Creston Police report a woman from Lenox was arrested Wednesday evening for Assault with Injury, and Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. 37-year old Brenda Davis was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1000 bond.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The union representing a majority of state workers is blaming “inappropriate staffing levels” for recent incidents at the Independence Mental Health Institute where a patient injured three staff members. Two of the workers required a trip to a hospital emergency room, according to a news release from AFSCME Council 61. The Department of Human Services has oversight of the state’s two mental health institutes. D-H-S spokesperson Amy McCoy says while she’s not aware of any staffing shortages in Independence, workers know there are risks with direct care of patients.

photo courtesy KCRG-TV via Radio Iowa

“Unfortunately, from time to time at the facilities, assaults do happen where patients who have psychiatric diagnoses may have some behavioral issues and act out,” McCoy said. AFSCME Council 61 president Danny Homan is also questioning the placement of the patient at the Independence MHI due the man’s history of violent behavior. McCoy admits “some very difficult individuals” do get placed at the M-H-Is.

“We are always trying to make sure that we have policies and procedures in place that can best protect our staff,” McCoy said. “The safety of the patients and our staff is our highest priority.” McCoy said she did not know details about the incidents at the Independence MHI.

(Radio Iowa)
AFSCME PRESS RELEASE:

AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement regarding recent staff injuries at the Independence Mental Health Institute:

“I was deeply concerned to hear about two separate incidents of staff being seriously injured by the same patient at the Independence Mental Health Institute over the past two weeks. The first incident resulted in two staff members being rushed to the emergency room; the second resulted in injuries simply due to the fact that insufficient staff was available to respond and assist the staff member while she was being assaulted.

“The issue of understaffing permeates too many of our state facilities. Whether prisons, mental health institutes, or resource centers, putting staff in harm’s way simply because we are continually understaffed is unacceptable.

“Appropriate placement has also been a continuing issue at our mental health institutes and resource centers. The patient who attacked multiple staff at Independence MHI was transferred from a private facility who was no longer able to handle his violent behavior. There should have been a period of consideration by the state to determine whether or not his behavior pattern could be appropriately handled at Independence MHI, given their staff shortages.

“Another ongoing concern regarding placement is the convicted rapist at Woodward Resource Center, who has been threatening another attack since his transfer to the facility in August. There is no doubt that the Woodward Resource Center is an unsafe place for a violent sexual predator to reside. For the sake of the staff, his fellow residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the public, we have to make more responsible placement decisions.”

The vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court was the first topic tackled last (Wednesday) night as Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and his Democratic challenger Patty Judge met to debate in Sioux City. Foreign policy, tax reform and the future of the federal ethanol production mandate were briefly discussed, but Grassley and Judge began with the issue that has been at the center of their contest.

Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since February he’s said the next president should “make the next appointment” to the Supreme Court. A debate moderator asked Grassley whether he’d change his mind if Hillary Clinton wins and the other G-O-P senators want to confirm President Obama’s nominee. “If a majority of the senate said that they were going to move ahead, a chairman serves at the (will) majority of the senate of the United States and I would follow the will of the majority of the senate,” Grassley said. “I don’t expect that to happen, though.”

Judge said Grassley’s “playing political games” with the court. “I am really tonight troubled with this answer. It sure appears to me that he’s leaving himself some wiggle room so that they can have a hearing for Judge Garland between the time this election is over and Hillary Clinton takes office.” The candidates sought to prove they have the ability to understand what’s important to Iowans. At one point, that included their check of commodity prices.

“Corn was $3, $3.13 today,” Judge said during a discussion of the next Farm Bill. A few seconds later, Grassley said: “The price of corn at New Hartford today is $3.10.” Grassley, who is from New Hartford, is seeking a seventh term in the U.S. Senate. Judge, a former state ag secretary who is from Albia, presented herself as “new leadership” for Iowa in Washington. She says the “gridlock and obstruction” in D.C. is fueling “great unhappiness” in the country.

“Put the partisan politics down,” Judge said. “Quit playing games.” Grassley promised to focus on creating jobs and national security. “I make sure that I’m on top of things by having dialogue with my constituents so I can better represent them,” Grassley says. Judge shot back. “When my opponent talks about the need to get out of there in Washington after having been there for 42 years is almost humorous,” Judge said. “I don’t need to have 99 town hall meetings to know what’s going on in Iowa. I live here.” Grassley replied: “My opponent, I don’t think she would mean to imply that coming home on a regular basis and having all these meetings and making the process is something that’s wrong about Washington. That’s kind of what I heard, though.”

The hour-long debate was staged at Morningside College and hosted by K-T-I-V in Sioux City. It was also broadcast on stations in Waterloo, Quincy, Illinois and Rochester, Minnesota that have signals which reach into portions of Iowa.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Council Bluffs Police are investigating an incident of burglary and assault. Officials say at around 11-p.m. Wednesday, officers were called to 3002 Bel Air Dr for an assault, where the suspects had entered the residence and assaulted the resident. The suspects then fled from the scene and have not been located.

The victim was transported by rescue squad to the hospital by the Council Bluffs Fire Department for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The case remains under investigation by Council Bluffs Police.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (712) 328-7867 or the Council Bluffs Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at (712) 328-4728.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer said Wednesday, the Page County Sheriff’s Office will be having a K-9 Fundraiser on November 5th, 2016 from 5-until 8-p.m., at the Coin Community Building, in Coin.  They will be serving Fried chicken strips and Fish along with coleslaw, baked beans, fries, tea and water. A silent auction of items that have been donated for the event will also be held, with bidding taking place during the time of the fundraising event.

The Coin Firemen have generously donated their frying expertise with their equipment to help with this fundraiser.  Every year in the late spring, they put on a wonderful fundraiser.  Palmer says they are honored that they will be cooking for the fundraiser. If you are unable to attend for some reason and wish to donate to the K-9 program, monetary donations are being accepted at the Page County Sheriff’s Office 323 N 15^th St. Clarinda,IA. 51632.  Donations can be mailed or brought to the office.

All proceeds and donations will go toward the Page County Sheriff’s Office K-9 program that they are starting.

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A state prosecutor was told to drop an inquiry into Iowa State University President Steven Leath’s damage of a school airplane after the Iowa Board of Regents’ top lawyer contacted his boss’s office. State officials confirmed Wednesday that prosecutor Rob Sand sought and obtained public records about Leath’s plane accident. The inquiry was dropped because it was inappropriate for prosecutors to conduct criminal investigations, the attorney general’s office says.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Republicans “can’t just simply stonewall” nominees to the Supreme Court even if the president making the choice is Democrat Hillary Clinton. Sen. Chuck Grassley made the comments to Iowa radio reporters on Tuesday. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona had vowed on Monday that Republicans would unite against any nominee Clinton puts forward if she becomes president.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has visited an Islamic center in Waterloo that was vandalized over the weekend. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Albright was in town to campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But after learning of the vandalism _ in which GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s last name was spray-painted on a center wall _ Albright added a stop at the center.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for providing a fatal dose of heroin to a woman in May 2015. The Quad-City Times reports that 30-year-old Kiel James Kiwala was sentenced Monday in Davenport’s U.S. District Court. There is no parole in the federal system. Kiwala pleaded guilty in June to one count of distribution of heroin resulting in death.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green presented his annual report to the City Council, Wednesday night. Green said his department handled 7,217 calls over the past year and made over 1,000 traffic stops but only wrote 396 tickets. They also took over 388 incident reports, including burglaries, etc.  241 people were arrested and incarcerated. Simple misdemeanor offenses such as shoplifting, resulted in citations instead of arrest, due to jail overcrowding and expenses. He said also, that while other law enforcement agencies make a habit of making daily announcements on drug busts and other arrests, his officers work under the radar and put out what information they can, without hindering their undercover operations. Sometimes those operations span several months so all the suspects can be rounded-up and prosecuted.

Green told the Council his officers also spent a lot of volunteer time in service to the community such as “Shop with a Cop,” and other programs for children, families and emergency services.  He said he’s been asked a lot over the past year if the Atlantic Police Department will be getting body cameras. He said they tested five different models of cameras this past year, with each model tested in various modes for several weeks, each.

He says a system called “WatchGuard” (https://watchguardvideo.com/) is the best and most durable they’ve tested. The price tag of $52,220 includes five in-car systems along with the 12 body camera systems, a warranty and a three-year software license for each officer. The City of Des Moines recently contracted for the same system.

Green has about $20,000 available in his budget. City Administrator John Lund said Green is currently under budget, so coming up with the funds won’t be a problem, and if any adjustments need to be made, they can come from the next fiscal year that begins in July. That option was preferable to a more expensive three-year lease agreement for the cameras and equipment, that includes a seven-percent interest rate. That would have pushed the total cost to more than $62,000. It takes at least eight-weeks for the system to arrive once the contracts are negotiated with the company and signed.

Green announced also, that if he’s elected to the Board of Supervisors in November, he will be retiring as Police Chief at the end of December. He said also, Officer Cody Eckles will be leaving the Police force at the end of December, to accept a Chief Deputy Sheriff’s position in Shelby County.

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening heard from representatives with Mediacom with regard to the future of high-speed fiber optic internet service for business and residential customers. They also heard from members of the business community who expressed concern the problem with obtaining faster service would not be solved any time soon. Mediacom Government Affairs Director Lee Grassley told the Council a big announcement is coming in January about a major service upgrade that would be implemented within the next year.

Grassley their initiative toward faster service “Project Gigabyte” began with an announcement in March 2016 in honor of the company’s 20^th Anniversary. Grassley said  their CEO, Rocco Commisso pledged and extra billion dollars over the next three-years to bring gigabyte-level service to the door of every Mediacom subscriber or who has passed-by the company in favor of another service. Grassley said the initial pledge was to have their nationwide footprint done by the end of 2018.

Mediacom’s Lee Grassley addresses the Atlantic City Council

He said they have tested the gigabyte system in Columbia, Missouri for the past 13 months, and that they are ready to implement the service elsewhere. He said in January 2017, there will be a formal announcement in Des Moines with Governor Branstad present, where the Governor and Commisso will lay out the timetable for Iowa. Grassley said “I think that you will be pleasantly surprised and happy with the timetable.” He declined to provide further details, though.

As for a possible working agreement with the City of Atlantic for improved fiber-to-business service, Grassley said “We want to be a friend and a partner to the folks here. All we ask is that you allow us, and find out what we have to offer.” Scott Bennett, an Information Technology Specialist who was in the audience at Wednesday night’s meeting, said the business community needs better internet service than what is currently available, and he encouraged the Council to find a way to invest in the infrastructure that would allow local control and money to stay in Atlantic.

Bennett said business leaders he’s spoken with want a local provider who is ready to invest in the future of the city. Mayor Dave Jones said he’s checked with other cities like Indianola, that have a City-owned utility for fiber-optic service, and has concluded the debt is too much of a burden for the City to carry.

Mediacom Local Area Operations Manager Beau Hicks said they want to bring their fiber optic specialist to town to meet with the Chamber and Economic Development officials to discuss the matter further, and continue talks with the City about their future capabilities and services.

A woman arrested Tuesday in Page County for Driving Under Suspension has warrants for her arrest in Audubon and Carroll Counties. Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer says 22-year old Lacey Ann Malson, of Yorktown, was arrested following a traffic stop by a Page County Deputy east of Yorktown.  Malson was operating a Mercury Mountaineer registered to Dave Holste also of Yorktown.

She was transported to the Page County Jail and faces three separate counts of Possession of Prescription Medication without a prescription in Page County, along with the Driving Under Suspension charge.

Lacey Ann Malson

Malson was being held in the Page County Jail on $1000 bond.  She will be transferred to Audubon and Carroll Counties when the Page County charges have been satisfied or bonds paid.

Audubon & Carroll Counties have custody holds on Malson on four separate warrants.

(12-p.m. News)