ATLANTIC – Several scholarships are available to area students through Cass County Health System and its affiliate organizations. Cass County Health System offers a $1,000 scholarship to southwest Iowa students pursuing a four-year degree in a health-related career. Deadline is April 1, 2019.  Cass County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary provides grant-in-aid scholarships for students pursuing a health-related career. Deadline is April 1, 2019.

Cass County Health System Foundation is offering $10,000 in scholarships to students who are enrolled and have been accepted into a nursing or medical doctor educational program. The scholarships were established by a bequest from Louie and Elsie Hansen. Deadline is April 1, 2019. Applications are available on the Cass County Health System website, www.casshealth.org, and can be turned in to the Human Resources Office or the guidance office at any Cass County high school by the respective deadlines listed above.

For more information, contact Ann McCurdy, Public Relations Coordinator, 712-243-7405.

From The Iowa State Patrol’s District 21 – Headquarters:  There were a total of 319 fatalities on Iowa roadways in 2018. Slow down, put the phone down, and buckle up!!!

Click on the map to enlarge

The Page County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol are investigating a fatal accident that took place at around 8:30- this (Friday) morning, north of Clarinda. According to reports, the accident happened on County Road J-20 (or, Redwood Avenue), about one and a half miles north of Clarinda. Additional information is currently not available. Check back for updates.

(Radio Iowa) — The Jasper County Board of Supervisors have approved a new on-site video visitation system for the county jail that would charge visitors and will eventually generate revenue for the county. Sheriff John Halferty got unanimous approval for installation of the new system this week that he says would replace the old outdated system used now. He says the current system is a video monitor with a phone that families can schedule and come in and use a monitor and a phone handset to talk to inmates.  Halferty says it has become hard to maintain and fix the old system, and it does not generate any revenue for the county. A Delaware company called HomeWAV will provide the new system. “They will install approximately 12-thousand dollars worth of equipment at no cost to us initially. They would just take the revenue from the new system that the inmates are using and pay off that 12-thousand dollars,” Halferty explains.

Sheriff Halferty says four-thousand dollars for the installation of cabling is the only start-up cost, and that will come out of his budget. The county will get paid once the revenue from the service pays off the cost of the rest of the new equipment. “They estimate at the current use it would take about three-and-a-half years,” Halferty says, “so we would not see any revenue for three-and-a-half years, but after three-and-a-half years we would then see revenue on this new system that we previously never got revenue on.”

HomeWAV will maintain and service it. Those using the system to visit with inmates will be charged 25-cents fore each minute. Once the cost of the equipment installation has been paid for, the county will get 20-percent of the revenue generated by the system and HomeWAV will get the other 80 percent. The supervisors approved a five-year contract for the new system.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) today (Friday) announced the first flu-related death of the 2018-2019 influenza season, a middle-aged (41-60 years of age) Eastern Iowa man, who had underlying conditions or contributing factors. IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Caitlin Pedati, says this death is an indication that flu can be a serious illness. “This death is an unfortunate reminder the flu virus does have the potential to cause severe illness and death, especially in the very young, very old, or those who have underlying health conditions.”

After 10 weeks of low influenza activity in Iowa, flu activity has increased over the last three weeks and influenza has been reported in every region of the state. The CDC recommends that essentially everyone over 6 months of age should receive the flu vaccine. It takes up to two weeks after vaccination for the body to achieve full benefit against the flu virus.

The flu is a respiratory illness caused by viruses. The flu comes on suddenly and symptoms may include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches. Illness typically lasts two to seven days, and often puts healthy people in bed for days. The “stomach bug” which causes diarrhea and vomiting is not caused by the influenza virus, but usually by norovirus; thus, the flu vaccine will not protect you against this illness.

To learn more about influenza in Iowa, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/influenza. Contact your health care provider or local health department to find out where the vaccine is available in your community or use the Flu Vaccine Finder at https://vaccinefinder.org.

(Radio Iowa) — There’s still no sign of an eastern Iowa man who’s now been missing for three weeks.  Thirty-one-year-old Chris Bagley was last seen in the Cedar Rapids-area on December 14, after leaving his home in Walker the previous day without his wallet. His wife said Bagley left with a person she didn’t know. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner says it’s being investigated as a missing person’s case. Bagley has made no calls to his family, which has offered a $25,000 reward for his safe return.

Chris Bagley

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports 38-year old Robert Girard, of Lenox, was arrested this (Friday) morning, in the 1000 block of Tennessee Avenue, in Taylor County. Girard was taken into custody on active Union and Adams County warrants for failure to appear on previous charges. He was transported to Adams County where he was being held, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday) announced residents of Carroll County have the opportunity to attend FREE weapon’s classes that are needed to provide you with certification for your Permit to Carry, and which acts as a permit to purchase a firearm. If you already have a permit to carry, you do not need to take a refresher course unless you feel it would be of value.

Sheriff Kenneth Pingrey says the class is available to residents of Carroll County, ONLY, and will be held on the following dates/times:

• Saturday, Jan. 19th at 8-a.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 12th at 7-p.m.
• Saturday, March 2nd at 8-a.m.
• Thursday, April 4th at 7-p.m.

Persons wanting to attend one of the classes must present a current driver’s license or ID card. For more information, see the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page or call the non-emergency line at 712-792-4393.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque financial cooperative is finalizing plans to spend about $37 million to redevelop an iconic building in the city’s historic Millwork District. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that Dupaco Community Credit Union wants to acquire and transform the property widely known as the “Voices building” into the cooperative’s new operations center. Dupaco officials are also proposing office space for additional tenants and amenities for the community.

The five-story building once served as a local manufacturing hub but has remained vacant and underutilized for decades. Dupaco Chief Marketing Officer David Klavitter says the project would allow the cooperative to honor its origins. He says the building sits in the same neighborhood where 10 meatpackers started the group in 1948. Dupaco officials say the restoration project could begin early this year.

Firefighters from Kimballton, Elk Horn and Audubon responded to a barn fire Thursday afternoon, a couple of miles east of Kimballton. Former Kimballton Fire Chief Bill Allen told KJAN News the call came in at around 3:38-p.m., from the farmstead at 1170 Highway 44. Allen said the home owner was conducting a controlled burn in a pit, when some of the embers apparently flew up and caught the roof of the barn on fire. Kimballton crews arrived first on the scene and were able to obtain a quick knock down of the flames.

They then entered the barn and put out some smoldering hay that was in the loft. Allen says there really wasn’t much structure damage, thanks in part to the slow start the fire had. Crews were on the property for about two-hours. No injuries were reported.