More than 100 people who receive pensions from the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System or IPERS didn’t get their monthly payments on Tuesday.

It’s a case of identity theft and the F-B-I has been called in to investigate. According to K-C-C-I television, none of the 103 people affected had gone online to monitor their IPERS account and protect it with a password. Hackers then used Social Security numbers and other personal information to set up that online monitoring and redirect the pension checks for those 103 people.

IPERS regularly sends benefits to 115-thousand retirees. Officials told The Des Moines Register monthly benefits had been reissued to the 103 people affected by the hack.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:49 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man who died after a fire at a Des Moines apartment. The Des Moines Fire Department identified the man Wednesday as 68-year-old Osman Suljic, who was found Tuesday in his third-floor apartment where the blaze is believed to have started.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has pleaded guilty to possessing both illegal drugs and child pornography in federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Iowa says 23-year-old Jose Ramon Ortega-Ramirez entered the plea Wednesday in Sioux City’s federal court and was subsequently convicted of one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of child porn possession.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a former Des Moines teacher and basketball coach will lose his teaching license for a year for wrongly operating outside of district oversight two bank accounts with more than $1.8 million in deposits. The Des Moines Register reports that former Roosevelt High teacher Chris Cundiff also will receive a written reprimand. A state audit found hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper and undocumented spending.

Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones, Wednesday evening, announced representatives with Mediacom will be present at City Hall to discuss the City’s fiber-optic internet service. He said afterward, if you have any questions, concerns or problems Mediacom needs to know about, they will listen to what you have to say. The meeting takes place in the Council’s Chambers inside City Hall, beginning at 6-p.m. on Nov. 7th.

He reminds residents that having a fiber-optic network doesn’t guarantee you will get the full, promised high speed that’s promised, because of the limitations of wiring that varies from house to house and business to business.

Jones said also, SeeClickFix is up and running. Cards are available at City Hall for you to take home that explains how to sign up your mobile device. It’s designed to make reporting issues to the City easier, since your information is routing to the Department responsible for handling certain issues, but not all issues can be solved, such as a property disputes and ugly homes.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved the 2018 Spring/Summer Street Improvement Project Engineering Agreement. Snyder and Associates’ Engineer Dave Sturm was present to identify the streets and work that’s scheduled to be completed next year. They include:

·        Plum Street, from 7th to 14th (which includes and milling and an asphalt overlay from 7th to 10th), and a reconstruction and widening, from 10th to 14th.

·        Patching and overlay on 14th Street, from Olive to Highway 71.

·        Chestnut Street, from 18th to 22nd.

·        Intersection improvements at 9th & Cherry.

·        The construction of a “hammerhead” turn-around at the south section (dead end) of Palm Street.

·        One alley between Birch and Cedar, from 10th to 13th.

The projects will cost a little more than $1-million. And, Police Chief Dave Erickson, Wednesday, implored the public to SLOW DOWN, when you come upon the scene of an accident, where Police Officers and Rescue Crews are located. Those flashing lights are on for a reason. Erickson said they had to flag down people driving too fast near the scene of an accident at 7th and Linn, earlier this week. The maximum speed, he said, should be 15 miles per hour when approaching or passing an emergency scene. Any faster risks the lives of those who are trying to deal with the emergency at-hand.

Republican Congressman Steve King held a congressional hearing today (Wednesday) on a bill he’s sponsoring that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected. “At what instant does life begin? Science cannot precisely pinpoint the instant of conception,” King said, “but the ultrasound proves beyond any doubt that life is present every time there is a heartbeat.” King’s bill effectively would ban all abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy. King says it is “decades past” the time to overturn Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

“It is important that congress passes such a strong pro-life bill now because President Trump will hopefully appoint one or two more justices to the Supreme Court, making this a profound moment in the pro-life movement,” King said. “President Trump is actively changing the make-up of our judicial system with strong conservative nominees who would hear arguments about this bill while it is being challenged on the way to the Supreme Court.”

A Democratic congressman who spoke at the hearing called the bill a “direct attack” on a “woman’s constitutional right to choose.” Last year the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a lower court’s ruling that overturned the North Dakota law that sought to ban abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat. The federal courts have also blocked an Arkansas law that would have banned abortions after 12 weeks of a pregnancy.

Current IOWA law — enacted this past May — bans most abortions after the 20th week of a pregnancy.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES – Thousands of elementary, middle school and high school students across Iowa participated in Secretary of State Paul Pate’s 2017 Iowa Youth Straw Poll on Wednesday. The Straw Poll is an exercise designed to inspire civic engagement among Iowa’s youth and give them a feel for how the electoral process works.

Secretary Pate said “I want to thank all the teachers, principals, and administrators who helped organize the event at their schools. This was a terrific, hands-on learning experience for thousands of Iowa students.” The goal, he said, “Is to make the experience enjoyable and hopefully propel them to be active in their community and be a consistent voter for the rest of their lives.”

Here are the Iowa Youth Straw Poll results, with the top three finishers in each category, as of 5:00 p.m. on November 1:

Should your city/town allow the sales and use of fireworks? 

YES – 76%    NO – 13%

What is your favorite school subject?

MATH – 26%        SCIENCE – 19%       SOCIAL STUDIES – 18%

What is your favorite state university in Iowa?

Iowa – 49%  Iowa State – 34%   Northern Iowa – 9%

Who is your favorite superhero?

Batman –  15%                   Wonder Woman – 12%       Spiderman – 12%

Up-to-date live results are available on the Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov.

Pictures submitted by teachers and a full list of the schools participating in the Youth Straw Poll are available at Elections101.org/BeAVoter.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has pleaded guilty to possessing both illegal drugs and child pornography in federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Iowa says 23-year-old Jose Ramon Ortega-Ramirez entered the plea Wednesday in Sioux City’s federal court and was subsequently convicted of one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of child porn possession.

Police say they intercepted a package from Mexico containing nearly 291 grams (10.26 ounces) of cocaine addressed to Ortega-Ramirez’s apartment. Police executed a controlled delivery, then searched Ortega-Ramirez’s home and found the package. He also admitted to having images of a nude minor.

He faces up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced at later date.