(Radio Iowa) – The telehealth company Twenty-eight is expanding into Iowa, offering a new option for reproductive health. Co-founder Amy Fan wants to focus on traditionally underserved women, like those who are lower-income, live in rural areas and women of color. More than half of Iowa’s counties are labeled “contraceptive deserts” and Fan says reducing that number can help address other health disparities. “Black and Latinx women, unfortunately, have a much higher maternal mortality rate than white women in the U.S.,” Fan says, “and I think it’s really stemming from access and providing culturally competent access as well.” Twenty-eight says it aims to help the estimated 170-thousand Iowa women in need of some sort of birth control.

Although there are active groups in Iowa to provide birth control to this population, Fan says another option can only help. “I really hope that the more telehealth players there are, the more options women have,” Fan says, “and at the end of the day, the better access will be.” She says there are still additional steps Iowa needs to take in increasing affordability.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

The 8:07-a.m. Newscast from Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police report two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Tuesday, and one person was arrested this (Wednesday) morning, for assault with a dangerous weapon. At around 10-a.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Stiller Niles Melton-Clardy, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Melton-Clardy was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana/1st offense. He was later released on bond.

At around 11:20-p.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Amber Danielle Lacina, of Shannon City, was arrested at the Summit Boat Ramp, and charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was cited at the scene, and released.

At around 1-a.m. today (Wednesday), 24-year-old Adam Edward Lee Austin, of Creston, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts and Assault with a dangerous weapon. Austin was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,300 cash/surety bond.  Creston Police said also, Brett Street Power Washing Services on Elm Street in Creston, reported a padlock was cut on one of their trailers, and a brand new red and black Predictor Generator was stolen, along with two gas cans. The loss was estimated at $590.

(Radio Iowa) – The Wright County community of Clarion is in the process of becoming a sister city to a community in the southeastern European nation of Kosovo. Clarion Mayor Duane Asbe (AS-be) says the agreement was passed last week by the city council. “We did sign a resolution to pursue a sister city relationship,” Asbe says, “so that would indicate to Kosovo that we are willing and supportive of creating a sister city relationship from our side.” While Clarion is the county seat, it’s a rural community of only 28-hundred. Asbe is hoping officials in Kosovo will match them up with a similar-sized town.

“There are four or five different sister cities within the state of Iowa, namely, Johnston, Sioux City, Cedar Falls and actually nearby, Fort Dodge, but we would be the first smaller rural community to pursue this process (in Kosovo).” This past summer, Kosovo’s minister of agriculture visited Clarion and rural areas nearby. The name of the sister city will be announced at a later date. A delegation of Iowans plans to visit Kosovo next spring.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s “pleaded” with ranking officials at General Electric to reconsider plans to buy wind turbine blades from a company in Denmark instead of its long-time partner in Iowa. G-E’s plan to shift production overseas has resulted in T-P-I Composites of Newton announcing the plant’s shutdown in December, eliminating more than 700 jobs. Grassley says G-E listened to his case. “It was a conversation that went well. They said they would look into it but no certainty from it,” Grassley says. “They did say they were going to get back to us but so far, they haven’t gotten back to us on that.”

G-E bought a Denmark-based wind turbine blade maker in 2017 and has placed no orders with T-P-I for 2022. G-E was T-P-I’s biggest customer, and T-P-I is Newton’s largest employer since the pullout of appliance giant Maytag’s headquarters and factory in 2007. Grassley is hoping some of the “green energy” jobs in Newton can still be salvaged. “It’s one thing to shut down a plant and lay off 700 people,” Grassley says, “as opposed to cutting back production and maybe laying off half of it.” Grassley also sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to consider using T-P-I for the manufacturing of blades for a massive offshore wind farm project.

The administration announced earlier this month a plan to build large-scale wind farms all along the East and West Coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. As yet, Grassley says he’s had no response from the White House about using the Iowa factory for that proposal.

(Radio Iowa) – Forest City-based outdoor lifestyle manufacturer Winnebago Industries is setting a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century. C-E-O Michael Happe says the company is making the pledge through a campaign led by the Science-Based Targets Initiative.  “We recently strengthened our commitment to sustainability by joining the Business Ambition for 1.5 Degree Celsius, a United Nations-backed global coalition of business leaders,” Happe says. “As part of this program, we are committing to help limit the impact of climate change by setting a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We also announced additional goals on water, waste and product sustainability.”

Happe says the company’s goals include: zero waste to landfills, with 90% diversion of waste by 2030; net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; reduce freshwater use by 30% by 2050; have eco-friendly upgrade options on all their new products by 2025; and product life-cycle assessments by 2030. “We look forward to working with the Science-Based Target Initiative and external validators to develop and enact a plan for achieving this net-zero goal, which represents an important focus of our corporate responsibility strategy,” Happe says.

Winnebago Industries last week reported a record fiscal year with a profit of almost $282 million for the manufacturer of Winnebago, Grand Design and Newmar recreational vehicles as well as Chris-Craft and Barletta boats.

(Radio Iowa) – The funeral for Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ted Benda, who died following an accident, is today (Wednesday) at 11:00 a-m at the Waukon High School. Iowa Congresswoman, Ashley Hinson, spoke about Benda’s death on the floor of the U-S House Tuesday. “This is a devastating loss of a father, husband, son, friend, mentor, and dedicated public servant who made it his life’s mission to keep his community safe in Iowa,” Hinson says. Hinson says Benda had deep roots in Waukon.

“This tragedy is a reminder that brave law enforcement officers often sacrifice for a purpose far greater than themselves,” she says. Hinson wrapped up her brief remarks with condolences to Benda’s family. “I join all Iowans in mourning the loss of Trooper Ted Benda and my heart is with his family, friends, and fellow troopers during this difficult time,” Hinson says. Benda’s squad car crashed on October 14th as he was on his way to assist the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office with a wanted suspect. He died six days later in the hospital.

Police in Red Oak, Tuesday, arrested a man wanted on a warrant. Authorities say 58-year-old Rogelio Hernandez, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 5:10-p.m. on an active warrant for Driving While Barred. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council is hoping the Iowa Legislature takes action after a recent Iowa Supreme Court decision preventing the state Board of Medical Examiners from releasing preliminary information in the investigations of complaints against doctors. F-O-I executive director, Randy Evans, says the Medical Board had done this for many years.

“I think the board took the position that they were only making public selective details of the case that informed the public on what the legal basis for the charges were,” Evans says. Evans says the Supreme Court ruling found the law doesn’t allow information to be released until the final settlement.

“They point to the definitive language in the statute — which said that the findings of fact and the conclusion of the board, their final ruling was a public record. But that the court’s opinion was that there was no wiggle room to make any of that public earlier in the case,” he says. Evans says this is important information that could impact the lives of people seeking medical treatment.

“If there is a belief by the Board of Medicine that there is a legal basis for disciplinary charges to be filed — we believe that the citizens are entitled to know that to make a decision on which doctors they are going to patronize,” according to Evans. Evans says doctors do need to be protected from unsubstantiated claims — but he believes the Medical Board has done a good job of investigating. He says there are some 600 accusations each year against the 66-hundred physicians in the state.

“There’s only 25 to 30 cases that they file disciplinary charges in. So, to me that says that the Medical Board and its staff of investigators are doing a pretty thorough job of vetting these accusations to ensure they are not simply someone who dislikes a particular physician, or that has a vendetta,” Evans says. He says the justices noted the tough situation of protecting the public and the physicians in this case.

“The court’s opinion takes note that there are factors affecting public health and safety that the legislature may want to balance against the current wording in the statute,” Evans says. Evans says the F-O-I Council supports the legislature looking at the issue and he says it’s likely the medical board will pursue action with the legislature. The case involved allegations against former University of Iowa doctor, Domenico Calcaterra, a cardiothoracic surgeon, who now practices out of state.

He reached a settlement where he accepted a citation and warning and agreed to pay a five-thousand-dollar civil penalty. Calcaterra later sued, saying information still on the medical board’s website was hurting his medical career.

(Radio Iowa) – A true-crime book argues the infamous 1912 ax murders in the southwest Iowa town of Villisca were committed by a previously overlooked serial killer, and its authors will give a lecture in Ames tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Rachel McCarthy James, who co-wrote the book with her father, Bill James, says they did extensive research into dozens of similar slayings, all around the turn of the last century.

“I looked at other crimes from the same time period that had the same basic idiosyncrasies,” James says. “The same method was used, the back of the ax was used in all of these cases. They were at the same time of day, usually in the same type of place, a small town, fairly rural but near the intersection of two railroad lines.” Other things the crimes had in common included: the killer locked the door behind him, the bodies and windows were covered, and a lantern from the house was often taken and left somewhere outside.

In the Villisca murders, eight people were killed one night in a house, including six children. There was another incident in Iowa around that same time which wasn’t necessarily a “slam dunk” to be the same killer, she says. An elderly couple was murdered in a rural farmhouse in the Marshalltown area in 1910 that had many similarities to the Villisca case. James says it’s possible one man committed dozens of murders over several years in multiple states. His name was Paul Mueller and he was connected to the slaying of a family in Massachusetts in 1897.

“He was living with this family and he ended up being seen at the house on that night and he was the only one not killed in that event,” James says. “He was seen walking away from them towards the train on the night of the crime, never seen again.” In the book, the father-daughter duo claims Mueller likely committed 14 family murders with a total of 59 victims, but he may also be linked to another 25 mass killings with 94 more victims. James says she’s held the ax that was used in the Villisca murders but has never visited the house, which some claim is haunted.

“I’m not really a haunting person,” James says. “I’ve lived in a lot of ‘haunted’ places and I’ve never seen a ghost so I’ve never been a big person on haunting, which is good because I’ve devoted ten years of my life to ax murders now so there has to be some separation there.” The James’ collaborative book is called, “The Man From the Train,” while the younger James is working on her next book, “Whack Job,” which is also about ax murders. Their lecture is at 7 P-M Wednesday at Iowa State University’s Memorial Union Great Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public and will also be livestreamed.