Alliant Energy is warning its customers in Iowa about a new scam. Utility spokesman Justin Foss says a couple of customers in Mason City say they’ve been approached by someone claiming to be with Alliant and saying they had to pay their bill on the spot.  Somebody came to the door and demanded they be paid in cash or that the person go buy a pre-paid debit card and hand that over right away or their electricity would be disconnected. Foss says they do -not- go door-to-door demanding payment. Foss says if you get someone at your door or on the phone demanding immediate payment and it sounds suspicious, it’s likely bogus.

If there’s any time that something doesn’t seem right, just hang up or shut the door and call Alliant. They’ll be able to tell you if the request is legitimate. Foss says if you’ve been conned by a scam like this or you’ve been approached by a con artist, contact law enforcement. He says always call your local police department right away. He says one person reporting it might help police realize if it’s a trend that someone is trying to pull the scam in multiple neighborhoods or communities. Foss says the two Mason City clients who were approached this week didn’t fall for the scam and contacted Alliant to let them know what was taking place.

(Radio Iowa)

A light pole owned by the State of Iowa sustained $1,000 damage, but no one was injured, when a motorgrader grazed it Thursday morning. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says the 2011 Caterpillar road grader operated by 40-year old Troy Sands, of New Market, was clearing snow from the intersection of Highway 71 and 210th Street just east of Clarinda at around 11:50-a.m., Thursday, when the machine hit the pole, causing it to topple over. The grader was not damaged. No citations were issued.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest today (Friday), of a Glenwood man. 41-year old Donald Dale Elliott was taken into custody on a charge of OWI/2nd offense, following a traffic stop at around 12:35-a.m.  His bond was set at $2,000.

Late this morning (Friday) a legislative panel will review Iowa D-O-T rules that would restrict the use of traffic enforcement cameras on state-maintained highways. The rules could spell the end for traffic cameras on Interstate 380 in Cedar Rapids, on Interstate 29 in Sioux City and Interstate 235 in Des Moines if local officials cannot convince the D-O-T the cameras improve safety. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal is from Council Bluffs, where traffic enforcement cameras are installed along a busy city street.

“In my community traffic accidents in the past decade because of automated traffic enforcement have gone from 3800 to 700. They’re now back up maybe to 1100, but that’s still a two-thirds reduction in the number of crashes in Council Bluffs,” Gronstal says. Gronstal is hoping the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee votes later today (Friday) to reject the D-O-T’s proposal.

“I think the Department of Transportation has done an over-reach in terms of their rules,” Gronstal says. “I think they go too far.” Gronstal argues legislators should make this decision, although he says in the past few years advocated who wanted to limit the fines from traffic enforcement cameras clashed with those seeking an out-right ban on the cameras. Senate President Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, serves on the committee that will review the D-O-T rules. She favors “home rule” rather than the D-O-T’s approach to traffic cameras.

“I understand the need to have some kind of consistency from county-to-county and city-to-city, but it still is a decision up to cities to decide whether or not they believe that is a public safety issue,” Jochum says. D-O-T officials are scheduled to go before the Legislature’s Rules Review Committee at 11: 15 this morning (Friday) to brief the panel on the rules. Legislators will then vote to either approve the rules or they could vote to delay them. That would give the legislature time to pass a bill that would overrule the D-O-T’s approach.

(Radio Iowa)