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Men from Atalissa bunkhouse moved to Waterloo

February 10, 2009 By

A group of 21 mentally retarded men were moved to a residential facility in Waterloo today (Tuesday). State officials say the men were found last weekend living in "deplorable" conditions in a century-old bunkhouse in Atalissa. The men were working at a meat-processing plant in Muscatine County.

A company in Texas called "Henry’s Turkey Service" was serving as the men’s caretakers and rented the building from the City of Atalissa. David Werning, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA), says his agency is seeking a criminal charge against Henry’s Turkey Service for operating a health care facility without a license.

"The charge is a serious misdemeanor, so if convicted, it would be a term in jail of up to, but not exceeding, one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,875," Werning said. The men were declared dependent adults on Monday, clearing the way for the criminal charges. It’s not clear yet if the charges will be filed against one individual or a business.

Additionally, the D-I-A’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is working with authorities in Texas to determine if there was dependent adult abuse, specifically financial exploitation. Werning says it appears that were some payments made several years ago from the Texas program to the residents in Atalissa. Records indicate that Henry’s Turkey Service deducted $1,000 or more from each of the worker’s monthly paychecks for room, board and "kind care."

Henry’s leased the bunkhouse for just $600 a month. Plywood covered many of the windows in the 105-year-old building in which the men lived and space heaters provided the only warmth in the facility. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government

One rejected vote decides fate of Glendwood Schools vote

February 10, 2009 By

One rejected vote has decided the fate of a proposed tax levy that would have raised over $750,000 dollars for things like new textbooks and technology in the Glenwood Community School District in western Iowa. District residents went to the polls last Tuesday to vote on the 10-year instructional support levy — and when the votes were counted — there was a 434 tie.

The Mills County Auditor’s office received an absentee ballot that was postmarked by the election deadline, but not received by election night. Glenwood Superintendent Stan Sibley says a three-member special precinct board rejected the ballot Monday, so the election results canvassed this morning sent the issue to defeat.

He says the ballot was not returned in the appropriate envelope, so it could not be validated. Sibley says he knows who cast the rejected ballot, and that person had made it clear he was in support of the issue, which made it all the more difficult to accept the results of the vote canvass.

The school district has the right to petition for a recount, and Sibley says that option has not been ruled out. He says he is a believer in public elections, but if there are legal avenues that the school board feels would be in the best interests of the district, and that it would be better served by challenging the outcome, that’ something they will look into. Sibley says the election results are not what they’d hoped for, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort to educate the district’s constituents about the issue.

He says they felt they had provided as much information as they could to educate district residents about the need for the levy. A similar proposal that went before voters in the Glenwood District 10-years ago, was also rejected.

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With:

House leader says smoking ban changes won’t be debated

February 10, 2009 By

Legislative leaders say they won’t bring up a bill to modify the state smoking ban this session despite a long list of backers for the issue. Representative McKinley Bailey, a Democrat from Webster City, introduced the bill to exempt outdoor seating areas of bars and restaurants from the ban.

He says lawmakers never intended those areas to be a part of the ban. Bailey says, "I think the proof of that is sort of the diverse nature of the 51 co-sponsors. We have members who never voted for any version of the smoking ban. We have members who have voted for every version of the smoking ban who’ve signed on. Because I think for them it’s about more than about whether the smoking ban is right or wrong. We don’t think that the bill we passed is being followed."

Bailey says the rules set up by the Health Department went beyond what lawmakers intended when the ban started in July, and his bill would correct that. "We tried to make this bill just incredibly common sense. A fix to what we sort of see as an abuse of power by the Department of Public Health during the rule making process," Bailey says.

The bill has 51 co-sponsors, more than half of the Iowa House, but House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says the House won’t debate the bill because there’s no support in the Senate. Murphy says, "We need to give at least a full year to the cigarette law that was passed last year. I know there might be some fixes to it but I just don’t think it’s something we would consider because if the Senate’s not going to do it why waste our time."

Murphy says the bill would be too much of a distraction. Murphy says it would re-open the whole issue after what was a long debate last year. "We need to focus on middle class families, we need to focus on education, health care, we need to make our focus on the things that are important to Iowans and not get caught up in this debate this year."

Anti-smoking advocates applauded Murphy’s position, saying re-opening the debate would only give opponents a chance to repeal the ban altogether. 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With: , , ,

Salutes to Veterans encouraged this week

February 10, 2009 By

While many veterans enjoy the attention of Veterans Day, it’s suggested Iowans consider offering a little love to veterans on Valentines Day, too. Will Ackerman, spokesman for the V-A Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care Systems, says this is National Salute to Veterans Week and it’s a great time to show appreciation.

Ackerman says, "We encourage Americans to say thank you to the very special group of men and women who served in the military and protected us." Nationwide, more than 98-thousand veterans are cared for in the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, outpatient clinics and nursing homes. Ackerman says Iowans are encouraged to pay a visit to a hospitalized veteran this week.

He says, "Visit with them, bring them a Valentine or even bring them a cookie or something, just to let them know they are appreciated." Ackerman says a number of veterans groups, businesses, celebrities and other military personnel are taking part and visiting veterans this week.

Ackerman says, "Organizations and schools are going to be coming out during the week to bring valentines and cookies to the veterans who are inpatients." He says visitors are welcome at any V-A facilities. In Iowa, there are V-A medical centers in Des Moines, Iowa City and Knoxville, in addition to veterans centers in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Sioux City, and clinics in Bettendorf, Coralville, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Sioux City, Spirit Lake and Waterloo. 

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military Tagged With:

Class 4A: Matt Murphy, Clinton

February 10, 2009 By

The senior forward averaged more than 16 points and nine rebounds in two victories. Murphy scored 16 points on seven-of-seven shooting, hauled down 15 rebounds and added three assists in a victory over Davenport North. in the two games Murphy was and impressive 15-of-18 from the field.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Uncategorized

Class 3A: Nathan Bruck, Denison-Schleswig

February 10, 2009 By

The senior center averaged 18 points and nearly 16 rebounds in a pair of Monarch wins. Bruck scored 19 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and added three assists and two steals in a victory over Creston. Bruck shot better than 57 percent for the week.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Class 2A: Scott Bruxvoort, P-C-M (Monroe)

February 10, 2009 By

The freshman forward averaged over 18 points and 10 rebounds in two victories. Bruxvoort scored 19 points, hauled down 10 rebounds and added two assists in a victory over Woodward-Granger. Bruxvoort made 18-of-32 shots from the field and for the season is connecting on nearly 51 percent of his shots.

 

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Uncategorized
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