan. The move followed a public hearing during which there were no written comments or members of the public in attendance.

Supervisors Gaylord Schelling and Mark Wedemeyer mentioned most the persons who asked questions about the loan were in favor of refinancing once they learned it would be saving the County some money.

In other business, Cass County Engineer Charles Marker updated the Board on current projects, which include the lining of some rusted out pipes located under paved roads. One of the pipes is located under County Road G-30 [Airport Road], by Indian Creek. Another is located under G-43 just west of N-28, or west of Cumberland. The third is the Canby Road south of Anita, toward the Adair County line.

Denco Construction out Mingo worked on those projects with assistance from the Secondary Roads Department. Work is currently underway putting bags under the liners in preparation for the pouring of concrete, or flowable mortar, between the liner and old pipe. Afterward, it’s a simple matter of grading the inlets and outlets for the pipe. Marker said lining the pipes is much more cost effective than tearing up the road to replace the pipe and long lasting.

Marker says Cunningham-Reis, out of Van Meter, is working on installing the components for a new bridge on the Cass County Landfill road. And, a pre-construction meeting with A-M Cohron is slated to take place next Tuesday week with regard to the Griswold Golf Course Bridge project. The anticipated start date for the project is August 3rd.

Immediately after that meeting, a pre-construction meeting will be held with PCI, out of Minnesota. They’re the contractor responsible for work on the Troublesome Creek Bridge northeast of Atlantic. Marker says they are tentatively expected to begin work on the project at the end of this month.

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

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The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) – Authorities in Nebraska say two people, including a woman from Pottawattamie County, have died in a rollover accident near Beaver Lake in Cass County, NE.  22-year-old Jeremiah Ferguson, of Omaha and 21-year-old Kelsey Leclaire, of Council Bluffs, died Tuesday.

Authorities say a 2006 Volkswagen GTI Hatchback went through a stop sign at a Highway 75 intersection and struck an embankment. According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, the vehicle went over a fence before it landed upside down in a bean field.

Cass County (NE) Sheriff William Brueggemann said a local lawn care service noticed tracks and debris and found the vehicle, which was not visible from the highway. Brueggemann said speed was likely a factor in the crash.