(Radio Iowa) – Iowa no longer has a mandatory retirement age for reserve police officers and volunteer fire fighters. Full and part-time police and fire fighters in Iowa must retire at the age of 65. The governor has signed a bill into law that eliminates that age restriction for volunteer fire fighters and trained reserve police officers who are volunteers, but can make arrests and investigate crimes. Senator Mike Bousselot, of Ankeny, spoke about the bill before it passed the Senate unanimously.

“We’ve all heard from Iowans the importance of good jobs and safe communities,” Bousslot says. “This bill serves both of those goals. Many communities are already using reserve police officers and volunteer fire fighters to keep those communities safe.”

The bill passed the House on an 86-to-12 vote last month and was signed into law by the governor last week. According to the Iowa League of Cities, there are over 12-hundred active reserve police officers in the state. Data from the Iowa Department of Public Safety indicates 90 percent of firefighters in Iowa are volunteers. About a thousand quit every year due to several factors, including the retirement age.

(Omaha, NE) – An investigation by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has confirmed that Viki Teacup Maltese, a website that claims to sell puppies from an Omaha residential address, is a scam. The confirmation came after BBB received a complaint and built a business profile for the company on January 9, 2023. The company has received three inquiries as of March 28, 2023. Research revealed that the domain vikimaltesehome.com was privately registered by NameCheap, Inc. on December 10, 2022, and expires on December 10, 2023. The website is currently down. The website contained text and photos of puppies for sale, but the text had grammar errors and misspelled words.

The website listed an Omaha physical address. BBB received a phone call from the actual property owner of the address, who confirmed he is not running a dog-breeding business from his home. The person also said that this was the third puppy website that had used his personal residence address as a business location.

A consumer reported to BBB that she paid for a puppy with Zelle, and it was to be shipped to her. When she did not receive the puppy, she contacted the business owner, and he said he would work something out with her and would get back to her. The consumer, who provided text messages of the exchange, said the business then blocked her number and never returned her phone call. The business did not respond to this complaint.

Per the Nebraska Secretary of State, there is no registration for Viki Teacup Maltese. The phone number (402) 382-1663 was found on several puppy scam websites, including Terry Teacup Maltese Home and Ichika Shiba Inu. The email address and website for Viki Teacup Maltese were also found on many puppy scam websites. BBB checked with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s licensing department and confirmed there is no licensed dog breeder registered by the name of Viki Teacup Maltese or one located at the address listed on the website.

BBB advises consumers to be cautious when buying pets online. Consumers should research the seller and the website, and they should also ask for references and documentation of health screenings for the pet. BBB recommendations for buying pets online:

• See the pet in person before paying any money. Consider a video call with the seller if there are concerns about meeting in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This way, you are able to see the seller and the actual pet for sale.
• Conduct a reverse image search of the photo of the pet and search for a distinctive phrase in the description.
• Research the breed to get a sense of a fair price you are considering. Think twice if someone advertises a purebred dog for free or at a deeply discounted price–it could be a fraudulent offer.
• Check out a local animal shelter for pets to meet in person before adopting.

(Harlan, Iowa) – A tornado siren malfunction may have rattled a few nerves Sunday night, as severe storms were passing through the Shelby County. According to social media post by Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo, several residents in Harlan heard a tornado siren [sound] Sunday due to a malfunction. Londo said “The siren located at Dr Joseph Spearing park went off on its own at 11:15pm. After crews responded and deactivated the siren the battery backup system kicked on at that siren and started sounding it again shorty after midnight.”

According to Londo, that was the reason the siren went off twice Sunday night, “for extended periods of time.” Repairs were being made to the siren Monday morning.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A collision April 27th resulted in a total of $15,000 damage, but no one was injured. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office Monday (today), said the accident happened at the intersection of North and 12th Streets, in Guthrie Center. Authorities say a 2021 transit bus driven by 75-year-old George W. Hunt, of Guthrie Center, was traveling eastbound on North Street at around 3:30-p.m., and stopped at the intersection. Hunt told Deputies he looked down the road on 12th Street, but didn’t see an oncoming northbound 2014 Buick Verano, due to a house on the corner that obstructed his vision.

When Hunt proceeded into the intersection, he saw the oncoming car at the last minute, but was unable to stop. The transit bus was struck by the Buick, which was driven by 53-year-old Roberta Ann Nicholson, of Guthrie Center. No citations were issued, due to obstructed vision.

(Radio Iowa) – Reports say a woman in eastern Iowa survived a lightning strike in Sunday afternoon’s severe thunderstorms, while a tornado touched down in southwest Iowa’s Fremont County near Hamburg about 8 last night. That twister was relatively weak and there are no reports of significant damage. Meteorologist Alexis Jimenez, at the National Weather Service, says the biggest trouble-maker in this round of storms was large hail. “We’ve had quite a few reports of hail, especially in the afternoon hours yesterday,” Jimenez says. “We had up to baseball-sized hail out in places near Carroll. You also had a lot of reports of damage from hail in places like Grinnell. We also had two-inch hail in Ames.” Trees and power lines were damaged, causing power outages in Cedar, Iowa and Keokuk counties, with the largest outage being about a thousand homes in Johnson County.

“We also did have some damaging wind reports,” Jimenez says. “We had some severe wind gusts last night, especially in places like Osceola, we had some damage reports down there.” Strong winds blew a semi onto its side on Interstate 80 near Grinnell, injuring the truck’s driver and tying up traffic. Wind gusts exceeded 60 miles an hour in some places, including near Collins in Story County. “We also had some power lines that had been knocked down on Highway 65,” she says. A photo from the Story County Sheriff’s Office shows a whole row of utility poles either snapped off by the straight-line winds or leaning to the side with the wires still attached. The weather service is still weeding through dozens of spotter reports of large hail.

“Just a lot of hail damage to siding and to roofs where we did have those severe hail reports,” Jimenez says. “We did have some straight-line wind damage, just a lot of trees down.” Multiple media reports say a woman was struck by lightning about 4:30 P-M Sunday in a Target parking lot in Cedar Rapids. She was reportedly alert and conscious when first responders arrived, though no name or condition report was released.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four recent arrests:

Friday evening, 22-year-old Kaylee Marie Kingery, of Greenfield, was arrested in the 100 block Manor Drive, in Creston. Kingery was charged with Driving while Barred. She was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 11:20-p.m., Friday, 31-year-old William Alwynn Darius Bell, of Creston, was arrested in the 800 block N Sumner. Bell was charged with a FTA (Failure to Appear) Warrant thru New Mexico, on original charges of Robbery and Attempt to Commit a Felony. Bell was taken to the Union County Jail and held, while awaiting extradition to New Mexico.

Saturday night, 40-year-old Charles Edward Miller, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston Union County LEC. Miller was charged with OWI 1st Offense. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, Sunday evening, 28-year-old Tania Patricia Hernandez, of Creston, was arrested at her residence. Hernandez was charged with allowing an Animal to run at Large. She was cited and released from the scene.

Creston Police said also, a Creston man reported Sunday evening, that while shopping at Bomgaars in Creston, his keys and wallet were taken. The loss estimated at $51.

(Radio Iowa) – A man convicted of attempted murder after shooting a Linn County Deputy seven times during a robbery at a gas station in Coggon in June 2021 has been sentenced to 102 years in prison. Stanley Donahue will have to spend at least 40 of it behind bars. The Linn County Deputy, William Halverson, has recovered and is back on duty. He was one of the victims who gave an impact statement at the hearing before Donahue’s sentencing on Friday.

(Regional News) – Storms that formed in parts of western Iowa early Sunday afternoon moved east with strong winds and incredibly large hail. The warnings began to pop for Crawford, Carroll, Greene and Story Counties at around 1-p.m., Sunday. Photos show power lines down in the Story County town of Collins at around 3:45-p.m. Tennis ball size hail was observed in Grinnell, and parts of Marshall County.

A semi-truck driver was hurt after strong winds blew their truck over on Interstate 80 westbound east of Grinnell Sunday. The Iowa State Patrol said the semi-truck toppled over at 5:05 p.m. The semi-truck was upright a couple of hours later, but it did cause traffic backups on I-80. State Patrol said the driver had minor injuries.

A second set of storms formed in southwest Iowa at around 4:30-p.m., and spread to the northeast, bringing large hail and reports of a tornado eight-miles west/northwest of Hamburg a little after 8-p.m. Hail the size of tennis balls reported near Bridgewater damaged the siding on homes.

Marshall County S/O

Collins in Story County

Quarter-to half-dollar size hail fell fell elsewhere in southwest Iowa. See a timeline of storm reports and related damage, relayed by the National Weather Service, on the kjan.com Weather page.

Grinnell (Photo via Ed Wilson,, WHO-TV)

(Radio Iowa) – Warmer weather is finally here and Iowans who love to fish are getting out on — or beside — their favorite bodies of water, casting lines and seeing what they can catch. Nate Carr, a state D-N-R conservation officer from Eldora, says besides your fishing pole and the tackle box, there’s one other important thing you should bring along. “If you’re 16 or older and you’re fishing in public water, you’re required to have a fishing license,” Carr says.

“All that goes to help promote and manage the fisheries that we do have. There’s a lot of work from our fisheries bureau that goes towards surveying lakes, trying to understand how our population is doing, and how to best manage that body of water.” Fishing regulations do change from year to year, and Carr says you’ll want to keep up or risk getting a fine.

“Depending on where you’re fishing, length limits and daily limits, you may see some differences whether you’re fishing in the river or a lake,” Carr says. “So it’s a good idea to find yourself a fishing reg booklet for 2023.” He says you don’t need to look far to get the full rundown of state fishing regulations. “Honestly, one of the easiest ways to come across that is, just to go on our website — iowadnr.gov — and you can search ‘fishing regs’ and download a copy to your phone or your laptop or whatever you have handy,” he says.

The annual Iowa Free Fishing Weekend is scheduled for June 2nd through the 4th.

(Radio Iowa) – South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has taken one last swing through Iowa before announcing he’s running for the G-O-P’s next presidential nomination. Scott spoke to about 50 people in Waukee this weekend, promising he’s comfortable in conflict and has a stiff enough spine to take on competitors. “Why are you considering running for president?” a woman in the crowd asked. “I think it’s my responsibility to restore hope, create opportunities and protect the America we love…That’s why I’ve decided to make an announcement on May 22nd.”

Scott began the hour-long event by sharing with his life story and providing his list of key American values. “Hard work does pay off…If you’re able bodied, you work. If you take out a loan, you pay it back,” Scott said. “…We just need to follow some common sense as Americans and if we do so, we’ll find ourselves emerging into another American century.” The most enthusiastic crowd response came when Scott described fentanyl as an existential threat to the country. Beyond his support of a wall along the border, Scott is co-sponsoring a bill to hire more border patrol agents and what he describes as surveillance technology that could detect fentanyl.

“The Mexican cartels trafficking drugs across our border must to cease to exist. They have to go away,” Scott said, to applause. “My legislation freezes their assets and we should figure out a way to target their manufacturing locations.” Scott has been a U.S. Senator since 2013 and he started visiting Iowa in 2014, speaking at G-O-P fundraisers and alongside Iowa Republican running for office.

“This probably is my 15th or 16th trip to Iowa,” Scott said. Scott tweeted after Saturday’s event, saying it’s time for Republicans to take back the White House and that work starts now.