The union representing a majority of workers in the state’s prisons claims understaffing contributed to a pair of recent problems in southwest Iowa. AFSCME Iowa Council 61 issued a statement saying two correctional officers were physically assaulted by an inmate in a special needs unit at the Clarinda Correctional Facility on Sunday and one of the officers was taken to a hospital.

The union claims the facility in Clarinda is “dangerously understaffed” and eight positions were eliminated there in June.

Clarinda Correctional Facility

According to AFSCME, a lack of proper staffing contributed to another incident two weeks ago involving two inmates who smoked synthetic marijuana brought in by a visitor.

(Radio Iowa)

Here’s the full statement/News Release from AFSCME:

AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement regarding the Sunday evening assault on two correctional officers by an inmate at the Clarinda Correctional Facility:

“On Sunday, August 21, 2016, two correctional officers were physically assaulted by an inmate in a special needs unit. While one of the injured officers continued to work, the other had to be driven to the hospital, leaving only three available staff to respond to any incidents at the facility.

“Two weeks prior, another incident took place involving two inmates acting erratically after smoking synthetic marijuana (K2, spice) that was brought in during visitation. Anything that doesn’t set off a metal detector can come into the facility because officers are no longer allowed to pat-search visitors. It’s up to one officer to monitor 40 inmates during visitation, so it wasn’t a big surprise that this situation occurred.

“Ultimately, Clarinda Correctional Facility, just like all of our correctional facilities in the state, is dangerously understaffed and officers’ lives are being put at risk. These recent events are further proof of that. Not only are open positions not being filled, but eight positions were eliminated entirely in July. Clarinda Correctional Facility and the Department of Corrections are trying to increase services with fewer staff, and something’s got to give. Safety has to be a priority, both for inmates and staff. These conditions are a disaster waiting to happen.”

STATEMENT FROM IOWA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS:
On August 21, 2016 there was an assault on two correctional officers at the Clarinda Correctional Facility during a cell search. Both officers received facial injuries. One of the assaulted officers was transported to local hospital for treatment.

There are incidents where staff encounter and respond that can result in threats and injury. The Department will continue to attend the needs of the injured officers and commends all responding staff for their prompt and excellent response to protect fellow officers and prevent any further harm. The Department will continue to ensure that Correctional Officers and staff receive proper training to protect themselves and co-workers under these difficult circumstances.

Fred Scaletta, Department of Corrections

From the Iowa State Capitol to your neighborhood bank to private homes, the U-S flag is being displayed at half-staff more often now than at any other time in history. Bill Gartner is in charge of the crew that raises and lowers the flags atop the state capitol. Gartner, a Vietnam veteran, wonders whether seeing a flag at half-staff is losing its impact, as it’s become so common. “It’s at half-staff so often I think it’s becoming hazy and fuzzy why it’s there, who’s done what,” Gartner says. “I just think it’s become meaningless because it’s always at half-staff.”

The national symbol has become a reflection of a troubled world; fallen soldiers and police officers, terrorism and mass shootings. A USA Today review found President Obama has signed a record number of proclamations to mourn tragedies at home and abroad. An Iowa native from Glidden is known as the “Flag Guru.” Mike Buss is at the American Legion headquarters in Indianapolis. “We’ve done it so often that really it’s lost its meaning,” Buss says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a resolution from our membership to, I hate to say tighten up, but make it more important as to when the flag is at half-staff.”

When the U-S Flag Code was adopted in World War 2, casualties did not lower the flag, as Memorial Day is already set aside for those who died in military service. If a proclamation was issued for the funeral of every Iowan killed in Vietnam, the flag would have stayed at half-staff for more than two years, according to Colonel Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard.

Hapgood says, “It’s important that half-staffing is used judiciously so the solemnity of whatever that event is, is maintained and the respect of the nation is focused on that flag and that event or those people.”

Just when to re-set the flag is also confusing. In Iowa, and even the nation’s capital, the colors sometime are at half-staff when they shouldn’t be. For guidance on presidential proclamations, you can sign up for email alerts on the American Legion website: www.legion.org.

(Radio Iowa)

A traffic stop early this (Thursday) morning in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of two women on drug charges. Red Oak Police say 23-year old Stephanie Rose Eggleston, and 18-year old Dakota Lynn Girouex, both of Red Oak, were arrested just before 3-a.m.

Eggleston faces charges that include Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Prescription Pills, Driving While Suspended, and Having No Insurance. Girouex faces charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving While Suspended, and Failure to carry SR-22 insurance.

The women were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond, each.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Dairy producers in Iowa and across the country are getting some help from the USDA. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says revenues for dairy producers have dropped 35 percent over the past two years and that’s led to a surplus of cheese which is at its highest level in 30 years. “So, in an effort to try to provide help and assistance and to complement the work that we’ve done with the Margin Protection Program, we’re announcing a purchase of about 11 million pounds of cheese that will be used for food banks and pantries to help families who are struggling financially with their food assistance and food help,” Vilsack said.

photo courtesy of traveliowa.com

The purchase is valued at $20 million and should help the market “a bit,” according to Vilsack. The 11 million pound purchase is far less than the amounts recommended by the National Milk Producers Federation and the American Farm Bureau. “This is at the end of the fiscal year. We don’t have as much flexibility in the program, obviously, because we’ve already made commitments to purchase various other products throughout the year that are faced with a similar set of challenges and circumstances as our dairy producers are,” Vilsack explained.

In addition to the cheese purchase, Vilsack has extended the deadline for signup for the Margin Protection Program. Instead of having until September 30, dairy producers now have until December 16. Iowa ranks 7th in the country for cheese production. Wisconsin and California are by far the top two cheese producing states in the U.S.

(Radio IA/Brownfield Ag News)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines hospital is alerting about 2,600 people who had open-heart surgery there from 2012 to 2015 that they might have been exposed to a bacterial infection. The Des Moines Register reports that two of the former Mercy Medical Center patients have been diagnosed with an infection with the germs, called non-tuberculous mycobacteria.

Iowa Department of Public Health medical director Patricia Quinlisk described the germ as “a cousin to tuberculosis, but it’s much less potent and much more slow-growing.” She says University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics issued a similar warning earlier this year. Quinlisk says people who undergo the heart procedures tend to have weak immune systems.

Mercy Medical Center says the bacteria could have spread from a heart-lung bypass machine used in heart surgery.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports a Notice of the Atlantic Community School District Special Election was published Wednesday. Persons desiring to vote prior to election day afternoon may vote an absentee ballot at the office of the Cass County Auditor during regular business hours up thru 11:00 a.m. on Election Day September 13th, 2016. The Auditor’s Office regular business hours are 8-a.m. thru 4:30-p.m., Monday thru Friday. The office will be closed Labor Day, September 5th.

The Public Measure up for vote during the election, asks if the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Community School District is authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy and impose a Voter approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (V-PPEL) not to exceed 85¢ per $1,000 of assessed valuation of the taxable property within the school district, beginning July 1st, 2017, and, to impose a physical plant and equipment income surtax upon the state individual income tax of each individual income taxpayer resident in the school district, beginning with the 2017 calendar year,  with the percent of income surtax not to exceed 20%, to be determined by the board each year.

The ATLANTIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT consists of Cass, Audubon and Pottawattamie counties. The polls will open at 12-NOON and close at 8:00 P.M. Sept. 13th. The election is “AT LARGE,” meaning that all residents of the entire school district may vote for the public measure.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:40 a.m. CDT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Law enforcement officials have charged a man shot last month by police with assaulting a peace officer and criminal mischief. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office announced the charges Wednesday against 19-year-old Rodricco Radell Parks Jr., of Davenport. The office says the charges were brought after the department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation had concluded their investigation into the July 19 officer-involved shooting.

DECORAH, Iowa (AP) – Heavy overnight rain in northeast Iowa claimed the life of at least one person and forced evacuations and school closures as it washed out roads in and around several communities. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings Wednesday for several northeast Iowa counties. Nearly 8 1/2 inches of rain fell about five miles from Decorah and more than 5 1/2 inches three miles south of Dorchester.

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) – The body of a man who was swept beneath a Missouri River barge near Hamburg, Iowa, has been recovered from the river just south of the state border in Missouri. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the body of 42-year-old Jason Grayson was recovered Wednesday downstream from Hamburg. Grayson, of Elliot, Iowa, had been missing since Sunday, when the boat he was in lost power and was swept under a barge moored to the bank of the Missouri River.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa prosecutor wants a judge to issue subpoenas for telephone and bank records of two Texas attorneys who believes are connected to a former lottery computer security administrator who fixed lottery games in several states. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Rob Sand filed documents Tuesday in the cases of Eddie Tipton and his brother, Tommy Tipton, a former justice of the peace in Flatonia, Texas.

Police in Red Oak, Wednesday afternoon, arrested 49-year old Douglas Fay Penry, of Red Oak, on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 5th degree. He was taken into custody at around 1:25-p.m. in the 400 block of E. Market Street, in Red Oak.

Additional details about the incident leading to his arrest were not released. Penry was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.