(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Lottery plans to move to some more modern methods of payment for prizes in the new year. Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says paper checks had been the standard. “It just became obvious pretty quickly that a check, which is the primary form of payment that you will receive, especially if you come to an Iowa Lottery office today, a check just isn’t used as much today, as it once was, ” Neubauer says. She says a working group in the organization studied the options and what Lottery customers want. “People are looking for options that have, first of all, greater speed, and second of all, more convenience,” she says.

Neubauer says cash payments won’t go away, but they do plan to start using prepaid debit cards that allow retailers or Lottery offices to load the prize money onto the card.  “So if you go into a store, certainly cash would continue to be an option. But for example, if it’s a store, and it’s late at night, and the store doesn’t have a lot of cash on hand, a lot of times right now that store isn’t able to pay your prize,” Neubauer says.

Neubauer says retailers could pay prizes from 20 up to 600 dollars on the cards — while lottery offices could use the prepaid debit cards for prizes from 20 up to five-thousand dollars. They hope to start a pilot project with the debit cards in six months. The other change would allow prizes that have to be redeemed at Iowa Lottery offices to be made through what’s called an A-C-H payment that goes directly into a person’s bank account.

“So the person wouldn’t get a hardcopy check, they wouldn’t have to cash it, they wouldn’t have to, you know, drive somewhere, or do that electronically, the payment would just be made directly into their account,” Neubauer says. “It’s going to take a little bit more time to put that in place, we’re looking at that probably somewhere in the second half of calendar year 2023, or at the end of fiscal year 2023.”

The A-C-H prize payments could go up to five million dollars. Neubauer says they are only making a couple of changes because they have to be very careful about the security surrounding the prize money. “There are so many forms of payment available in the marketplace today, especially when it comes to you know, consumers just paying each other money or sending money to each other. But we have to make sure that the security procedures in place and that whatever payment option we would be looking at that it has staying power,” she says.

Neubauer says the large jackpots from lotto games would still be paid out by wire transfer, as that is the safest method.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned to look over their credit card statements during these first days of the new year as there may be charges for unwanted subscription services. Consumer protection advocate Michael Domke says many people agree to sample services for an introductory fee and don’t realize they’re being charged every month — or that the price went up.  “You may have signed up for online streaming service two or three years ago when it was a good deal,” Domke says, “and it’s auto-renewing and you’re not even recognizing that that fee has increased annually.”

The fine print can sometimes be tricky, and Domke says you also might have signed up for a subscription without even realizing it. “Even myself, I’ve fallen victim to that, thinking I was just signing up to explore something and next thing I know, there’s a monthly fee on the credit card,” he says. With so much click-bait on social media outlets, Domke says it’s very easy to get duped into paying — or overpaying — for an app or service these days.  “I think people would be surprised how many times they may sign up for that free trial, and either forget to cancel it or went past the trial,” he says, “or started paying for something they didn’t realize they were gonna get into.”

Domke says to go through your credit card and bank statements, line by line, to make sure you’re not paying for something you don’t use or don’t want.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, released a report on arrests.

On Dec. 31st, 52-year-old Michelle Marie Waldhauser, of Orient, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault, and Going Armed with Intent. She was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $5,000 (Cash or Surety) Bond; And, 20-year-old Oscar Manuel Ramirez Betancourt, of Thornton, CO, was arrested at around 1:50-a.m., Saturday, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was subsequently released from the scene with a citation.

Last Friday (Dec. 30), 64-year-old Dianna Marie Ricketts, of Perry, was arrested in Adel on a felony warrant. She was later released on $2,000 (Cash or surety) bond.

There were two arrests on Dec. 29th, in Adair County: 33-year-old Kenny Joe Cunningham, of Greenfield, was arrested at the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, for Failure to Appear. He remains held without bond in the Adair County Jail; and, 35-year-old Kimberly Marie Baumann-Worth, of Atlantic, was arrested on I-80 near mile marker 83, for OWI/3rd offense, driving while license denied or revoked, assault on a law officer or others – without injury, and interference with official acts. She remains in the Adair County Jail on a $5,000 (c/s) bond.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports 47-year-old Justin Lynn Brock, of Des Moines, was arrested by Police in Stuart, for Theft in the 1st Degree, and False information for citation. His bond was set at $10,000 (c/s).  And, on Dec. 26th, 45-year-old Ismael Prieto Hipolito, of Des Moines, was arrested on the I-80 EB on-ramp near Menlo, for OWI/3rd Offense, and Stop/Stand/Park Prohibited. He was released on a $5,000 bond (c/s) later that same day.

Additional details concerning the aforementioned arrests was not available.

“It should be noted a criminal charge is merely an accusation the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report Officers were dispatched at around 8-a.m. today (Monday), to the area of I-80 westbound, at mile marker 1, for a man who was experiencing a personal crisis, and had climbed up onto the signage board over the roadway.

Council Bluff Police negotiators, with the assistance of the Council Bluffs Fire Department, utilized a ladder/aerial truck to get close to and speak with the man. They were able to talk him into coming down and going for help.

During the incident, the I-80 West Express lanes were shut down, and traffic was re-routed into I-80 west local lanes, which caused minimal disruption to traffic. The Express Lanes were re-opened at around 9:05-a.m.  The name of the subject involved in the incident will not be released, according to Police.

(Radio Iowa) – With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays behind us and the cold reality settling in of three months of winter ahead, some Iowans may find themselves feeling like a dark cloud is looming overhead. Annette Shipley, a program therapist for seniors at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says we all go through physiological changes when we start having less sunlight in our days. “When we have the lack of sunlight, sunlight gives us vitamin D, a very important nutrient in our body that helps give us energy, makes us feel good,” Shipley says. “When we don’t get outside in those winter months, we’re going to feel a lot of what’s called the winter blues.” If those blues last more than a few days, it may be Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Shipley says there’s a long list of potential symptoms.

Shipley says, “If you’re feeling depressed most of the day nearly every day, if you’re losing interest in your activities you once enjoyed, if you have low energy, having problems with sleeping, experiencing changes in your appetite or weight, feeling sluggish or agitated, having difficulty concentrating, feeling hopeless or worthless or guilty.” About five-percent of adults in the U.S. experience SAD and it typically lasts about 40-percent of the year. Also, it’s more common among women than men. “A lot of those symptoms are related to depression as well,” Shipley says. “Because of SAD, it only happens during the changing of the seasons, so that’s how we know the difference between the two.”

There are things you can do to boost your mood, including buying a special light that’s very bright and sitting under it — what’s called light therapy. You can also add foods to your diet that are rich in Vitamin B-12, like beef and other protein-rich foods, and increase your intake of food with Omega-3 fatty acids, like fish, and raise your Vitamin D-3 intake. One other easy potential solution — get more sunlight.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors met today (Monday) and elected new Officers. Board member Jerry Walker was elected as Board Chair, taking over from Matt Wedemeyer. John Twombly was elected Vice-Chair, which was the position Walker held for past year. In other administrative matters, the Board opted to keep their regular weekly meetings on Wednesday, at 9-a.m. And, they approved Deputy/Assistant Clerk appointments for the following staff members:

(That’s Board Chair Jerry Walker) The Board also approved the setting of holiday dates for closing county offices, and the County’s Master Matrix Resolution for hog confinements, which is essentially the same as that found in the Code of Iowa. Vice-Chair John Twombly was of the opinion the State’s rating in allowing approval of the Matrix leaves a lot to be desired.

In other administrative matters, the Adair County Supervisors approved: the FY23 Audit Services; the designation of official newspapers for publication of County business; one claim; and Taxable mileage in the amount of $480, for Steve Shelley. They also approved the appointments of Supervisors to area boards and/or commissions, along with Board alternatives.
The Board held a Public Hearing on a FY23 Budget Amendment. Auditor Mandy Berg…

A Resolution to approve the amendment was subsequently approved…