(Creston, Iowa) – A woman from Creston complained about pain and possible injuries, following an accident late Saturday morning, but was not treated at the scene nor transported to the hospital. According to Creston Police, a 2012 GMC Terrain SUV driven by 87-year-old Donna Wood Harvey, of Creston, was traveling west on Bureau Street at around 11:45-a.m., when Harvey failed to stop at the stop sign located at the intersection with Jefferson Street. The SUV struck a northbound 2016 Chevy Equinox, driven by 75-year-old Linda Rae Huffman, of Creston. Huffman complained of pain afterward.

In the Officer’s report, he noted Harvey seemed unaware of the circumstances and should probably not be driving a motor vehicle. He recommended she be re-examined for her driver’s license eligibility. He stated her family also believes she should not continue driving. Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000 altogether.

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

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(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Police Department Reserve Officers will hold their annual “Family Dreams Christmas” program on Saturday, December 18th. Applications for the program can be picked up at the APD during normal business hours, and must be returned by 4-p.m. December 8th, in order to be considered. Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue says the Annual APD “Shop with a Cop” program will be held on Sunday, December 19th. There is no application for this program and you will not be able to sign yourself up for this. The APD has resources that they reach out to, and collect names for, this program. Both of the programs will be provided to Cass County residence only.

According to Lt. Hogue, in 2020 APD officials were able to assist 67 children and 17 adults from 26 different families with these two programs. They also put over $17,000 back into the community. If you would like to make a donation to supporting these programs you can contact the Police Department at 712-243-3512 during regular business hours Monday through Friday, or drop-off your donation at the Atlantic Police Department, at City Hall. Checks can be made out to “APCCO” which stands for the Atlantic Police Community Charitable Organization. This is the 501(c)(3) that’s been set up for the department’s community programs.

Officials says they are very greatful to everyone who has supported these programs in years past and want to say thank you to all who plan to support and donate again this year.

The latest area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Red Oak Police Department reports two people were arrested Friday on separate charges of Driving While Suspended. Officials say 42-year-old James LeRoy Shirley, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10-p.m. in the 200 block of N. Broadway Street. And, 42-year-old Brianna Nedean Gasper, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7-p.m. Friday, in the 600 block of E. Washington Street, in Red Oak. Bond for both drivers was set at $491.25, each.

(Region) – The end of Daylight Saving Time takes place early Sunday morning. We’ll turn the clocks back an hour, and in return (in theory), we get and extra hour of sleep. Daylight Saving Time (DST), sometimes incorrectly called by the plural Daylight Savings Time, concludes at 2 a.m. local time, on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021.

The number of daylight hours will continue to get shorter until the winter solstice starts on Dec. 21st.  Afterward, the length of days will then begin to increase until the summer solstice on June 21, 2022. But the days will actually begin to feel a bit longer two weeks before the solstice. That’s because the earliest sunset of the year happens before the solstice, and in 2021, it occurs on Tuesday, December 7.

The changeover to Standard Time (CST) is usually when fire officials recommend changing your smoke detector batteries, which typically last about six-months.

(Villisca, Iowa) – City officials in Villisca, Friday, reported that a Boil Advisory that had been in effect since Wednesday, is no longer in effect.

Residents in two areas of town were being asked to boil water following water main work conducted earlier in the week.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says she’s opposed to having the federal government negotiate to lower the prices of prescription medicine covered by Medicare. Democrats have inserted this proposal in a bill that was voted upon, Friday. Miller-Meeks, an eye doctor, says prescription drug cost controls would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.

“When we give the government more control, we undermine what a physician — all of their knowledge, all of their experience, that of our compounding pharmacists, those with health care experience — and how they can prescribe the best treatments for their patients,” Miller-Meeks said during an online forum organized by the House GOP Leader’s office, “so it’s a tremendous concern to all of us — not just price, but also access to care, but also access to quality care.”

Marianette Miller-Meeks. (photo from Miller-Meeks office.)

The VA has been able to negotiate the prices for prescription drugs for veterans under the agency’s care, but this would be the first time Medicare could negotiate prices for some of the medications prescribed to Americans over the age of 65. The plan would cover only the most expensive drugs and pricing negotiations wouldn’t start until 2023. Miller-Meeks suggested it’s a slippery slope. While Miller-Meeks did not directly cite medications that have primarily been used to treat malaria or to deworm livestock, she criticized regulations during the pandemic which have prevented doctors from prescribing alternative drugs for Covid patients.

“We’ve had governors make decisions over what drugs doctors can prescribe their patients under the penalty of doctors losing their license,” Miller-Meeks said. “We’ve seen government bureaucracy interfere with the doctor-patient relationship, whether it’s prescribing treatments, what they can get through hospitalization.”

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s drought monitor shows that for the first time since July 7th, no part of Iowa is considered to be in severe drought. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says Iowa has been in a structural drought since May of 2020. “We’ve had ebb and flow,” Glisan says. “We’ve had heat waves. We’ve cold weather outbreaks. We’ve had very dry conditions.” Rainfall was as much as 10 inches below normal in some areas of the state — that is, until the steady rainfall in October.

“We’re not in a drought buster now, but we’re in a semi-drought buster,” Glisan says. “We’ve had anywhere from three to five inches over 14 days across much of western Iowa. You look at eastern Iowa two to three, even four inch totals — above average, of course. We’ve received precipitation amounts in two weeks that we would see in a a month and a half, especially in fall.” Parts of the western U.S. have been in a long-term drought, but Glisan says those kind of sustained dry conditions are unlikely in the Midwest.

“On the west coast, they’re impacted by different weather patterns than we are in the central part of the United States. They’ve also had what we call the ‘mega drought’ along with heat waves, forest fires of a record that we haven’t seen before. When you have burn scars on the topography, you get rain events, that rain runs off, it doesn’t soak in and it perpetuates that drought,” Glisan says. “Luckily, in the central part of the United States it doesn’t look like we can get into a long-term, perpetual drought given the moisture gate from the Gulf of Mexico, but also the different air masses that impact us.”

Glisan made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday night) on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – John Deere could be setting the stage for claiming an impasse in negotiations with the United Auto Workers after a company official called the latest tentative agreement Deere’s “best and final offer.” The proposal included an immediate 10-percent raise and kept the pension program available to new workers. It was rejected by union members in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas this week with just 45 percent voting in favor. Paul Iversen, at the University of Iowa Labor Center, says Deere’s statement shows the company shifting toward a more public negotiating strategy.

“After this second offer was turned down, it seems like they have gone on a media blitz to try to turn public sentiment in their favor,” Iversen says, “since it’s very clear the communities support the workers and support the strike.” The rejected agreement would have increased wages by six to nine-dollars per hour over time and offered greater retirement payments. Iversen says it was a stronger deal, but he says workers are pushing for more to restore previous cuts and take advantage of Deere’s record profits.

“They didn’t feel that Deere was respecting the work that they have done over the years,” he says, “and particularly for during COVID, risking their lives to come to work every day to keep the production going.” Iversen says Deere may be pressuring the union to call another vote, which is uncommon. If John Deere claims an impasse in negotiations, he says the company can offer the proposed contract terms to replacement workers. He says the union could dispute that claim with the National Labor Relations Board.

(reporting by Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)