State and local law officers are participating in some special training in Story County this week designed to help them deal with unstable people in a stable manner. Gene Deisinger is the commander of the Special Operations Unit of the Iowa State University Police Division and is leading the “Crisis Intervention School.” Deisinger says the week-long school is an outgrowth of the Story County Crisis Intervention Team. He says the team is a group of law enforcement officers that’re in psychological crisis intervention skills to help people with mental illness or who’re in distress to resolved the situations more safely. Deisinger says the school goes beyond the basic crisis skills taught to all officers. He says the state police academy provides some fundamental training orientation in mental health issues — but he says this is much more in-depth — with officers spending about four and a half days learning the skills. Deisinger says officers across the nation are coming in contact with people with mental illness or in distress more and more as they do their jobs. He says law enforcement has become just about the only “24-seven” response in many communities and he says those officers are frequently the first point of contact for a person with mental illness. Deisinger says the school helps officers deal with the crisis while protecting everyone involved. He says the training is focused on “verbal de-escalation skills.” He says they find with the proper application of those skills the vast majority, though not all, cases can be resolved without the use of force. He says the officer always has to be aware of their limitations to allow them to make the best possible choice. Deisinger in addition to being a peace officer, is a licensed psychologist and a certified health service provider in psychology. The school is being hosted in Nevada this week by the Story County Sheriff’s Department.
Crash kills Woodbine educator and son
A car crash in western Iowa left a local school leader hurt and killed his wife and son. Officials say slick roads are to blame for the crash, which happened three miles east of Woodbine at about 9:15 last night. Killed in the crash were Myra Hazard, a fifth-and-sixth-grade teacher at Woodbine, and her teenage son, James. James was a senior at Woodbine High School. Doctor Terry Hazard, the Woodbine superintendent, was injured in the crash. He was taken to an Omaha hospital. The family was returning from a basketball game in Manning last night.
Missouri Valley building burns down
A century-old downtown building in the western Iowa community of Missouri Valley was destroyed by fire Monday morning. Fire struck the Willow Creek Bar on Highway 30. Firefighters were called when an employee of a neighboring business saw kitchen workers running away from the burning bar. When fire crews arrived, the building was already fully engulfed. No injuries are reported. Missouri Valley fire officials say the blaze may have started in the kitchen but the state fire marshal’s office has been called to determine the exact cause.
Murder trial moved back for Waterloo men
Two of the six men charged in a fatal Waterloo shooting have had their trial delayed. The trial for Christopher Spates and Ricardious Spates was supposed to begin today in Black Hawk County District Court, but a judge has rescheduled the trial for March 8th to give defense attorneys more time to prepare their case. The Waterloo cousins are charged with first-degree murder for their role in an October shooting spree that left 23-year-old Thyanna Parsons dead. The trial for four other men charged in the shooting is scheduled to begin in mid-April.
Grassley praises NATO agreement on Iraq
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is praising the agreement President Bush has made with NATO’s secretary general that all 26 allied nations work together to help train Iraq’s military. Some critics have found fault with NATO, waiting until the U.S. spent millions of dollars and lost hundreds of lives before joining on, but Grassley says it’s a positive move. Grassley says “Since World War One, the United States has always done the dirty work for Europe and it’s in the tradition of America’s goodness that we move ahead, even when we don’t have traditional allies following us.” Grassley says the NATO agreement would put more international troops into Iraq to help bring that country’s internal security up to snuff, meaning fewer U.S. troops would have to remain there. Grassley says “It’s very, very good news for a war-weary American military and American people pessimistic about what the future holds. I think that we ought to accept it and let bygones be bygones and hope that they (NATO) really take a very major role.” Grassley says if the NATO troops will train alongside the Iraqis, it’ll be “very good news for bringing our troops home.” Reports say the U.S./NATO agreement is meant to symbolize the end to the bitter divisions over the war in Iraq. 20 Iowans in uniform have died on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, while another ten soldiers and airmen with Iowa ties have died.
UNI A-D says Hill case won’t make him give up on second chances
University of Northern Iowa Athletic Director Rick Hartzell says the school had no choice but to dismiss Hakim Hill from the football and track teams after a run-in with the law. Hill, a former Iowa City High standout, was arrested on several charges after he allegedly threatened police officers when they responded to a call about a fight at an Iowa City hotel. Hartzell says Hill knew he was on a short leash, and violated everybody’s trust. He says to Hill’s credit Hill told U-N-I football coach Mark Farley immediately about what happened, and Hartzell says that gives him some hope that Hill understands the seriousness of what happened. Hill enrolled at U-N-I last month after being kicked off the Arizona State University football team in December for violating team rules. Hartzell says it’s sad to see that Hill could not keep out of trouble after transferring. He says he’s disappointed anytime a kid gets in trouble and then you have to deal with it. Hartzell says he will continue to give athletes a second chance at U-N-I. He says his feeling hasn’t changed, “That is, that most of us in our life deserve a second chance for something that we did, you know, made a mistake.” Hartzell says they’ll continue to do things the same way as they’ve had more successes than failures. Hill is charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer, and one count each of disorderly conduct, public intoxication and interference with official acts.
New type of cancer treatment in use in Omaha
Iowa cancer patients are being treated with a new kind of therapy that offers hope for some tough cases, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Doctor Ralph Hauke is an oncologist who explains they’re using a therapy called Proleukin. He says it’s a natural substance made in our bodies, but they’ve isolated and manufactured it so they can give patients a dose that’ll help their own immune system fight center better. Specifically, Proleukin is used in a couple kinds of cases, kidney cancer that’s spread throughout the body, not the kind you can easily take out with surgery, and a type of skin cancer called melanoma. There aren’t many treatments that work for these patients, but this one’s been used successfully and he says when patients do respond, their recovery tends to last a long time, eight years or more. So-called metastatic cancer has sent out cells that begin growing in other parts of the body, bad news for the patient. Most cancers that have become metastatic are basically incurable, Dr. Hauke says, a terrifying thing for the patient. The drugs used to treat other kinds of cancer won’t work on that form of the disease. The body has different kinds of immune cells that are involved in the fight against cancer, and this drug acts at different levels of different cells, he says, to make them work better. “It’s a completely different class of treatment than regular chemotherapy.” Still, the doctor says like any strong drug, this one also has side-effects. With more than 15 years experience now through the National Cancer Institute, they know a lot about the dosing for this type of drug, and know how to give it better. While there are some side effects that can be severe, they generally are reversible and can be managed well when the drug’s given by properly-trained staff. The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s the only such hospital in Nebraska or Iowa to offer this treatment, for metastatic melanoma and metastatic renal-cell carcinoma.
