(Radio Iowa) – State officials have rejected bids from companies applying to provide medical care inside Iowa’s nine prisons and Governor Kim Reynolds says it made sense to check to see if a private company could provide those services more efficiently than state-paid prison staff.

“Making sure that we’re using taxpayer dollars wisely,” Reynolds said. “…We shouldn’t be afraid of doing that and people shouldn’t think that just because we are looking that it means it’s going to stop or we’re going to eliminate it or we’re going to change course. You should constantly be looking at how we can do things better and never be afraid of being better at what we’re doing because these are taxpayer dollars that we’re utilizing and these are really important services that we’re providing.”

About 300 state employees who provide medical care to Iowa prison inmates would have been affected if a private company had been hired to do the work. Dozens of medical staff in Iowa prisons resigned after they were informed this summer that the state might hire a private company to do the work. Iowa Public Radio was first to report last week’s decision against privatizing prison medical care.

(Radio Iowa) – The interim president of Simpson College in Indianola is now its 26th president. Susan Stuebner was named interim leader of Simpson this summer following the sudden death of Simpson President Jay Byers. The chair of Simpson’s Board of Trustees says faculty, staff and student leaders have been enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive about Stuebner’s leadership.

She holds degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth and previously served as an administrator at two Pennsylvania institutions — Allegheny College and Lycoming College. She was president of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire for eight years before her arrival at Simpson.

Stuebner is a Minnesota native. Early in her career, Stuebner served as an admissions counselor and head women’s basketball coach at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Simpson’s Board of Trustees unanimously named Stuebner Simpson’s president earlier today (Tuesday). Simpson was founded in 1860 as a seminary and is named for a nationally known bishop in the Methodist Church. Simpson’s website indicates about 12-hundred students are enrolled at the school this fall.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says when health care goes up for discussion next month, it’s possible an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits will be on the table. The just-ended 43-day federal government shutdown was centered around extending the A-C-A subsidies, which Republicans — including Grassley — opposed. Now, reports say President Trump was considering the proposal of a two-year extension, but Grassley’s unconvinced.

“I think that we heard the same rumor you heard yesterday and we’ve heard that it was not a correct rumor,” Grassley says. “So the second week of December, the United States Senate has set that week aside to debate that very issue.” Some Democrats agreed to end the government shutdown in exchange for a promise from Republicans to take up the health care discussion and vote during December. The subsidies are scheduled to run out on New Year’s Eve and could mean millions face significantly higher premiums. Grassley says he’s willing to consider options.

“We Republicans will have alternatives,” Grassley says, “that could include some extension of the subsidy, but only with real reforms to the Obamacare healthcare issue.” Grassley says there’s “great dissatisfaction” with how health insurance premiums have skyrocketed under the A-C-A. “When it was passed, it was supposed to reduce the cost of health care by $2,500,” Grassley says. “We’ve seen it go up $5,000 since then, and so the estimates of 2010 were off by $7,500.”

Reports say President Trump was originally going to roll out a framework on Monday to extend the A-C-A. There is now -no- timeline for that announcement. The tax credits that are set to expire December 31st are helping some 22-million Americans to lower their health care costs through the A-C-A marketplace.

The Iowa State Patrol has released information about a crash in northwest Iowa that took place Nov. 21st, and resulted one person dead, three others injured. The Patrol says a 2015 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 21-year-old Austin Ryan Stokes, of Mallard, was traveling east on Palo Alto County Road B-55, just east of Highway 4 between Emmetsburg and Mallard, when the accident occurred at around 5:24-p.m.

The Patrol says a 2006 Infinity M45 was parked in the traveled portion of the road facing east. A 2008 Chrysler Town and County van was parked on the traveled portion of the road, facing west. The drivers of the car and van were outside the vehicles when the pickup struck the car and pushed it into the the van. Following the collision, the pickup left the road and rolled over.

The female driver of the car, 35-year-old Jamee Lynn Weber, of West Bend, died at the local hospital. A passenger in the car, and the drivers of the pickup and van, were injured in the crash. The other injured parties were identified as 64-year-old Carol Ann Harding, and 35-year-old Tyler Joseph Weber, both of West Bend. Carol Harding was flown to a hospital in Rochester, MN, for treatment of a broken back. Tyler Weber was transported to the hospital by Palo Alto Ambulance. Austin Stokes was transported by private vehicle.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony highlights an industry that employs 38-thousand Iowans and produces about 12 million turkeys annually. Governor Kim Reynolds hosted the event at the governor’s mansion in Des Moines as two turkeys roamed the grounds.

There are over 130 turkey producers in Iowa. Josh and Kelli Berg of Early brought the two birds who’ve been given a Thanksgiving reprieve.

Berg’s operation now produces about a million turkeys every year. Iowa ranks 7th among the states in turkey production.

Reynolds says the industry will have an estimated 10-point-six BILLION dollar economic impact on the state this year.

(Des Moines, IA) – Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Tuesday) released a report on a special investigation of the Crossroads Behavioral Health Services for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2024.  Crossroads is a nonprofit organization that provides outpatient mental health and addiction treatment center established to provide support, counseling, and therapeutic services to children, adolescents, and adults in service area 13. The special investigation was requested by Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) officials as a result of concerns Crossroads was misappropriating federal funds.

Sand reported the special investigation identified $167,716.23 of questioned cost incurred, $14,167.91 of improper disbursements and $194.72 of unsupported disbursements. The $167,716.23 of questioned cost incurred includes:

• $74,967.05 under Substance Use and Problem Gambling Services Integrated Provider Network grant for
unallowable expenses and unpaid reimbursements to the subcontractor,
• $65,036.44 under State Opioid Response grant for unallowable expenses and unpaid reimbursements to
the subcontractor, and
• $27,712.74 under ARPA Integrated Provider Network Supplement grant for unpaid reimbursements to the
subcontractor.

The $14,167.91 of improper disbursements identified were disbursements using County Opioid funding. The $194.72 of unsupported disbursements identified includes mileage reimbursements and supply purchases for which Crossroads could not provide supporting documentation for purchases made using County Opioid funding. Sand recommended Iowa DHHS officials implement procedures to strengthen DHHS’ internal controls and operations, such as monitoring of grant and subcontractor payments.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Polk County Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Division of Criminal Investigation. A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Special Interest Reports.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, today (Tuesday), received a Secondary Roads Department update from County Engineer Karen Albert.

Engineer Albert said also…

Following her report, the Board approved Chairperson Charla Schmidt’s signing of the final plans for a Low Water Crossing on 210th Street, west of L Avenue, in Montgomery County.

MCBOS Zoom meeting (Still frame image) 11-25-25

The Board also discussed a draft of the County Capital Asset Policy. Each board member acknowledged having read through the policy. Supervisor Alex Burton..

They passed a resolution adopting the policy as presented. Their next regular meeting is set for 9-a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2nd.

(Radio Iowa) – The two Iowans who serve on the House Agriculture Committee say farmers need congress to complete action on Farm Bill provisions as soon as possible. Republican Randy Feenstra of Hull represents Iowa’s fourth congressional district. It’s considered the second-most ag-intensive district in the U.S. House with nearly 30-thousand farms and other businesses that generated over 22 billion dollars worth of ag sales in 2023.

“We’re hoping that late December, early January we can finish the Farm Bill,” Feenstra said. “Now just remember when we did the Big Beautiful Bill, 85% of that Farm Bill was in that Big Beautiful Bill, so we’ve got a small percentage of conservative and research dollars that we’ve got to get passed.” Unresolved elements of the last Farm Bill, passed in 2018, were extended in this month’s funding package that reopened the federal government. However, Feenstra says some key trade promotion elements were included in this summer’s legislation.

“If we want to grow our export market, we have to make sure we have refrigeration in some of these new developing countries and there’s a lot of dollars in there to do that,” Feenstra said. “That’ll really help our poultry, our hogs, our cattle and our dairy if we can create more refrigeration around the world.” Republican Zach Nunn of Bondurant, Iowa’s third district congressman, says while congress delivered over 60 billion dollars for critical Farm Bill programs this summer, Iowa farmers need certainty and he’s pushing G-O-P leaders to move a full, five-year Farm Bill.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say it should be smooth sailing to travel Iowa’s roads on Thanksgiving Day, but some computer models are showing a wintry storm system developing on Black Friday that could make getting home a challenge. Trooper Paul Gardner, in the Iowa State Patrol’s Fort Dodge office, says motorists will need to keep a sharp eye on the forecast.  “Going to your Thanksgiving Day plans on Thursday probably won’t be a problem because it looks like, even though it will be cold out, it’ll be sunny, roads should be dry,” Gardner says, “but when we get some snow in the mix, maybe some freezing rain or ice on the roadways, that’s going to create a lot of problems.”

Radio Iowa file photo

If the threat materializes and we get a heavy snow Friday or into the weekend, Gardner says the D-O-T will be taking care of the roads and extra law officers will be out as well. “It will definitely be imperative that you watch the forecast, and watch how much snow we may be getting, and when you are on the road with icy conditions and snow that may be blowing across the roadway may be cause for some difficult driving conditions,” Gardner says. “Just play it safe, watch your speed, make sure you’re buckled up.”

A spokesman for the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says there were 17 crashes statewide during the Thanksgiving holiday period last year that involved either serious injuries or deaths, including five people who weren’t wearing their safety belts.