Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau reports 42-year-old Dustin French, of Red Oak, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (Class D Felony) and one count of Theft in the 2nd Degree (Class D Felony) following an investigation by the Bureau.

The charges against French, a former licensed insurance producer, stem from an investigation which began in April of 2020. According to criminal complaints filed by the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau, French provided false information to his insurance company in order to obtain insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.

On March 2, 2021, French answered to the charges in Montgomery County District Court and was released on his own recognizance. Trial will be set for a future date. No additional information will be provided at this time.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Radio Iowa) – As the pandemic is forcing many tens of thousands of Iowans to work from home, the state’s official jobs website is offering some new options. Iowa Workforce Development is adding a Remote/Work From Home jobs display to its website in an effort to help job seekers who are specifically looking for that type of opportunity.

Workforce director Beth Townsend says the new tab should make it easier for Iowans to identify and apply for those jobs, noting, there are more than 76-thousand overall jobs available statewide on the site. Townsend is also encouraging the state’s employers to post their remote and work from home opportunities on IowaWORKS.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – COVID-19 ruined vacation plans for countless Iowans in the past year, but more than 300 Iowa high school students are getting a full refund on a band trip that was shut down by the virus. Lynn Hicks, spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General, says a Colorado-based travel outfit, Voyageurs International, had offered what it was calling the Ambassadors of Music Tour and 307 Iowans paid in advance.

“They signed up for this band tour of Europe, it was cancelled because of the pandemic,” Hicks says. “They got part of their money back but the contract said that it was less $1,900.” The Iowa students paid more than 63-hundred dollars each for the tour and accompanying adults paid 67-hundred, while about 40 Iowans paid at least two-thousand dollars more for a side trip to Greece.

“A lot of the students and their parents came to us, we talked to the company and found out the company had received some of the money back from the vendors that they worked with,” Hicks says. “We felt it was best that they return the full amount to the students and that’s what happened.” The Iowa Attorney General’s Office alleged the company violated several laws, including the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. The company denied the charges but agreed to pay back the full 610-thousand dollars to its Iowa clients.

“We appreciate that they worked with us on this,” Hicks says. “The company did mislead the Iowans in how they handled this event, so in the end, we think it’s a nice end to the story.” The A-G’s office is in now in the process of contacting the Iowans and will send them refund checks.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A decision by the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district to stick with remote learning in the midst of a pandemic could end up costing him his job. Television station WOI reports that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is seeking to strip Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ahart of his administrator license.

The board says it found probable cause that Ahart failed to submit or implement a lawful plan to return students to the classroom for the 2020-21 school year as required by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The license is a state requirement to hold the position of schools superintendent in Iowa.

[Updated] (Radio Iowa) – After blasting those who are spreading what she called misleading and inaccurate information about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for COVID-19, Governor Kim Reynolds took the shot herself on live T-V Wednesday morning. “I wouldn’t ask Iowans to do anything that I’m not willing to do,” Reynolds said. The governor’s husband, Kevin, and top public health advisor Kelly Garcia were also vaccinated during the governor’s televised news conference. “Is she done?” Reynolds asked, moments after getting the shot. “Wow, o.k.”

Earlier, Reynolds said there’s been unwarranted criticism of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the third to be approved for use nationwide. “This information is misleading and quite frankly it’s irresponsible to position any vaccine as a less desirable option when it’s undergone the same rigorous clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy.” Reynolds calls the Johnson and Johnson vaccine a “game changer,” since it is a single dose shot which doesn’t require a booster several weeks later, as the others do. Plus, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine can be stored in a standard refrigerator.

Tyson is setting up mass vaccination sites at its meatpacking plants in Iowa this week. Reynolds says within five weeks, the goal is to have employees at 456 food processing and manufacturing plants in Iowa vaccinated. All Iowans who live and work in congregate settings — like assisted living facilities — should be vaccinated by the first week of April as well. State officials say both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been given to ALL nursing home residents and employees who wanted it. The roughly 25-thousand doses of those two vaccines the state had been receiving each week for that purpose will now be made available to eligible Iowans through Walgreens and C-V-S pharmacies.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors for Iowa say a Marion man has been convicted of forging and counterfeiting postage stamps. Prosecutors say in a news release that a federal judge in Cedar Rapids found 42-year-old Bradley Jon Matheny guilty Tuesday after a one-day trial of seven counts of postage meter stamp forgery and counterfeiting and three counts of export violations. Prosecutors say Matheny used forged and counterfeited postage meter stamps to ship most of the more than 28,000 packages he mailed to his eBay business customers between November 2015 and May 2017. Matheny faces up to 65 years in federal prison and a $2.5 million fine when he’s sentenced at a later date.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Council Bluffs was arrested on numerous charges, Tuesday. 33-year old Lisa Marie Sivard was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense, Possession of Methamphetamine/1st Offense, and Possession of Adderall 1st Offense. Sivard was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $1,000 bond.

And, on February 27th, Cass County Deputies arrested 31-year old Brady J. Murphy, of Anita, for OWI/1st Offense. Murphy was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to an accident last Saturday, on Main Street, in Griswold. A collision between a 2011 Chevy Traverse owned & driven by 32-year old Jessica Lea Shoemake, of Hastings, and a 2018 Jeep Cherokee, owned & driven by 23-year old Allyson Leann Watson, of New Virginia, happened at around 1:30-p.m., as the Chevy Traverse was backing out of a parking space on Main Street.

The vehicle was struck on the driver’s side rear by the westbound Cherokee. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Chevy Traverse is estimated at $3,500; damage to the Jeep Cherokee is estimated at $4,500.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa lawmaker who’s been trying to legalize psychedelic mushrooms for medical use got a statehouse hearing on the idea today (Wednesday), but Representative Jeff Shipley’s bill was defeated in subcommittee on a zero-to-three vote. Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, says psilocybin — the chemical found in so-called “magic” mushrooms — should be legalized as treatment for things like depression, addiction and end of life care. “I just want to thank everyone for coming out for a great discussion,” Shipley says. “I think that we’ve had some powerful testimony that there is indeed some medical value to these substances.”

Todd Mulford of Hampton told lawmakers psilocybin helped him break a decades-long addiction to meth and he’s been sober for five years. “Without strong plant medicines that naturally occur in nature — effective, beneficial, non-harmful, safe medicine — there’s no way that I can even sustain my sobriety,” Mulford says. Brent Russell of Ankeny says he suffers from anxiety and went to the Netherlands for treatment with psilcybin, where it’s legal. “For at least six months after that first use, I could feel this relief off my shoulders. My wife said the same thing,” he said. “I’ve been back a few times to use psilocybin. We can’t do this in Iowa, because it’s illegal.”

Shannon Myers, a certified rehabilitation counselor in the Des Moines area, says she is Iowa’s only psychedelic integration provider.  “I’m here to decriminalize nature,” she told lawmakers. Myers says psilocybin helped her five years ago after an auto immune reaction that 20 doctors were unable to diagnose and treat. “I’ve seen it beneficial for those with complex trauma, PTSD…It’s great for smoking, alcohol addiction,” she said. “I don’t even drink anymore. I’m totally sober. I just love being alive and that was from just one interaction.” Chuck Hurley, a key lobbyist for conservative causes in the legislature, testified at the hearing on his own behalf.

Hurley says having been a drug addict himself 40 years ago, he’s open to the discussion. “I Timothy 4:4 says, ‘For everything God created is good if it is received with thanksgiving,’ and so I just think there’s got to be a way to use these things that can help people with severe depression,” Hurley says, “without leading to more abuse of it.” The subcommittee members who defeated the bill all said they wanted to learn more about clinical trials of the drug, but prefer that the state wait until the Food and Drug Administration clears psilcybin for medical use in the United States.

Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) report the organization has signed economic development partnership agreements with local economic development groups to provide outreach, technical services, loan assistance, and recovery planning to help businesses and local governments recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In total, SWIPCO is providing $180,000 to support these efforts. The local partners include:

• The Cass/Atlantic Development Corporation [CADCO] (in Cass County) $30,000
• Clarinda Economic Development (in Eastern Page County) $15,000
• Harrison County Development Corporation (in Harrison County) $30,000
• Montgomery County Development Corporation (in Montgomery County) $30,000
• Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in Shelby County) $30,000
• Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association (in Western Page, Fremont Counties) $45,000

CADCO Executive Director, Jennifer McEntaffer says “Cass/Atlantic Development Corp. is excited to partner with SWIPCO, offering assistance to business recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our mission to reach out to area businesses to assist in any way we can. Please feel free to contact our office at 14 West 6th Street in Atlantic, email jencadco@metc.net, or call us at (712) 243-2022.” In addition, SWIPCO has announced a COVID-19 Recovery Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), to help businesses in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Page, and Shelby counties recover from the pandemic.

The $500,000 revolving loan fund will support businesses by serving as an important tool in rebuilding the region’s overall economy, especially when commercial financing is unavailable. SWIPCO RLF funds may also be combined with other government programs. Furthermore, they may be used to leverage necessary financing from local lending institutions. Because of the pandemic, special loan terms are available, as low as 0% interest and loan payment deferrals for up to a year.

The intent of the COVID fund is to provide flexibility to meet emerging recovery trends. With loan amounts that range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $150,000, borrowers may use the money for working capital, inventory, and asset purchases such as machinery, equipment, furniture, and fixtures. Loans will be made until June 30, 2022, and loan terms shall not exceed 10 years for any loan. The economic development partnership program and the COVID RLF are funded through a CARES Act grant agreement with the US Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.

For more information about the COVID-19 loan fund, please visit SWIPCO’s website at www.swipco.org