(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Two Iowa nursing home administrators – one in southwest Iowa, the other in southeast Iowa – have been sanctioned for recurring quality-of-care issues at the homes they have managed. The Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators recently charged Mitchell Worcester with negligence in the practice of the profession, a charge that is based on a failure to exercise due care. State and federal records show that in February 2025, while Worcester served as the administrator at Tabor Manor Care Center, the 46-bed Fremont County facility was cited for 31 state and federal regulatory violations related to resident care — an exceptionally high number.

The violations included failure to provide a safe, clean and homelike environment, failure to maintain patient records, failure to post inspection results, failure to complete background checks on prospective employees, failure to investigate reports of abuse, failure to inform the state of all abuse allegations, failure to establish a system that allowed residents to summon the staff for assistance and numerous other violations related to drugs, medication errors, payroll, staff training, environmental hazards, and food. At the same time the board filed the charges, it agreed to settle the case with an agreement that calls for Worcester to complete 10 hours of educational training on resident rights and resident abuse. In addition, Worcester’s license will be placed on probation for one year.

Worcester, who is still the administrator and a partial owner of Tabor Manor Care Center, said Friday the home’s financial struggles, which include a bankruptcy proceeding initiated two years ago, have made his job a challenge. He told the Iowa Capital Dispatch, “Naturally after you go through a Chapter 11 reorganization, and with the work-ethic issues that is present in today’s environment, and with staffing constraints, yes, it is a handful to own and operate a standalone nursing facility. So those are some of the hurdles and constraints we’ve been bouncing back from… At the end of the day, it’s my responsibility, and I own that. But I’ve been doing this work for about 30 years and it’s harder now than I have ever seen it.”

In May 2024, Tabor Manor Care Center filed for bankruptcy, listing $1.3 million in assets and $2.3 million in liabilities. By far, the home’s single largest creditor was the State of Iowa — specifically, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services/Iowa Medicaid Enterprises. The home reported that it owed the agency $1.1 million. The debt was tied to Quality Assurance Assessment fees owed to the state and which dated back to 2019, according to bankruptcy records. In August 2024, attorneys for Tabor Manor filed a reorganization plan that called for the facility’s owners to pay the state the $1.1 million over the course of the next 10 ½ years. On the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ five-star quality scale, Tabor Manor currently has one-star ratings for both health inspections and staffing levels.

In a separate proceeding, the board also charged Miriam Johnson with negligence in the practice of the profession, a charge that is based on an alleged failure to exercise due care. The board alleges that in January 2024, while Johnson served as the administrator of West Point Care Center, the 46-bed Lee County facility was cited for multiple violations, including failure to report abuse and failure to conduct a thorough investigation into reports of abuse. At the same time it filed charges against Johnson, the board agreed to settle the case with an agreement that calls for Johnson to complete 10 hours of educational training on resident abuse and quality assurance. A staffer at West Point Care Center said Friday that Johnson is currently on vacation and is no longer serving as the home’s administrator.

(Allamakee County, IA) – One person was injured during a single-vehicle accident Sunday night just outside of Harper’s Ferry, in northeastern Iowa. According to an Iowa State Patrol Crash report, just before 9 p.m. 66-year-old Steven McKee, of Harper’s Ferry was driving a pickup truck on Lansing Harpers Road near Basswood Drive, when the vehicle crossed the center line of the road.

The pickup drove into the south shoulder and entered a ditch where it hit a tree head on. Officials say McKee – who was not wearing a seat belt – was taken to the Veteran Memorial Hospital in Waukon before being flown to La Crosse, Wisconsin for further care.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa) – This Thursday is the legal deadline for the legislature to decide how much the state will spend on K-12 schools next year. That deadline is routinely missed, however. And House Republicans have yet to reveal their initial offer in the negotiations. In January, Governor Reynolds suggested a state funding increase of two percent. Last week, Senate Republicans suggested slightly less. Michelle Johnson of the Iowa Association of School Boards says that figure does not address the inflationary costs school districts face.

“1.75% just does not mean new money for a lot of districts,” she said. “…Utilities and then insurance costs go way up every year, so a lot of this new money — if they do get it — is eaten up by those costs, not to mention we have increased minimum teacher salaries that we have to meet each year.” Any person hired to start teaching in the 2026-27 school year must be paid a salary of at least 50-thousand dollars and any teacher with 12 years of experience must be paid at least 60-thousand dollars.

A spokesman for the School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa says there’s another percentage lawmakers should consider. Contract negotiations over teacher pay are tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is just under three percent. Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association says the state teachers union is calling for at least a five percent increase in state support of school.

“I think it’s really important that we acknowledge what happens when school districts are inadequately funded,” she said. It means our class sizes grow. It means we have staff reductions. It means we have program reductions.” Joshua Brown, a middle school teacher from Des Moines, is president of the Iowa State Education Association. He says the national reputation of Iowa’s K-12 system is suffering because Republican lawmakers are over-emphasizing the state-funded Education Savings Accounts that cover private school expenses.

“Our status has shifted from a top-tier academic performer to one in which private school vouchers defines excellence,” Brown says, “and our traditional academic rankings have slipped to the middle of the pack.”

In the current year, every private school student with an Education Savings Account got nearly eight-thousand dollars in state money and public school districts got the same amount for each student enrolled.

(Radio Iowa) – MidAmerican Energy called Des Moines Police early Sunday to report an injured trespasser had damaged equipment at a power substation, knocking out power to over five-thousand customers.

Des Moines Police say their investigation indicates a man climbed over the fence at the substation, which provides electricity to downtown Des Moines. K-C-C-I T-V reports that when first responders arrived they found a man who was naked. Police say the man’s burns covered about 20 percent of his body. The man was taken to a Des Moines hospital for treatment.

Power was restored in the area about two hours later.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa lawmaker says it’s time to explore whether some western Illinois counties might become part of the State of Iowa. Representative Taylor Collins was born in Macomb, Illinois, but his hometown is Mediapolis, in southeast Iowa. His Iowa House district includes Muscatine, Louisa and Des Moines Counties — which border the Mississippi River.

“I know a lot of folks on both sides of the river,” Collins said, “and I hear consistently from the folks right on the Illinois side that they would much rather be governed by the politics here in Des Moines rather than the politics of Chicago.” Collins has introduced a bill that would create an Iowa-Illinois Border Adjustment Committee and Collins says he’s gotten interesting feedback on the bill.

“I continue to have outreach from Illinois residents saying, ‘Please do this,'” Collins said. “The only feedback I’ve gotten from the Iowa side is: ‘Oh, I don’t know about this so much.'” The chair of the House State Government Committee says the proposal isn’t ready for consideration and the bill won’t advance this year. The bill Collins has introduced is similar to a law in Indiana.

Since 2020, 33 Illinois counties have passed non-binding referenda calling for secession and the Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission held its first meeting last fall. The governor of Illinois says the commission is a political stunt and he has refused to appoint residents of Illinois to serve on commission with Indiana residents. And rural residents of California have been talking for decades about splitting from California and creating a new state called Jefferson. Any boundary changes have to be approved by Congress.

Congress approved Iowa’s current borders in 1846 and the Iowa Constitution, adopted in 1857, defines the borders of Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Residents of mobile home parks say the property tax proposals being touted at statehouse would be of little to no benefit to them because they rent the land on which the manufactured home they own sits. Karla Krapfl lives at the Table Mount Mobile Home Park in Dubuque.

“Rent increases are the real crisis,” Krapfl said. “…These are results of a system that allows out-of-state corporations to raise rents without limits.” Krapfl is a co-chair of the Iowa Manufactured Home Residents’ Network. The group is calling for passage of legislation that would make violation of a rental agreement the only reason a landlord could evict a mobile home park resident.

Matt Chapman, who lives in Midwest Country Estates in Waukee, says month-to-month leases give owners and renters in the park little time to find a new place to live if their lease is cancelled. “This has a chilling effect on residents who have told me numerous times that they are afraid to say anything, because they are afraid of being evicted,” Chapman said. Chapman is among a group of mobile home residents who — for several years — have been asking legislators for help on a variety of fronts, from the poor quality of the drinking water supply in some mobile home parks to crumbling streets in others.

Dana Lubbers has lived at Lake Ridge Estates in Iowa City for 20 years. Lubbers says she’s worried the manufactured home she owns is sinking due to drainage issues on the lot she rents. “Havenpark maintenance came and took pictures underneath the home back in 2021 and has not followed through on fixing the erosion,” she said.

The Iowa Manufactured Home Residents’ Network has for the past few years called for legislation that would set limits on rent increases.

(Jefferson County, IA) – One person died during a single-vehicle accident Sunday morning (Feb. 8th) in southeastern Iowa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened at 1412 Germanville Road, in rural Brighton. The accident report shows a 1990 Ford Mustang driven by 19-year-old Ole A. Olson, of Brighton, was traveling northbound. when for reasons unknown the  car went out of control before striking an embankment. It’s not clear what time the accident took place.

Olson – who was wearing a seat belt –  died at the scene. The crash remained under investigation.

(Orange City, IA) – Sheriff’s officials in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County say a one person died as the apparent result of a structure fire in Alton, Iowa. According to a press release, emergency responders were dispatched to a residential structure in the 500 block of 5th Avenue Thursday evening.

A body was found in the home when fire crews searched the inside of the structure. The individual – whose name has not yet been released – pronounced deceased at the scene.

(Red Oak, IA) – Police in Red Oak report the arrest at around 5:30-p.m. today (Saturday), of 44-year-old Jessie Elaine Gaunt, from Red Oak. Gaunt was taken into custody in the 1000 block of Eastern Avenue, and charged with Public Intoxication.

Gaunt was then transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $300 bond associated with the Simple Misdemeanor offense.