A new watchdog report finds Veterans Affairs medical centers still aren’t adequately addressing wait times for veterans requesting care and some hospitals continue posting the wrong numbers to make it appear like wait times are improving. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the issue came to light two years ago and Congress reacted.

“We appropriated more money,” Grassley says. “We made it possible to fire people that weren’t doing their job. We made it possible for people that aren’t getting help from the VA within 30 days to go to private practitioners. None of this stuff that we thought corrected this is working out the way we anticipated.”

While the V-A claims the average wait time for a veteran to get service is between four and 28 days, the report from the Government Accountability Office says in the cases reviewed, the actual averages were between 11 and 48 days. Some newly-enrolled veterans waited more than 70 days to be seen.

“There’s been some follow-up by Congress,” Grassley says, “but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s not a case of more money, a case of more laws, it’s a case of administration, people listening to whistleblowers, not punishing whistleblowers, following up on whistle blowing, firing the people that aren’t doing their job.”

The controversy came to light in 2014 after it was reported the V-A medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, was falsifying wait times and at least 40 veterans died while waiting on care. The suicide rate among veterans continues to bound. Five years ago, a study found 16 veterans a day took their own lives. Today, that suicide rate has climbed to 22 veterans per day.

“I’m not surprised to hear this report,” Grassley says. “I will study the report and I will do the appropriate follow-up. I’m going to do everything I can through the constitutional responsibility of oversight to make sure veterans are treated the way they were promised.” The G-A-O report reviewed scheduling records for 60 veterans at three V-A hospitals and found improper scheduling in 25-percent of the appointments. (View the full GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-328)

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education, Monday night, approved savings of nearly $140,000 by making budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2017. Superintendent Brett Gibbs told KJAN News nearly $96,000 in those reductions are due to the Superintendent Sharing arrangement with Coon Rapids-Bayard. The reductions also include reducing one-half a Vocal Music position, and, a 9^th grade Volleyball position won’t be filled. Gibbs said there are a number of factors that led to the cuts.

Declining enrollment and lack of State Supplemental Aid he says, leaves schools little choice to make cuts. “We’ve been cutting here for a long time through attrition and early retirements, but this year we’ve got to the point where we actually had to reach out and go a little deeper then that.”

In other business, the Audubon Board approved a letter of resignation from first-year High School English Teacher Kourtney Self, who has accepted a position in Avoca, where she and her husband lives and her husband teaches. The District will begin advertising to fill her position, soon. The Audubon School Board also approved an LED lighting project for the first floor of the 5-through 12 building.

MidAmerican Energy is providing a rebate of nearly half the cost to replacement fluorescent lights. The project will be paid for out of PPEL/SAVE funds, not the General Fund. He said it should also allow the district to save some energy dollars, going forward. And, they approved end-of-season softball field improvements.

A crew with the Iowa Cubs will come in after the season concludes, and re-do the entire softball infield. And, a bid from Devore Fencing was approved. They’ll remove the old fence and install a new fence around the softball field. Gibbs said the new softball field lights are up, but not connected to a power source. The old poles will be coming down soon, and the project is expected to be completed no later than this fall.

The Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council, along with Kemin Industries, formally recognized the six 2016 I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award recipients during a reception hosted by Gov. Terry Branstad at Terrace Hill, Monday night.

Among the six 2016 I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award recipients, was:

• Erin Wetzel, Project Lead The Way and computer teacher, Southwest Valley Middle School
• Kent Muyskens, science teacher, Carroll High School

The award, sponsored by Kemin Industries, was created in 2014 to celebrate one K-12 STEM teacher from each of the six STEM regions who exemplify I.O.W.A., being Innovative in their methods, Outstanding in their passion for education, Worldly in how their students see that STEM is all around them and Academic in engaging students both in and out of the classroom. Each recipient was nominated by a fellow educator, school administrator, student or parent and submitted an application that was evaluated by a panel of judges. Each received an award of $1,500 with an additional $1,500 designated for their classroom.

The ceremony was attended by nearly 150 STEM leaders and supporters from across Iowa. To learn more about the award please visit www.stemaward.fluidreview.com. For pictures of the event and of each recipient, please click here.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston, today (Tuesday), arrested a man on an assault charge. 42-year old Jamie Foote, of Creston, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. at his home, for simple Domestic Assault. Foote was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

Authorities in Shenandoah and Red Oak have issued warnings about incidents of gas pump skimming. According to a press release, Red Oak Police found a card skimmer on a gas pump. And, the Shenandoah Police Department warned people to exercise caution when using a credit or debit card at the pump, even though no skimmers have been found in Shenandoah.

Authorities say the skimmers are almost impossible to spot. They recommend you use your card to pay at the store’s inside register, and check your bank/credit card statements often to make sure no extra charges have appeared on your account. If you notice any unusual charges, notify your bank or credit card company immediately.

Experts say skimmers look and act like installed gas pump card readers. They can be installed devices, invisible to staff and customers, which read details off credit and debit cards and can even secretly, film the keying of PIN numbers. The thief has to come back to the compromised machine to pick up the file containing all the stolen data, but with that information in hand they can create cloned cards or just break into bank accounts to steal money.

One way to determine if the gas pump has been compromised is if the security seal over the installed card reader is broken, or looks like it has been tampered with.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Polk County Board of Supervisors is expected to form a task force Tuesday that will explore raising the minimum wage. Supervisor John Mauro told The Des Moines Register that, “Something has to change in order for the working people to survive.” But Supervisor Steve Van Oort says the minimum wage is not something county government should address.

In September Johnson County became the first Iowa community to increase the minimum wage above the national rate of $7.25 an hour. The county’s rate will rise in 95-cent increments until it reaches $10.10 in 2017. Cities inside the county have the option of passing an ordinance exempting them from the county rule. Linn County also is exploring the issue.

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

WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farm equipment maker Kinze Manufacturing says it must lay off 121 workers as low grain prices have slowed farmer purchases. The Williamsburg-based company announced Monday that office and factory worker cuts will be effective June 18. The company says it implemented a 30-hour work last year and started “aggressive marketing campaigns” to address market conditions, but the current demand for farming equipment doesn’t support staff size.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The leaders of a legislative budget group say lawmakers are at odds over how to pay for some proposed renovation projects in Iowa, including upgrades to a flagship history museum and a deteriorating building that houses some state agencies. Senate Democrats and House Republicans on the subcommittee that approves infrastructure and transportation funding said Monday they can’t agree on whether to borrow money through bonding to pay for the projects.

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man who pleaded guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk on the Fourth of July has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. A judge sentenced 26-year-old Austin Arndt, of Logan, Monday afternoon after he pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge of vehicular homicide while intoxicated. Authorities say the body of 50-year-old Charlotte Anderson was found on July 4th last year in Logan.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A stretch of sunny and dry weather has given Midwest farmers a good start on corn planting. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop progress report was released Monday. It shows 13 percent of Iowa’s corn crop is planted, significantly ahead of the five-year average of 3 percent planted by mid-April.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department, Monday, said just after 2-p.m. that afternoon, officers with the Council Bluffs Police Department were dispatched to 1727 5th Avenue to assist United States Marshals with attempting to serve a federal warrant for probation violation on a subject who was believed to be in the basement apartment of the residence.

Upon going to the door the Marshals were denied entry to the apartment. A federal search and seizure warrant was then obtained by the Marshals for the wanted subject and was executed with the assistance of the Council Bluffs Police Department Emergency Services Team.

The subject of the warrant was not found, however three other persons were inside the apartment. Each was released without being charged. All traffic was stopped in both directions in the 1700 block of 5th avenue for approximately 3 hours. No injuries were reported in reference to the incident.