(updated 11:30-a.m.)

Two people were injured this (Monday) morning during a two-vehicle accident on Highway 6 west of Atlantic, near the Lewis turn-off (Cass County road M-56). The crash was reported at around 10:45-a.m. Both persons were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. One of the victims suffered from head injuries during the crash, and was transported by LifeNet helicopter to a trauma center, presumably in Omaha.

No other details were immediately released.

Iowa’s governor and lieutenant governor say they plan to work with educators and the business community to find new ways to ensure that 70 percent of Iowa workers have more than just a high school degree by 2025. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds calls it the “new minimum.”

“The goal demonstrates that we want to empower more Iowans with the degrees and the credentials that really will enable them to attain the rewarding careers that are available right here in our great state.” Neither Reynolds nor Governor Branstad are calling for more state spending on their “Future Ready” initiative. They’re calling for collaboration between colleges, universities and businesses to get more Iowans earning two- and four-year degrees, becoming apprentices and taking courses for new work certifications.

“We’re excited about the initiative,” Reynolds says. “I think it’s the next step that we need to take to make sure that we have a talent pipeline to meet employers’ needs.” According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 68 percent of jobs in Iowa in 2025 will require some form of training beyond a high school degree. Nicole Smith is a senior economist at Georgetown.

“A perennial problem for every state, indeed especially since the Great Recession, is how to find the skilled workers necessary to compete,” Smith says. Smith says Iowa has more advanced manufacturing jobs than its Midwestern neighbors and those jobs require more skills — and they pay higher salaries, too. The governor and lieutenant governor will hold public meetings in Waukee, Cedar Falls and Sioux City this month to discuss their “Future Ready” initiative.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, is expected to act on the appointment of a City Attorney. Former City Attorney David Wiederstein, who also serves as the Cass County Attorney, has been filing-in as needed since the departure in August, of former City Attorney Jamie Arnold. The Council has considered proposals for the position from Clint Fichter, J-C Van Ginkel and Wiederstein, and conducted interviews with both Wiederstein and Van Ginkel in closed sessions.

The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee also discussed each of the proposals but decided to forward the matter to the Council without making a recommendation. Mayor Dave Jones made it clear during the Council’s session Sept. 16th, that he prefers Van Ginkel for the job, but according to City Administrator John Lund, the consensus of Council following the closed session interviews, was to appoint Wiederstein. Lund said he remains neutral and will not offer a recommendation during the Council’s 5:30-p.m. meeting, Wednesday.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hear from Fire Chief Mark McNees, with regard to the Fire Department providing commercial fire extinguisher inspection and servicing. And, the Council will act on a Resolution “Approving the Transfer of Surplus Funds from the Atlantic Wastewater Utility Fund to the City Employee Benefits Fund.”

The move is being considered according to John Lund, because the City was recently forced out of its health insurance plan due to a $2-million dollar deductible being placed on a member of the group plan. That was a substantial increase from the $40,000 deductible the City had been paying from its insurance underwriters. When the contract ended, the underwriter was no longer responsible for any billing or claims being processed after May 1st, 2015.

Once claims in the system had been processed, that left the City with run-out claims amounting to over $1.28-million. Lund says the City has exhausted all of its employee benefits fund, and reduced the balance to just over $600,000. The City, he says has five options, with the most logical being the transfer of surplus Wastewater Utility funds to the Benefits Fund, as allowed under Iowa Code. The City will have a “sizable reserve” of more than $638,000 in the Wastewater Utility Fund as of July 1st, 2016 , according to Lund, largely due to cost overestimates for the treatment plant construction and ongoing operations.

Lund says using those funds would be “The most cost-effective, taxpayer friendly and expedient manner,” with which to address the Run-Out claims issue.

More news w/KJAN News Director, Ric Hanson.

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Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater has released his department’s latest report on arrests. In it, the Sheriff notes 52-year old John William Scott, of Mt. Ayr, was arrested Saturday night for OWI/2nd offense. Scott was released Sunday on a $2,000 cash bond. On Friday, 23-year old Taylor Florencia Kraus, of Des Moines, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, with seven withdrawals in effect. He was later released on $300 bond.

On Sept. 28th, Stuart Police arrested 31-year old Jason Dearl McGowan, of Stuart, for Arson in the 1st degree, in connection with a motel room fire that same day. McGowan was being held without bond in the Adair County Jail. On Sept. 27th, 60-year old David Joseph Convery, of Greenfield, was arrested by an Adair County deputy. Convery was charged with Public Intoxication and Simple Assault. He was later released on $300 bond.

Also on Sept. 27th, 36-year old Jason Bruce King, of Stuart, was arrested for OWI/3rd or subsequent offense, and Driving While License Suspended or Revoked for Implied Consent, following an investigation into an ATV accident that happened May 25th. King’s Blood Alcohol Content was determined to be .209, or more than twice the legal limit. He was released from the Adair County Jail on a Recognizance Bond.

And, 34-year old Raymond Scott Davis, of Creston was arrested Sept. 27th, on a warrant for Harassment in the 3rd degree. Davis was later released on $300 bond.

The Creston Police Department reports a juvenile from Creston was referred to Juvenile Authorities on charges of Careless Driving and Eluding. 16-year old Patrick Farlow was then released Sunday to the custody of his mother. Last Friday, Creston Police arrested 46-year old Jerry Chapman, of Creston, on a charge of Theft in the 5th degree. Chapman was cited and released on a promise to appear later, in court.

And a resident of the 1000 block of 190th Street, in Creston, reported to police Saturday, that someone vandalized his semi that was parked at the Creston Hy-Vee parking lot. Two lights on the left side trailer of the semi were broken out, with damage estimated at $60. The incident happened sometime between 8 and 8:30-p.m., Friday.

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

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This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Iowa and the yearly event is among the reasons why the number of survivors continues to grow across the state and nationwide. The death rate from breast cancer in this country has dropped by more than a third over the past 25 years. Roger Dahl, executive director with Susan G. Komen in Iowa, says increased awareness has led to an increase in women getting regular screenings and that saves lives.

“Because in those early stages of breast cancer it is far more treatable,” says Dahl. “The variety of treatment options available today make early detection even more important.”

Dahl recommends women get annual mammograms starting at age 40 or talk to their health provider about the possible need for earlier screenings if they have certain risk factors, such as family history. Dahl notes that risk factors or not, around one-in-eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. “So we really try to emphasize, don’t assume that breast cancer does not impact you, because chances are, sooner or later, unfortunately it will,” he says.

In Iowa, there are about 2,400 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year along with around 400 deaths.

(Iowa News Service)

Iowa school districts are encouraged to apply for federal funding to replace old school buses that emit large amounts of air pollution. Karen Grimes, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says only a few Iowa districts are likely to be awarded a share of the money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “There’s $7 million available nationwide…so that’s only about $140,000 per state,” Grimes said. Last year, seven school districts in Iowa were awarded EPA funding toward the purchase of at least one new bus.

Last year, seven school districts in Iowa were awarded EPA funding toward the purchase of at least one new bus. They were the Cherokee, Columbus, North Linn, Odebolt Arthur, Starmont, Waverly-Shell Rock, and West Delaware Community School Districts. Grimes says school buses built before 2007 have diesel engines that emit tiny particles linked to some serious health problems. “You know, here are school children who wait for those buses, often as those buses are running,” Grimes said. “So, it’s a really great program and opportunity to cut those diesel exhaust fumes down and make it safer for our kids.”

School districts have until October 30 to apply for the EPA funding rebates, which can be used to purchases new buses. The Iowa Department of Education reports there are around 6,000 school buses in the state and roughly one-third are from model years 2006 or older. Buses built after 2006 were designed to cut emissions by 90-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

Among the bacterial infections that are tracked by state health officials, sexually-transmitted diseases are the most frequently reported.  According to George Walton, a program manager for the Iowa Department of Public Heath, “Chlamydia definitely has the greatest number of new diagnoses, by far, compared to any other sexually-transmitted infection.”

State law requires doctors and laboratories to report confirmed cases of chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, H-I-V and AIDS to the department. There were more than 11-thousand cases of chlamydia confirmed in Iowa last year. “It is relatively easy to diagnose and treat, but you have to be looking for it,” Walton says. “…The testing that we have available now is very sensitive…not nearly as many false-negatives as we saw with older testing technology.”

Chlamydia is the most common infectious disease in the United States. If left untreated, chlamydia can make it difficult for women to become pregnant. The recommended treatment now for chlamydia is a single dose of a prescription drug. The second-most prevalent sexually-transmitted disease in Iowa is gonorrhea. About 16-hundred cases of gonorrhea were reported in Iowa last year. Walton expects even more cases to be reported this year.

“That’s one that we’re really keeping an eye on for a number of reasons,” Walton says. “One is there’s a lot of concern with antibiotic resistance with that particular infection.” The other most common sexually-transmitted disease in the U.S. and in Iowa is syphilis. There was a 450 percent INCREASE in the number of new syphilis cases in Iowa in 2013. Syphilis is highly-contagious, but it can be treated with one dose of penicillin.

There were 99 cases of H-I-V infections diagnosed in Iowa during 2014. That was a “significant decline” of 19 percent from the year before according to Walton, but he expects the number of confirmed cases of H-I-V to be higher in Iowa this year. “My guess is that it’ll be closer towards the average for the last five years,” Walton says. Other types of infectious diseases that must be reported to state officials include any of the five strains of Hepatitis.

(Radio Iowa)