CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Scammers posing as panhandlers raising money for a child’s funeral that have been seen nationwide have now been spotted in Eastern Iowa. The panhandlers have been seen at locations in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. KCRG-TV says the group is holding the same signs seen in cities across the country featuring the picture of a boy who allegedly died and asking for donations to cover funeral expenses. An investigation by the station’s sister station in South Carolina found the funeral isn’t real and the signs are a scam.

Panhandlers with a scam funeral sign (Photo by WSMV in Nashville, TN)

The picture is actually of a chess player from Peru. The scammers have also been reported in Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee.

(Ames, Iowa) – Officials with the Ames Police Department said Tuesday (10/31/23), an arrest was made in connection with shooting incident that occurred a little after 9-p.m. Sept. 21st, in the 3800 block of Tripp Street, and that resulted in a man being transported to the hospital. 28-year-old Vashawn Kehoun Green, of Boone, faces felony charges that include Attempted Murder, and Dominion/Control of a Firearm/Offensive Weapon by a Felon.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Des Mines Police Department has made an arrest in the investigation involving the neglect and abandonment of a puppy last month. Officials say at around 1:30-p.m. on Oct 12th, Des Moines Animal Services and Des Moines Police Department patrol officers responded to reports of a dog that was intentionally dumped from a vehicle in an apartment complex parking lot near the 3500 blk of E. Douglas Ave. The dog did not have a collar and was not micro-chipped. An examination discovered the dog showed numerous signs of neglect. Despite efforts to save the animal, authorities say due to its health circumstances, it was necessary that the puppy be humanely euthanized.

This dog was abandoned on Oct. & later euthanized due to its neglected health.

46-year-old Des Moines resident Raquel Fernandez was identified as a suspect in the case. She faces charges that include 2 counts of Animal Neglect With Injury Or Death, and, Animal Abandonment.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – It’s that time once again for you to cast aside the “Bah-humbug” spirit and vote on who will become this year’s official “Scrooge,” in Atlantic. The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce has held their Annual Scrooge Contest since it was created in 2002 by Eleanor Hoover. Jackie Sampson and Karen Miller took over the reins in 2019 following Hoover’s passing. Over the past decade, officials say the contest has generated substantial monetary and canned goods donations for the Atlantic Food Pantry.

The 2023 “Scrooge” candidates include: Sheryl Dusenberry, Atlantic Golf & Country Club; Ed Hamilton, Ed’s Lawn Equipment; Dean Junker, Atlantic Pizza Ranch; and Chet Meneely, Family Dental Center. Donations to a contestant can be made by delivering food or funds to their drop-off locations.

The contest runs now through November 21st, at noon. The contestant with the most points will be named “Scrooge,” and have the honor of serving as the “Grand Marshal” in the Lighted Parade at 6-p.m. on December 2nd, in downtown Atlantic. And, all proceeds received in the form cash or non-perishable food items will benefit the Atlantic Food Pantry. Cash donations are worth 5 points on the dollar, and one non-perishable item earns the contestants one point.

The Atlantic Food Pantry is asking for a specific list of food items, focusing on monetary donations to help purchase other food items that are needed, including meat and refrigerated items. (Food Pantry Donation List- 2023)

Last year, contestants raised a record $29,560. Their efforts resulted in a collection of 813 food items for the Atlantic Food Pantry, which benefits individuals and families in the community. The biggest food item total combined by all four candidates, was 6,383 items in 2019.

Past Scrooge titles have been awarded to: Mary Ann Moorman 2007, Dana Halder 2008, Tammy Wise; Janet Huey 2009, Ritchie Anderson 2010, Janet Cappel 2011, Melanie Petty 2012, David Miller 2013, Mark McNees 2014, Ted Robinson 2015, Jon Johnson 2016, Rob Stamp 2017, Sonya Clausen 2018, Billie Hoover, Jackie Sampson; Lori Christianson 2019, Brain Ruge 2020, Ray Paulin 2021 and Dr. Matt Weresh, 2022.

For more information, please call the Chamber at 712.243.3017 or email chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – While there’s still much volatility in the market due to violence in the Middle East, gasoline prices are falling in Iowa as we reach November. Brian Ortner, spokesman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the costs motorists are paying are continuing a slow decline. “The average across the state is $3.20 a gallon, which is great news for us,” Ortner says. “If we look a week ago, we were 10-cents more at $3.30. A month ago, we were 28 cents higher, so definitely good news to see the prices at the pumps are going down.”

A host of factors go into gasoline prices, including the weather, disasters and world events. “The biggest component of that, obviously, is the price of crude oil. That makes up more than 55% the cost of a gallon of gas, when it gets through all the processing,” Ortner says. “Here’s that month difference, we look a month ago, crude was trading about $92-$93 per barrel. Today, we’re about $82 per barrel.”

Now that summer is solidly in the rearview mirror, Ortner say pump prices should keep dropping. “We’re moving into the fall and winter months, which means we’re driving less, so that means the demand is lower,” Ortner says, “so that’ll help decrease those costs as well, and as we move towards the holidays, we expect to see the decline continue.”

Triple-A says the cheapest gas in the state can be purchased in Des Moines at three-12 a gallon, while the most expensive gas is in Dubuque at three-41.

Police in Red Oak arrested a woman Tuesday evening (10/31/23), for Public Intoxication. Authorities say 59-year-old Rhonda Jean Sperber, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 6:27-p.m. in the 1600 block of E. Summit Street. Sperber was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Experts in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are asking Iowans — including trappers — for help in research that may explain why there are a dwindling number of gray fox in Iowa. Vince Evelsizer — a furbearer biologist for the D-N-R — says gray fox are pretty secretive, not very vocal and live primarily in wooded areas of eastern and southern Iowa.

“For the past 25 years or so their population trend has been downward, however we don’t know a whole lot about the gray fox. We know much more about the red fox than we do the gray fox,” Evelsizer says. “…Our ‘guess-timate’ is that there would be 10-20% of the gray fox out there that there used to be and that might be a generous estimate.”

The D-N-R is offering 400 dollars to trappers who catch a gray fox in a cage and turn the live animal over for the D-N-R’s research project so it can be fitted with a neck collar that has a tracking device. Evelsizer says Iowans who are certain they know where gray fox may be in their area can call the agency, because he and another staffer who’re working on the project might be able to catch the fox and put a G-P-S collar on it.

“Also if they find a fresh dead gray fox this fall and winter, we’d even like to have that for study as well. We can look at the health of that dead gray fox as far as what kind of shape was it in, what was the reason it died,” Evelsizer says, “so live foxes and dead foxes are helpful for our study.” The D-N-R conducted a survey between 2018 to 2021 and found next to zero gray fox were being trapped in Iowa, so it’s unlikely the population decline is because they’re being captured for their fur.

“What we think the likely causes are for their population decline are other things such as disease, changes to habitat and competition with other predators such as coyotes and bobcats,” Evelsizer says, “and even domestic dogs, too.”The state of Indiana has a similar project to track gray fox there. Evelsizer says the gray fox population is declining steadily in Midwestern states.

“However, in the southeastern U.S., the gray fox population is doing fine and then, also of interest, the gray fox are doing pretty well in the northern half of Minnesota,” Evelsizer says. “Why are they not doing well in the Midwest? We have some ideas, but we’d like to figure it out and get the answers through research so that we have a science based approach to it…knowing whether or not there are any kind of solutions we can implement.”

Gray fox are native to Iowa. An adult gray fox typically weighs between 10 and 12 pounds.

(Radio Iowa) – State and federal officials have confirmed bird flu has hit a third commercial turkey operation in northwest Iowa. The facility is in Buena Vista County and had about 30-thousand turkeys on site. Another turkey production facility in Buena Vista County was hit by bird flu two weeks ago.

On October 23rd, officials announced birds in a commercial turkey operation in neighboring Pocahontas County were being euthanized after bird flu had been detected there. From April through September of this year, there were NO cases of bird flu reported in the state.

According to the Iowa Department of Agriculture, though, there were two outbreaks of bird flu at the beginning of the year — one in late January at a Buena Vista County turkey production facility and another in mid-March in a backyard flock in Chickasaw County.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa leaders are breaking ground this (3 PM Tuesday) afternoon on a quarter-BILLION dollar building that will eventually be home to three of the U-I’s most popular and top-ranked programs. Rod Lehnertz, the U-I’s senior vice president for finance and operations, says the structure will house Communication Sciences and Disorders, including audiology and speech-language pathology, Health and Human Physiology, and the Carver College of Medicine’s Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Services.

Once complete, Lehnertz says the Health Sciences Academic Building will be a stunning addition to the campus, filled with classrooms, offices, laboratories and more — while also being welcoming to visitors and patients.

The six-story structure will have a modern look, mostly glass merged with a white cast-stone material, located just south of Slater Residence Hall.

The first phase of the 249-million dollar structure should be complete in mid-2025. A U-I news release says the building will be funded through a combination of University Hospitals Building Usage Funds, university investment income, and private donations — with no state funds.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” shows Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has the support of about four percent of likely Iowa Caucus goers. Ramaswamy made a campaign swing through northwest Iowa on Monday, with stops in four cities.

Ramaswamy told a crowd in Le Mars they’ll have an outsized impact on the race.

In Sioux City and Le Mars, Ramaswamy called for cracking down on China and kicking them out of the World Trade Organization.

Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott will campaign in northeast Iowa on Thursday, with stops planned in Decorah and Independence. Last week, Scott’s campaign announced the South Carolina senator was “all-in on Iowa” — and would on appealing to evangelical Christians who’ll be attending the January 15th Iowa Caucuses.