(Radio Iowa) – Iowa no longer has a mandatory retirement age for reserve police officers and volunteer fire fighters. Full and part-time police and fire fighters in Iowa must retire at the age of 65. The governor has signed a bill into law that eliminates that age restriction for volunteer fire fighters and trained reserve police officers who are volunteers, but can make arrests and investigate crimes. Senator Mike Bousselot, of Ankeny, spoke about the bill before it passed the Senate unanimously.

“We’ve all heard from Iowans the importance of good jobs and safe communities,” Bousslot says. “This bill serves both of those goals. Many communities are already using reserve police officers and volunteer fire fighters to keep those communities safe.”

The bill passed the House on an 86-to-12 vote last month and was signed into law by the governor last week. According to the Iowa League of Cities, there are over 12-hundred active reserve police officers in the state. Data from the Iowa Department of Public Safety indicates 90 percent of firefighters in Iowa are volunteers. About a thousand quit every year due to several factors, including the retirement age.

(Omaha, NE) – An investigation by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has confirmed that Viki Teacup Maltese, a website that claims to sell puppies from an Omaha residential address, is a scam. The confirmation came after BBB received a complaint and built a business profile for the company on January 9, 2023. The company has received three inquiries as of March 28, 2023. Research revealed that the domain vikimaltesehome.com was privately registered by NameCheap, Inc. on December 10, 2022, and expires on December 10, 2023. The website is currently down. The website contained text and photos of puppies for sale, but the text had grammar errors and misspelled words.

The website listed an Omaha physical address. BBB received a phone call from the actual property owner of the address, who confirmed he is not running a dog-breeding business from his home. The person also said that this was the third puppy website that had used his personal residence address as a business location.

A consumer reported to BBB that she paid for a puppy with Zelle, and it was to be shipped to her. When she did not receive the puppy, she contacted the business owner, and he said he would work something out with her and would get back to her. The consumer, who provided text messages of the exchange, said the business then blocked her number and never returned her phone call. The business did not respond to this complaint.

Per the Nebraska Secretary of State, there is no registration for Viki Teacup Maltese. The phone number (402) 382-1663 was found on several puppy scam websites, including Terry Teacup Maltese Home and Ichika Shiba Inu. The email address and website for Viki Teacup Maltese were also found on many puppy scam websites. BBB checked with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s licensing department and confirmed there is no licensed dog breeder registered by the name of Viki Teacup Maltese or one located at the address listed on the website.

BBB advises consumers to be cautious when buying pets online. Consumers should research the seller and the website, and they should also ask for references and documentation of health screenings for the pet. BBB recommendations for buying pets online:

• See the pet in person before paying any money. Consider a video call with the seller if there are concerns about meeting in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This way, you are able to see the seller and the actual pet for sale.
• Conduct a reverse image search of the photo of the pet and search for a distinctive phrase in the description.
• Research the breed to get a sense of a fair price you are considering. Think twice if someone advertises a purebred dog for free or at a deeply discounted price–it could be a fraudulent offer.
• Check out a local animal shelter for pets to meet in person before adopting.

(Harlan, Iowa) – A tornado siren malfunction may have rattled a few nerves Sunday night, as severe storms were passing through the Shelby County. According to social media post by Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo, several residents in Harlan heard a tornado siren [sound] Sunday due to a malfunction. Londo said “The siren located at Dr Joseph Spearing park went off on its own at 11:15pm. After crews responded and deactivated the siren the battery backup system kicked on at that siren and started sounding it again shorty after midnight.”

According to Londo, that was the reason the siren went off twice Sunday night, “for extended periods of time.” Repairs were being made to the siren Monday morning.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A collision April 27th resulted in a total of $15,000 damage, but no one was injured. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office Monday (today), said the accident happened at the intersection of North and 12th Streets, in Guthrie Center. Authorities say a 2021 transit bus driven by 75-year-old George W. Hunt, of Guthrie Center, was traveling eastbound on North Street at around 3:30-p.m., and stopped at the intersection. Hunt told Deputies he looked down the road on 12th Street, but didn’t see an oncoming northbound 2014 Buick Verano, due to a house on the corner that obstructed his vision.

When Hunt proceeded into the intersection, he saw the oncoming car at the last minute, but was unable to stop. The transit bus was struck by the Buick, which was driven by 53-year-old Roberta Ann Nicholson, of Guthrie Center. No citations were issued, due to obstructed vision.

(Radio Iowa) – Reports say a woman in eastern Iowa survived a lightning strike in Sunday afternoon’s severe thunderstorms, while a tornado touched down in southwest Iowa’s Fremont County near Hamburg about 8 last night. That twister was relatively weak and there are no reports of significant damage. Meteorologist Alexis Jimenez, at the National Weather Service, says the biggest trouble-maker in this round of storms was large hail. “We’ve had quite a few reports of hail, especially in the afternoon hours yesterday,” Jimenez says. “We had up to baseball-sized hail out in places near Carroll. You also had a lot of reports of damage from hail in places like Grinnell. We also had two-inch hail in Ames.” Trees and power lines were damaged, causing power outages in Cedar, Iowa and Keokuk counties, with the largest outage being about a thousand homes in Johnson County.

“We also did have some damaging wind reports,” Jimenez says. “We had some severe wind gusts last night, especially in places like Osceola, we had some damage reports down there.” Strong winds blew a semi onto its side on Interstate 80 near Grinnell, injuring the truck’s driver and tying up traffic. Wind gusts exceeded 60 miles an hour in some places, including near Collins in Story County. “We also had some power lines that had been knocked down on Highway 65,” she says. A photo from the Story County Sheriff’s Office shows a whole row of utility poles either snapped off by the straight-line winds or leaning to the side with the wires still attached. The weather service is still weeding through dozens of spotter reports of large hail.

“Just a lot of hail damage to siding and to roofs where we did have those severe hail reports,” Jimenez says. “We did have some straight-line wind damage, just a lot of trees down.” Multiple media reports say a woman was struck by lightning about 4:30 P-M Sunday in a Target parking lot in Cedar Rapids. She was reportedly alert and conscious when first responders arrived, though no name or condition report was released.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four recent arrests:

Friday evening, 22-year-old Kaylee Marie Kingery, of Greenfield, was arrested in the 100 block Manor Drive, in Creston. Kingery was charged with Driving while Barred. She was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 11:20-p.m., Friday, 31-year-old William Alwynn Darius Bell, of Creston, was arrested in the 800 block N Sumner. Bell was charged with a FTA (Failure to Appear) Warrant thru New Mexico, on original charges of Robbery and Attempt to Commit a Felony. Bell was taken to the Union County Jail and held, while awaiting extradition to New Mexico.

Saturday night, 40-year-old Charles Edward Miller, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston Union County LEC. Miller was charged with OWI 1st Offense. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, Sunday evening, 28-year-old Tania Patricia Hernandez, of Creston, was arrested at her residence. Hernandez was charged with allowing an Animal to run at Large. She was cited and released from the scene.

Creston Police said also, a Creston man reported Sunday evening, that while shopping at Bomgaars in Creston, his keys and wallet were taken. The loss estimated at $51.

(Radio Iowa) – A man convicted of attempted murder after shooting a Linn County Deputy seven times during a robbery at a gas station in Coggon in June 2021 has been sentenced to 102 years in prison. Stanley Donahue will have to spend at least 40 of it behind bars. The Linn County Deputy, William Halverson, has recovered and is back on duty. He was one of the victims who gave an impact statement at the hearing before Donahue’s sentencing on Friday.