Officials at the state agency which hands out unemployment benefits to laid-off workers say they’ve detected a new kind of fraud that’s resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars from the state unemployment trust fund. Iowa Workforce Development Director Teresa Wahlert says perpetrators set up fake companies and then “lay off” fake employees who collect unemployment. Wahlert calls it a whole new field for fraud investigation. “One of our new strategies is not only to pursue fraudulent claims against the trust fund, but also to pursue fictitious companies,” Wahlert says.

A new fraud detection system is helping to detect the fake companies before they can collect any benefits, according to Wahlert.  “So far, between August and November of this year, we’ve found 13 fictitious employers,” Wahlert says. In one day alone, eight phony companies registered with the state using the same IP address. Wahlert says the new system has helped prevent half a million dollars ($500,000) in fraudulent unemployment claims.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak, Thursday evening, arrested a Council Bluffs man wanted on a warrant out of Missouri. Authorities say 49-year old Jacob Cook, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m., after Red Oak Police responded to a reported verbal altercation. Cook was wanted on a valid Nodaway County Missouri warrant for Parole Violation. He was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held without bond, while awaiting extradition to Missouri.

And, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Villisca was arrested Thursday night. 20-year old Holly Ann Nutting was arrested at around 7:30-p.m., on a charge of Domestic Assault. Nutting was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, and held without bond.

Iowa law enforcement officials are advocating for renewal of a federally funded program for new moms. The Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program connects nurses and mentors with new mothers who live in poverty. Joshua Spaulding, Deputy Director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, says the programming makes a big difference. “Mothers who have gone through a home visiting program, they are less likely to have committed a crime,” Spaulding said at a press conference Thursday, at the Des Moines Police station.

“Similarly situated mothers who did not have a home visitor are three times more likely to have gone to prison.” Over the last four years, Iowa has received 24-million-dollars ($24 million) from the program. Several Iowa programs share the funding, including Visiting Nurse Services of Iowa. Nurse Jennifer Boeding said mentoring models positive behavior for at-risk mothers.  “Another important aspect of nurse family partnership is building a trusting relationship with their children. We start this discussion during pregnancy, using a parallel process, we are invited into their homes and we build trust with these women, who in turn learn to build trust with their child,” Boeding said.

Polk County Sheriff Bill McCarthy, Des Moines Police Chief Doug Harvey and Polk County Attorney John Sarcone also took part in the press conference. More than two dozen Iowa law enforcement leaders are among the more than 1,000 sheriffs, police chiefs and prosecutors who’ve signed a letter urging Congress to renew the federal program.

(Radio Iowa)

Key legislators say the slow down in Iowa’s ag economy means state budget prospects will likely be scaled back in 2015. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha is the top-ranking Republican in the legislature and he says while Iowa’s overall economy is growing, not all budget demands can be met because farm income is on the decline. “That will make it a very difficult budget year, but just ’cause it’s difficult doesn’t mean we won’t figure out how to get through it and so we will do that,” Paulsen says. “I think people have to have some pretty tempered expectations when it comes to that.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, of Council Bluffs is the top-ranking Democrat in the legislature.
Gronstal says he’s “upbeat” about prospects for 2015, but Gronstal says Paulsen makes a valid point about the budget difficulties ahead. “And that is not going to make this a particularly easy year,” Gronstal said. “…Come January, people of good faith on both sides of the political aisle are going to sit down and work together and try and face some of Iowa’s most pressing problems. Some of those will be easy. Some of them will be hard. Some of them we won’t get done because we won’t be able to put that all together.”

Legislators in the past have promised increased state spending to bolster education reform efforts in K-through-12 schools as well as the promise of state tax revenue to replace lost local property tax collections due to the commercial property tax reductions approved in the 2014 legislative session. To meet those promises, legislative leaders say it is likely other areas of the budget will have to be leaner.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad has ordered that flags in Iowa be flown at half-staff to mark Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day weekend. Branstad announced yesterday that the flags will be set at half-staff from 5 p.m. Friday through 8 a.m. Monday at the State Capitol Complex and other public buildings throughout the state.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — High nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers have forced Des Moines Water Works to turn on an expensive nitrate removal system. Water Works CEO Bill Stowe says he had no choice but to run the system, which costs about $7,000 a day to operate. Stowe says the finished drinking water after treatment is safe to drink.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — The city of Le Mars plans to buy a downtown movie theater from a bank that acquired it at a sheriff’s auction. The Le Mars Daily Sentinel reports officials want to ensure the theater remains open. The Northwest Bank bought Royal 3 Cinema last year after it was put on sale at the auction because its previous owner didn’t pay his debt. The City Council voted Tuesday to approve the use of city dollars to buy the property.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Bryce Dejean-Jones had 27 points, Georges Niang added 26 with eight assists and 20th-ranked Iowa State never trailed in rolling past Number 18 Arkansas 95-77 last night. The Cyclones extended their non-conference home winning streak to 24 games.