Officials with Cass County Home Care and Cass County Hospice have announced both facilities recently received national recognition for demonstrating excellence in performance measures and quality of care. Cass County Home Care has been ranked in the top five percent of home health agencies in the United States by a recent HealthInsight report. The ranking is an improvement from the HealthInsight report released in March, which listed Cass County Home Care in the top seven percent.

And, Cass County Hospice received an excellent report from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC) survey results. The report was developed by the NHPCO with extensive input from hospices that participate in the data collection and reporting for the survey. The surveys are sent to family members of hospice patients who received care.  Cass County Hospice received strong marks and satisfaction from survey respondents, with a composite score of 92 percent. Additionally, Cass County Hospice achieved the highest level, top ten percent of hospices, in 18 out of 27 categories measured on the survey.

Cass County Home Care, an integrated home health provider, is part of Iowa Health Home Care, an affiliated network of providers. Iowa Health Home Care is part of Iowa Health System. To learn more about Iowa Health Home Care and its services, visit http://www.yourhealthcareathome.org.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports they were notified of a theft this (Thursday) morning. Sheriff Lyle Palmer says the victim of the theft, 83-year old Billy Duane Gold, of Shambaugh, reported to authorities $5,000 in cash had been stolen from the glovebox of his pickup truck, which was parked inside his garage next to his residence on 6th Street. Gold also reported a safe in the back seat of the truck was stolen, and various, miscellaneous papers were missing. The incident occurred sometime between 9-p.m. Wednesday and 7-a.m. Thursday. Gold said both the garage and his pickup were locked. The loss, including the cash, safe and papers, amounted to just over $5,050. The incident remains under investigation.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors are scheduled to meet Friday morning (Sept. 14th), in a continuation of their regular Wednesday session. During the 7:30-a.m. meeting in their board room at the Courthouse in Atlantic, the Supervisors will discuss and possibly act on a Tax Abatement or Exemption, for the Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal Area property.

Late last month, Kathy Schowalter with PlanScape Partners made a presentation to the Cass County Board of Supervisors on behalf of Ron Fagen, CEO of Granite Falls, Minnesota-based Fagen, Incorporated, with regard to the possible creation of a 25-million gallon Cellulosic ethanol plant. Schowalter asked the Board of Supervisors on August 31st, to consider local assistance in the form of: a property tax exemption until production begins; 50% property tax exemption/rebate for ten years after production begins; and assistance with applications for State and Federal incentives. Even with an agreement in-place, the permitting process she says will take up to a year once investors are secured, construction on the plant itself would take 18-to 24-months.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says a Griswold man was arrested Tuesday, for Possessing Prescription Drugs without a Prescription. 34-year old Michael Lee Moeller was taken into custody and held in the Cass County Jail until his release Wednesday, on his own recognizance.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, the arrest on Sunday, of 33-year old John W. Perryman. The Fargo, ND, man turned himself to authorities at the Cass County Jail.  He had been wanted on a District Court warrant for violation of his probation. Perryman was subsequently sentenced to 30 days in the Cass County Jail, where he remains in custody until the completion of his sentence.

A $16 million renovation project at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, is nearing completion. The project, which started back in June of 2011, is 70% finished, and is on track to be completed by next May 2013. Barry Jacobsen, CEO of Myrtue Medical Center, says employees have been working in some of the new areas of the facility, for  the past few months. That includes the new lab department and data center. Jacobsen says their main focus has been the surgery addition, an adjacent addition, and renovation of the radiology area. Those areas are near completion and should be done by late November.

Jacobsen says once those areas are open and equipment moved, patients will be able to use the facilities on January 1^st. The construction crews meanwhile, are continuing to work on the south patient parking lot as well and are on schedule to be completed in the next two weeks. He says once the surgery and outpatient clinics have relocated, crews will start working on the 2^nd floor. Work on the new business offices, respiratory therapy and sleep study rooms, is expected to begin in January.

A small addition has also been added on the north side as well as parking. Once the project is complete the Auble conference room will be on the north side for meetings. Jacobsen says one of the main corridors of the hospital has re-opened, and although the project isn’t expected to be completed until May of 2013, Jacobsen says the hospital is planning an open house towards the end of this year. The open house is likely to take place sometime this December.

(Joel McCall)

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert said today (Thursday), rainfall amounting to at least 1.8-inches across parts of the County has lessened the danger of Extreme fire behavior, at least for the short term. Seivert says area fire stations and others with Fire Danger signs can move them from “Extreme,” back into the “High” category, through this weekend. Another update is expected on Monday.

w/ Ric Hanson

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Arrests have been made in back-to-back robberies of a western Iowa store in which the clerk was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun. Police in Omaha arrested 18-year-old D’Jay Betts on Tuesday and 22-year-old Loyal Brown on Wednesday. Both men live in Omaha.

Police say Betts and another man entered Exotic Gifts in Council Bluffs on Aug. 24th, and that Betts repeatedly attacked the store’s clerk with a stun gun while the other man stole merchandise. Betts and Brown are accused of returning to the store five days later, with Betts again attacking the same clerk with a stun gun while Brown took merchandise and money.  Betts and Brown remained in an Omaha jail this (Thursday) morning.

The City Council in Adair has voted to begin the search for a new Police Officer. The decision came during a meeting Wednesday night, and follows the recent firing of Lt. Josephine Weston, and the resignation of Police Chief Bob Koeneman. City officials have declined to release any details concerning the departures of the two law enforcement officials.

The City will begin advertising for the position in the Des Moines Register, Omaha World Herald and locally, soon. The person hired for the job will be required to live in Adair. Until that person is hired, deputies with the Guthrie and Adair County Sheriff’s Offices will continue to patrol the city of Adair.