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3,000 low-income Iowans receive free prescription meds during first year of donation program

February 6, 2009 By

A report released Friday shows a lot of Iowans have benefited from a program that re-dispenses prescription drugs that would normally be destroyed. The Iowa Prescription Drug Donation Repository Program was launched in May of 2007. In it’s first full year of operation, program director David Fries says 3,000 low-income Iowans received needed medications for free. "We’ve been told that if they didn’t have our meds, they just simply wouldn’t buy meds," Fries said.

About 98-percent of the drugs are donated to the program by pharmacies that serve long-term care facilities. The re-dispensed meds – shipped to clinics, doctor’s offices and other health care facilities – carried a retail value of nearly $660,000. Fries says the drugs donated to the program were valued at just over $977,000.

Patients who fall below 200-percent of the federal poverty level or who are uninsured or underinsured are eligible to receive the donated medications. Currently, around 40 clinics or hospitals in the state participate in the program. Fries says many doctors and nurses tell him the free drugs are resulting in fewer hospital visits and trips to the E-R. "We believe that by making sure people have a continuous supply of their medications, you are going to keep them out of hospitals and emergency rooms…as well as keeping them productive in society, by having them employed and stuff of this nature," Fries said.

The Iowa Prescription Drug Donation Repository Program is administered by the Iowa Prescription Drug Corporation. Grants from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Collaborative Safety Net Provider Network pay for the program.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Supreme Court upholds murder conviction in Fort Dodge case

February 6, 2009 By

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of man in the rape and murder of a Fort Dodge woman. Firefighters found Holly Michael tied up in the basement of her burning home in January of 2006.

Michael was badly burned, but was able to tell emergency workers and later a doctor that Sessions Harper had raped her, tied her up, and then set her house on fire. Michael later died at the hospital. Harper was convicted of first-degree murder in Michael’s death and sentenced to life in prison.

Harper appealed the conviction saying the statements made by Michael were inadmissible because they were hearsay, and violated his right to confront his accuser. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that Michael’s statements to hospital staff were admissible in court under a couple of exceptions.

One exception is for a person who makes a statement under stress because such statements are less likely to involved deception. And another is an exception for a person who believes they are dying because they show the circumstances of why a person has died. The High Court says under the exceptions, Harper’s right to confront his accuser does not apply.  

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Central Iowa bike ride won’t be as cold this year

February 6, 2009 By

The 32nd Annual "BRR" Ride won’t be quite the bone-chiller that it has been in the past. The 24-mile-long bicycle ride Saturday is a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce in Perry, located in Dallas County.

Cyclists will pedal round-trip between Perry and the Greene County town of Rippey. The inaugural event in 1978 took place in a blizzard and drew just 13 riders. Two years ago, some 500 riders braved an actual temperature of six-below-zero. Wendy Goodale, executive director of the Perry Chamber of Commerce, is hoping this year’s forecast will bring a record turnout.

"I think there was one other time it was 60-degrees and there were over 2,000 riders, so that’s what we shoot for," Goodale said. Last year’s ride drew 1,300 bicyclists. Goodale says Perry could be considered the "biking capital" of Iowa. A 72-mile loop on the Raccoon River Valley trail is under construction. That trail, when finished, will wind through Perry and 13 other towns in three counties.

"Then, there’s another trail coming through from Ames and Ankeny through Woodward. We’re hoping to connect to that trail as well so we’ll be part of a figure eight loop with Perry right in the center," Goodale said. More information about BRR, which stands for Bike Ride to Rippey, is available on-line at the Bike Iowa website . 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Gronstal says four union-backed bills are "live rounds"

February 6, 2009 By

The top leader in the Iowa Senate says Democrats in the legislature will advance four pieces of legislation that’ve been long sought by unions. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says the final details aren’t set, but all four bills are "live rounds" that have a good chance of becoming law.

"Iowa for 60 years has pursued a weak-unions, low-wage, low-skill strategy towards economic development and it has not created wealth in this state," Gronstal says, "and it has not created good-paying jobs."

Last year Democrats in the legislature passed a bill which would have broadened the topics union employees in governments at the state, county and city level could bring up during contract negotiations, but Governor Chet Culver, a fellow Democrat, vetoed it. Gronstal suggests Culver and Democratic legislators have a better working relationship this year.  "We have talked to the governor repeatedly. We have had better communication. We have done a great job of on-going communication with the governor on all of these issues."

The other union-related bills Gronstal indicates will advance this year include a bill which would grant workers the right to choose their own doctor if they’re injured on the job as well as legislation which would require non-union workers to pay a fee if the union provides certain services that benefit the worker. Many Republicans and business groups object to the bills, arguing the proposals would hurt iowa’s economy.

Gronstal shoots back. "If you want to keep labor weak, the kinds of jobs you’re going to end up with are the kinds of jobs you had at Postville with AgriProcessors," Gronstal says. "…If that’s Iowa’s economic future, I think it’s a pretty sad future and no wonder our kids are leaving this state."

Gronstal made his comments this morning during taping of the Iowa Public Television program, "Iowa Press," which airs this evening at 7:30. During the show, Gronstal made this closing comment about unions. "Tomorrow’s Saturday," Gronstal said. "Everybody has their weekend, thanks to organized labor."

The fourth bill under consideration would establish a "prevailing wage" for construction workers and others emplioyed on building projects financed by Iowa cities, counties and school districts as well as the state. During an appearance at the Iowa Building Trades annual convention yesterday, Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge said she and Chet Culver support it.

Judge likened a prevailing wage to a "living wage."

The legislation would calculate a prevailing wage in each Iowa county, based on the hourly wages, benefits and overtime pay the majority of workers in the county’s largest city are paid.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Harkin again defends size of stimulus bill

February 6, 2009 By

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, continues to defend the size of the proposed stimulus package which has grown to over $900-billion — despite Republican claims it is too big and needs to be cut.

Harkin says, "My argument with some of those who are wanting to cut and slash this bill is that…if all we’re going to do is just put a bunch of people to work right now without transforming our economy, then we are going to be right back in the same situation in a couple of years. So we have to think of this both as a short-term infusion of money, but a longer-term transformation of the economy that we have, and I think that’s what’s been missing in this debate."

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has called the bill "porkulus" instead of stimulus because of the items it includes. Harkin says Republicans didn’t have any problem including a fix for the alternative minimum tax in the bill at a cost of 70-billion dollars. Harkin says by every account the A-M-T fix has zero stimulus effect. Harkin says he doesn’t have a problem with the fix because it has to be done so middle income families don’t get hit.

Harkin says Republicans shouldn’t support the fix and them come back and say "if it doesn’t have a stimulus effect, then it shouldn’t be in the bill." Harkin says every dollar in the bill doesn’t have to go to someone "digging a hole and filling it in someplace."

Harkin says there’s $625-million that’s going to the governor of Iowa, and they are not telling him exactly how to spend the money as he says they are leaving it up to states and communities to decide how to best spend the money.

"There are no earmarks, no earmarks in this stimulus bill," Harkin says, "so how can someone say there is pork in it? I don’t understand that." Harkin was asked about the inclusion of money to fight sexually transmitted diseases and how that will help transform the economy.

Harkin says we have to make sure that we have "prevention and wellness," something he says he "feels very strongly about." He says the money would help employ healthcare workers and make people more healthy and productive as he says he’s heard one in four teenagers has an S-T-D. "This is going to plague them and make them less productive for the rest of their lives and make them less productive as citizens," Harkin says.

The vote on the stimulus package could happen today in the Senate. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Another fire death reported in Northeast Iowa

February 6, 2009 By

There’s the report of another fire death in northeast Iowa today as the fire death toll in the new year was already at 13. Assistant state Fire Marshal Jeff Quigel says at this time last year the death toll was at seven, so they are "very concerned."

Quigle says some of the fire deaths can be attributed to people improperly using alternative heat sources during the bitterly cold stretch in January. Quigle says you want to make sure any type of supplemental heating device is working properly and that you leave at least three feet around the device. He says you should also not use the device at night while you are sleeping and can’t keep an eye on it.

Quigle says working smoke detectors are an important safety device that could have helped reduce some of the deaths. Quigle says the Fire Marshal’s office has conducted 12 of the 13 investigations into the fires and found only three where people died with a working smoke detector, and the others the smoke detector was not working, or was damaged enough that they couldn’t tell if it had been working.

Quigle says they recommend having a smoke detector on every level of your house. He says "it’s imperative" that you have a smoke detector in each sleeping room and that you test the batteries and replace them at least once a year. Quigle says you should also look around your home to see if there are ways you can reduce a fire risk and set up an evacuation plan in the event of a fire.

Clayton County officials say the body of an elderly man was found inside a burned garage this morning. The man has not been identified and the fire marshal’s office will investigate the cause of the fire. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Fairfield hosts film festival

February 6, 2009 By

The southeast Iowa town of Fairfield is hosting a film festival tonight and tomorrow featuring a variety of movies, documentaries, shorts, animation and student films. JoBeth Lewer is organizing the fest which includes a movie about a high school baseball team from, Norway, Iowa.

"The Final Season" was produced by a Fairfield native, Steve Schott. Lewer says a documentary done by Leigh Badgley, another former Fairfield resident, is also on the list. She says "The Dolphin Dealer" examines issues and ethics surrounding the billion-dollar swim-with-dolphins industry.

Lewer says Badgley will be in Fairfield for the festival and is planning to host a workshop that will focus on how to get investors and producers interested in your project. Other speakers will include Kent Newman, president of the Iowa Motion Pictures Association, who will talk about the Iowa film, infomercial and commercial scene, Iowa film incentives, and recent Iowa film opportunities and successes. While much of the two-day film festival will be devoted to watching and learning about movies, Lewer says kids won’t be excluded.

There’s also a young people’s film project workshop at the Fairfield Public LIbrary for kids in grades five through eight. They’ll create a three-to-five minute film that’ll be posted on the popular website YouTube. The film festival begins tonight and will run Saturday morning through late Saturday night. It’s part of Fairfield’s First Fridays Art Walks, which take place the first Friday of every month year-round. For more information, visit: www.fairfieldtoday.com . 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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