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Scholarships Available for Students Studying Healthcare

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

ATLANTIC – Cass Health and its affiliate organizations have released their scholarship applications for the upcoming school year.
2022 Scholarships
Cass Health offers a $500 scholarship to a southwest Iowa student who is enrolled or accepted into a nursing program. Deadline is April 1, 2022.
Cass Health offers a $500 scholarship to a southwest Iowa student pursuing a degree in a health-related career. Deadline is April 1, 2022.
Cass Health Auxiliary provides two $1000 scholarships for students pursuing a health-related career. Deadline is April 1, 2022
Cass Health Foundation offers $10,000 in scholarships to students who are enrolled and have been accepted into a nursing or medical doctor educational program. The scholarships were established by a bequest from Louie and Elsie Hansen. Deadline is April 1, 2022.

Applications are available on casshealth.org/scholarships, and can be turned in to the Marketing and Communications Department by the respective deadlines listed above. For more information, contact Kat Niemann, Marketing & Communications Specialist, at 712-250-8022 or nieka@casshealth.org.

Secretary of State recruiting poll workers

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate, is trying to recruit more people to work at the polls in the state’s 99 counties during election nights. “We want to make sure we’ve got a reserve. We are looking for more diversity. With all these new folks coming on as voters — it’s a perfect time to add some of these new folks onto the list,” Pate says. “We need more than 10-thousand folks as workers. Personally, I’d like to be more at 12-thousand be more flexible on the hours of their poll workers.” He says poll workers get paid and the training is not difficult.

“Basically they are checking in the voters. They’re going to make sure they have the correct ballot in the right precinct. They are going to ensure elections run smoothly in each of their precincts,” he says. Pate says you can sign up at pollworker.Iowa.gov. “Well get you some more information. The county auditor can reach out to you and get you on board. For most poll workers it is a one-day commitment. Some poll workers choose to put a little time in and help in other ways, because we have early voting and absentee voting and that process takes a little extra work. We do use poll workers for that,” according to Pate.

The primary elections are June 7th and the general elections are on November 8th. Pate made his comments as part of national Poll Worker Recruitment Day Tuesday.

Bill to erase Iowa’s mandatory school start date tabled in Iowa House

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A move to get rid of the state law that forbids schools from starting the fall term before August 23rd has stalled in the Iowa House. The tourism industry objects, arguing families quit traveling and they lose student employees if school starts earlier in August. Craig Patterson is a lobbyist for Okoboji Tourism. “Every day that Okoboji loses from that summer season, it’s over a million dollars in hidden revenues that doesn’t come in,” he says.

Representative Thomas Moore, a Republican, is a retired teacher and coach from Griswold. “We don’t want to infringe on our business partners that are paying the taxes and making the money for the state government,” he says. “We also want that local school board to be able to make what the best decision for them is and so it’s a ‘Catch 22’ situation, I guess.” Moore is chairman of the subcommittee that discussed getting rid of the mandatory school start date. He announced at the end of a hearing that the bill would not advance.

Margaret Buckton is a lobbyist for the Urban Education Network, representing 22 school districts where nearly one in every four students are enrolled. She says having less time away from school avoids learning loss. “It’s important to work with communities and child care providers and staff and the local economy to figure out what is the best fit for all of these things and we trust our school boards to make those decisions in the best interests of their students and their taxpayers,” Buckton says, “so we’re in favor of this bill.”

In 2015, former Governor Terry Branstad criticized schools for starting before the State Fair was over — and he signed a law that has forbidden all public and private schools from starting before August 23rd. The mandatory starting date law does not apply to districts that have year-round school.

Chicago Man Sentenced on Drug Charges

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after he was caught during a northeast Iowa traffic stop with three different kinds of illegal drugs in his vehicle. Thirty-five-year-old Brian Hale was pulled over in Dubuque County. Court records show a police dog sniffed drugs in the vehicle, despite Hale’s attempt to throw off the scent by sprinkling chili powder over the packages of drugs.

Hale pleaded guilty to distribution of meth and admitted he had meth as well as cocaine, marijuana and more than five-thousand dollars in cash in his vehicle.

Bill would require parents’ written permission for childhood vaccinations

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to require written permission from parents for any vaccinations for their children has cleared a Senate subcommittee. Health care groups and the Iowa Department of Public Health say parental consent is required under current law, but written as well as verbal consent is allowed. Iowa Public Health Association executive director Lina Tucker Reinders says taking away verbal consent could delay necessary vaccinations for kids.

“Verbal consent allows for parents to have those important conversations with their providers or child providers about any questions they have about the vaccinations that their children are about to be given,” she says. “Requiring written consent would impede upon these conversations.”

Members of a group that opposes vaccines say they support the bill because they’ve heard stories of teenagers who were given a COVID-19 shot without parental consent. Reinders says they should provide evidence to the Board of Medicine so those cases can be investigated.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

Changes considered in plan to let ATVs drive on more Iowa roads

Ag/Outdoor, News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The sponsor of a bill to set statewide rules for which roads all-terrain vehicles may travel on, says he’s changing his plan. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, says city officials would retain authority over where A-T-Vs can travel within city limits, but he still plans to seek statewide rules for roads where county boards of supervisors have jurisdiction.  “Local control does not work when boards of supervisors ignore tens of thousands of signatures and refuse to even so much grant a meeting,” Kaufmann says. “When local control is not working, then it is our job to step in.”

Two-thirds of Iowa counties DO have local ordinances that spell out which roads and local highways A-T-Vs may use. Kaufmann says he’s considering other ideas, like requiring licenses for A-T-Vs that operate on roads with other vehicles. Those proposals will be reviewed if and when the bill is debated by the full House.

(Update) IWD director says more workers returning

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped for the fifth straight month in July. Iowa Workforce Development Director, Beth Townsend, says more people are getting back into the workforce. “We are seeing a return to work for industries that had previously suffered the most if you will under the pandemic. Construction is up, manufacturing is up, people are returning to the retail and hospitality industries,” Townsend says. The rate dropped to three-point-five percent in December and Townsend says they want to continue to see it drop to the levels before the pandemic.

“Then we only had about 40-thousand who were unemployed and we had about 60-thousand open jobs. so, even then it was a problem — but today we have 85-thousand open jobs and we’ve got about 57-thousand unemployed,” according to Townsend. ” We really need to help employers fill all those vacant jobs if we are going to continue in our recovery.” Townsend says some of the lost workers are those who decided it was time to retire once the pandemic hit. “In Iowa, they traditionally would work longer. Most people didn’t retire at 65, if they were in good health they would continue work for a few years. I think retirements got a little bit younger, and those who maybe had stayed in the workforce a little bit longer than they originally intended decided to retire. And that definitely had a negative impact on our workforce,” Townsend says.

IWD Director Beth Townsend (file photo)

She says that’s what I-W-D is focusing on those who aren’t yet ready to retire. “How do we get people who were either recently unemployed or who have been unemployed for a while back into the workforce. Because there are some really great opportunities for people It’s a good time to try a new occupation if you are interested. It’s a good time to be on a search for a job because employers are making big changes to encourage people or incentivize people to work for them,” she says.

I-W-D recently started a new unemployment system where they pair up immediately with people looking for a job. “It’s only been in effect for not quite two weeks yet — but we are seeing good responses and we are seeing people get jobs within a week or two of taking advantage of the program. So, we are just helping them make those connections,” Townsend says.

Townsend says recruiting new people into the state to fill the jobs is something they are also doing with help from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

(Podcast) KJAN News, 1/26/22

News, Podcasts

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

The broadcast News at 8:06-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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(Podcast) KJAN morning News, 1/26/22

News, Podcasts

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

The 7:08-a.m. News broadcast from Ric Hanson.

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Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Awards Winners Named

News

January 26th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, county offices in the southwest area, have announced award recipients for outstanding achievements in 2021. Krista Downing, Guthrie County Program Coordinator and Mollie Clark, Guthrie County Youth Coordinator received the Excellence in COVID Recovery award for developing and engaging partnerships that implemented innovation in programming. In the fall of 2020 and again in the fall of 2021 “Fall Feel Good” bags were delivered to 100 area farmers and 100 area small businesses. Items in the bag included resources for mental health such as; Iowa Concern magnets, stress balls, fidget toys, brain break games, exercise moves at a desk, healthy snacks, as well as a few other fun resources.

ISU Extension and Outreach builds a strong Iowa by engaging all Iowans in research, education, and extension experiences to address current and emerging real-life challenges. Learn more at www.extension.iastate.edu.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. For the full non-discrimination statement or accommodation inquiries, go to www.extension.iastate.edu/diversity/ext.