The Creston Police Department reports a central Iowa man was arrested at around 2-a.m. today (Thursday). 53-year old Gary Edwards, of Ankeny, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County Warrant for  2 Counts of Violation of a Protection Order. He was being held in the Union County Jail awaiting bond hearing

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Some neighbors are speaking out against plans to build a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in a Des Moines suburb. Mercy Medical Center officials announced last month that they’re working with a national company on the $31 million project in Clive. Safety was chief among concerns shared at a meeting Tuesday night with Mercy and Clive officials. Mercy officials say the facility would be run safely, with security cameras and locked doors.

Some residents asked why Mercy couldn’t add a psychiatric wing to its West Des Moines hospital, which has empty space, instead of building a new facility in a residential area. Mercy officials say they have other plans for that space but didn’t elaborate. Mayor Scott Cirksena says Clive welcomes efforts to improve people’s health and that mental health is no exception.

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 5-year-old boy was rescued from a community swimming pool in eastern Iowa. The Columbus Junction Police Department says medics were sent to the Columbus Community Swimming Pool around 4:10 p.m. Wednesday to help the boy, who was unresponsive. The boy eventually was resuscitated and then flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. The boy’s name wasn’t released.

A Sioux City war hero who was among the most decorated military men in American history has been posthumously promoted by the United States Air Force. Medal of Honor recipient George “Bud” Day was advanced from colonel to the rank of brigadier general during an event at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia on June 8th. Day was an Air Force fighter pilot who was shot down in the Vietnam War and served in World War Two, Korea and Vietnam. Captain Jeremy McClure of Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard says Day has long been an important figure to those who serve in his hometown. “I know he’s an inspiration to a lot of us — especially as we learn about Air Force history and how much of a role he plays,” McClure says.

Bud Day campaigning with John McCain 2008

McClure is currently attending training at Maxwell Air Force Base and says there is evidence there of how well respected Day was outside of his home state. “When you go to bases like Maxwell Air Force in Alabama and see how large of a figure that now General Day is to the entire Air Force and all the monuments and plaques to him down here, it helps you realized that he is more than just a big deal to Sioux City. He’s a legend in the Air Force as well,” McClure says.

Day died in 2013 at the age of 88. He enlisted in the Marines during World War Two. While flying a mission over North Vietnam in 1967, Day was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese. Day suffered a dislocated knee and broke his arm in three places, but managed to escape captivity and evade the enemy for two weeks, the only prisoner to actually escape from North Vietnam. Day was just two miles from a U-S Marine Corps base when he was shot and recaptured by a Viet Cong patrol. He endured a brutal, 67-month imprisonment that finally ended in repatriation in March of 1973 when he was reunited with his wife and four children at March Air Force Base in California.

McClure says most people know about Day’s actions while a prisoner of war, but probably don’t know he also lead one of the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam war when he took control of the forward air controllers flying in the F-100’s. He says there are “so many reasons why General Day is a legend.”  The landing area at Sioux Gateway Airport is named “Bud Day Field” in his honor. The posthumous advancement of Day to general was introduced by Senator John McCain, a fellow P-O-W with Day in North Vietnam at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” Day’s widow Doris attended a concert at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, last Friday where her husband’s promotion was formally noted.

(Radio Iowa)

Wednesday’s kickoff to the Ice Cream Days celebration in Le Mars included an announcement by officials with Wells Enterprises about expansion plans for the town’s Blue Bunny Ice Cream parlor. Wells Vice President of Retail Sales Adam Baumgartner says the parlor already attracts over 230-thousand (230,000) visitors a year. He expects the multi-million-dollar renovation project will draw even more tourists to the town nicknamed “The Ice Cream Capital of the World.” In addition to redesigning the parlor, Baumgartner says Wells has purchased a building next door to make room for an interactive “farm to spoon” display.

Blue Bunny Ice Cream parlor in Le Mars (Radio IA)

“We’ll be able to highlight how we get our milk, where it comes from, the processes it goes through to get into our facilities, how it gets processed in there, and how it gets turned into ice cream,” Baumgartner said. The added space will also feature rooftop seating. “Outdoor rooftop seating — so, a first-of-its-kind in downtown Le Mars. We are super excited about that,” Baumgartner said.

The exact cost of the renovation project was not revealed at Wednesday’s announcement. The parlor will be closed in October and much of November, as well as between March 1st and mid-June of 2019. The project should be ready for next year’s Ice Cream Days, when the town of Le Mars will also celebrate its sesquicentennial.

(Radio Iowa)

The director of Iowa’s Medicaid program says the state will save about 140-million dollars in the current year because patient care is being managed by private companies, but Mike Randol is not explaining why that estimate has tripled since he became Medicaid director in January.  “I think it’s important to understand that regardless of the methodology, that there are savings,” Randol said.

Randol made his comments yesterday (Wednesday) in a verbal report to the state board appointed by the governor to oversee the agency. Randol then left the room and did not speak with reporters seeking details about how his savings estimate was developed. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says Randol didn’t address how patients and health care providers have been affected by Medicaid privatization either. “The director’s analysis or presentation to the council was incomplete and I really question the accuracy of the numbers that he provided,” Jochum said.

Last week, Republican State Auditor Mary Mosiman announced she will review the agency’s calculations. Fred Hubbell, the Democratic candidate for governor, said yesterday (Wednesday) that the lack of transparency about the finances of the state-run Medicaid program is “baffling and completely unacceptable.”

(Radio Iowa)