News from around Iowa: Super Bowl ticket scam
Comments (...)Undelivered Super Bowl tickets case investigated
DES MOINES (AP) — The Iowa Attorney General’s office is investigating allegations that a northwest Iowa woman sold Super Bowl ticket packages but never delivered them.
A spokesman for the office says there are more than a dozen reports of undelivered tickets bought from 44-year-old Ranae VanRoekel, of Boyden.
She is alleged to have sold packages priced between $1,700 and $10,000. The deal included airfare, hotel rooms and tickets to Sunday’s game.
The attorney general’s office says investigators are trying to determine whether VanRoekel’s inability to get tickets was due to circumstances beyond her control or something else.
Her attorney, Jared Weber, of Orange City did not return a call Tuesday.
The Des Moines Register reports that Weber has sent letters to ticket buyers assuring them they would get their money refunded.
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Marshalltown police investigating shooting
MARSHALLTOWN (AP) — Authorities say a 41-year-old Marshalltown man has been shot in the head.
Officers dispatched to an apartment just before 7 p.m. Monday found the wounded man, who was taken to Marshalltown Medical & Surgical Center in critical condition. He’s been moved to an Iowa City hospital.
His name hasn’t been released.
State investigators have been called in to aid Marshalltown police. No arrest has been reported.
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Iowa costs of teaching non-English speakers rising
DES MOINES (AP) — Although state funding has grown, some Iowa school districts are seeking more help in covering the rising costs of teaching non-English-speaking students.
The Des Moines Register reports state funding for those students has risen more than 40 percent — or $4.9 million — in the past five years. The number of students has grown almost 20 percent.
But the districts say they needed more money than the state provided.
Districts collected $11.8 million last fiscal year in property taxes for their English Language Learner programs, compared with $6.1 million five years ago.
The amounts spent per student varied widely, from $46 per student in Maquoketa Valley for its three English Language Learners, to nearly $20,300 per student spent by Dike-New Hartford spent for its two non-English-speaking students.
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Secret Service agent fined for OWI in Iowa
DECORAH (AP) — A Secret Service agent charged with drunken driving in Iowa before a visit by President Barack Obama has been fined $1,250.
Online court records say 40-year-old Daniel Valencia also was sentenced last week to two days in jail but given credit for time served.
Valencia was on assignment in Decorah when he was charged with operating under the influence on Aug. 13. He was off-duty when he was arrested.
Obama visited Decorah on Aug. 15 as part of a three-day Midwestern bus trip.
It’s unclear whether Valencia remains employed by the Secret Service. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately return a call on Tuesday from The Associated Press.
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Iowa universities check policies after Penn State
AMES (AP) — The presidents of Iowa’s three public universities say they are taking steps to better protect minors on campus after the sexual assault scandal at Penn State.
University of Iowa President Sally Mason told the Board of Regents in Ames on Tuesday the school is reviewing policies for sports camps and other programs involving minors to prevent abuse.
University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen said the school’s police department has started a training program so that employees who are mandatory reporters of child abuse better understand their responsibilities.
Iowa State University President Steven Leath says a committee is reviewing programs involving children and the way the school trains employees who work with them.
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