Atlantic, IA — As part of an effort to make Cass County Health System’s building more secure for patients, families, and employees, officials with CCHS announced today (Tuesday) that two exterior doors will be closed for public use beginning March 1, 2020.

“We have an obligation to our patients and staff to do everything we can to protect their safety and privacy,” said Lee Wyman, Plant Operations Director. “We are locking two doors on the southeast and southwest sides of our building, which are generally used only by staff. We recognize that several long-term patients occasionally use these doors so we do want to let people know about this change.”

All patients and visitors should use one of three public entrances:
· The Main Entrance located next to parking lot A.
· The Emergency Department entrance located next to parking lot C.
· The Rehabilitation Services entrance located next to parking lot C.

“We also feel that it is safer for the public to use only these three entrances. In case of emergencies, these entrances are more likely to have staff close at hand or monitoring them via cameras,” said Wyman.

With the addition of AMC Rapid Care, the previous Evening Clinic entrance is now closed. All Atlantic Medical Center and AMC Rapid Care patients should use the Main Entrance.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she fired the director of the state’s largest agency this summer, in part, because of the deaths of disabled patients at the Glenwood Resource Center. Reynolds has previously declined to discuss exactly why Jerry Foxhoven was dismissed, but today (Tuesday) the governor indicated she grew frustrated with the data Foxhoven was giving her staff about the rate of patient deaths at Glenwood.

“I can’t keep continuing to get these kind of reports. I don’t care if it’s a national average. I know it’s a frail population, but I believe we can do better,” Reynolds says. “…That was one of the many factors.” The U.S. Department of Justice notified the state in a November 21st letter that a federal investigation was being launched into patient care as well as allegations Glenwood patients were being used as human subjects in sex experiments.

Some Glenwood staff had reported concerns to their superiors, but the governor says those reports never reached her office. “I first became aware of that when we received the letter from the DOJ and that is when we first learned that there were issues or that that was being done at Glenwood,” the governor says. Reynolds says HER administration’s initial investigation soon found “nothing was being done” to address the allegations. Glenwood’s superintendent was placed on administrative leave December 9th and fired 21 days later. However, the agency manager who approved the sex experiments on Glenwood patients was allowed to retire recently.

“Part of that is doing the due diligence and going through the research,” Reynolds says, “and so we also have to make sure that we have adequate information when we make the decisions that we made.” The governor says it’s “absolutely fine” for legislators to investigate what has happened and ask new D-H-S director Kelly Garcia what steps are being taken to improve the Glenwood Resource Center.

“If they have additional questions, she’s more than happy to sit down and walk them through that,” Reynolds says. “No problems whatsoever.” Reynolds says doctors from the University of Iowa are continuing to make trips to Glenwood to evaluate the health of the disabled patients, many of whom are being treated for serious illnesses. Reynolds says the director of the Department of Human Services is in the process of hiring one person who’ll be in charge of all the state-run institutions under D-H-S management.

That would include the Glenwood Resource Center as well as the Woodward Resource Center, which is also under federal investigation for its care of disabled patients. Reynolds says she’s continuing to assemble a team of top managers, with the expectation they will communicate and collaborate with her staff.

“When you don’t know what you don’t know, you’re kind of handcuffed on some of the changes that you can make,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says she knows for certain no one notified her office of their concerns about Glenwood patients.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (Telegraph Herald) — A man has pleaded guilty to a series of sexual assaults reported years ago in Dubuque. The Telegraph Herald reports that Martel Fountain Sr. entered the pleas Monday to four counts of sexual assault. His plea deal calls for 10-year sentences for each count, to be served consecutively. Court documents say Fountain assaulted three women in 2011 after forcing his way into their homes. The documents say another was raped in 2014 after Fountain forced her into her garage. Prosecutors say a DNA sample taken from Fountain after his 2018 arrest in a federal drug case linked him to the four assaults.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam will be increased again to free up more space in the reservoirs upstream before spring. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that the amount of water flowing out of Gavins Point on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will be increased later this week to 41,000 cubic feet per second. That is up from the current 35,000 cubic feet per second. The Corps is working to clear out as much space as possible in the reservoirs ahead of what is expected to be another wet year.

(Radio Iowa) — A few kids who’ve operated lemonade stands in Iowa have had a sour experience — with the law. Representative Ray “Bubba” Sorenson of Greenfield says that’s because the iconic child-run lemonade stand is technically illegal in Iowa. “This bill looks to right that wrong,” Sorenson says, “so we don’t continue to have headlines like: ‘Iowa police shut down 4 year old’s lemonade stand.'” The bill passed the House last (Monday) night by unanimous vote.

Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City was an enthusiastic supporter. “I think it’s great to encourage young folks to get out there and be young entrepreneurs,” Steckman said.  In 2011, police shut down at least three lemonade stands in Coralville the kids didn’t get a permit or under a health inspection to run a food stand on the day the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa came to town. Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City voted for the bill, but aired this concern about lemonade and food stands run by children: “If parents are going to choose to allow their kids to do this, they also need to know that there’s some liability involved and if someone does get sick, or if there is a problem in any way, shape or form that, in essense, the parent’s insurance would have to cover that.”

In the past couple of years, lawmakers in Texas and Utah have passed laws legalizing lemonade stands set up kids. A few cities around the country have cracked down on kids — including Girl Scouts — selling cookies. The bill passed by the Iowa House would give kids under the age of 18 a pass on having to apply for business and food permits if they sell baked goods as well as beverages.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds has signed legislation into law that will help dozens of Iowa schools with big transportation budgets. “The bill provides more than $7.2 million in new funding for the 204 school districts with transportation costs above the statewide average of $347.65 per pupil,” the governor says. This new batch of busing money will be added to the previous budget of 19-million for geographically large school districts with huge transportation budgets. “In a state with so many rural school districts…transportation costs can quickly eat away at the quality of education,” Reynolds says. “By providing a shock absorber for those costs, the state is able to help those districts succeed, which is so important to our rural quality of life.”

Central Decatur School district headquartered in Leon covers 60 percent of the entire county. It had the highest transportation budget in 2019 — spending more than a thousand dollars per student. The legislation Reynolds signed into law today (Tuesday) also provides a 10-dollar-per student boost to 177 districts. This money will help narrow a gap in how much districts are allowed to spend per pupil — a gap that was created when the state school funding formula was implemented in the 1970s. The gap had been as high as 175 per pupil and will narrow as high as 155 per pupil in the next academic year.

After lengthy discussion, the Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday), agreed by a vote of four-to-one, to offer a contract for the County Engineer’s position to a man from Madison County. Trent Wolken, Assistant County Engineer at Polk County Public Works, was offered the job to fill the Professional Engineer’s position, with a starting salary of $110,000. Wolken served as the Assistant County Engineer in Dallas County, prior to be hired in Polk County.

Trent Wolken, P.E. (from his Linked-In page)

His contract calls for him to serve Cass County from March 23rd, 2020 until June 30, 2022. And, while all the Supervisors agreed Wolken was extremely well qualified to hold the position of Engineer, which is currently being filled by former Cass County Engineer Charles Marker, a couple of the Board had reservations about his living arrangements and travel benefits package. Supervisor Steve Green was the lone “No” vote on approving Wolken’s contract, because of the fact he won’t be a Cass County resident.

He currently lives in Earlham, and has family ties in Cass County and the Elk Horn area. Supervisor Green said Wolken brings “a lot to the table, however, the constituents he’s spoken with in his district, want someone who lives in Cass County and invests in Cass County. Then there’s the expense of having him commute back and forth between Earlham and Atlantic the county will have to pick up. Green says “If we’re gonna give you six-figures, come live amongst us.” Supervisor Board Chair Steve Baier says Wolken “Has not ruled out that he would not move to Cass County in the future.” He told Baier he doesn’t want to make the transition right now, because of the age of his children and other family concerns.

Supervisor John Hartkopf said the County is two-years or less away from losing its key staff to retirement, so the priority right now is to “Save our department.” Supervisor Frank Waters ultimately voted in favor of the contract, but he too had concerns, especially with regard to the cost to the County. He said throw in the mileage allowance and use of a County vehicle amounts to a total package of about $119-to $120,000 per year.

Pending a satisfactory performance review at the end of six-months, Wolken will be granted an annual increase of 2.1% (effective October 21, 2020).