Most people wait until there is a crisis to plan for long-term care. The Finances of Caregiving is a new series of five 2-hour workshops to help families plan together for the care receiver’s care. The series begins this Thursday, April 7th, at the Montgomery County Extension Office in Red Oak from 6:30 – 8:30 PM.

Long term caregiving has significant financial consequences for caregivers, particularly for women. If it is necessary for the caregiver to leave work or reduce hours, they will need to prepare for retirement while providing care. The Finances of Caregiving program guides you through finding and collecting that information. During the workshop, caregivers and care receivers may create an information binder to help family members when a crisis does occur.

To register, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach office of Montgomery County, 400 Bridge St., Suite 2 in Red Oak, ph. 712-623-2592. A nominal fee covers a financial binder.

The workshop series is sponsored by the ISU Extension and Outreach council of Montgomery County as part of an effort to address family caregiving issues and improve the health of family caregivers and their family members in a holistic way.  The next learning opportunity after this is the Powerful Tools for Caregivers program, a series of six 2-1/2 hour classes designed especially for family caregivers. The series will start in May in Villisca. Dates, times, and location are being firmed up by the coalition.

The Creston Police Department is reporting four recent arrests. Early Sunday morning, 29-year old Casey White, of Creston, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Assault, with Injury. White was later released from the Ringgold County Jail on $1,000 bond. Sunday afternoon, Creston Police arrested 35-year old Brian Whitfield, of Creston, on a charge of Simple Assault. Whitfield was later released on $300 bond.

Saturday night, 39-year old Travis Wambold, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. He was also later released on $300 bond. And, Friday night, 20-year old Haylee Pierce, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. She was later released on $300 bond, as well.

The area’s top news at 7:05-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man on an assault charge Sunday night, in Villisca. Authorities say 47-year old Robert Lee Herbst, of Villisca, was arrested for simple assault, following an incident that occurred at around 10:25-p.m. in the 400 block of E. 5th Street, in Villisca. Herbst was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former Council Bluffs pediatrician already in prison for child pornography and child sex abuse will be back in court to face a lawsuit in the case. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Dennis Jones will appear in court on Tuesday.

More than a dozen families filed the lawsuit in 2014 against Jones. Jones was convicted in 2014 of possessing child pornography and lascivious acts with a child. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each charge to be served simultaneously.

Prosecutors say Jones had an estimated 1.2 million images of child pornography and 9,300 videos of child pornography in his possession — some of those being of his young patients.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Funeral services were held over the weekend for a woman who was killed in a fiery, wrong-way interstate crash that also killed two Des Moines police officers and another driver. The Daily Nonpareil reports that a crowd gathered Saturday to mourn 32-year-old Tosha Nicole Hyatt, of Des Moines, during her funeral and burial in Council Bluffs.

Hyatt was in a police car, being transported from Council Bluffs to Des Moines on an arrest warrant, when the crash occurred March 26th. Des Moines police officers Susan Farrell and Carlos Puente-Morales and Benjamin Beary of Knoxville, the driver of the other vehicle involved, were also killed.

The Reverend Joe Laughlin of Victory Church in Omaha, Nebraska which Hyatt attended as a child, officiated. Laughlin said Hyatt was loved by her friends and family.

The director of environmental programs for the Iowa Soybean Association says Iowa’s water quality issues have reached a “tipping point.” “We have to have strong soils. We have to have cleaner water. Our jobs and economy in this state depend on those things,” according to Roger Wolf, with the Soybean Association. A host of different ideas are percolating in the legislature for financing water quality projects.

They range from redirecting the “check-off” dollars farmers send to commodity groups when selling grain and livestock to using some state gambling taxes on water quality rather than state government infrastructure. Wolf says cleaning up Iowa’s water should be a “shared responsibility.” Jan Glendening, The Natural Conservancy’s state director, says it will take four BILLION dollars to address the problem.

“We have had significant water quality issues and natural resource issues for years here in Iowa,” Glendening says, “and it’s something we need to invest in.” On Friday, Iowa Environmental Council executive director Ralph Rosenberg floated the idea of collecting a “clean water fee” on every bottle of water sold in the state — to raise money for water quality projects.

“It’s urgent now. We don’t want to have a Flint,” Rosenberg says. “We want to be proud of our rivers and lakes. We want to be proud of our waters and that’s what’s urgent about it. And if it means we have to raise some taxes, then I think the public will support that as well.” Rosenberg, Glendening and Wolf all appeared on Iowa Public Television this weekend to discuss the issue.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A House-backed measure that would increase penalties for repeat domestic abusers in Iowa is facing opposition from a group that advocates for domestic violence victims but opposes lengthening mandatory sentences. The repeat abuser bill has been pushed by a woman whose boyfriend held her hostage several years ago.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The South Dakota Board of Regents has approved a plan to offer in-state, undergraduate tuition to new Iowa students at four of its public universities. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports the plan to attract more Iowa students to South Dakota was approved Friday. At current rates, the tuition discount would reduce new Iowa students’ bills by $2,170.50 per school year.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities are investigating the death of a 41-year-old man who was acquitted in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2000. The Sioux City Journal reports Jesse Wendelsdorf died at a Sioux City hospital on Thursday.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump says he believes he’ll still end up with enough delegates to become the Republican presidential nominee even if he loses the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday. Trump is acknowledging in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that last week wasn’t his best of the campaign. He spent much of it on defense over comments about abortion, NATO and nuclear weapons for Japan and South Korea. He says it’s always better to win and he wants to finish first in Wisconsin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A House-backed measure that would increase penalties for repeat domestic abusers in Iowa is facing opposition from a group that advocates for domestic violence victims but opposes lengthening mandatory sentences. The repeat abuser bill, which has been pushed by a woman whose boyfriend held her hostage several years ago, easily passed the state House in March. Since then it has remained in the Senate, where lawmakers are discussing additional changes that would reduce the emphasis on mandatory minimum sentences.

The House bill’s supporters argue habitual offenders should serve at least 85 percent of their overall sentence, especially if they are seen as being likely to be violent upon leaving prison. The Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence says the bill was well-intentioned, but longer prison sentences don’t make abusers less dangerous.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The South Dakota Board of Regents has approved a plan to offer in-state, undergraduate tuition to new Iowa students at four of its public universities. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports the plan to attract more Iowa students to South Dakota was approved Friday. At current rates, the tuition discount would reduce new Iowa students’ bills by $2,170.50 per school year.

In 2010, Iowa students accounted for 15 percent of the freshmen class at the University of South Dakota. That had slipped to 11 percent by last year. Gary Steinke is president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He says Iowa private colleges will be watching closely to see if South Dakota’s action affects enrollment.