w/ Ric Hanson

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Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has introduced a bill he says will address the need for major improvements in mental health care highlighted by the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. Harkin, a Democrat, says the bill will reauthorize programs that focus on awareness, prevention and early indetification of mental health conditions, with a focus on schools. “We haven’t really trained teachers and other school people to recognize early onset of mental health problems and to seek appropriate services,” Harkin says. “The kid who is disruptive in school and may be disciplined maybe really does need some mental health services, in terms of what is happening at home or stresses and other things that may affect their lives.”

Harkin introduced the bill in the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pension Comittee he chairs. “The focus on schools I think is appropriate, but my bill doesn’t just do that — I would say the major emphasis is on schools — but it also spills out into other aspects of society also,” Harkin says. He says schools are where the problems may first surface, but there is also training for others who may come into contact with those who need some help. “The other part of my bill also responds by focusing on first responders and training them to recognize mental health problems, and getting them adequately trained,” Harkin explains. “A lot of people just don’t know how to recognize those symptoms.”

Harkin says the “Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act” passed the committee with support from both parties. He says most people can recover from mental health issues with the proper identification and treatment.

(Radio Iowa)

A new report shows the drought has officially ended in a wider section of eastern Iowa. The weekly USDA drought monitor shows 16-percent of the state is now out of drought conditions. That’s up from 7-percent a week ago. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker points out that 20-percent of the state remains in extreme drought conditions. “In the long term, we do have some very substantial precipitation deficits, especially over north-central and northwestern Iowa,” Hillaker says. “It’s certainly not because of recent weather. We’ve been quite wet here for the last few months and especially the last week.” The statewide average rainfall for this week is over 2.6 inches.

“This has actually been our wettest week since June 2011,” Hillaker says. “So, things have been turning around here recently. But, we still have a ways to go, especially in terms of subsoil moisture in the northwestern part of the state.” Hillaker expects the next drought monitor will show even greater improvement across the state. The drought monitor report released Thursday is based on information gathered through Tuesday morning. “It reflects conditions prior to when about half of the rain from this last system came through, so things are even more moist now than what the monitor is indicating,” Hillaker said.

The drought recovery in Iowa began last October and the last four months have all been slightly wetter than normal, according to Hillaker. Meanwhile, the first 11 days of April have been extremely wet and more rain is in the forecast for early next week.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald is urging Republican Governor Terry Branstad and state lawmakers to expand Medicaid in Iowa. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, said yesterday that a Medicaid expansion would cost the state less than an alternate plan proposed by Branstad. Fitzgerald is basing his analysis on data from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency and Senate Democrats’ data.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) during an upcoming trade trip to China. In a press release announcing the Monday meeting, Branstad says he is looking forward to the visit with an “old friend.” Branstad’s ties to Xi date back to a 1985 diplomatic trip that Xi took to Iowa, during Branstad’s first stint as governor. Xi returned to Iowa last February for stops in Muscatine and the Des Moines area.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in eastern Iowa say one person has died in a head-on collision between an ambulance and a vehicle. Yesterday morning’s crash in Davenport involved a Hyundai Tiburon and a medic ambulance. The ambulance was in a non-emergency mode but it was carrying two medics and a patient. Police have not released the deceased driver’s name.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two people face prostitution charges after fighting about payment for a sex act. Twenty-three-year-old Alysia Talbert and 27-year-old Hamed El Mohamd were arrested Wednesday after police received a report about a dispute.

Iowa State Executive Director for USDA Farm Service Agency, John R Whitaker, has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 22 Iowa counties as part of a Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation.  Farm operators who have suffered major production and/or physical losses caused by combined effects of freezing temperatures and continuing drought conditions may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans.  Other programs may also be made available to assist farmers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) due to this designation.

A Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation has been issued for the following counties:

• Thirty-one Missouri counties have been designated as the primary disaster area due to drought conditions beginning November 1, 2012 and continuing. Five Iowa counties are contiguous to this designated disaster area, making these producers also potentially eligible for program based on this designation.  The contiguous counties are:  Decatur, Fremont, Page, Ringgold, and Taylor.  The final date for making application under this designation is September 9, 2013.

• Eighty-nine Nebraska counties have been designated as the primary disaster area due to drought conditions beginning April 2, 2013 and continuing.  Six Iowa counties are contiguous to this designated disaster area, making these producers also potentially eligible for program based on this designation.  The contiguous counties are:  Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie, and Woodbury.  The final date for making application under this designation is December 10, 2013.

The Farm Service Agency may make Emergency Loans to eligible family farmers which will enable them to return to their normal operations if they sustained qualifying losses resulting from natural disaster.  Physical loss loans may be made to eligible farmers to enable them to repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property, including livestock losses, essential to the success of the farming operation. For production loss loans, the disaster yield must be at least 30 percent below the normal production yield of the crop, on a crop or crops that make up a basic part of the total farming operation. Applicant must be unable to obtain credit from other usual sources to qualify for the Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Program assistance.  Interest rates are based on the date the loan is approved.  The current interest rate for emergency loans is 2.375%.

Interested farmers may contact their local County FSA office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.  Information can also be found on-line at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Officials with the Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation say they recently awarded the Louie and Elsie Hansen Scholarships.  Alisha Ponsar and Ben Kopp each received a $5000 award for the 2013-14 academic year.  Ben is enrolled at the University Of Iowa College Of Medicine and Alisha is a student at Creighton University College of Nursing.

The Louie and Elsie Hansen Scholarship was established through the generosity and careful planning of these two life-long Cass County residents, who farmed in the Marne area until they retired, and then became residents of Atlantic.  The Hansens believed in higher education, so much so that over 70% of their estate was bequeathed for that purpose, including a gift to the CCMH Foundation.

Under the supervision and guidance of the CCMH Foundation, scholarship opportunities are provided yearly.  As per the Hansens’ wishes, scholarship candidates must have graduated from a Cass County high school and be enrolled in an accredited nursing or medical doctor school.