The Cass County Health System (CCHS) is offering low-cost community blood screenings for people ages 18 and Spring in Atlantic, Anita, Griswold, and Massena. CCMH Lab Director Mitch Whiley says “We want people to be healthy—and the first step is knowing some of your basic bloodwork, like cholesterol, blood sugar, and kidney function. By knowing what your numbers are, you and your medical provider can talk about what they mean for your health.”

Appointments are available in Atlantic for March 23rd, 24th, and 25th, from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. The screenings will be held in CCHS Conference Room 2. You can also make an appointment for the low-cost blood screenings Anita on March 27th, Griswold on March 28th, and Massena on March 29th.

Appointments can be made by calling 712-250-8091. The cost for the blood profile is $35, and it includes the following: Lipid Panel (total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL), Glucose, Complete Blood Count (CBC), Liver Function, Kidney Function, and Thyroid Screening. With the $35 blood profile, you can also add these screenings for an additional fee:

·         A1c: $12

·         PSA: $20

·         Vitamin D: $30

Participants should fast overnight before their appointment, although a small amount of water or black coffee the morning of the blood draw is fine.

The Cass County Health System Foundation says it will be hosting a speakeasy-themed gala on Saturday, March 25th at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. Foundation Director Dawn Marnin says “The décor, drinks, dinner, and dueling pianos all play into the theme. We are encouraging attendees to join in the fun by dressing in 1920’s style attire.”

The gala is one part of the CCHS Foundation’s 2017 Campaign to raise funds for a 3D Mammography Unit. At a cost of more than $400,000, CCHS Foundation Board Member Dave Chase says it is a huge undertaking. “This is a significant investment, but early detection is still the key to successful outcomes for breast cancer patients.” Chase says in Cass County alone, there are “More than 3,000 women who are in the recommended age range to receive mammograms. 3D mammography has been shown to find breast cancer up to 15 months earlier than traditional 2D imagery – just think,” he says “about what a huge impact this new technology could have for those 3,000 women.”

Seats are limited for the event. For more information about sponsorships and tickets, contact Dawn Marnin at 712-243-7409 or visit casshealth.org/ccmh-foundation.

Fresh on the heels of Thursday’s announcement by officials with Elite Octane, LLC., that the company intends to move forward with plans for a $196 million ethanol plant in Atlantic, the Cass County Board of Supervisors next Wednesday (Feb. 22nd) plan to act on a Resolution approving an $8.5-million Development Agreement with Elite Octane that authorizes Tax Increment Payments, and pledges Certain Tax Increment Revenues toward the payment of the agreement.

The Board had tabled action on approving the Development Agreement Resolution late last month, when it became clear the future of the ethanol plant was in doubt over the matter of electrical supply rates.

In other business, the Board will: Act on a Resolution abating the tax for a parcel of land owned by the City of Atlantic; Approve a lighting upgrade assessment and proposal by Energyficient Lighting Systems; And, act on appointing a person to serve a 3-year term as Commissioner representing Cass County for SIRHA (the Southern Iowa Regional Housing Authority).

The Cass County Supervisor’s meeting gets underway 8:30-a.m., Wednesday in their Board Room at the Courthouse, in Atlantic.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The City Council in Sioux City is raising the stormwater fee by 50 percent but lowering the Sioux City property tax rate at the same time. The Sioux City Journal reports the council voted Thursday for the revenue adjustment. The city finance staff is still calculating what the impact. The tax levy is being lowered but a state-mandated increase is scheduled in the percentage of the assessed valuation subject to taxation.

Finance director Donna Forker told the council that residential and commercial property owners will save more on their property taxes than they’ll pay on the stormwater fee. Forker says that’s because the stormwater fee base is broader than the property tax base.

Religious organizations, charities and other nonprofits are exempted from property taxes but must pay the stormwater drainage fee.

Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont-
Page Counties:

Unseasonably warm temperatures and dry conditions will result in elevated fire weather concern today across much of the area. Relative humidity this afternoon will fall to around 20 percent in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa with southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. A cold front will move into northeast Nebraska during the afternoon with humidity there between 25 and 30 percent and northwest winds 10 to 20 mph.

File photo (area field fire March 2014)

Outdoor burning is discouraged due to the increased fire danger today. Use extra caution if using motorized vehicles in grassy areas and handle the disposal of smoking material with care.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Creston Police Department says two people were arrested Thursday. At around 5:30-p.m., 42-year old Dustin Michael Davis, of Afton, was arrested on a warrant out of Indiana for Probation Violation. Davis was being held in the Union County jail pending extradition to Indiana. And, at around 4-p.m., 31-year old Ashley Marie Kessler, of Creston, was arrested on a Nebraska warrant for Driving While License Suspended. Kessler was being held in the Ringgold County Jail while awaiting extradition.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A researcher at Iowa State University is experimenting with eye-tracking technology as a way to help employers determine if someone applying for a job is lying. Professor Joey George says they’ve been studying they way people try to deceive others for many years. “One of the things that we know from past research is that when someone is being dishonest, they transmit certain cues about it,” George says. “There are certain things that we have learned over the years that tend to be pretty reliable indicators of when people are not telling you the truth.”

For example, he says a person’s pupils will dilate when they are lying. George says the dilation can sometimes be hard to see because of eye color and lighting. That’s where the eye-tracking technology can help. “What eye-tracking does is it follows people’s gaze throughout an entire episode. So, if someone is watching a video…we can follow exactly what they look at, in what order and how long they look at certain things. And we think by doing this — and by asking people to determine whether or not what they are watching is deceptive — we can actually focus in on the cues that people look for and the ones that they are comfortable with using when they are trying to find out if somebody is being dishonest,” George says.

The professor of information systems says eye-tracking could be particularly helpful for on-line interviews. He says many job interviews now start out online. “They may start out with a chat session, if that goes well they may eventually go up to Skype of some other form of video conferencing tool,” George says.

He says the online communication can increase the risk of deception. “It’s a pretty wide range, but anywhere between 40 percent and 70 percent of people have something on their resume that is not true,” George says. “So if you are a recruiter and you are sitting there with a resume, and you are interviewing somebody over Skype, we hope to be able to help you determine if the things they say in the interview are true or not true,” George says.

Iowa State’s College of Business is one of about a dozen in the world to have access to a neuroscience lab equipped with eye tracking technology and an E-E-G machine for research.

(Radio Iowa)

All 29 Republicans in the Iowa Senate and 53 of the Republicans in the House voted yesterday (Thursday) to limit the subjects Iowa teachers and other government workers may bargain over during contract talks. There WERE six Republicans in the Iowa House, however, who voted against the move. Representative Andy McKean of Anamosa, said “I think there needed to be some reforms to collective bargaining, but I just felt this bill went a little too far, too quickly for what I would consider to be good public policy.”

In addition to Representative McKean, the other House Republicans who voted against the bill are Mary Ann Hanusa, of Council Bluffs, Dave Heaton of Mount Pleasant, Shannon Lundgren of Peosta, Tom Moore of Griswold and Clel Baudler, of Greenfield. Baudler is a retired state trooper. Moore is a retired teacher. None of the six Republicans who voted “no” on the bill spoke during House debate. McKean made his comments in an interview after the vote.

Anamosa is home to a state prison and the prison guards there who were NOT classified as public safety workers in the bill. That means they may only negotiate over their base wages — while Iowa fire fighters and police will continue to operate under current rules which allow 17 subjects to be discussed in contract talks. Senator David Johnson of Ocheyedan left the Republican Party this summer in protest of Donald Trump. He’s now an independent and he’s been outspoken in his opposition to the collective bargaining bill.

In 1974, former Governor Robert Ray signed the collective bargaining law that’s been in place since then. Governor Branstad is expected to sign the bill that replaces it today (Friday). House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake led the 53 Republicans who voted for the bill in the House. Upmeyer says Thursday’s vote was a “significant” step away from the 1974 law. “A bill that was very contentious when it was passed,” Upmeyer says, “and for a long time people have felt like it needed to be rebalanced and needed to go back and take a different approach and so we have an opportunity to go back now.”

Governor Branstad uses the word “monumental” to describe the legislation.

(Radio Iowa)