United Group Insurance

Parents as Teachers Program Has Limited Openings

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic, IA – The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program through Cass County Public Health is now enrolling young families in their program; however, space is limited. PAT Educators Nancy Gibson and Victoria Means provide monthly home visits to families with young children—from prenatal visits through entering Kindergarten. During those visits, they work on getting a complete health history, doing developmental screenings to catch any delays as early as possible, check on immunizations, and much more. Children in the program also have access to free vision, hearing, and dental checks.

Nancy Gibson & Victoria Means (Photo provided)

PAT provides home visits to help young children grow up healthy, safe, and ready to learn. The PAT educators help communities partner with parents to do a better job of preparing children for a stronger start in life and for greater success in school. Gibson says “We’ve been in Cass County for 20 years, and we are a credentialed, evidence-based program. We provide support to the parents and kids. It’s not just for the children—it’s about the whole family,” said Nancy.

The families are very active in deciding the goals for the program. Maybe it’s a goal for the child, but it might be a goal for the parent. “We also provide activities that are specifically chosen to meet a need for that family – maybe it’s a game that works on fine-motor development. Or we’ll work on discipline strategies and techniques, language, or healthy back-to-school routines,” said Nancy. “If it’s a goal or concern for that family, then that’s what we are going to work on together.”

Literacy is a major component, and PAT offers a “traveling library.” The educators will bring a selection of books with them for the family to read during the next month, when a new batch of books will be swapped out. Parents who are interested in the program can contact Nancy at 712-243-7475. Referrals are also welcome—anyone who knows of a family that could benefit from participating is encouraged to call.

Posted in News |

Reward money to return to donors in Mollie Tibbetts case

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Administrators say most of a roughly $400,000 reward fund aimed at gathering information about a missing Iowa student will be returned to donors now that she’s been found dead. Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa said Tuesday that most of the donations from individuals and businesses were provided on the condition of Mollie Tibbetts’ safe return. Group vice president Greg Willey says those donations will be returned. Donations not linked to Tibbetts being found alive will go to the group’s general fund and Tibbetts’ family.

Tibbetts vanished on July 18 while she was out running in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Police say 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera led them to Tibbetts’ body in a cornfield on Aug. 21. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in her death.

Posted in News |

Bluffs man arrested in connection with an assault on his grandmother

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a man in connection with the assault of his grandmother.  Officers were called to 2119 Ave. K at around 9:45-p.m., Monday, to investigate an assault that had taken place involving the victim, 71-year old Karen Fort and her 29-year old grandson, Jacob Heyer. Both are from Council Bluffs. Officers found Fort in her residence and called medics right away. The woman was transported to UNMC for treatment of several injuries to her face.

Jacob C. Heyer

Heyer was found across the street and refused to talk to officers at the time of the incident. He was taken into custody for Willful Injury and Violation of a Restraining order that had been issued for him, and pertained to having no contact with his grandfather, Ron Fort, who was in the residence at the time of the assault. Karen Fort is in critical but stable condition at UNMC at this time. The investigation is on-going and the Council Bluffs Police Department will update this incident as information arises.

Posted in News |

Backyard and Beyond 08/28/2018

Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts

August 28th, 2018 by admin

LaVon Eblen speaks with Damon Clark of Zion Recovery.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (22.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Backyard and Beyond, Podcasts |

Weather poses a challenge for water sources

Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — It’s been a summer of both dry and wet conditions depending on where you live in the state. The D-N-R’s Mark Moeller says either situation can cause concerns for drinking water.  “Droughts and floods can affect public water supplies. Floods can affect a public water supplies wells if they are near or in a flood plain,” Moeller says. He says the state tries to help communities think ahead so neither problem ends up leaving them without water. “We work with them to become more drought or flood resilient,” Moeller explains. “So, in the case of a drought, we want them to have multiple resistant sources.”

He says for example, cities which use shallow wells as their source need to think about different scenarios to be prepared. “The water table can fluctuate with a drought, and so we like for them to also have back up deeper wells. The deeper wells are not as prone to drought conditions. We really like our systems to be resilient, so that they can keep providing safe and adequate water during a flood or drought,” according to Moeller.

Ninety-two percent of the states 18-hundred public water systems get their water from wells. But a majority of the water customers get their water from a lake or river — as many of the larger cities use surface water to supply their drinking water needs.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News, Weather |

Governor Reynolds wants more tax cuts

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says she hopes to cut taxes again if she is elected to a full, four-year term this November.  “We’re working on that right now,” Reynolds says. “We haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid anything out.”  Reynolds took over as governor in late May of 2017, so the 2018 legislative session was her first as governor. Reynolds approved a plan to cut taxes by two BILLION dollars over the next six years. The package imposed new sales taxes on digital goods and services, but also reduced state income taxes on individuals. The plan calls for reducing taxes for corporations in future years.  “This isn’t a one and done,” Reynolds says. “We’re going to continue to look for opportunities to make Iowa more competitive.”

The governor says a primary target for future action should be greater reductions in Iowa’s income tax on corporations. “We’re the highest in the country,” Reynolds says. “Remember we said we were going to do a comprehensive review of our tax credits and then we’ll bring the two together and look for opportunities to maybe realign some of those.”

Reducing the amount of state tax credits that are awarded would then give policymakers room to reduce corporate taxes, according to Reynolds. Democrats in the legislature have said the tax cuts Reynolds already approved will create state budget deficits. Jeff Holmes is a spokesman for Fred Hubbell, the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor. He says Reynolds is showing that her “fiscal irresponsibility and mismanagement seem to have no end” as she ponders more tax cuts. Hubbell has proposed limiting or reducing a series of state tax CREDITS and boosting state spending on schools and the health care system.

Posted in News |

Grassley “encouraged” by tentative trade deal with Mexico, hopeful about Canada

Ag/Outdoor

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — As Iowa farmers face as much as two-billion dollars in losses due to international trade tariffs, the Trump administration is announcing a tentative trade agreement with Mexico. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says President Trump has his mind set on eliminating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, a longstanding deal between the U-S, Mexico and Canada. “I’m encouraged by the progress made,” Grassley says. “I’m also hopeful that a fair trade deal will be struck with Canada so we can still have a trilateral agreement as opposed to bilateral between us and Mexico.”

Grassley says he held 20 town hall meetings in Iowa this month and at every one, the issue of trade was brought up by concerned residents. For many farmers in Iowa and elsewhere, we’re in the fifth straight year of falling revenues. “The sooner we get a new agreement in place, the sooner farmers and businesspeople in Iowa and across the country can focus on exporting,” Grassley says, “particularly for Iowa, exporting our agricultural products to Mexico and Canada without any concern of tariffs.”  Any trade agreement the Trump administration may make must be ratified by Congress. Grassley notes the law stipulates Congress needs to be notified 90 days before it can be sent such a measure for approval.  “The hope is to get this done within the United States Congress before this Congress adjourns,” Grassley says, “and before a new president is sworn in in Mexico, which is December the 1st.”

Iowa’s senior senator, a Republican, acknowledges the White House took the risk of upsetting Canada’s leadership by announcing this tentative trade deal with Mexico first. “Yeah, I suppose it irritates Canada but I’m sure this is the administration’s strategy, to put pressure on Canada.”  Canada is Iowa’s number-one trading partner, with nearly double the market of Mexico for Iowa exports.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor |

Auditors report unauthorized payments to district official

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(UPDATE) — WOODWARD, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa school district business manager cut unauthorized checks to herself for nearly $217,000 over the course of about five years, state auditors wrote in a report forwarded to prosecutors. The auditors identified more than $270,000 in improper and unsupported disbursements by the Woodward-Granger Community School District over that time, including the 101 checks the now former manager, Melissa Lantz, issued to herself on top of her authorized paychecks, the report states. Those additional checks, which weren’t approved by the school board, ranged from $315 to $6,500.

District officials who were concerned about Lantz’s actions requested the audit. She was placed on administrative leave last August and resigned six days later. The report has been forwarded to law enforcement authorities, including Dallas County prosecutors. Auditors said it was impossible to determine whether more payroll checks were improperly issued, because time sheets before June 15, 2013, were not available. It also wasn’t possible to determine whether all district collections were properly deposited, because sufficient records were not available, the report said.

In addition to the $217,000 in unauthorized checks, the audit found improper disbursements including nearly $12,000 in health and dental insurance premiums that were paid for people after they had stopped working for the district and $14 for excess mileage in a reimbursement check issued to Lantz.

Posted in News |

The Wellmark Foundation awards more than $996,000 in Large MATCH grants (2 local projects included)

Ag/Outdoor, News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Wellmark Foundation today (Tuesday) has announced 12 Iowa organizations were awarded Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grants. Applicants were able to request up to $100,000 in grant funding. To ensure community support for the grant project, recipients were challenged to match the award amount dollar-for-dollar. Each of the grant recipients submitted projects that can help individuals, families and communities achieve better health through built environment initiatives that encourage physical activity and/or access to and consumption of nutritious foods.

Among the award recipients, was

  • The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, which received $100,000, for Pottawattamie County Trails. The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Trail Association are moving into phase two of the Railroad Highway Trail. The new trail additions will extend 4.23 miles from Weston to Underwood, Iowa. Once completed, the 15-mile trail will be the first rural trail built as part of the Frontier Iowa Trail system and will connect multiple Iowa communities.
  • The Shelby County Trails Board also received $100,000, for “Ballpark to Ballpark.” The Shelby County Trails Board is developing a 10-foot-wide, multi-use, paved trail between Panama and Portsmouth, Iowa. The 6.5-mile trail will separate recreational bike and pedestrian traffic from State Highway 191 and crosses four waterways. Local artists will create artwork on the trail bridges that display aspects of a healthy lifestyle.

Wellmark Foundation  Executive Director Becky Wampler said “The Wellmark Foundation is proud to award a cumulative total of $996,289.50 to these 12 grant recipients. We are proud to support these organizations as they focus on sustainable initiatives that will improve the well-being of citizens and their communities well into the future.”

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

Delay in closing U-S Hwy 30 east of Hwy 59 for construction project

News

August 28th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Dept. of Transportation’s Cherokee Construction Office reports that due to the upcoming holiday weekend the contractor has moved the planned closure/detour start date for the road construction project on U.S. 30, east of the north junction with U.S. 59 in Denison. The closure and detour were originally slated for Wednesday, Aug. 29th.  The new schedule places that at 7-a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, until 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12th, weather permitting.

During this closure, traffic will be detoured around the work zone using Seventh Street, Avenue C, Iowa 39, and U.S. 59. The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

Posted in News |