The man who’s been leading the Iowa Department of Human Services for the past eight months faces a political test. At least five Democrats will have to join the 29 Republicans in the Iowa Senate to confirm Jerry Foxhoven’s nomination to be director of the Iowa Department of Human Services. “I can’t tell you if he will or will not get confirmed. I think right now that’s up to him, so he needs to come and talk to Senate Democrats about his job performance from June until now,” says Senator Liz Mathis of Cedar Rapids, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Human Resources Committee. Mathis says Democrats are concerned about unresolved problems with the Medicaid program — from denied care for patients to unpaid bills for doctors, hospitals and other health care professionals.

“I like Jerry. He’s a friend of mine…Since he’s been DHS director, I’ve called him and asked him to visit our area and talk with a number of difference providers so, for me, he’s been accessible and responsive, but at the same time, not much has changed,” Mathis says, “so we still have a lot of providers who are owed a lot of money.” Republican lawmakers also have publicly expressed frustrations with the private companies hired to manage care for Medicaid patients. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says House members are drafting a proposal to address those concerns. “We want to make sure that the issues we’re concerned about are addressed and I think there’ll always be some form of accountability measure in that bill,” Upmeyer syas. “We want to know that we are getting good outcomes and that it is effective.”

Senator Mathis says some health care providers tell her they may have to cut services or close their doors because of the backlog of unpaid Medicaid bills. “There’s a lot brewing out there and I think Director Foxhoven could change some of this,” Foxhoven says. Republicans on the Senate Human Resources Committee voted a week ago to recommend Foxhoven be confirmed as Human Services director, but they did not speak out on his behalf. The D-H-S is the largest state agency, with four-thousand employees and a budget of six billion dollars in state and federal money. A million Iowans receive services from the agency.

(Radio Iowa)

Five people were arrested on drug charges in Montgomery County over the past few days. Sunday evening, officers with the Red Oak Police Department and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies conducted a narcotics search warrant at 1311 N. 1st Street, in Red Oak. Taken into custody, was 41-year old Jeremy Joe Mortensen, and 32-year old Heather Gannon Iverson, both of Red Oak. Mortensen was arrested on Felony charges of Possession of Methamphetamine with the Intent to Deliver, and Gathering where controlled substances were used. He was also charged with Possession of a Schedule 4 narcotics and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Iverson was arrested for Felony Gathering where controlled substances were used, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Both were transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where Mortensen was held without bond, and Iverson’s bond was set at $5,000.

Earlier in the afternoon, Sunday, Red Oak Police arrested 43-year old Michael Abraham Harris, and 39-year old Leann Evelyn Harris, both of Lewis. The couple were taken into custody at around 2:47-p.m. in the 400 block of Senate Street, in Red Oak. Michael Harris was charged with Possession of Meth and Possession of Drug paraphernalia. Leann Harris was arrested for Possession of paraphernalia. Both were transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and Michael Harris’ cash bond was set at $1,000, and Leann Harris was being held on a $300 cash bond.

And, at around 7-p.m. Friday, Montgomery County Deputies conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of A Avenue and Highway 34. As a result of the stop, the Montgomery County K9 Unit was deployed. The K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle. A search was conducted, during which about 271 grams of marijuana, and a .357 magnum revolver, were seized. 27-year old Carl Robert Austria, of Villisca, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance with intent to deliver, a drug tax stamp violation, carrying weapons, and child endangerment. He was also charged with four counts of Delivery of a Controlled Substance, plus an additional drug tax stamp violation, resulting from a three-month long narcotics investigation. Austria was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $36,000 cash only bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature is reviving a bill that would limit the public’s access to many 911 calls. The Republican-controlled Iowa Senate put the measure on hold last year after concerns were raised about its far-reaching implications for accessing records. Now a three-person panel is scheduled Tuesday to review it. If enacted into law, authorities’ initial response to shootings, stabbings and many other incidents could face less public scrutiny. A Republican senator says the proposal needs changes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Public Information Board has charged Polk County Assessor Randy Ripperger with violating Iowa’s open records law. The Des Moines Register says Ripperger is accused of wrongly denying public access to a list of 2,166 Polk County property owners who have had their names removed from the assessor’s website search engine. The case is an administrative proceeding, not a court trial. A June 21 hearing has been set.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former insurance agent and former claims representative have been charged with felonies following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that former insurance agent 37-year-old Nicholas Menough, of Grimes, is charged with fraudulent submissions, forgery and second-degree theft. The investigations began in April 2017.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature is reviving a bill that would limit the public’s access to many 911 calls. The Republican-controlled Iowa Senate put the measure on hold last year after concerns were raised about its far-reaching implications for accessing records. More than eight weeks into the session, a three-person panel is scheduled Tuesday to review it.

The legislation would declare that audio, video and transcripts of 911 calls involving injured people are confidential medical records and exempt from Iowa’s open records law. If enacted, authorities’ initial response to shootings, stabbings and many other incidents could face less public scrutiny. Another provision would make calls involving minors automatically confidential.

The GOP-controlled Iowa House passed the bill last year with unanimous bipartisan support and no debate. Some Democrats in the House later acknowledged they didn’t realize the scope of the legislation, in part because it was framed as a measure about protecting children’s privacy.

Sen. Dan Dawson, a Council Bluffs Republican who will oversee the upcoming subcommittee meeting on the bill, said the proposal needs changes, though he didn’t specify how it should be altered. He sees room for records exemptions, particularly in cases where information becomes available quickly in the aftermath of a homicide case. He worries that could taint a jury pool tied to an eventual trial.

The legislation was introduced last year in response to the release of 911 calls to The Associated Press, which exposed a string of gun accidents in an Iowa county that killed two teens and injured a third. Rep. Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton who voted for the bill last spring, said she now opposes the measure. Wolfe said she sees a need to clarify current exemptions in Iowa’s open records law, though not through this legislation.

The proposal would need to advance out of a full Senate committee in the next two weeks to survive a legislative deadline. If the bill is amended and makes it out of the full Senate, it would need to be approved again in the House. Randy Evans, director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, emphasized the unintended consequences of lawmakers deciding some 911 records should be private based on a medical condition or age. The AP’s access to 911 records involving children shed light on gun violence in Iowa, he said.

Separately, high-profile child abuse cases in the state have received more attention in part because news organizations accessed critical 911 records. All this information is in the public interest, Evans said. He warned if lawmakers decide to add exemptions to public records, they need more time than the dwindling weeks of the current session.
“The Legislature needs to proceed cautiously,” he said.

Sheriff’s officials in northern Iowa’s Kossuth County say a former Atlantic resident was murdered early Saturday morning and a man was arrested in connection with her death. An investigation resulted in the arrest of 45-year-old Chad David Dietrick of Lakota for 1st degree murder. The victim in the case was identified as 38-year-old Krista Lynn Hesebeck, of Lakota.

According to the report, the Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call at around 12:47-a.m. Saturday, from 517 Smith Street in Lakota. The caller asked for medical assistance. The reporting party also said that a domestic assault with weapons occurred at the residence located at 202 2nd Street, Lakota.

Kossuth County Deputies as well as ambulance services from Lakota, Swea City and Algona responded to the call. Upon arrival at the scene deputies found Chad Dietrick with lacerations to his left arm at 517 Smith Street and a Krista Hesebeck deceased at 202 2nd Street. The cause of her death will be determined by an autopsy.

Chad Dietrick is being held at the Kossuth County Jail awaiting his initial appearance.

Chad Dietrick

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education will meet in a Special Session Monday evening, in their Board Room at the High School. During their 6:15-p.m. meeting, the Board will present and discuss their Initial Bargaining Proposal, and discuss and/or act on Personnel matters.

A man from Pottawattamie County was arrested at around 10:35-p.m. Saturday, in Red Oak. According to Red Oak Police, 25-year old Nathan Allen Aldrich, of Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Alrich was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked, and failure to have SR-22 (High risk) Insurance on File. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash bond.

Iowa has a higher-than-average rate of new lung cancer cases, according to a report from the American Lung Association. Alyssa DePhillips of the American Lung Association in Iowa says 65 out of every 100-thousand Iowans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.

The report really recommends radon testing and mitigation, healthy air protections and reducing the smoking rate through tobacco tax increases, smoke-free air laws and access to comprehensive quit-smoking services,” she says.

Iowa also ranks low nationally for early detection of lung cancer and in the five-year survival rates for Iowans who’ve been diagnosed with lung cancer.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa high school students would have to pass the U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate if a bill that cleared the Iowa Senate this week becomes law. Senator Jerry Behn, a Republican from Boone, says students would be able to take the exam once a year, starting in 7th grade, giving them plenty of time to pass it. “We already have to have a lot of tests in high school,” Behn says, “and tt was felt this particular test would help teach a little bit more civics.”

Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, is a high school teacher who says the questions in the exam are too easy.  “Right now this bill focuses on rote-memory questions,” Bowman says. “There’s not one question in this exam that Alexa couldn’t answer. ‘Hey, Alexa. What are the first three words to the constitution?’ “We, the People.'”

Bowman says exam has nothing to do with showing a student knows how American government works or is inspired to fulfill their civic duty. Democratic Senator Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids says test anxiety may prevent some kids from graduating from high school. “The really dark, nasty underside of this bill is invariably there are going to be some kids who fail,” Hogg said, “and you relegate them to a lifetime of economic distress.”

The bill passed the Senate on a 38-to-12 vote this week, but may not pass the House. In January, Representative Walt Rogers, a Republican from Cedar Falls, introduced a similar bill. “I just think it’s common sense that kids should know a little bit of basic civics when they come out of high school. I remember, when I had to graduate from UNI, I had to take just a basic writing class and so this is just something that I think is the right thing to do,” Rogers says. “…Honestly I think Iowa does a pretty good job, but this is just kind of a statement that says they have to pass this test. By doing that they have to focus a little bit on what our history is, what our government is and maybe get a little more excited about becoming a Senator or a Representative someday.”

Rogers made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program. However, Rogers announced in mid-February that his bill did not have enough votes to pass the House Education Committee.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former insurance agent and former claims representative have been charged with felonies following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

Des Moines television station KCCI reports that former insurance agent 37-year-old Nicholas Menough, of Grimes, is charged with fraudulent submissions, forgery and second-degree theft. In the other case, former claim representative 42-year-old Cora Lea Harrington, of Pleasant Hill, has been charged with fraudulent submissions and second-degree theft. The investigations began in April 2017.

Prosecutors say Menough falsified insurance policy applications and altered financial documents related to the sale of insurance policies to receive advanced sales commissions. Harrington is accused of altering financial documents to claim proceeds for herself.

Menough was arrested Feb. 5. Harrington was arrested by the Pleasant Hill Police Department on Feb. 9.