The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved the latest version of Cass County Public Safety Communication Commission 28E Articles of Agreement. Mike Kennon, Cass County 911 and EMA Director, said the last time the articles were updated was 1999. He said the basic agreement was fine, much has changed since then. He said they moved across the street, the commission was rearranged from six members to four, and other, less noticeable changes.

The Cass Supervisors also discussed with Nishna Valley Cycle’s Dennis Murphy, the latest proposed a draft of an ordinance that would authorize the use of ATV’s and UTV’s on county roadways. There was some question about whether they would be allowed on Level B and Level C roads when they are wet. That issue, and some minor editing is now in the hands of the Supervisors.

Later, once the ordinance is in the final version, the Board will set the dates and times for Public Hearings.

Advocates for disabled patients are speaking out about upcoming changes in Iowa’s privately-managed Medicaid program. One of the for-profit companies managing the program is ending its contract with the state on November 30th. Critics say it will be a difficult for the 18-thousand patients who need services including daily feeding and bathing to change case managers and providers by December 1st. Lori Allen of Ames serves on the state Medical Assistance Advisory Council. “And while it may seem like paperwork and like moving names and numbers from one computer program to another, it has real-life consequences for the people who have to change care providers,” she says.

Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven says 215-thousand Iowa Medicaid patients have had their care managed by the exiting company and all of them will be switched to United Health Care.
Everybody has to scramble and it’s been a scramble for us as well,” Foxhoven says. “I think we’re going to make it work and I think United has really committed well.” But State Senator Joe Bolkcom, of Iowa City, says vulnerable Iowans who depend on Medicaid for the basic functions of life deserve better. Bolkcom is a member of the advisory panel that met with Foxhoven Tuesday and the two has a tense exchange.
“You’re flippantly telling me it’s no big deal they’ve left the state. I have no confidence in your ability to manage anything at this point,” Bolkcom said. Foxhoven replied: “Well, I want to tell you that I’m not flippant about this, senator. We’re doing everything that we can to make sure these people get their care.”

Iowa’s Medicaid program had been managed by state employees, but Governor Branstad oversaw the switch to having three private companies manage care for all Medicaid patients in Iowa. That switch happened on April 1st of 2016. A 10-member legislative panel has convened to conduct its own review of the Medicaid switch.

(Radio Iowa)

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports the Clarinda Police Department will begin “Operation Blessing 2017,” on November 20th. He says the community project embodies the spirit of Christmas by helping to make sure every child in Clarinda receives a gift on Christmas day. Retired Police Chief Joe Newton and retired 911 Communications Supervisor Diane Newton will be managing the program again this year.

Children, ages infant-through seventeen (17) may be signed up for involvement in the program by calling the police department records office during regular business hours at 712-542-2194 extension 203 The caller will be asked to provide the child’s name, age, sex, address and two gift requests per child. Names of children can be submitted beginning Monday, November 20^th and will be accepted through Wednesday, December 20th.

Cash donations in c/o of Operation Blessing 2017 can be delivered to Chief Brothers at the police department or mailed to the Clarinda Police Department, Attn: Operation Blessing, 200 South 15th Street, Clarinda, Iowa 51632. Cash donations will be used by the Clarinda Police Department to purchase gifts for the children. If you wish to purchase a specific gift for a child, please contact the Clarinda Police Department and ask to speak with Joe and Diane Newton regarding purchasing a specific requested gift item(s).

Families will be contacted by the Clarinda Police Department when the gift items are ready to be picked up. If a family is unable to pick up the gifts, uniformed officers of the Clarinda Police Department will deliver the gifts.

The opioid epidemic is making headlines across the country, but in Iowa, officials say they’re not losing sight of abuse of other drugs. Steve Lukan (LOO-kin), director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, says methamphetamine trafficking in the state may be at an all-time high. “The purity in the last number of years has gone up while, at the same time, the price has become a lot less than what it used to be,” Lukan said. “So, it’s just a really powerful drug that’s out there today.”

Lukan’s agency has released an annual report that outlines the state’s drug threats. It shows in the last fiscal year over 46-thousand (46,000) people sought treatment for substance abuse in Iowa and those citing meth as their primary substance reached a record high level of nearly one-in-five (19.8%). Alcohol remains the most cited substance by those in treatment (45.2%) followed by marijuana (25.3%). Lukan is disturbed by a survey that found one-fourth of 11th graders in Iowa “perceive no risk” in smoking marijuana. “We have a lot of concern about that because we know that can really get young people off on the wrong path. A very large percentage, 76-percent, of the young people who end up in drug treatment in Iowa are there because of marijuana,” Lukan said.

The report, called the 2018 Iowa Drug Control Strategy, highlights the many challenges the state faces with alcohol and drug abuse – in addition to some accomplishments. “We do feel like there’s been some good progress made. We’ve seen our state maintain one of the lowest levels of drug use in the country. We do see fewer young people engaging with alcohol and tobacco products. That’s been a really steady and remarkable decline,” Lukan said.

Iowa’s overall rate of illegal drug use, at 6.27-percent, is second only to South Dakota’s 5.82-percent. One major concern is fatal traffic crashes in Iowa involving drugs OR drugs and alcohol combined rose to an all-time high of 84 last year. That topped the previous high of 72 alcohol and drug-related fatalities in 2005. “It’s the drunken driving like we’ve known about for many years, but at the same time, there’s more incidents of people using prescription drugs or other drugs and getting behind the wheel,” Lukan said.

There were 107 fatal crashes involving ALCOHOL ONLY in Iowa last year. That marked the highest total since 111 in 2007. Iowa hasn’t been untouched by the opioid epidemic, far from it, according to the report. Opioid-related overdose deaths in Iowa rose to an all-time high of 180 in 2016. For more info., go to: https://odcp.iowa.gov
(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is introducing a bill designed to help families locate missing loved ones who have Alzheimer’s disease, autism and related conditions. Grassley says the legislation is called Kevin and Avonte’s Law. “We named this law to honor two boys with autism who perished because their disease caused them to wander,” Grassley says. “One of those boys was Kevin Curtis Wills of Jefferson, Iowa, drowned after slipping into the Raccoon River, 2008.”  Wills was nine years old. The other boy drowned in New York in 2014. Grassley says the feeling of dread and helplessness families must feel when a loved one with Alzheimer’s or autism goes missing is unimaginable. “Sadly, Kevin’s is not an isolated case,” Grassley says, “but tragedy is not inevitable every time a vulnerable person goes missing.”

Grassley, a Republican, says the bill is being co-sponsored by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (KLO-bah-shar), a Democrat. The bill is actually being re-introduced in the Senate. It passed the chamber last year but didn’t win passage in the House. Grassley says families and caregivers should have the support they need to keep their loved ones with Alzheimer’s, autism, and other developmental disabilities safe. “This bill empowers communities to lend a hand and hopefully to turn more of these situations into happy endings,” Grassley says. “It will make more resources available for technology that advances the search for missing children and for specialized training for caregivers to help prevent wandering by vulnerable individuals.”

Grassley says the bill would reauthorize the expired Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program and broaden it to support people with autism and other developmental disabilities. He says the bill would allow federal grants to be used for state and local training programs to help prevent wandering, as well as for locative tracking technology programs.

(Radio Iowa)

Two people were arrested on separate charges Tuesday, in Creston. Authorities say 24-year old Troy Claussen, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday morning at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear in Court, on an original charge of Public Intoxication. He was later released on $300 bond. And, 21-year old Tyrell Stucker, of Lorimor, was arrested in Creston Tuesday afternoon, for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was later released on a Promise to Appear in Court.