VA Central Iowa Health Care System (VACIHCS) and the Des Moines Regional Office are hosting a special Commemoration Event for the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War to honor all Vietnam Era Veterans in Polk County and surrounding areas.

The ceremony will be conducted on Friday, March 30th, 2018. It will begin at 10 a.m. at the VACIHCS Main Campus, 3600 30th St., Des Moines, IA, 50310, Auditorium (Bldg 4/Floor 2). The event will feature Dan Gannon, Chair of the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs as the guest speaker and fellow Vietnam Veteran, an inspiring video, and the official presentation of the Vietnam Veteran commemorative lapel pin by local leadership. Following the official event, leadership will honor Vietnam Veteran patients who are unable to attend the event.

This commemoration event is open to all Vietnam Veterans in the area and their family members. We encourage members of the public, including Congressional stakeholders, Veterans Service Organizations, state and local governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other community partners to help us celebrate. Media is invited to attend. For more information, contact VA Central Iowa Health Care System Public Affairs Officer, Kristi Catrenich at Kristi.Catrenich@va.gov .

Officials with the Creston Police Department report six arrests from over the weekend. Four people were arrested Sunday. At around 12:45-a.m., 26-year old Kassaundra Grout, of Creston, was arrested on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance. She was released from the Adams County Jail on a $1,000 bond. At that same location and nearly the same time, 41-year old Timothy Hansen,of Creston, was arrested for Possession with Intent to Sell or Manufacture Methamphetamine – Over 5g and Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or Subsequent – Marijuana. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $30,000 bond. At around 12:35-p.m. Sunday, 38-year old William Hopper, of Thayer, was arrested for Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $1,000. And, late Sunday night, 57-year old Adolfo Saturno, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. His bond was also set at $1,000.

Saturday afternoon, 41-year old Shawn Parmenter, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Assault Causing Bodily Injury or Mental Illness. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.  Saturday night, 31-year old Christopher Stolk, of Creston, was arrested in Creston for Public Intoxication, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office report 31-year old Amber Sue Malcom, of Clarinda, was arrested Sunday following a traffic stop in the 1200 block of Highway 2. She was charged with OWI- First Offense, Possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia. Malcom was being held at the Taylor County Jail on $2000 cash only bond.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman and two small children escaped from a car sinking into the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids. Firefighters and police were sent to the Mohawk boat ramp around 4:45 p.m. Sunday. They found the three had been helped from the sinking car into ski boats to return to the ramp.

It’s unclear how or why the car went into the river. The three were taken to a hospital. Their names haven’t been released.

Iowa legislators will hear a bill tomorrow (Tuesday), that would create a designation system showing which hospitals and care centers in the state are best equipped to deal with stroke victims. Since 2000, strokes reported among those ages 20-45 have increased by 44 percent. Aaron Siders will be on hand to advocate for the bill during Stroke Lobby Day, supported by Iowa’s American Heart Association. Siders is the primary caretaker for his wife, Contessa, who is still recovering from a stroke she suffered three years ago at age 33. “It’s critical to pass because it’s going to get a person into the right place for the care that they deserve. The problem that we have now is that a lot people are going to the wrong hospitals, hospitals that are not able to care for a stroke victim at that time.”

There is growing research that shows strokes among U-S millennials 18 to 34 have soared in recent years. Iowa ranks 17th in the U-S for stroke mortality, with 62-hundred residents hit by stroke every year in the state. Since his wife’s stroke, Siders says they have supported legislation to ensure Iowa hospitals can offer stroke victims the best care possible. “We’ve been, ever since then, pushing, trying to get everybody to pay attention to stroke a little bit. It is one of the top five killers in the United States and is the number one cause for disability in the United States.”

The American Heart Association says if every state implemented a strong stroke care system, heart disease and stroke deaths in the U-S could be reduced 20 percent in two years. Strokes often are attributed to lifestyle including risk factors such as smoking and obesity. But as Siders notes, some cases, such as his wife’s, are unexplained. “When she had her stroke, she was 33. To this day, we do not know what caused the stroke. There is a large group of people that are just an unknown.”

It’s estimated that every minute following a stroke ages the brain by three weeks, a fact the American Heart Association says makes passage of Senate Bill 2299 important for Iowans.

(Iowa News Service)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 20-year old Benjamin Parra Moreno, of Lenox, was arrested today (Monday) at around 1:10-a.m., following a traffic stop at the intersection of Highway 34 and T Avenue. Moreno was taken into custody for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Failure to provide proof of SR-22 (High risk) Insurance. He was also cited for Driving While Suspended. Moreno was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.