Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s office says the U-S Senator’s staff will hold traveling office hours across western Iowa over the course of the next couple of weeks. Her staff will be available to answer questions and assist Iowans needing resources related to Medicare open enrollment, which is currently underway and runs through Dec. 7th, 2015.

In addition, her staff can help with problems or questions about eligibility, involving issues such as Social Security, veterans benefits or other military affairs, passports, immigration issues, and, other federal programs.

Here’s the schedule for Ernst’s traveling office hours in the KJAN listening area:

Tues., Nov. 10th

Sac County – Sac City Public Library, 10-am to 11-a.m.

Thu., Nov. 12th

Audubon County – Audubon Public Library, 10:30-11:30-a.m.

Cass County – Atlantic Public Library, Noon-until 1-p.m.

Pottawattamie County – Eckels Memorial Library, 1:30-to 2:30-p.m.

Friday, Nov. 13th

Dallas County – Conference Room @ 902 Court St., 10-am until 11-am

Mon., Nov. 16th

Adams County – Corning Public Library, 12:30-p.m. to 1:30-p.m.

Montgomery County – Montgomery Co. Extension Office, room #2, 2:15-to 3:15-p.m.

Guthrie County – Guthrie Co. Courthouse Public Mtg. room, 3-until 4-p.m.

Tue., Nov. 17th

Adair County – Adair Co. Courthouse Meeting Room, 9:30-am to 10:30-am

Union County – Union Co. Courthouse, 11:30-a.m. to 12:30-p.m.

Harrison County – Logan Public Library, 12:30-p.m. to 1:30-p.m.

Ringgold County – Ringgold Co. Courthouse Meeting Room, 1:30-to 2:30-p.m.

Shelby County – Harlan Public Library, 2:30-pm to 3:30-p.m.

Wed., Nov. 18th

Fremont County – Sidney Public Library, from Noon to 1-p.m.

Mills County – Malvern Public Library, from 2-untoil 3-p.m.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 25-year old man from New Mexico was slightly injured after jumping into the Missouri River near a casino in Council Bluffs early this (Monday) morning. Police say the incident occurred around 2-a.m., after the man who was described as extremely intoxicated, was barred from the Ameristar Casino.

The casino called him a cab, but he later jumped into the river, but authorities talked him into coming back out. The man, who suffered from slight hypothermia, was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. His name has not yet been released.

In an update to our report Sunday afternoon, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), said a Lewis man was transported by Griswold Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital following a single vehicle accident late Sunday morning. Officials say 81-year old Marlowe William Weppler was hurt, when the 2008 Chevy 1500 pickup he was driving, went out of control on left Oxford Road at around 11-a.m., and entered the south ditch. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $8,000.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater…who normally has a pretty lengthy, weekly report…says the past week was comparatively, “Pretty boring.” The Sheriff says two “new” inmates this past week, 49-year old Michelle Renee Evans, of Bridgewater, and 30-year old Vincent Ray Bentley, of Lorimor, were simply serving short sentences at the Adair County Jail in Greenfield, while the third, 35-year old James Sims, of Bridgewater, was cited for Driving Under Suspension, following a traffic stop. Sims was released at the scene. Evans was released from custody last Friday, while Bentley was released Sunday afternoon.

More area and State News from Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Police in Creston say an Adams County man was arrested Sunday morning, following a traffic stop. 21-year old Reggie Perrin, of Corning, was stopped at the intersection of Townline and Sumner Streets at around 4-a.m., Sunday. He was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense and brought to the Union County Jail before being released later on $1,000 bond.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A man being chased by security officers with the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs was listed in serious condition after jumping into the Missouri River early this (Monday) morning. According to WOWT-TV in Omaha, the unidentified man climbed over a fence as he was being chased and jumped into the river at around 2-a.m.

Rescuers found the subject after about 20 minutes. Water temperature at the time of the incident was in the mid-50s. The man was taken to an area hospital. No other details are available at this time.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The City Council in Sioux City is scheduled to vote on applying for a $4.6 million grant to help pay for street work needed for the new Seaboard-Triumph Foods pork plant. The Sioux City Journal reports the Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy program grant would go toward signage and other street work recommended in a traffic study of the Bridgeport West industrial area.

The council vote is set for today’s (Monday’s) meeting. The $264 million plant is expected to employ more than 1,000 people when it opens in 2017.

A first-of-its-kind study by the University of Iowa on hundreds of children with mild-to-severe hearing loss finds those kids don’t learn to speak or communicate as well as others who have good hearing. Beth Walker, a U-I professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, says children who were fitted with hearing aids at a very young age develop language skills much more quickly. “We did find that these hearing aids really do have an impact on language outcome,” Walker says. “They need to be fit as early as possible, worn consistently during all waking hours and fit appropriately.”

The study involved children from 17 states, ranging in age from six months to seven years. It’s the first time such a study has been undertaken since universal newborn hearing screening wasn’t available to most children at birth until about a decade ago. Those screenings, Walker says, are vital. “Ninety-eight percent of all infants are screened for hearing loss at birth, so we want to get all of those babies screened as soon as possible,” Walker says. “We can do this when they are as young as two or three days old. That will allow us to identify the hearing loss very early on and then we can provide the intervention that they need.”

While there is a wealth of study on deaf children, before this study, Walker says little was known about hard-of-hearing kids. It’s important for a child with hearing loss to get the hearing aid as early as possible, but she says it’s equally important for that device to fit properly. “Children’s ears grow very quickly,” Walker says. “With kids, we’ll have them wear behind-the-ear hearing aids. They’ll have an ear mold and then the hearing aid will go behind the ear and with their ears growing so fast, we have to have those ear molds replaced pretty frequently.”

In an infant, that could mean visits to the audiologist every three to six months for fittings, and less often as the child ages. Walker says about one-third of the study’s hearing-impaired children were not well-fitted with hearing aids. The study is being published in the journal, Ear and Hearing, the major journal published by the American Auditory Society.

(Radio Iowa)