(Radio Iowa) – You may be eligible for some help with your heating bill. The federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP, partners with local agencies that will cut a check to utilities like MidAmerican Energy to lower the financial strain that comes with higher winter heating bills. Hawkeye Area Community Action Program spokesman, Chris Ackman, says applications have increased with the cold weather. The LIHEAP program doesn’t pay the entire heating bill, but it does free up some money in a household budget. Household income must be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for you to quality. For a household of three, their annual gross income must be 49-thousand dollars or less.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is being treated in a hospital for an infection. According to a statement from Grassley’s Senate office, Grassley is receiving antibiotic infusions at a hospital in the Washington, D.C. area. He is in good spirits, according to the statement, and will return to work as soon as possible following doctors’ orders. Grassley, who is 90, is the oldest currently serving member of the United States Senate. Grassley often posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and several of his senate colleagues and Iowa elected officials have posted messages on the site, wishing him well.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Page County man was arrested Tuesday evening in Red Oak, on a Red Oak Police Department warrant. Authorities say 33-year-old Nicholas Ryan Pruett, of Clarinda, was arrested in the 1100 block of N. 3rd Street, on the warrant for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. Ryan was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report no one was injured after two vehicles collided at an icy intersection, Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say a pickup driven by 33-year-old Jessica Carter, of Creston, was traveling west on Devoe Street at around 4-p.m., and had attempted to stop at the intersection with Division Street, but her vehicle slid through the stop sign, due to the ice/snow covered road.

The pickup struck the right front side of a southbound 2016 pickup, driven by 28-year-old Erendira Ornelas, of Creston. Damage from the collision amounted to $2,500. No citations were issued. Both vehicles were able to be driven from the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s top public health official says the governor’s plan to consolidate Iowa’s 13 mental health regions and 19 substance use treatment systems is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia spoke to legislators yesterday (Tuesday). “I really do believe today…that we’re at a bit of a call to action moment. That’s true nationally,” Garcia says. “The need for behavioral health services is outpacing what every state really is able to give at this point in time.”

Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia (official photo)

Under the governor’s proposal, seven behavioral health districts would be created. Marissa Eyanson is director of behavioral health at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.  “Ultimately what we hear from many of our stakeholders is they are out there trying to do the very best work that they possible can, but find themselves tripping over each other because there’s a lack of clarity about, essentially, who’s on first?” she told lawmakers. “We can address that by building a comprehensive system that takes all of these pieces into account.”

State health officials say the new behavioral health system would get rid of redundancies, provide a clear way for Iowans to access services, and put unused funding toward unmet needs. The proposal is part of the state’s effort to reach a negotiated settlement to a class-action lawsuit that calls the state’s mental health care system for children inadequate, inaccessible and dysfunctional.