OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The FBI’s Omaha field office is warning college students in Nebraska and Iowa of a phone scam that spoofs the FBI’s telephone number on the victim’s caller ID.

The FBI says its offices in at least eight states have received multiple calls reporting the scam involving someone claiming to be an FBI agent and demanding repayment of a school loan and tuition. The caller sometimes threatens the victim with arrest and not graduating from school if payment isn’t immediately made via MoneyGram or some other method.

The FBI says the caller often knows the name of the victim and calls a personal cellphone number, as well as a work number, to reach intended victims.

The FBI says it does not call people demanding money.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Red Oak Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office report the arrest of two men after officers were called to the intersection of North 8th and East Reed Streets in Red Oak late Friday night. At 11:37pm Officers arrested 48-year-old Darrell Lee Walter and 29-year-old Mark Frederick Meyer, both of Red Oak, for Public Intoxication.  Both men were taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond each.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest early this (Saturday) morning of a Red Oak man. At 1:02am Officers arrested 24-year-old Dillon Roy Karwal for Criminal Mischief 3rd Degree. Karwal was arrested in the 300 block of East Prospect Street. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

A top state administrator is considering a change that would have state employees conduct the screening for prospective foster parents rather than out-source that work. Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven says it’s one of the ideas he’s heard from the employees in his agency.

“One of the things those case workers are telling me: ‘What if we didn’t contract that out? What if we took that money and hired more case workers and let us do that work that we traditionally do?’ That’s some of the things we want to look at.” Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, says under the current system, groups like Lutheran Social Services have won contracts to conduct initial home visits and screen potential foster parents.

“And so if their agency is to be paid, their agency must succeed at recruiting and retaining and oftentimes it is taking people they should be passing on,” McCoy says. Licensed social workers on the state payroll need to be making those calls, according to McCoy. He also suggests there is a “profit motive” involved on the part of some parents who adopt foster kids and get state subsidies.

“If they’re going to receive those kind of subsidies, we need more oversight,” McCoy says. “We need more transparency and we need to ensure they are the type of people we want to entrust these already damaged and abused children with.” Foxhoven took over as director of the Department of Human Services in mid-June. Foxhoven says if the outsourcing continued, he’s evaluating how to write accountability into the contracts for organizations that screen foster care families.

“To make sure that we get good people,” Foxhoven says. Foster care parents in West Des Moines and Perry have been charged in connection with the recent deaths of two teenage girls who had been adopted. Both were extremely malnourished. Foxhoven and McCoy discussed the state’s child welfare system during taping of the Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program that aired Friday night, and is available for viewing online at: site.iptv.org/iowapress.

(Radio Iowa)

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Friday of a Red Oak man.  At 10:30am Officers arrested 26-year-old Devon Keith Hale for Public Intoxication, a simple misdemeanor. Hale was arrested in the 700 block of East Knuckols Street. He was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge has ruled that the details of “shadow insurance” subsidiaries created by several life insurers can remain confidential. Indiana University professor emeritus Joseph Belth sought the documents last year under Iowa’s open records law, saying he believes they would expose risky financial practices that could bankrupt some insurers.

Judge Lawrence McLellan sided Thursday with the industry and state regulators, saying the documents are part of the companies’ “plans of operations” and exempt from disclosure. Companies such as TransAmerica have taken advantage of an Iowa law to transfer billions of dollars in liabilities to subsidiaries. Insurers say the arrangements free them from accounting rules mandating that they hold excess cash reserves.

Belth is seeking copies of the financial guarantees the companies made to their subsidiaries, saying policyholders and shareholders should know whether they’re sound.

Several individuals filed nomination papers for the City Elections in Cass County, today (Friday). According to the Cass County Auditor’s Office the following submitted papers and will have their names on their respective city ballots:

Julianne M Adams-Griswold City Council

Mark Harris-Anita City Council

Rick Sanny-Lewis City Council

Kathy Somers-Atlantic Ward 2 City Council (Incumbent)

Brad A Rhine-Griswold Mayor

There’s less than a week to go now before the filing deadline (Sept. 21st at 5-p.m.)

A traffic stop on Highway 71 near 130th Street in Audubon County at around 1-a.m. today (Friday) resulted in the arrest of two people on drug charges. According to the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, 39-year old Nancy Beth Nelson, and 30-year old Dustin Douglas Williams, both of Audubon, were taken into custody.

Nelson was charged with: Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine over 5 grams: Possession Marijuana; 3 counts of Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, No Insurance and Insufficient number of headlights. Williams was charged with Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine over 5 grams, Possession Marijuana, and two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Nelson and Williams were transported to the Audubon County Jail and held. K-9 Axel assisted at the scene and detected narcotics in the vehicle. The incident remains under investigation.

A businessman and farmer from Atlantic received notice Thursday that was nominated to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board, Farm Credit Administration.

Glen R. Smith (Photo courtesy Fischer Photography)

The nomination of Glen R. Smith, of Atlantic, was announced Thursday by the White House Press Secretary. The nomination has been sent to the U-S Senate for confirmation, and Smith will appear before the Senate Ag Committee later this Fall for a hearing, prior to any action on approval.

Smith is currently the President of Smith Land Service, Co., and owner/operator of a corn and soybean farm in western Iowa, in partnership with his wife Fauzan and son, Peter. He told KJAN News the process of being nominated began “By happenstance.”

After a brief conversation with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, Smith said his curiosity led him to apply to the Trump transition team website. It wasn’t long afterward that he was called to Washington, D-C and interviewed at the White House at the end of April.

He says they called back in May and “Passed the mustard,” as far as receiving clearance checks in July. Since then, he’s been waited for word on whether or not he would be nominated.

If he is appointed by the President and approved by the Senate, Smith will serve on an advisory policy and rates Board for the Farm Credit Administration, an independent Federal agency that regulates and examines the banks, associations, and related entities of the Farm Credit System (FCS).  FCS is the largest agricultural lender in the U-S, and is a nationwide network of lending institutions that are owned by their borrowers. It serves all 50 states, and Puerto Rico.

The advisory Board members, Smith says, typically serve a six-year term, but he would be filling the term of a board member who died in March. Therefore his term would expire 2022. If he is appointed, Smith says he’ll need to make accommodations for himself and his family in Washington, D-C. 

(That includes trying to find a residence there, along the lines of a modest condominium or apartment. They will continue to maintain their home in Atlantic.)