The Iowa Department of Transportation Highway Division is seeking federal funding to open a special facility in Jasper County that would train its employees and others who respond to traffic accidents and problems. The plan would use 70 acres of land provided by Jasper County near the Iowa Speedway to create the 11-point-eight million dollar Traffic Incident Management Center (TIM). The director of the D-O-T Highway Division, Mitch Dillavou, says the center will help them learn the best way to respond and clear accidents and other problems on the state highways. “We want to start clearing these incidents as fast as you can, because the longer people sit in traffic, the longer something can happen. Every minute that goes by there’s another two-point-eight percent chance of another incident happening. And we want to improve the way that we clear up incidents,” Dillavou says.

The head of the Motor Vehicle Enforcement, David Lorenzen, says a test track of sorts would be build on the site that features real-life roadways. “Two lane, four-lane, intersections, gravel roads. We’ll put roundabouts, cul-de-sacs, anything that would create what we have in Iowa today,” Lorenzen explains. Lorenzen says the need to be on top of issues has increased as the traffic volume has increased. “Our vehicle miles traveled are at an all-time high –thirty-three billion vehicle miles traveled in Iowa — and that continues to increase. Trucking is increasing it. The system is really strained, so we’ve got to do the best we can on the system to keep it clear,” according to Lorenzen.

He says the site would allow them to do the training in realistic conditions.”All this training can be conducted at the speeds that we run on our roads today — that is why it is such a large facility,” Lorenzen says. “It would also law enforcement and emergency vehicles to train in emergency operations modes.” Lorenzen says they used to do some training at the Iowa Speedway, but the track gets income from testing by race teams that are now using it. The D-O-T is seeking federal money to help fund the cost of construction, which includes the highway sections. “There would be one building which would be a multiple use classroom, very generic building that could be split off into various uses,” Lorenzen says. “We’ve also recently had conversations with the Jasper County Conservation Board, they are directly next to the Sheriff’s office and they are building a learning center out there and they want to talk with us about if there was a way for some coop opportunities so they would not have to build a classroom.”

Lorenzen says police and sheriff’s departments are interested, as is the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to use the facility for training. He says Tennessee had the only center of this type and then one was recently built in Colorado. “So this would be the third one that we are aware of in the nation and we feel that it would have a pretty heavy draw from folks at least from the law enforcement end as a regional type draw because there’s just not a lot there. I know that fire folks are very interested in it too and some of those aspects,” Lorenzen says.

Dillavou says they are seeking the full cost of the center in what’s called a BUILD grant. They are hoping the 840-thousand dollar cost of the land will be considered as part of the state’s input for the project. Dillavou says the other states have used fees to help fund the ongoing costs of their centers, but that is something they would look into if the funding comes through and the center moves forward.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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ELKADER, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor has dropped charges for now against two nurses accused of abusing a resident at a northeastern Iowa nursing home. Clayton County Court records show a judge Monday granted a request from Clayton County Attorney Alan Heavens to drop the charges. In his request filed June 28 Heavens told the court he wanted to delay a final decision on criminal prosecutions until the Iowa Board of Nursing and the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals had completed their investigations and imposed any sanctions.

The records show Nichole Buckley and Heidi Mueller have pleaded not guilty to charges of dependent adult abuse, wanton neglect of a resident of a health care facility and tampering with records. Authorities say the charges are related to the abuse of a patient at Elkader Care Center in March.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has admitted stealing trade secrets and transferring some to his new employer. Court records say 55-year-old Josh Isler, of St. Ansgar, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to theft of trade secrets and making false statements to the FBI. His sentencing date hasn’t been set.

The records say that while Isler was working as a technical service account manager for DuPont’s ethanol fuel enzyme division in August 2013, he downloaded hundreds of electronic DuPont files after accepting a job with an unnamed DuPont competitor. The documents say he transferred some of the DuPont information to his new employer.

The documents also say he lied to FBI agents when he told them he had not downloaded the files.

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man in southeast Iowa whose death has prompted an investigation. He was identified as 70-year-old Ed Jones, who lived in Washington.
The Washington Police Department sent officers just before 8 a.m. Wednesday to check a call about a suspicious death at an apartment complex. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was soon called in to help. No arrests have been reported. An autopsy has been ordered.

A recent report by U-S News and World Report places the Atlantic High School tops in the Hawkeye 10 Conference and it placed high among the best in Iowa. Superintendent Steve Barber spoke of the honor during Wednesday’s School Board meeting, in Atlantic.  Barber said the magazine uses criteria that focuses on how our students perform on State-level tests, how well the school prepares students for college, and other factors. Barber said he was happy and excited to report the Atlantic High School was ranked 26th Best in the State of Iowa, and is nationally recognized. He congratulated the staff and students for their efforts.

The High School earned a bronze medal as part of the recognition.  (For more information: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/iowa/districts/atlantic-comm-school-district/atlantic-high-school-7506)

A hospital in Eastern Iowa is the first in the state to add a staff member to address human trafficking. Teresa Davidson, already a nurse practitioner at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, is now working part-time as Mercy’s anti-human trafficking coordinator. She says only a handful of hospitals in the COUNTRY have such a position, but Davidson expects it will soon become a more common practice. “I do know that the federal government has recently accepted applications for grants to do this in more hospitals, because they recognize the extreme need,” Davidson says.

Calling it a “modern-day form of slavery,” Davidson says human trafficking is a growing problem and hospitals need to do more to identify and help victims. “The initial goal will be to create a specific human trafficking protocol for our hospital which addresses and screens people for this crime happening to them,” Davidson says. “Then, we will create a response team to then be able to assist people.” Davidson has worked closely with officials at a Wichita, Kansas hospital which was the first in the nation to develop a human trafficking program. “Prior to hiring an anti-human trafficking coordinator and creating the protocol and response team, the emergency room in the hospital had identified zero victims of human trafficking. Within the first month of this protocol going into place, they identified a victim immediately and in the first year had 82 identified,” Davidson said.

While her initial goal is to create specific protocols for Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Davidson plans to eventually offer human trafficking education to other hospitals and clinics across the state.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man from Clarinda early this (Thursday) morning. 58-year old Larry Michael Smith was taken into custody at around 2:10-a.m. in the 2700 block of O Avenue. He was arrested on a valid Adams County warrant for Contempt of Court. Smith was turned over to Adams County authorities and booked into the Adams County Jail, where his cash-only bond was set at $750.

The funeral for former Governor Robert Ray is Friday, but Iowans who wish to pay their respects in person are being encouraged to go to the Iowa capitol today (Thursday) as Ray lies in state there this evening. “There’s a balance between the public observance of an individual who is legendary in his legacy of impact and also allowing a family the private time to grieve their husband, father and grandfather.”

That’s Scott Raecker, director of the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University Ray’s casket will be borne into the capitol late this (Thursday) afternoon by members of the Iowa National Guard, the Iowa Highway Patrol and the Des Moines Police Department. He will lie in state and the public may file by Ray’s casket starting at 5:30 p.m. Raecker offers this, on behalf of the late governor’s family.

“Just a very sincere thank you to all of the Iowans, those across the country and, in fact, the world who have shown just such a demonstrable outpouring of love and support for their family at this time,” Raecker said, “and they’re very appreciative of that.”

David Oman served as Ray’s chief of staff. He says Iowans who were 18-year-old voters during Ray’s last campaign are now 58, so there are generations of Iowans who were not familiar with Ray’s accomplishments as governor. “Some Iowans have learned for the first time all of the things that he did and other Iowans have been reminded or relearned his record, which has triggered an outpouring of support and appreciation on social media,” Oman said.

Governor Ray died Sunday. He was 89. Former Iowa Governors Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver will join Governor Kim Reynolds in the statehouse rotunda tonight (Thursday) as the Ray family assembles for the public ceremony honoring the man who served 14 years as governor.

Former Governor Terry Branstad is flying back to Iowa from China, where he is serving as U.S. Ambassador, to attend events honoring Ray. Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Timothy Orr has flown back early from meetings in Washington, D.C. to be Mrs. Ray’s official escort in events over the next two days.

(Radio Iowa)