Gazette Daily News Podcast: Thursday, May, 9, 2024

– West Union loses over $60K to email scam

– Iowa facility that mistreated residents with intellectual disabilities nears closure

– Two annual Cedar Rapids beer festivals merge into Cedar Rapids Brewing Society Benz Fest, debuting this week

– Consider taking the Daily News Podcast Survey

Episode Transcript

Coming up, the city of West Union loses over $60K to an email scam

And later, an Iowa facility that mistreated people with intellectual disabilities will close in June

Plus, a new beer festival that combines two annual Cedar Rapids festivals is debuting this week

Welcome to the Thursday, May 9 edition of the Gazette Daily News Podcast. This podcast gives quick bites from the latest headlines coming out of The Gazette newsroom. I’m Bailey Cichon.

For the second time this year an Eastern Iowa government says it was scammed out of thousands of dollars after cybercriminals hacked email accounts.

During the week of April 22, the city of West Union paid over $60,000 to scammers who sent the city an email with an invoice that seemed to be from a legitimate vendor. West Union is located in Northeast Iowa’s Fayette County.

The news release from the city didn’t give an exact amount for how much was lost. The scam was reported to the city’s insurance company in hopes some of the funds can be recovered through an insurance claim. The release said the city is looking into the timeline of events and its procedures for paying vendor invoices submitted by email. It plans to release a report once more information is gathered. The city is also working with an information technology vendor to ensure that both its email system and software have not been compromised.

This theft comes months after Dubuque County was targeted by a similar scam and paid $524,284. In that case, the scammers compromised the city of Dyersville’s email system. Then, scammers used a city email to request funds the city was owed from the county through the Federal American Rescue Plan Act.

Next, Glenwood Resource Center in Glenwood is closing after federal investigators found the state-run facility violated patients’ rights according to reporting from the Associated Press. The 28 residents will be moved out by the end of June and 235 staff members have been notified that they will be laid off according to reporting by the Des Moines Register. This is a fraction of the patients and staff at the facility compared to when Gov. Kim Reynolds announced in 2022 that the facility would close.

The closure comes after controversy surrounding the treatment of residents. The U.S. Justice Department has alleged that the state likely violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide services that integrate patients into their communities. In addition, a December 2020 report found that the center likely violated the constitutional rights of residents by subjecting them to human experiments. That included experiments that investigators considered dangerous and sexual arousal research.

According to Alex Murphy, a spokesperson for Iowa’s health agency, most of the residents have moved about 115 miles southwest of Des Moines to community-based settings, like residential facilities for those with intellectual disabilities, nursing facilities or hospice care, or host homes.

Next, the first Cedar Rapids Brewing Society Benz Fest is kicking off on Saturday. The event combines the Drink Local Festival, previously held in August by the Cedar Rapids Brewing Society with the Benz Beverage Depot’s Benz Fest.

The fresh festival will feature beer, cider, mead and a variety of spirit vendors from around the Midwest. Cedar Rapids Brewing Society president Haley Rosendahl said combining the festivals allows more vendors to be brought in quote “while still featuring the many great home-brew clubs from around the state” end quote. The event runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Benz Beverage Depot located at 501 Seventh Ave. SE. Admission is limited to those ages 21 and over. General admission is $40 and VIP access is $50. Proceeds from the festival will support the Great Good Fund at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. The fund is an unrestricted endowment that supports competitive grant programs for nonprofits. Last year, the Cedar Rapids Brewing Society’s festival donated $4,500 to Trees Forever.

Find a link to each story featured today in this episode’s description or at thegazette.com. As always, you can find a full transcript of this episode at thegazette.com.

Hey listener! We're considering some changes to the Gazette Daily News Podcast, but we want to hear from you before doing so. This episode's description has a link to a brief survey or you can visit thegazette dot com slash survey. We hope you take a few minutes to share your thoughts on this show. Thank you!

Now let’s take a look at the weather in Cedar Rapids. Today it will rain. Expect a high of 61 degrees and a low of 52 degrees. Friday, anticipate light rain and a high of 68 degrees. Temperatures will drop to the mid-forties Friday night. The sun and warm temperature should return Saturday. Anticipate a high of 72 that day.

Thank you for listening to the Gazette Daily News Podcast. Stay updated with the latest Eastern Iowa news at thegazette.com. I’m Bailey Cichon.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com