(Radio Iowa) – The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated at an all-time high for the game for Tuesday’s drawing of one-point-55 BILLION dollars. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says big jackpots often lead to people pooling their money to buy tickets, and you need to keep a record to avoid issues. “Write down everybody who was in your group how much they contributed and when they did it that way there’s not a question later about who was in and who was out,” she says. Neubauer says you should document the tickets to keep everyone in the loop.

“Take pictures on your phone or photocopy the tickets before the drawing happens,” she says. “And make sure that everybody in the group has a copy of the tickets that were purchased for the group — again then there’s no question about what the tickets were what the numbers were that were on the tickets.” If you are buying tickets for your group, you might want to take another precaution.

“If you’re also buying tickets for yourself, you might want to consider buying them in two separate places — meaning going to one store for one purchase and another store for the others,” Neubauer says. “You just want it to be abundantly clear like here are the tickets for the group and here are the tickets that would be for me.” There is one standard safety measure whether you buy tickets in a group, or just buy one for yourself.

“If you are someone who wins a significant prize the first thing that we always tell people is sign the back of the ticket. That way it identifies the ticket and any prize you have won as belonging to you,” she says. Neubauer says all the tips for purchasing tickets in a group are on the Iowa Lottery’s website.

The Mega Millions cut off for buying tickets in Iowa is 8:59 p-m Tuesday. The drawing is at 10 p-m.

(Radio Iowa) – A state senator from southeast Iowa is being sued by his daughter. Korynn Dickey, the daughter of Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, alleges her father purchased a vehicle for her in 2020, but then forged her signature to place a lien on the vehicle. In May, Korynn Dickey’s vehicle was totaled in an accident, but her insurance company refused to pay on the policy because of the lien. Senator Dickey has denied the allegations.

Another defendant in the lawsuit is Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Myers on allegations of civil conspiracy. Myers’s attorney, Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding, is seeking to have the charges dropped, stating Myers could not have known that the signature was forged. Judge Lucy Gamon has scheduled a court date to hear the county’s motion for dismissal which will be held on August 28th. A court date for the lawsuit has not yet been set.

Dickey indicated he has documents showing his daughter knew he held the lien on the vehicle and he did so to prevent her from selling the car for quick cash or trading it in for a vehicle she could not afford. Dickey says that he paid for the entire car, no one else has ever paid a dime for it. Dickey says the lawsuit does not affect his constituents since neither his daughter nor his ex-wife live in the area.

(Radio Iowa) – When the pandemic forced Iowa State University to switch from in-person to remote learning in the spring of 2020, I-S-U psychology professor Jason Chan feared unsupervised online exams would unleash rampant cheating. Chan figured students would be at home where they could look up anything in the textbook or online. When scores came back, Chan was surprised to see they were very close to the scores students got before moving online.

It led to an I-S-U study of the scores of nearly two-thousand students in 18 classes. Chan says students who were receiving Bs before the lockdown were still pulling in Bs when the tests were moved online and unsupervised.

While the study results indicate online exams still provide a reliable assessment of student learning, Chan warns there are potential weak spots, especially with the emergence of Chat-G-P-T and A-I writing tools.

(Atlantic, IA) – As school approaches, Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) wants to remind everyone who plans to have their student ride SWITA to school that they need to register by August 14, 2023 in order to be able to ride the SWITA bus during the first week of school.

Registration and payment can be done online at www.swita.com, or by calling the SWITA office at 712-243-2518. Rides are $1.50 each way and a minimum payment of $30 is required to start transportation. SWITA transportation is completely separate from the yellow school bus, so simply informing the school you plan to ride SWITA does not mean you are registered to ride, you must register with SWITA. Transportation is open to the public and is ADA accessible.

Transportation is available to the following schools:

• Atlantic K-12
• Atlantic Pre-Schools
• Glenwood K-12
• Glenwood Pre-Schools
• Harlan K-12
• Harlan Little Cyclones Pre-School
• Shelby County Catholic School
• Red Oak K-12
• Red Oak Pre-School

Registrations that come in after the August 14 deadline will be scheduled for the second week of school that starts August 28, 2023. This allows SWITA staff and drivers to build routes efficiently to serve you better. Any questions, please contact SWITA at 712-243-2518 or email swita@swipco.org. SWIPCO is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says four people were arrested from Aug. 3rd through the 6th. One of those arrested was taken into custody twice….

08-03-2023 Randall Dean Herring – 63 – Council Bluffs, IA – Possession of Controlled Substance – Bond: $2,000.00 – Loc. of Arrest: 189th St – Time of Arrest: 2259

08-05-2023 Jessie Lee Simmons – 51 – Vilisca, IA – Warrant out of Adams County – Bond: $1,200.00 – Loc. of Arrest: Hwy 34/221st St – Time of Arrest: 1029

08-06-2023 Jesus Angel Perez-Franco – 21 – Council Bluffs, IA – OWI 1st – Bond: $1,000.00 – Loc. of Arrest: I29 mm42 – Time of Arrest: 0230; 08-06-2023 Brok Uriah Brule – 18 – Glenwood, IA – Violation of No Contact Order – No Bond – Loc. of Arrest: Mills County Jail – Time of Arrest: 2322

08-07-2023 Brok Uriah Brule – 18 – Glenwood, IA – Violation of No Contact Order – No Bond – Loc. of Arrest: Mills County Jail – Time of Arrest: 0045

(Harlan, Iowa) –  The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday) released a report on arrests conducted from July 12 through the 31st. In order of earliest to the latest arrests:

7-13-23: Matthew Allen Strong, age 28, Exira, IA, was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Violation of Probation. Strong was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

7-15-23:  Cory Christopher McCoy, age 39, Harlan, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Violation of Probation. McCoy was transported to the Shelby County Jail; Amber Lynn Goodenberger, age 29, Westphalia, IA was arrested following a call for service in Westphalia. Goodenberger was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Burglary 3rd, Criminal Mischief 2nd, Possession of Burglar’s Tools, and 2 counts of Child Endangerment; Nathaniel Martinez Ornelas, age 18, Harlan, IA was arrested following a call for service in the 400 block of 6th St. Ornelas was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Reckless use of Firearm, Provide False Identification Information, and 7 counts of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon.

7-16-23: Michael Patrick Monson, age 24, Manning, IA was arrested following a call for service in the area of 9th St and Maplecrest Dr. Monsoon was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Public Intoxication.

7-18-23: Mamuch Diw Guin, age 40, Harlan, IA was arrested following a call for service in the 1000 block of Chatburn Ave. Guin was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Public Intoxication.

7-20-23: Zachariah Kai Rush, age 37, Omaha, NE was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant. Rush was transported to the Shelby County Jail; Zane Michael Hytrek, age 31, Omaha, NE was arrested following a traffic stop on Hwy 59. Hytrek was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while Barred.

7-21-23: Miguel Paredes, age 26, Harlan, IA was arrested on an active warrant out of Thurston County, Nebraska.

7-22-23: Michael Joseph Fleming, age 37, Council Bluffs, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on Redwood Rd. Fleming was charged with Speeding, Failure to Maintain or use Safety Belt, No Valid Driver’s License, Reckless Driving, Possession of Controlled Substance, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, Interference with Official Acts, and Eluding.

7-23-23: Samantha Allison Flicker, age 35, Bala Cynwyd, PA was arrested following a traffic stop at Redbud Rd and Hwy 44. Flicker was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substances, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Failure to Affix Drug Stamp; Karl Walter Rieders, age 37, Wyncote, PA was arrested following a traffic stop at Redbud Rd and Hwy 44. Rieders was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Keeping Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substances, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Failure to Affix Drug Stamp.

7-25-23: Alejandro Isidoro Hernandez, age 47, Harlan, IA was arrested following a call for service in the 3000 block of 12th St. Hernandez was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Child Endangerment.

7-26-23: Thomas Glen Netzke, age 22, Lamberton, MN was arrested following a traffic stop in the 800 block of Rd M47. Netzke was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI, Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability, and Improper rear Lamps.

7-27-23: Rodney Craig Musich, age 57, Earling, IA was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Violation of Probation. Musich was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

7-29-23: Jason Jerome McClure, age 20, Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service in the 1400 block of 6th St.in Harlan. McClure was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault.

7-31-23: Robin Elaine Andersen, age 60, Harlan, IA was arrested following a traffic stop at 12th and Tarkington St.in Harlan. Andersen was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while Revoked.

Note: “Criminal charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports five recent arrests:

On Sunday, August 6th, Deputies arrested 21-year-old Dalton Clark, of Atlantic, for OWI/2nd Offense.

There were two arrests July 30th, in Cass County: 33-year-old Tyler Mills, and 44-year-old Robin Troxel, both of Atlantic, were arrested on separate Violation of a No Contact Order, charges.

On July 29th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 30-year-old Jared Meisinger, of Stanton, for OWI/1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance – Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  He was later released on his own recognizance. And, 28-year-old Tyler Schnapp, of Oakland, was arrested July 29th in Cass County, for OWI/1st Offense.  Schnapp was also later released on his own recognizance.