United Group Insurance

Polk County Woman Pleads Guilty Following Fraud Investigation

News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, report a Des Moines woman, 52-year-old Guadalupe Ramos, was sentenced on March 28, 2024, after pleading guilty to one count of Theft in the Third Degree (Aggravated Misdemeanor). Ramos was sentenced following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

The investigation conducted by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau found Ramos had submitted fabricated documents to an insurance provider to obtain financial benefits to which she was not entitled.

Ramos was arrested on December 14, 2023.  After pleading guilty to third-degree theft (Aggravated Misdemeanor), she was fined $855 and ordered to pay a crime services surcharge of 15%. Ramos was sentenced to one day in jail.

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

2024 Best Warrior Competition

News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Johnston, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa National Guard say the Guard will conduct the 2024 State Best Warrior Competition (BWC) April 4-7, 2024, at Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center in Johnston, Iowa. The 2024 BWC will represent the first time that a competition event will be expanded into the community, partnering with local agencies and organizations and inviting community members to show their support of competitors.

The purpose of the BWC is to select the best-qualified Soldier and Non-commissioned Officer through a series of tests of endurance, strength, and skills. Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard, says “Our focus is to maintain a ‘Ready’ force, ensuring Soldiers are trained with technical and tactical skills and they are masters of their equipment. These types of events are an opportunity to demonstrate the high standards and professionalism of Soldiers and they improve morale by building on friendships and camaraderie. This year we are also expanding our reach into our community and involving our stakeholders in the spirit of the competition.”

Iowa’s BWC is in preparation for Region IV BWC, also held at Camp Dodge and throughout the community of Johnston, this year in May. Winners from each state, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa, will compete on Iowa soil for the first time in seven years.

2024 will also be the fourth year that Kosovo Security Force members will be participating in the competition as part of the ongoing state partnership between Kosovo and the Iowa National Guard.

3 arrested on separate drug charges in Shenandoah

News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Shenandoah, Iowa) — Officials with the Shenandoah Police Department report three individuals were arrested on separate drug charges over the past nearly three weeks. Authorities say on March 24th, 58-year-old Klifford Keith Kennedy, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Theft in the 3rd Degree theft, Possession of a controlled substance/1st offense – methamphetamine; Possession of drug paraphernalia, and Interference with official acts. Kennedy was released from the Page County Jail after posting bond.

49-year-old Heather Trena James, of Shenandoah, was arrested March 27th on a valid Page County warrant for original charges of Possession of a controlled substance–methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance — marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. James bonded out of custody from the county jail.

On March 29th, Shenandoah Police arrested 43-year-old Alexandra Dawn Lasley, of Shenandoah, for Poss. of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia.

Other arrests conducted by Shenandoah Police, include:

On March 16th, 29-year-old Nicholas Alan Perkison, of Shenandoah, for Domestic Abuse 1st offense, and Child Endangerment.

On March 22nd, 35-year-old Shaun Michael Webster, of Shenandoah, who was arrested on a Fremont County warrant on the original charge of Probation Violation.

Companies hoping to sell Iowa lottery products online

News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

State officials are asking legislators to ban private companies from selling Iowa lottery tickets and games online. Tyler Ackerson of the Iowa Department of Revenue says businesses called lottery couriers are operating websites and smart phone apps. “Customers sign up on there, fund their account, and then the courier uses that money to purchase lottery products on behalf of that customer,” Ackerson says. “These lottery couriers typically partner with a business who sets up a stand alone, brick and mortar location that becomes a licensed lottery retailer and then all of those lottery products are purchased through that location.”

Jake Ketzner — a lobbyist for Lotto-dot-com — says the company started selling Nebraska lottery products online this week and would like to operate in Iowa at some point “We are active in 18 states. It’s not new,” Ketzner said. “Think of it as kind of an ‘Uber Eats’ model for lotto tickets.” State officials have already turned down an application from Jackpocket, a New York based lottery courier that wanted to start selling Iowa lottery games online. Tim Coonan is a lobbyist for Jackpocket, which is owned by sports betting giant DraftKings.

“We had no plans to bring legislation this year to try to advance the ball or improve our position relative to that denial,” Coonan says, “and we’re hoping to have a more fulsome conversation with policymakers about the service we provide.”

According to the Iowa Department of Revenue, parts of already existing state law prohibit online lottery sales, but the agency’s asking the legislature to include an outright ban in a bill dealing with routine tax matters. The chairman of the Senate’s tax policy committee says the debate about online lottery ticket sales should probably be held in a different committee.

Learn to identify the 14 species of Iowa bumble bees in new ‘atlas’ program

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Volunteers across Iowa with an interest in pollinator conservation are needed for a new program that will help researchers track and monitor the state’s at-risk bumble bees. Stephanie Shepherd, a wildlife diversity biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the Iowa Bumble Bee Atlas will recruit and train community scientists to survey and identify the dozen-plus species of bumble bees that live in our state.
“Participants will adopt an area and will go out a couple of times during the summer,” Shepherd says. “They can come to field days where they’ll learn how to actually handle the bumble bees, and be able to look at them up-close, and how to identify them. It’ll give us a look at where all these bumble bees are how abundant they are.” There are between 300 and 400 types of bees living in Iowa, but she says this survey will only focus on the state’s 14 species of bumble bees.
“They’re fairly easy to distinguish from other bees. They’re larger, they’re fuzzier,” Shepherd says. “Other than honey bees, they’re one of the only species that has a modified leg to carry pollen. So there’s just some structures that you can pay attention to that help you to say, okay, this is definitely a bumble bee.” There are two free training sessions scheduled this month for potential volunteers. Shepherd says bumble bees play an essential role in sustaining the health of the environment, from pollinating native wildflowers to flowering crops in farm fields and backyard gardens. Several species native to Iowa have undergone alarming declines, she says, and they face an uncertain future.

Xerces Society photo

“Iowa is home to the first federally-endangered bumble bee, the rusty patched bumble bee,” Shepherd says, “and then there’s a couple of other species in the state that are currently being considered that may need to be listed and have some protection. So we have some common species but we also have several species that are of concern, and this additional data will really help us move forward.”
The Iowa Bumble Bee Atlas is a collaboration between the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Iowa State University, and the Iowa D-N-R. Bumble Bee Atlas projects are underway in 20 states. Last year alone, more than 900 people helped to document over 20,000 bumble bees, and some volunteers discovered species previously thought to have vanished from their states.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Thursday, April 4, 2024

Weather

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 54. N winds @ 15-25 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 27.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 58. E/NE winds becoming E/SE @ 5-10.
Tom. Night: Partly cloudy & breezy, with a low around 33.
Saturday: Sunny & windy, with a high near 61.
Sat. Night: Windy. Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 43.
Sunday: Windy. Showers & possible thunderstorms. Becoming P/Sunny. High near 64.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy & breezy w/a chance of showers. Low around 40.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 56. Our Low this morning, 28. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 51, and the Low was 25. The All-Time Record High on April 4th in Atlantic, was 91, in 1929. The Record Low was 4, in 1899. Sunrise: 6:58. Sunset: 7:48.

Legislature moves to extend Medicaid’s post-pregnancy coverage

News

April 4th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has sent the governor a plan to extend post-pregnancy Medicaid coverage for new mothers and infants from 60 days to a full year. The coverage will be limited to families with incomes at or below 215 percent of the federal poverty line. Representative Devon Wood, a Republican from New Market, says that’s in line with surrounding states. “It would put us higher than South Dakota. It would put us higher than Nebraska,” Wood said. “It would put us comparable with Illinois and it would put us just under Missouri and Minnesota.”

The current two months of Medicaid coverage of post-pregnancy care is available to babies and their mothers in households with incomes 375 percent above the poverty line. Representative Heather Matson of Ankeny is among the Democrats who unsuccessfully urged Republicans to keep that higher income threshold for the expanded coverage. “At a time when maternal and infant mortality is on the rise, we should expand coverage for more women, not less,” Matson says.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says with billions of dollars held in surplus accounts, the state can afford to extra seven MILLION dollars to help more low income families with a new baby. “And that’s frustrating because this isn’t an expensive endeavor and the cost is so high for not doing it,” Konfrst said, “the cost to moms and the costs to babies.”

Wood, the Republican who led debate of the bill, says she welcomes continued discussion about supporting more new moms, but the bill is an important step to expand post-pregnancy Medicaid coverage to a full year for uninsured mothers and babies. “This bill, as is, is imperative for those moms who need it most,” Wood says. “It would
still put us at 13th most generous (coverage) in the nation.”

A federal law approved three years ago gave states authority and funding to expand postpartum coverage in the Medicaid program. Iowa will soon join 47 states that have approved the expansion.

Tri-Center Trojans Boys Soccer Season Preview

Sports

April 4th, 2024 by admin

The Tri-Center Boys Soccer program is off to a running start. The Trojans have 23 participants out and are coached by Kelly Daugenbaugh.

Coach Daugenbaugh recapped on how his squad did last season.

In their young season Coach Daugenbaugh is already seeing improvements.

 

Coach Daugenbaugh said five of his players participated in club soccer in the offseason.

Coach Daugenbaugh said his big goal of the season would be to get his team into the state tournament.

The Trojans next soccer match will be at Atlantic Soccer Field in a non-conference matchup on Thursday April 4th. That game will get underway at 5:30 p.m.

Tri-Center Trojan Girls Soccer Season Preview

Sports

April 4th, 2024 by admin

The Tri-Center Trojans girls soccer season is off to a great start. The Trojans have 23 high schoolers out and are coached by Jeff Lefeber.

Coach Lefeber commented on well his squad has been doing this season.

Coach Lefeber said he was really in impressed how this team played in their season opening loss to Treynor.

Coach Lefeber says he wants to see all the Iowa Western Conference teams stronger this season.

Coach Lefeber talked about his expectations for this season.

The Trojans next match will be Thursday April 4th in a non-conference matchup, as they will host Atlantic at Neola City Park. That soccer match will start at 5:00 p.m.

 

Goodman Earns Elite 90 Award

Sports

April 3rd, 2024 by Asa Lucas

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Senior forward, Sharron Goodman, is the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2024 NCAA Division-I Women’s Basketball Championship for the second year in a row.

Goodman, majoring in health studies, currently carries a 4.0 GPA and will be graduating this May. The Lime Springs, Iowa, native was presented with the award during the Salute on Wednesday evening in Cleveland.

The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.

Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed. For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.com/elite-90.