Atlantic, Iowa— Officials with Cass Health in Atlantic have announced Megan Frederiksen ARNP, FNP-C is now seeing patients. Frederiksen is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). She provides family practice care for patients of all ages. In a press release, Frederiksen said she “Started at Luther College as a pre-med major. Throughout my experience, I learned I wanted a career with better work/life balance, which led me to bedside nursing. While I developed my nursing skills, I realized I wanted a greater say in patient care. Becoming a nurse practitioner allows me to experience the benefits of both work/life balance, and helping a patient determine a plan of care that’s best for them.”

Frederiksen earned a Bachelor of Science from Luther College in 2007 and then completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Nebraska Methodist in 2009. During her nursing career at Cass Health, Frederiksen primarily worked in the Emergency Department, Obstetrics, and most recently, Cardiac Rehab. After more than a decade in nursing, Frederiksen returned to school and completed her Master of Science in Nursing at Clarkson College, graduating in August 2024.

Megan Frederiksen, ARNP, FNP-C. (Photo submitted)

When asked about what it means to now provide care in the community she grew up in, she said “Since I grew up here, I know a lot of the community, and over the course of my nursing career, I’ve met even more people. Small towns are big families, so it’s like taking care of family.”

To schedule an appointment, please call Cass Health at 712-243-2850.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa organization is helping immigrants make legal preparations as the new administration takes office, since President-elect Donald Trump promised to order mass deportations after he’s sworn in. Yareli Flores is the office manager of the Mary T. Treglia House in Sioux City, which has been busy assisting immigrants without legal status.  “Anything from getting their green card, applying for citizenship, applying for work permits, asylum, TPS,” Flores says. “They are very persistent on what can be done for them and what are their options. They’re scared of what’s to come.” The American Immigration Council estimates there are more than 52-thousand immigrants without legal status living in Iowa.

Flores says the nonprofit has been offering a lot of advice lately on how to stay in the country legally. “There has been an uptick in folks visiting our site, worried about what might happen. They want to take action and prepare themselves as best they can.”

Due to privacy and safety concerns, the nonprofit will not disclose how many people without legal status they are helping. Flores says she came illegally to the United States at the age of two and returned to Mexico after high school for 18 months to acquire her green card. She’s now a U-S citizen.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Rotary Club wants to remind graduating seniors from the Atlantic Community School of scholarships available from the Atlantic Rotary Club. The Atlantic Rotary Club will award two (2) $1,000 Scholarships to graduating Seniors from Atlantic High School that will be attending a four-year college or university. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a four-year college or university on or before October 1st of the year in which the scholarship is awarded.

The Atlantic Rotary Club will also award two (2) $1,000 Scholarships to graduating seniors from Atlantic High School that will be attending a Community College, Vocational or Technical Institution. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in the program on or before October 1st of the year in which the scholarship is awarded.

Applications are available on the Atlantic Community School website and must be submitted by March 31st, 2025 to Atlantic Rotary Club, PO Box 82, Atlantic, IA 50022. For more information, contact Rotarian Dolly Bergmann, 712-249-9275, or email at bsktcola@gmail.com.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors have a full agenda for their meeting at 9-a.m. Tuesday, in Atlantic. First-up, the Board is slated to receive a monthly report from Jotham Arber, Executive Director of the Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Department. They will also receive an update from Diane Schultz with the Iowa Morman Trails Association, with regard to replacing directional signs along the Morman Trail.

Afterward, the Board will consider a request from Graydon Schmidt, to define a resident of the county, with regard to county burial and cremation, under General Relief. They’re expected to set Christmas Eve hours for county employees not covered by bargaining agreements, as Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. The Cass County Supervisors will act on appointing Spencer Walton as Jail Administrator, with an annual salary of nearly $4,286. And, they will likely act to approve a letter of support for Southwest Iowa Egg (SWI Egg), with regard to their grant application from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS).

Other business includes approving renewal of a 28-E agreement with the Southwest Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, and setting the date and time for a Public Hearing with the Audubon County Board of Supervisors, to consider vacating and closing a section of Audubon/Cass County Secondary Road. The road is described as being 350th Street/Akron Road (established in March, 1899). The aforementioned road is 40-feet wide, and contains a little more than 3-acres of road right-of-way in Audubon County, and just under 3-acres of right-of-way in Cass County, for a total length to be vacated, of just under 5,000-feet (or slightly less than one-mile).

The Supervisors will hear a regular report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, a Quarterly Report from Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee, and a monthly report from Debbie Schuler, Cass County Community Services Director/Mental Health Advocate. They will then move to accept the resignation of Ray Schellenberg – Grant Township Trustee, and the appointments of Adam Akers as Grant Township Trustee, and Patrick Hoffman, to the Board of Health.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department says seven people were arrested over the past few days. At around 12:30-a.m. Sunday (1/19), 18-year-old Tanner James Richardson, of Tingley, was arrested for Possession and/or purchase of Alcohol by a person under the age of 21, 1st offense. Richardson was released from the Union County Jail after posting a $1,300 bond.

Saturday night, three people were arrested on drug charges in Creston:

• 22-year-old Abby Joann Woodruff and 19-year-old Austin James Breuklander, both of Eagleville, MO, were arrested in Creston for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana/1st offense. Woodruff was additionally charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. Her bond was set at $2,300. Breuklander’s bond was set at $1,300. Both posted bond and were released.
• And, 42-year-old Nickoloas Allen Treanor, of Creston, was arrested for Poss. of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st offense. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond.

Saturday evening, Creston Police arrested 45-year-old Lela Ann Churchwell, of Creston. She was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Failure To Appear on a Public Intoxication charge. Churchwell was released after posting a $500 bond. Early Saturday morning, 43-year-old Angel Jean Davis, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She later posted a $1,000 bond.

And, Friday morning, 22-year-old Christopher Gage Selvy, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Revoked and Driving Revoked-Operating a vehicle without an Ignition Interlock Device. Selvy was cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court.

DES MOINES – State Treasurer Roby Smith is sharing information about an upcoming webinar to help Iowans learn more about IAble, Iowa’s Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) plan. The webinar, co-hosted by IAble and Iowa’s Developmental Disabilities (DD) Council, takes place Thursday, January 23. “This is a great chance to learn about the exciting changes and updates to IAble, including a new investment option and increases to the annual contribution limit and state tax deduction,” said Smith. “But basics like eligibility, qualified disability expenses and more will also be covered.” Register for the webinar at IAble.gov.

IAble accounts help eligible individuals with a disability and their support system save above asset caps without risk of losing crucial federal benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. Funds saved in an account can be used for a variety of qualified disability expenses including housing, basic living expenses, food, education, assistive technology, employment training and support, transportation and more.

“The New Year inspires us to take meaningful steps forward, whether it’s through pursuing new milestones or enhancing our financial health,” Smith continued. “See how IAble can help you or someone you know make strides towards those goals in 2025 by visiting IAble.gov today. To learn more about IAble, check out our latest newsletters for information and account tips at iable.gov/resources/newsletter.”

Connect with the Treasurer on Facebook,  Instagram and X, to stay informed of updates and news. For details about IAble, review the Plan Disclosure Booklet.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regular session beginning at 5:30-p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd in their chambers at City Hall. Among the items on their agenda, is a presentation from Retail Coach, updating the Council on their retail recruitment activities over the past several months. The Council last heard from Retail Coach Project Director Kyle Cofer, on April 30th, 2024. The City hired the company in 2021, to help provide necessary data to help officials better understand Atlantic’s retail market and needs.

The Atlantic City Council will hold the Second Reading of an Ordinance that calls for the vacating of Palm Street, between 3009 and 3101 Palm. The First Reading of the Ordinance was held January 8th. In other business, a Public Hearing will be held during Wednesday’s meeting, with regard to a proposed Amended Ordinance pertaining to Zoning Regulations, specifically affecting front/rear yard setback changes in the R-4 District. The Ordinance would change the front-yard setback from 30-feet to 25-feet, similar to what is found in the R-2 (Low Density) & R-3 (High Density) Districts, and the rear-yard requirement to 20% of the lot depth, with a maximum requirement of 25-feet. The hearing will be  followed by action on passing the First Reading of the Ordinance.

The Council will act also, on re-appointing Brad Henningsen to the Atlantic Airport Commission, and Emily Krengel to the Board of Adjustment. They will act on passing a Resolution “Obligating Funds from the Hotel Whitney Urban Renewal Area Revenue Fund,” for appropriation to the payment of an annual appropriation TIF (Tax Increment Financed) obligations which will come due in Dec., 2025. This will be the 7th year the City has been eligible to capture the taxes paid by the Whitney Group, using TIF, and it will be an annual occurrence until the City either pay’s-off the $750k maximum payment, or 20-years, whichever comes first.

The Atlantic City Council is expected to act on an Order approving an amendment to the Midwest Medical Services Contract, which ends July 1, 2025. The amendment makes some wording changes (including making Cass County the payer of the contract [through the newly passed EMS Levy], while keeping all the coalition partners in the document], and its limits the shortfall allowance amounts as compared to the original Midwest Contract.

The Council’s final order of business, Wednesday evening, is to enter into a Closed Session (as allowed in the Code of Iowa), for the purpose of strategy meetings for Collective Bargaining.

(Radio Iowa) – When big pharmaceutical companies merge, the perception is that drug prices rise, but a University of Iowa study finds that’s not always the case. Study co-author Amrita Nain, a professor of finance at the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, says in select situations, merging firms cut costs — and prices — as they may have overlapping products that treat the same medical conditions. “If you look at companies that sell generic drugs, and about 70-to-80% of prescriptions in the United States are for generic drugs,” Nain says, “so firms that are focusing on these generic drugs that are basically just copying existing drugs after their patents have expired, these drug prices actually decline after a merger.” If a company has developed a new drug therapy and placed a patent on it, creating a multi-year monopoly on that drug, prices tend to go up if there’s a merger, but Nain says that’s not always true for others that focus on generics.

“Their business model is really different,” Nain says, “They’re focusing on high volume sales of low price drugs. It’s a very competitive market, and these firms tend to use mergers as a way of cutting costs, getting more efficiency, and then passing these cost cuts onto prices so they can be more competitive in the generic drug market.” Nain says prices may fall after a merger that brings reduced overhead in areas like staffing, marketing, research and development, and distribution networks. Still, it depends on the type of company and the type of drug being made. “If you look at the price of drugs that are manufactured by highly innovative firms, like brand-name drugs or patented drugs, those actually tend to go up in price by about 6.2%,” Nain says, “but if you focus instead on generic drugs, those decline by almost 6%, so it’s almost exactly in the opposite direction by about the same magnitude.” Nain says the U-I study has important implications for policy, especially for anti-trust authorities like the Federal Trade Commission.

“Over the last few years, the FTC has been really aggressive about blocking mergers,” she says. “I would suggest proceeding with caution and that some mergers may actually be beneficial for patients. So look at the difference between the type of drugs they’re selling, instead of saying a blanket ‘no’ to mergers in general.” One downside to mergers, Amrita says, is that there’s a risk of reducing innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. The study finds merged companies that lowered prices saved money by cutting research and development, while also trimming back on the creation of new therapies.