(Radio Iowa) – The health care bill passed by House Republicans includes provisions for cost-sharing reductions, Association Health Plans, and transparency around pharmacy benefit managers. It does not include a provision for Health Savings accounts but Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says it isn’t done yet.  “I think there is more to do here, and that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing in the House come 2026 so I’ll continue working on bipartisan solutions here that protect consumer choice, which is exactly what H-S-As help to do,” Hinson says. The bill does not include an extension of enhanced premium tax credits that Democrats have been fighting for.

Hinson represents the Second District and says expanding H-S-As will be a top priority for the new year.  “We have to continue working to lower premiums and health care costs for American families, provide families with more flexibility. So, I would say this week’s vote was a good step to lowering those health care costs,” she says.

Republicans says giving people money directly to put in H-S-A’s is a better solution than the tax credits.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Education reports school enrollment dropped slightly this year. The Department says the number of K-12 students dropped by around five-thousand or one percent from last year. The state says the drop reflects the declining birth rate nationwide. The report shows around nine percent of public school students open enrolled in another public school outside of their home district.

Enrollment at Iowa accredited nonpublic schools was up more than eight percent. The certified enrollment represents students enrolled in school on October 1st.

(Radio Iowa) – While poinsettias have an undeserved reputation for being poisonous, as you’d have to eat a few hundred poinsettia leaves to get sick, an expert says two -other- traditional holiday plants -are- potentially toxic. Janna Day, a nurse and the education and outreach manager at the Iowa Poison Control Center, says mistletoe can be dangerous if consumed by people or pets, and also the red berries in holly should never be eaten. “They can cause gastrointestinal symptoms and upset,” Day says. “We might see things like nausea, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea if somebody ingests those or if a child ingests those.”

Day says those symptoms can show up quite rapidly and may last for 24 hours or more. “If that does happen, we do recommend that you just go ahead and call us at the poison center,” Day says, “because then we can evaluate how many berries were potentially swallowed, and help give you some recommendations on what we want you to do next.” On the subject of berries, mistletoe’s white berries can also be toxic, and while sprigs of the plant are often placed above doorways to promote kissing, Day says the entire plant should be avoided. Keep them out of kids’ reach and away from pets.

“The flower and the leaves, when we’re talking about mistletoe, they tend to be a little bit more toxic than the berry itself, but we do get more calls about the berry,” Day says. “It seems like those are what we have more ingestions of, the berry. Regardless, we still want you to call us if there is any type of ingestion.” If you have questions or concerns about these and other poisons, call the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center any day, anytime at 1-800-222-1222.

(Creston, IA) – Three people were arrested on separate charges over the past week or so, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, just before 6-a.m. Sunday, 41-year-old Angela Lee Stone, of Oskaloosa, was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, on an Outside Agency Warrant for two counts of Harassment in the 2nd Degree. Stone was taken to the Union County Jail and later transported to the Adams County Jail, where she was being held without bond until making her initial court appearance.

At Around 10:50-p.m. on December 17th, Creston Police arrested 23-year-old Jackson S. Elias, of Omaha. Elias was arrested at the intersection of Highway 25 and Townline, and charged with Possess Drug Paraphernalia. Elias was transported to the Union County Jail, cited, and then released on promise to appear in court.

And, at around 2:10-p.m. on Dec. 12th, Police in Creston arrested 27-year-old Beau Ethan Boswell, of Creston, on an Outside Agency Warrant for Parole Violation on original charges of OWI/1st offense, and Interference with Official Acts. Boswell was being held without bond in the Union County Jail.

(Grundy County, IA) – An adult and two children were injured when an SUV rolled over Sunday morning east of the Grundy Center exit from Highway 20. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2005 Ford Explorer driven by 24-year-old Dilcia F. Hernandez-Morales, of Peoria, IL., was traveling westbound on Highway 20 near mile marker 209. The vehicle left the road to the right and went out of control when the woman tried to get the SUV back into the lane. The vehicle entered the ditch and rolled over three times before coming to rest on its top, in a field. The accident happened at around 7:20-a.m., Sunday.

The Patrol says Hernandez-Morales and her passengers, ages one and seven, both from Peoria, IL., were transported by Grundy Center EMS to the Grundy County Memorial Hospital. The children were not restrained in the vehicle. Hernandez-Morales was wearing her seat belt.

(Radio Iowa) – Milk production is up across the U-S and worldwide, which has had some benefit to Iowa dairy producers. Iowa State University dairy expert Fred Hall says the increase is linked to fewer younger cows known as heifers going into the milking rotation. “What we found is, because the price of heifers are so expensive, people are keeping cows longer. And one of them unique things, more mature cows gives more milk than a heifer,” he says. Hall says the U-S has benefited from the increase in milk production. ” So if you have more of the commodity, that means the price is going to go down. And this is really good for the United States the last year because we were the cheapest dairy product in the world, so we sold a lot more,” Hall says.

He says as other countries produce more milk their prices go down and that impacts U-S dairy exports. Hall says that could impact milk prices and people will look for cheaper products. “Does it mean that they will quit buying dairy? Very unlikely. You know, a young family with children will continue to buy milk, but you may see instead of buying organic or grass fed, they may say, okay, we will have to buy commodity milk or we will go to two percent,” he says.

Hall says the same thing is happening with butter, as imported butter prices will drop and that could impact domestic sales. “The season for baking is coming up, we’ll know in January what that’s going to be. So yeah, we’re in a state of flux and I think a big part of it is that balance between production and consumption,” he says. Hall says the Iowa dairy industry is doing okay now, though the number of dairies has dropped.

“We’ve kept the same number of cows, fewer dairymen. And we know that as we have this abundance of feed we’re getting just a little more milk, and I believe it’s about a pound a day per cow more. And that’s significant. So Iowa is placed well,” Hall says. Hall says Iowa has the processing available to handle the milk produced or to add a little more, which is good. He says much of the processed milk in Iowa goes to cheese production.

(Lenox, IA) – Firefighters with the Lenox Fire Department were called to a house fire at around 9:50-p.m., Saturday. The first crews on the scene at 300 S. Maple Street in Lenox, reported several large explosions and structure was fully engulfed with flames. Several oxygen tanks and a couple propane tanks were discovered.

Crews did a quick knock down of the majority of the structure but due to multiple additions that were added to the house that contained concealed spaces that was hard to get water to. The house is considered a total loss.

Photo via the Lenox Fire Dept. Facebook page.

The resident was able to escape the fire but was injured and transported by Taylor County Ambulance. Authorities say the cause of the fire was unknown, and still under investigation. Fire crews wrapped-up their activities at the scene and returned to their station at around 4:30-a.m., Sunday.

Lenox Fire thanks the agencies that assisted in handling the incident including: Taylor County Ambulance; The Taylor and Adams County Sheriff’s Departments, and Lenox Municipal Utilities.