DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nineteen Iowa counties will be getting federal help in their recovery from severe storms last month that delivered high wind, tornadoes, heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms A statement from the White House released Friday says President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration to help share the cost of emergency work, repair and replacement of facilities including roads and bridges with state and local government agencies and some nonprofit organizations.

The counties included are Allamakee, Appanoose, Butler, Clayton, Dallas, Davis, Des Moines, Guthrie, Howard, Jefferson, Lee, Lucas, Marion, Mitchell, Monroe, Warren, Wayne, Winneshiek, and Wright. A state preliminary damage assessment found the weather system in Iowa June 20-25 caused more than $5 million in damage.

Iowans are being warned against using free public wireless networks at airports, hotels and coffee shops. A-A-R-P is launching a campaign called “Watch Your Wi-Fi” to raise awareness of the risks of using those free networks. Spokeswoman Devorah Lanner says a lot of people set themselves up to fall victim to hackers.

“AARP recently conducted a survey of internet users across the country and we found a quarter of those surveyed use free public wi-fi once a week or more,” Lanner says. “That does pose all kinds of risks.” It’s not a good idea to let your mobile device automatically connect to nearby wi-fi networks and you should be especially careful if you do decide to use one.

“Banking online, making credit card transactions online using free public wi-fi,” Lanner says. “It’s not a secure network and can be very easily hacked and your information and identify stolen by cyber-thieves.” The survey also found 27-percent of respondents say they’ve banked online using public wi-fi in the last three months and the same percentage purchased items with credit cards. Lanner says to never even check your e-mail using public wi-fi.

“Typically, people will access public wi-fi at an airport, a hotel, a coffee shop, which is very convenient,” she says, “but without a secure network, people risk oversharing and leaving themselves vulnerable to attacks by con artists and hackers.” She also recommends changing your online bank account passwords every 90 days.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker is not ruling out the possibility a clear winner will fail to emerge after next year’s primaries and caucuses around the country — and delegates at the G-O-P’s 2016 national convention will have to pick the party’s White House nominee. “It’s possible. I mean, it’s a great field, a lot of great candidates…Sooner or later it will be easier to tell how many are not running in the Republican field than those that are,” Walker jokes.

Walker, who is the governor of Wisconsin, says he will not “speak ill” of his Republican competitors, but he’s telling audiences he’s a “doer” who can get the job done. “I just didn’t win three elections in four years in a blue state,” Walker says. “I won on the issues that people care about.” Walker’s most high-profile fight was his successful effort to roll back the collective bargaining rights of unions the represent government employees.

“Unions are just fine. What we did is we took on the big government union bosses and we put the power back firmly into the hands of the hardworking taxpayers,” Walker said. “That was good for the taxpayers. It was pro-worker.” Walker signed a “right to work” law in Wisconsin early this year. It forbids organized labor from forcing non-union workers to pay union dues or fees in a workplace where employees have voted to unionize. Walker is on a campaign swing through southwest Iowa today (Friday), with stops scheduled in five counties. He’ll be in Atlantic at the Masonic Lodge for a fundraising campaign, this evening.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is warning of a scam targeting Iowans involving the DCI. The Iowa DCI has received reports in the last two weeks from citizens receiving threatening phone calls from scammers posing to be DCI Agents.  The scammers claim there are active arrest warrants issued and demand money to avoid being arrested.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety, and all Divisions within DPS, will never ask for money nor make threats of this nature. If you receive a phone call similar to those mentioned above, you are asked to contact your local law enforcement and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Hotline at (515) 281-5926 or (888) 777-4590.

Listed below are some helpful tips to prevent being targeted by fraudulent calls.

• If you get a call from someone who claims they are collecting money on behalf of the DPS—even if a caller ID device shows the DPS—hang up.
• The DPS does not demand immediate payment via prepaid debit cards.
• Do not provide or confirm personal information or financial information to anyone who calls.
• You do not need to report the scam if you receive a call. However, if you lost money through the scam, report it to your local police department or sheriff’s office.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Department of Veterans Affairs officials say funding of adult day care and other skilled and nonskilled services for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans has been bolstered by belt-tightening and will continue through Sept. 30, past the scheduled cutoff. The VA’s Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System said Friday that it will pay for all current authorizations for those services for eligible veterans enrolled in VA health care.

Because of funding shortfalls, the system had planned to stop paying for those services provided by community agencies as of Saturday. But the system says its fiscal management team found ways to control expenses so the system could continue paying for the services. In addition, President Barack Obama is expected to sign a new funding bill covering the VA shortfall.

Deputies in Cass County arrested a man from Shelby County Wednesday. Officials say 22-year old William Eugene Dunlap, Jr., 22, of Harlan, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Dunlap was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) – The mother of a Grinnell College student slain nearly 23 years ago says she’s trying to remain optimistic that investigators will solve the case.
Twenty-one-year-old Tammy Jo Zywicki’s body was found in September 1992 near Springfield, Missouri, a month after her car was found in Illinois. She’d been driving back to the central Iowa school from her New Jersey home.

Tammy Jo Zywicki

Her mother, JoAnn Zywicki, told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that she’d been hopeful since enlisting the aid of the Philadelphia-based Vidocq Society, which is known for its interest in cold cases. But she says budget cuts are making it difficult for the investigation to progress in Illinois.

Illinois State Patrol Master Sgt. Jeff Padilla says the budget hasn’t been cut and that the Zywicki case remains a high priority.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Friday) approved a Federal Aid Agreement for a bridge replacement project on N-28, two-miles south of Highway 92, over a tributary to the West Nodaway River, near the Montgomery County line .

The agreement stipulates the County will comply with all Federal requirements that enable to the County to receive money for projects, which in this case amounts to 80-percent of the bridge cost. The bridge is expected to cost $600,000.

The Board also adopted a “Resolution to revise [the] Cass County Five-Year Program,” by advancing a bridge project on Akron Road, over a tributary of Crooked Creek, in Grant Township. Bridge #347 is on the Cass-Audubon County line. Audubon County will reimburse Cass County for half the project cost. The Resolution moves the project and costs from the 2016 Fiscal year to the 2017 Fiscal Year.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors also approved a request by Marker to put gravel on a Level B – or, dirt – road, that serves as access for the Griswold Golf Course, on the south side, one-mile north of Highway 92. The rock will cost about $10,000, but Marker says the County is in the position to make that happen.

A bridge that normally makes the Golf Course accessible, will be replaced beginning next Monday (August 3rd). The project is expected to be mostly complete by mid-November. The alternate road mean while, will remain Level B.