GRUNDY COUNTY, Iowa [KCCI] — A Grundy County woman is accused of using her position as a caregiver to steal medication from her patients. KCCI reports investigators allege Andrea Raffield diverted dozens of tablets of Tramadol — a strong painkiller — for personal use.Criminal complaints say Raffield, who was a nurse at Westbrook Acres in Gladbrook, ordered extra pills that were not needed. She’s accused of destroying records before taking the pills for herself. Her next court date has not been set.

(Radio Iowa) – As the end of the year nears, Iowans are being warned about a sharp rise in bogus phone calls over the paying of your taxes. I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says scammers are calling, trying to convince you that you need to pay taxes over the phone. “They are always busy trying to steal your personal information and your passwords to do all sorts of bad stuff,” Miller says, “including filing a tax return using your information and trying to steal your refund.”

The Caller I-D may show that the call is from the I-R-S, but Miller says that’s part of the sophisticated scam. Miller says there are also reports of scammers trying to pressure people into paying tax debts that don’t exist. “We don’t call to demand immediate payment by telling you how to pay, like through a gift card,” Miller says, “and we don’t threaten to bring in police or have you arrested for not paying.”

Miller says the I-R-S will never call and demand payment over the phone, and the agency won’t send the sheriff’s department to your house. If you get a threatening call, he says to just hang up. If you have concerns about possible tax bills, contact the IRS yourself at I-R-S-dot-gov.

(National News) – The Powerball jackpot has rolled again, reaching an estimated $760 million after no ticket had the winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. Those numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were white balls 4, 11, 38, 51, 68, and red ball 5. The Power Play was 3X. While nobody matched all six winning numbers, a ticket sold in Texas matched all five white numbers and the Power Play, making it worth $2 million. A ticket in California matched all five white numbers, making it worth $1 million.

The current jackpot — now worth an estimated $760 million with a cash value of $382.5 million — has been building since October, when a California ticket landed a prize worth $1.765 billion. Should the jackpot be won this month, it would be the largest-ever December prize in Powerball history, according to game records. That title is currently held by a $298.3 million jackpot won by a New York ticket on December 26, 2018.

The current jackpot also ranks among the largest in Powerball history, coming in behind a $768.4 million prize won by a 2019 ticket in Wisconsin.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S-D-A Rural Development is funding two rural Iowa projects to repair and rehabilitate housing. Iowa Rural Development director, Theresa Greenfield, says the funding is through the Housing Preservation Grant program. “Its goal really is to get some dollars into the local communities so that they can make upgrades to some of the housing stock throughout their communities,” she says. The Region 12 Council of Governments received a grant of nearly 102-thousand dollars ( $101,663) to help rehabilitate housing that is owned and occupied by very-low income people in rural Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, and Sac counties. New Hampton received a 61-thousand-dollar grant

“It’s just one of a few ways that we help support rural communities with housing,” Greenfield says. “We also provide direct home mortgage loans to low and very low income Iowans. We have no down payment, we have really low interest rates.” Greenfield says they have other help for those who need to fix up their homes. “We do offer 10-thousand dollar grants to our seniors and very low income Iowans so they can make repairs to their home and stay in their home. And I’ll tell you, as I travel the state, that doesn’t really matter what little town I’m in, but I was just in Moltan, and talk to some of their community leadership. And they were excited to hear about this grant opportunity because their parents and their grandparents, they want to stay in their hometown,” she says. Greenfield says the money can be used in a variety of ways.

“Fix windows there, or remodel a bathroom if it needs to become more accessible, or replace a furnace. Or anything really, that can help make that home repair that home so folks can stay in their home,” Greenfield says. Greenfield says they have ten area offices around the state and you can reach out to one of those U-S-D-A offices if you are interested in the grant program.