The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs Interstate Improvement Office has announced that traffic on northbound Iowa 192/South Expressway between Interstate 80/I-29 and 23rd Avenue was restricted to one lane near the interstate on Monday, Aug. 4, and will continue for three weeks. Interstate access is not affected.

The lane closure is needed while a utility company relocates a segment of a gas distribution line. The relocated gas line will allow new stormwater pipes to be installed that will help manage stormwater from the interstate reconstruction projects.

Construction projects in this area are part of the Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program, which is a large scale modernization and rehabilitation of the interstate system. The Iowa DOT is committed to completing the interstate improvements with minimal inconvenience to the public.

Officials with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Nebraska, South Dakota, The Kansas Plains and Southwest Iowa is warning about a relatively new kind of voice mail fraud that allows hackers to use a voice mail system and the default password to accept calls without the knowledge or permission of the business or the consumer.

An Omaha company told BBB that they received a call from the fraud department of their phone service provider. The business owner was informed that international calls had been made from their phone. This came as a surprise because the company does not make international calls and could not believe that this was a legitimate notification from their phone company. The owner called the phone company back, and it was confirmed that there were international calls charged to their account. To stop this, the business placed an “international call hold” on their phone system.

Approximately three weeks after the fraud notification, the business got its phone bill and found a charge of $300 for international calls that were placed the day before they were notified of fraud on their account. By researching this situation, the company found that the phone line had been accessed through their conferencing phone feature. They also learned that the service provider is not responsible, and the changes had to be paid by the customer.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this scam is carried out by hackers who call into a voice mail system and search for voice mailboxes that still have the default passwords active or have passwords with easily guessed combinations like 1-2-3-4, 1-1-1-1 or the last four digits of the local phone number.

“Hackers know these common default passwords and keep trying them until they are able to break into the phone system,” stated BBB President and CEO Jim Hegarty. “They can tell what voice mail system is being used by listening to the prompting pattern. After finding the default password, the hackers look for a mailbox they can access. Once connected, the hacker uses the connection to make multiple international calls.”

Although this fraud usually occurs on business voice mail systems, consumers with residential voice mail could also be targeted. FCC reports that this kind of fraud frequently originates in and/or routed through the Philippines or Saudi Arabia, and they usually occur during holidays or on weekends, when a business is closed so the changing of the outgoing message goes unnoticed.

To avoid becoming a victim of this scam, the FCC recommends voice mail users to:

. Always change the default password from the one provided by the voice mail vendor.

. Choose a complex voicemail password of at least six digits, making it more difficult for hackers to detect.

. Change your voice mail password frequently.

. Don’t use obvious passwords such as an addresses, birth dates, phone numbers or repetitive or successive numbers.

. Check your recorded announcement frequently to make sure that the greeting is yours.

. If possible, consider blocking international calls.

. Consider disabling the remote notification, auto-attendant, call-forwarding and out-paging capabilities of voice mail if these features are not used.

Officials with SIRWA (The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association), have expanded the Boil Water Advisory issued Monday for southeastern Cass County. The Advisory now includes customers in northwestern Adams, Montgomery, and southeastern Cass Counties, including the Cities of Grant, Carbon, Brooks, Bridgewater and Lyman. It affects customers with account numbers that begin with 047, 048, 081, 082, 084 and 005.

SIRWA says they are not getting the proper chlorine residual from their water supplier. Due to the potential for bacterial contamination, it is being recommended that the water be boiled before using for drinking or cooking or that an alternative source be used. The chlorine residual has been below acceptable tolerances in the Bridgewater and Lyman areas, since Saturday night. Due to the potential for bacterial contamination, it is being recommended that the water be boiled before using for drinking or cooking or that an alternative source be used.

IT IS RECOMMENDED NOT TO DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water. The water may be used for bathing and other similar purposes.

The system is being chlorinated and flushed to restore the residual needed. Pending results of tests taken Tuesday and again today (Wednesday), the advisory will be lifted Thursday morning, Aug. 7th.

This advisory is a precaution until bacterial sample results are available. You will be notified when the results are available and the advisory is lifted. SIRWA is working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to resolve the situation as quickly as possible in order to restore water service and lift the advisory.

(Corrects City to Dow City – not Denison)

A search warrant executed in Dow City early this (Wednesday) morning netted authorities numerous drug-related items and resulted in the arrest of one person. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says at around 5:15 am, a search warrant was executed by deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Denison Police Department.During the search at 105 North Howard Street, in Dow City, evidence that was seized included: Methamphetamine, a Schedule II Controlled Substance, Drug Paraphernalia, Packaging Material, US Currency, and a Digital Scale. 40-year old Billie Jo Thompson, of Dow City, was arrested. She faces felony charges that include Delivery of Methamphetamine, Possession w/ Intent to Deliver less than 5 Grams Methamphetamine, and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. Other charges include Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance (A Serious Misdemeanor), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (A Simple Misdemeanor).(8-a.m. News)