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MHI in Clarinda now targeted for closure

January 28, 2010 By

A leading Senate Democrat say lawmakers may vote to close the state’s Mental Health Institute in Clarinda instead of the one in Mount Pleasant.

To save money, the legislature directed Department of Human Services managers to recommended closing one of the state’s four mental health facilities and, in December, the D.H.S. recommended closure of the oldest one, in Mount Pleasant.

But Senator Jack Hatch says the substance abuse treatment provided at that site in Mount Pleasant is too valuable and the state may be better off closing the Mental Health Institute in Clarinda instead.  Under his proposal, Clarinda’s 20 adult patients would be moved to the Mental Health Institute in Cherokee, while the 35 elderly patients would be moved to either the Veterans Home in Marshalltown or the Glenwood Resource Center’s home for the disabled.  Hatch also predicts employees at the Clarinda Mental Health Institute could easily transfer to another state-run facility in the area. 

“There are some preferable sites like Glenwood that people in Clarinda and near Clarinda can still live there and contribute to their community and then still work at Glenwood, so those are pretty appealing to us,” Hatch says. 

But a former eastern Iowa legislator warns closing Clarinda’s Mental Health Institute could have a devastating impact on the community.  Former State Representative Ro Foege of Mount Vernon served on a task force that studied the Mental Health Institutes.

“The superintendent of schools in Clarinda told us that if that Mental Health Institute in Clarinda would close, it would remove 40 kids from their school,” Foege says.  “So this has ramifications. There’s a ripple effect throughout the community.” 

The director of the Department of Human Services has said closing the Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant would cause the least amount of economic fall-out, compared to closing the facilities in Clarinda or the ones in Independence or Cherokee.   But Hatch says once the recommendation to close Mount Pleasant’s facility was made, legislators reconsidered.

“It really opened up a large discussion about how we could move people around that is logical and maintains the services and, in some cases, increases the quality of the services,” Hatch says.

Next week, a Senate committee is scheduled to debate a bill that calls for closing Clarinda’s Mental Health Institute.

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

New rules for teen drivers

January 28, 2010 By

The Iowa Senate’s Transportation Committee has approved a bill that would place new driving restrictions on teenagers. 

If the bill becomes law, teenagers who hold one of Iowa’s new “intermediate” driver’s licenses would have to be off  the streets by 11 p.m.  The current curfew for those drivers is 12:30 a.m.  Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, originally proposed an even earlier, 10 o’clock curfew.

“I think that parents need to be the enforcers, but in the interest of compromise I would like to change the curfew on this to 11 p.m. and then continue to allow the waiver for work and school functions,” McCoy told the committee.

According to McCoy, research shows a correlation between accidents and inexperience behind the wheel.

“The majority of the accidents are occurring between the hours of 10 and midnight,” McCoy said. “I do think there’s a missing link in this and that is the parental involvement.” 

The bill also would make another change.  The bill would allow just one teenage passenger in a vehicle being driven by a teenager. Under current law, teenage drivers may have as many teenagers in their car as there are seatbelts.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

UNI stops Drake’s win streak

January 28, 2010 By

U.N.I.’s defense was on display in the McLeod Center as the 25th ranked Panthers blew the game open in the second half in a 67-51 win over Drake. Panther coach Ben Jacobsen says a key was playing good defense without fouling, as Drake got to the free throw line only 10 times, and that’s the key to beating the Bulldogs.

The Panthers jumped out to a 34-24 lead at the half ands Jacobsen called it a hard fought game. He says the fact that Drake is playing well and it’s an in-state rivalry made his team play harder, along with the fact they were protecting their home floor.

Drake coach Mark Phelps on his postgame show on KRNT in Des Moines, says U.N.I. showed why they are ranked second in the country in scoring defense. He says the do a good job of protecting the paint and guarding dribble penetration and when you get the ball inside it is tough to score.

The loss snapped the Bulldogs’ five game winning streak as they fall to 5-5 in the Valley. U.N.I improves to 9-1 in conference play.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Iowa, ISU fall in close games

January 28, 2010 By

Twentieth ranked Ohio State changed its defense and turned the game around. The Buckeyes went to a half court trap and closed the games on a 20-7 run as they beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 65-57 in a game Iowa led most of the way.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says they acted like they wanted the clock to run out in the last few minutes and got anxious. He says the Hawks needed to do the same things that earned them a seven point lead with less than seven minutes remaining.

And he says you have to them under more stress. Freshman Eric May led Iowa with 18 points. The Hawks fall to 2-6 in the Big Ten and 8-13 overall.

The hole was too deep for Iowa State to climb out of. The Cyclones battled back from a 21 point deficit but lost at Oklahoma 89-84 in the Big 12.

I.S.U. coach Greg McDermotts says his decision to start out in a zone defense did not work out the way they wanted and got Oklahoma off to a confident start. Tommy Mason-Griffin led Oklahoma with 38 points. McDermott says the plan was to shade Mason-Griffin in the zone, but he got loose and got off to a good start.

Iowa State drops to 1-4 in the Big 12 and 8-12 overall.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Bill would help deal with insurance rate increases due to crisis

January 28, 2010 By
Senator Rich Olive D-Story City

Senator Rich Olive D-Story City

Legislators are considering a bill that would help Iowans who’re having a personal financial crisis and discover their insurance rates have increased as a result. Senator Rich Olive, a Democrat from Story City, is an insurance agent.

“During this recession period we have families of friends or constituents…who have been negatively affected with either by loss of jobs, loss of family members, military service, etc.,” Olive says. “When these things happen, banks, insurance companies, etc. look at their credit score and, in the insurance industry, their rates for their home, their auto, etc. can be increased.”

The bill provides some help to Iowans who saw their credit scores reduced after some “extraordinary event” in their life. If the bill becomes law, Iowans who’ve lost a child or a spouse, who’ve been called to active military duty or who’ve lost their job for more than three months can provide paperwork to their insurance company documenting that “extraordinary event” and the company is to lower their auto, homeowners or renters insurance rates back to what they were before that event occurred.

“We think this is great consumer protection during this economic downturn and the best part of this whole legislation is the insurance lobby is supportive of this as well as it came out the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously,” Olive says. “So we have great bipartisan support for this legislation.”

The bill will next be considered by the full senate. Olive stresses Iowans who’ve maxed out on their credit cards won’t be able to use this new tool to reduce their interest rates as it’s aimed at those who’ve hit hard times through no fault of their own.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With: ,

Domestic violence cases resulting in death on the increase

January 28, 2010 By

Domestic violence cases that result in death are on the rise in Iowa. A new report from the state’s Domestic Abuse Death Review Team shows Iowa averaged about 15 deaths from domestic violence per year between 2005 and 2009, compared to about 12 per year between 1995 and 2004.

Binnie LeHew, with the Iowa Department of Public Health, says all domestic violence deaths can be prevented. “In many cases, family members and friends are aware that their loved ones are in these relationships and there have been threats of homicide or suicide,” LeHew said.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine

Arnolds Park bandshell put on hold

January 28, 2010 By

Plans to build a new bandshell in Arnolds Park in the great lakes region of northwest Iowa have been put on hold over financing. Arnolds Park would have had to pony up $250,000 for the bandshell on top of a one-million-dollar donation from the Messengers of Healing Winds Foundation. Historic Arnolds Park General manager Scott Pyle says economic factors played a big role in the decision by the board of directors.

Pyle says they knew it was going to be a big project, but it just got to be a little larger than they anticipated and they couldn’t justify taking on the additional debt with the current economy. Pyle says this decision follows a mantra the board has followed for years.

He says the board of directors and management made a commitment several years ago to not take on any projects they didn’t have the funding identified for, and this was one of those cases. Pyle says they don’t feel justified in moving forward until they identify the money. In addition to upkeep there should be some new things at the park this Summer.

Pyle says they are adding a new kiddie ride and one on the adult side of the park. He says there are good things happening, as they are spending their money where it means the most to them at this point. A save the park campaign was held back in 1999 with the community raising $7.25-million dollars, well over the four million dollars needed to keep the park from being replaced by a condominium, hotel, and retail complex.

By Ryan Long, KICD, Spencer

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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