A new partnership between Cass County Health System, the Atlantic Kiwanis, and Head Start, ensures leftover food from CCHS is sent home with families who could use a little extra food on the table. Last fall, members of Healthy Cass County spoke with CCHS Food Service Director, James Baker, who mentioned approximately 50 pounds of food that wasn’t served was thrown away every week. James shared that his staff often told him they wished the food could be shared with others. One conversation led to another, and as of January 2020 the Atlantic Kiwanis program is now “rescuing” the leftover food from the hospital and transporting it to Head Start, where teachers can send it home with young students to share with their families.

Kiwanis member Carol Sedden (Left) and Head Start Teacher Heather Dulberg (Right) stand by the freezer holding food from CCHS. (Photo submitted)

Carol Seddon, the Kiwanis member who has spearheaded her organization’s involvement in the food rescue partnership, reports it’s been going very well. “The families are loving it because once in a while mom and dad can’t be there or you have a night when you don’t want to cook, and they can just warm up lasagna” shares Carol. Kiwanis has also started sending “how to use” cards home with non-traditional items. Unsure how someone should prepare frozen potatoes, Carol took a few home to test recipes herself. After finding success, she prepared “how to use” cards that are now sent home with the frozen potatoes.

This new food partnership supplements the Family Nutrition program Kiwanis provides for Head Start with support from Fareway. Once a week, the Family Nutrition program sends every Head Start student home with a bag of meals to share with their family. The new partnership with CCHS allows teachers to send additional food home with students when needed. Carol shares that the kids appreciate the food. Little kids have put seatbelts around the bags of food they take home with them on the bus, and teachers report kids sharing that they’ve cooked with their parents. As Carol says, the program doesn’t just provide food, “it supports families.”

For more information, please contact: Brigham Hoegh, Wellness Coordinator Cass County ISU Extension 712-249-5870 Healthy Cass County is a community-focused network to promote the health and well-being of Cass County residents. Healthy Cass County holds monthly meetings held at Cass County Public Health the second Monday of the month at noon. Follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty. Or reach out to Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870 more information on local health and wellness events or resources.

A Nebraska woman arrested in Cass County was transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail, Tuesday afternoon. 22-year old Aisha Chanel Green, of Omaha, was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Violation of Probation. No bond information was available.

Police in Red Oak report 49-year old Anthony Allan Graham, of Red Oak, was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Graham was taken into custody on a Red Oak Police warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 25-year old Blade Allen Fox, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday morning. Fox was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County Warrant for Sex Offender Registration Violation. He was later released on a $2,000 bond.

And a man from Thayer reported last Saturday, that someone recently broke his garage window and took his Ring doorbell. The estimated value of the damage and stolen item was $250.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide in the crash deaths of two men in Des Moines. Polk County court records say the lawyer for 23-year-old Alejandro Contreras entered the pleas Tuesday. No trial date has been set. Police say the crash occurred around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, when a southbound car struck an eastbound car that had just entered a roadway. Two men in the eastbound car died after being rushed to a hospital. They’ve been identified as 26-year-old Mauricio Ruiz Quintana and 22-year-old Brayan Martinez Ruiz. They lived in Windsor Heights.

(Radio Iowa) — Rumors about coronavirus are flying and the medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health is urging Iowans to get the facts before posting anything on social media so they don’t spread disinformation. Doctor Caitlin Pedati says it’s understandable that people are concerned but they also need to use their heads before contributing to the panic. “Sometimes it can be hard to know where to find reliable information,” Pedati says. “I think the biggest thing we’d like to emphasize is that Iowans can use our Facebook page, our social media and our webpage to get accurate and up-to-date information about this virus and a variety of public health issues.”

In recent weeks, two Iowans were put under watch for possible exposure to the deadly virus and both ended up being fine. Now, Pedati confirms, seven more Iowans are under watch by the state health department. All of them are in self-quarantine, meaning, they’re staying in their own homes. “We’re providing monitoring for people who don’t have symptoms but who had a travel risk,” Pedati says. “We check in on them twice a day to see how they’re doing and the idea is to support them if they were to need care and also to limit the spread of any potential illnesses.”

Federal health officials are warning Americans to prepare for the possibility of an aggressive outbreak. Pedati says Iowa families need to prep for this as they would any other emergency, like severe weather. “If we were to see it spread in the United States, which we have not yet, but if we were, we want to make sure people understand the kinds of things you would do to help protect yourself,” Pedati says. “It sounds simple, but those are really important things like covering your cough, washing your hands and truly, staying home from work and school when you’re sick.” Coronavirus is confirmed in more than 30 countries, but federal health officials are not calling it a pandemic.

Radio Iowa asked Pedati why: “This is indeed a new virus, it can spread from person to person, and it does seem to be spreading in some other countries but we’ve not yet seen widespread activity across the globe,” Pedati says. “That’s what people are thinking about when we think about the criteria for an illness that we see around the world.” In China, more than 27-hundred deaths are attributed to coronavirus, with 78-thousand confirmed cases. Hundreds of cases are confirmed elsewhere around the globe.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, received an update on the County Wellness Program.

Brigham Hoege

Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh talked about her position.

She says she meets monthly with “Healthy Cass County,” helping them with priority projects, including a “Youth Mental Health night,” hosted by the Atlantic High School, and open to the entire county.

The event is March 18^th. Hoege said also, she has worked on food access.

(They learned the hospital was throwing away a lot of food each week, so the hospital and Wellness organization worked with the Kiwanis to get the food to Head Start students.)

In addition to being the County Wellness Coordinator, Brigham Hoegh is the secretary for the Cass County Local Foods Policy Council.

(She’s currently working on training for Farmer’s Market vendors, which includes bringing in experts to talk about insurance, producer training, how to accept Family Nutrition Program [FNP] for SNAP eligible participants.)

Hoegh and Cass County Extension Coordinator Kate Olsen have also been working on a nutrition program for Senior Citizens. She also worked as the point of contact for the March 4^th Atlantic Mobile Food Pantry.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — An Oskaloosa landlord and the father of a 7-year-old boy killed in a house fire have pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and other charges. Court records say Ronald Fogle and Kahal Chauhan were indicted for child endangerment and neglect of a dependent person. Chauhan’s trial is set to begin May 19. Fogle’s trial hasn’t been scheduled. David Fogle’s mother was burned trying to rescue him from the Feb. 15, 2019, blaze. The records don’t provide any specifics on what prosecutors say Chauhan and Ronald Fogle did or failed to do that merited the charges.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have approved a contribution/donation and a loan, for the purchase of a building for Southwest Iowa Mental Health Center/Zion Recovery Services. Their action came Tuesday, and amounts to $50,000 altogether ($25,000 donation/$25,000 loan), with the money coming from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) fund. Supervisor John Hartkopf explained Crossroads Mental Health has accepted an offer from Zion to purchase a building, which will further help to serve persons with mental health issues.

Hartkopf says the purchasing a building has a number of benefits.

Hartkopf says they are getting great support for the Heart of Iowa Region, and they’re helping financially.

(Part of the Resolution calls for the County’s backing of the loan for seven-years, until the equity is built-up, which allows the down-payment to be reasonable.)

SWIMHC affects 17 counties. It has 34 employees in the County, about $1.6-million in payroll, excluding taxes and benefits.

Their new facilities will be located in the Crossroads Building (formerly Lutheran Family Service), on the west side of South Olive Street. Closing on the building is set to take place this week.