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Senator Ernst among supporters of rural mental health services bill

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Senator Joni Ernst.

Iowa’s Joni Ernst is among a group of bipartisan U.S. Senators who have introduced legislation to provide more federal money for mental health services to rural residents.

Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says a 2016 study by the CDC found ag workers have a higher suicide rate than any other occupation. She says the bill would establish helplines, provide suicide prevention training for farm advocates, create support groups, and reestablish the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network

“We do require the Farm and Ranch Stress Committee to develop a long-term strategy to address the issues of farmer mental health. Because we do know in those rural areas we are lacking services that you might be able to find in the greater metro areas of our rural states,” Ernst says. Ernst says they are hoping for a collaboration at all levels to give farmers more options for help.

“What we would like to do of course is see those services develop –whether it’s through the extension services through additional mental health counselors — tapping into existing resources out there,” Ernst explains. She says the high rate of suicide within the agricultural community underscores the urgent need to act right away.

She says the seed funding would help get some of the additional resources off the ground and they hope the legislation would be included in the farm bill and it would provide about 10 million dollars each year. Ernst says existing services — such as hotlines — will be reviewed to be sure it is worthwhile to put federal money into them.

“We have seen examples in the past where hotlines just certainly haven’t lived up to the expectations,” according to Ernst. “So, that’s one thing that we need to continue to provide oversight on to make sure if dollars are going to hotlines, whether they are existing or new structures, that they are providing the necessary supports.” The bill is called the Facilitating Accessible Resources for Mental Health and Encouraging Rural Solutions For Immediate Response to Stressful Times or “FARMERS FIRST” Act.

 

DMACC offers free class to high school girls to get them interested in firefighting, EMS

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Students in fire training at DMACC.

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Ankeny is offering a free class to high school girls in tenth through 12th grade to learn about being a firefighter or in Emergency Medical Services.

The chair of the DMACC Fire Service/Paramedic program, Dewey Anderson, says the four-hour class will be hands-on. “We have a fire truck out here, we are going to have them learn about the different parts of firefighting. We also will have our DMACC ambulance there and they will learn about Emergency Medical Services and hopefully generate some excitement,” Anderson says.

He says firefighting is a profession that has been dominated by men, but they are trying to show women there’s a place for them too. “I think for a lot of years it was viewed as you have to be big and burly and manly to do this type of work. But really….you do have to be in shape, but you have to have some smarts. You have to understand the concepts of what goes into firefighting,” Anderson says.

He says the methods have changed through the years. “There’s a lot of science behind firefighting — it isn’t just riding the fire truck and throwing some water on the fire.You have to know different things such as what type of fire you are fighting and how to fight it. You have to know how to hook up hydrants, you have to know how to don protective gear correctly. All of that stuff goes into being a firefighter,” according to Anderson. “It’s really technical, it’s changed over the years and it’s a lot more technical. I  am hoping that some of these girls will get excited enough about the whole process to be able to consider that as a career.”

He says there are many women in rural volunteer fire departments, but metro departments have lagged behind. Anderson says they want to see more women in their program. “We have maybe one or two a year that go through the fire science program here at DMAAC. I’ll tell you they can get jobs very easily once they graduate. That’s the word we are trying to get out also — get you associate’s degree in fire science and you can get a good paying job once you complete the program,” Anderson says.

You can find out more about the program online at: www.dmacc.edu/careerdiscovery. Or you can call Dewey Anderson at 515-965-7051 to discuss the class and program.

 

Iowa Supreme Court upholds murder sentence of Osage teen

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The state Judicial Building.

The Iowa Supreme Court has denied the appeal of the sentence given an Osage teen for killing his mom.

Noah Crooks was found guilty of second-degree murder and “not guilty” of assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse after he called 911 on March 24, 2012 and told the Mitchell County dispatcher he had shot his mom Gretchen with his .22 rifle and then tried to have sex with her. Crooks was 13 and was tried as a youthful offender in adult court.

Court information showed Crooks shot his mom, who was a nurse at a Mason City hospital 22 times. When he turned 18 his case was reviewed. The pre-sentence investigation said Crooks had no issues while in the juvenile detention center and followed the rules there to avoid any negative consequences.

The report also said Crooks could not offer “a plausible explanation for why he shot and killed his mother, that might offer some insight into his thoughts and actions that day.” It said “for the protection of society, it is recommended the defendant be supervised at a higher level of supervision than what community based supervision can provide.”

The judge was sentenced him to an indeterminate prison term not to exceed fifty years without any mandatory minimum sentence. Crooks appealed the sentence saying he should not have tried as a youthful offender in adult court and the sentence given him was unconstitutional.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled trying Crooks as a juvenile offender allowed for time to assess his prospect for rehabilitation, and says the sentence given to him was based on the information in the assessment, and was not unconstitutional.

The ruling did address the issue of Crooks’ age. The ruling says the decision to waive jurisdiction over a child for prosecution as a youthful offender “does not automatically subject the child to adult criminal sanctions. Instead, the youthful offender provisions allow the courts to wait until the child is nearly eighteen-and to see whether the rehabilitative services provided in the juvenile system have been effective-before determining how to proceed.”

The ruling also  says, “We acknowledge sentencing reform efforts nationwide to raise the minimum age for prosecution in adult court. But under our constitutional separation of powers, those efforts should be directed to the legislature.”

Here’s the ruling: Crooks-opinion-PDF

 

 

 

Iowa Lottery CEO plans to retire

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Terry Rich

The leader of the Iowa Lottery says he will retire at the end of this year or early in 2019.

Terry Rich took over as only the second ever Iowa Lottery CEO in 2009 following the retirement of Ed Stanek.

Rich is 65 and while he isn’t required to retire, he says he is ready. “I decided it was time to look out and do those transitions to head for retirement. It’s something that everybody looks forward to, and I really want to spend some more time with my family and friends,” Rich says. Rich has three kids and four grandchildren who all live in the central Iowa area.

He says it has been a great job. “I think that the most fun part of the position is that I have reported to three different governors. So I’ve had the chance to see behind the scenes of the capitol and the whole government structure, Rich says. Rich notes that all three governors had one thing in common — their main concern about the Iowa Lottery was that it is run with integrity, and Rich says he is proud to know that has happened under his watch.

He says the Hot Lotto ticket scandal was probably the biggest challenge he faced as CEO and is proud the organization took the steps that led to the truth. “It was really fun leading a group of professionals that was dedicated to doing whatever it takes to solve that mystery, “Rich says, “and it was really a unique mystery.”  A man who worked for a company that supplied the numbers drawn for the game was eventually convicted of rigging the Iowa Hot Lotto game and others after the Iowa Lottery refused to pay out the jackpot.

Rich says advancements in technology have been a big issue in his time at the Iowa Lottery. “The technology has really improved on both the security side and also the convenience for the players,” according to Rich. “I see as we look into the future that we’ll be able to play the lottery on our cellphones in the future. Or the various things that people do to check the numbers on their cellphones and decide to get in on a special promotion.”

Before coming to the Iowa Lottery, Rich was CEO of the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, owned his own production company, and was Vice President of Marketing for Heritage Communications in Des Moines.

 

Appeals Court throws out murder verdict saying jury influenced by social media

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The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered a new murder trial for an Emmet County man, saying social media posts influenced the jury.

Lee Christensen of Estherville was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Thomas Bortvit in 2015. His defense conceded that he killed Bortvit, but argued it was an act of passion involving a woman he had once dated and he should be found guilty of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

He appealed the verdict saying jurors had been influenced by a Facebook post that suggested there would be a riot if he wasn’t found guilty of first-degree murder.

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruling says the “information received by the jurors came from sources explicitly prohibited by the court’s admonition. No juror reported these violations to the clerk or to the judge. We conclude the eight jurors’ receipt of extraneous information during deliberations amounted to juror misconduct.

It also says the post was “calculated to and with reasonable probability did influence the jury verdict.” The ruling says the denial of the motion for a new trial amounted to an abuse of discretion by the district court, and the appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial.

Here’s the ruling: Christensen-opinion-PDF

 

More wind turbines approved for Alliant Energy

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Alliant Energy has received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board to add an additional 500 megawatts of windpower to 500 that was previously approved.

Alliant spokesman Justin Foss says they plan to have the additional capacity built by 2020 and it will provide enough energy to power 430,000 homes. The company plans to add the wind turbines at several locations. Foss says they plan to begin construction to expand the Whispering Willow Wind Farm in Franklin County next year. They will also add turbines to a western Iowa farm.

“As soon as this snow starts to die down we are starting construction on another wind farm up in far northwest Iowa in Clay and Dickinson counties on our Upland Prairie Wind Farm — that’s a 300 megawatt unit up there,” Foss says. “The goal is to start getting some foundations in this spring and summer and to start erecting some turbines later this summer and to have that online through early next year.”

Foss says they are benefiting from the improvement in turbines and says they saw that from the approval of the first 500 megawatt project to the second. “In the second project our cost per unit is actually lower and that reflects the fact that the technology continues to improve and costs continue to go down,” Foss says. He says one thing that is improving is the size of the power generator for the turbines.

Recent generators were 1.65 megawatts. “The new ones we are going to be installing are 2.5, so they are quite a bit bigger,” Foss says. “Not only that, but the blades are a lot larger as well. And a larger blade allows you to capture more wind energy. And therefore means that you are able to generate a lot more energy at a lot lower wind speeds.”

Foss says the expansion, combined with existing wind farms and market purchases, will allow the company to get approximately one-third of its Iowa total capacity from wind energy by the end of 2020.

 

Younkers stores in Iowa look to be closing

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Reports indicate the parent company of the Younkers stores will be sold to a liquidation company that will shut the stores down.

Younkers has 15 stores in the state and Iowa Workforce Development indicates seven of the stores have given notice they are expecting to make layoffs. Iowa State University Economist Dave Swenson says the closings would follow a trend among this type of store.

“Downtown retail has struggled in all places for decades and retaining and sustaining downtown retail — especially legacy retail has been something that many major cities, many major metropolitan areas have struggled with,” according to Swenson. Younkers began in Iowa 162 years ago, and was a downtown anchor store in many cities. Swenson says the closings indicate a basic issue of supply and demand in retail as says the economics of the situation dictate there  are too many retail outlets and not enough business to sustain the stores.

Swenson says the economy in the areas where the Younkers stores close will adjust. “Some fraction of its employees will be absorbed by the rest of the retail sector — especially by the sector that that store was in,” Swenson says. “So, the overall economy doesn’t change. What you will see with the closing of a store like this, like Younkers in an area, is just the economy adjusting to the actual demand in the regional economy and where that demand is.” Swenson says cities have tried to adjust to keep these “legacy” type stores, but he says they can bring in new people to the community and they may not be the same ones that would shop at a department store.

He says there are some similarities to other store chains which have had problems. “J.C. Penneys was a store that struggled to adapt to a different demographic. Sears is a different category altogether,” he says. “Sears was bought up and basically badly managed for over a decade — which is most of its problems.” Swenson says online shopping has impacted all types of retail stores and it has had an impact on Younkers as well. But, he says it’s the type of store that Younkers is that is one of the biggest factors.

“You can go back far enough you can remember Montgomery Wards or other kinds of categories of what are called legacy retailers that might have been historically anchors to downtown commercial activities. Many of them have closed,” Swenson says.

The Younkers stores which have given notice to Iowa Workforce Development of pending layoffs are in: Dubuque, Mason City, Coralville, Sioux City, Des Moines and West Des Moines.

 

Former University of Iowa student admits to stealing passwords and changing grades

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A former University of Iowa student and wrestler has admitted in federal court to hacking into the school’s computer.

Twenty-year-old Trevor Graves reached a plea agreement where he admitted to using a device called a “keylogger” onto University of Iowa computers between March of 2015 and November of 2016. He admitted that the device allowed him to obtain the user names and passwords of professors — and he then was able to obtain copies of tests and quizzes. Graces also admitted to changing course grades for himself and five other students.

The U-I technology department says the costs associated with the breach of the computer system and the updates needed afterward totaled approximately $67,900. Graves is from  Colorado and will be sentenced on August 23rd.

 

No plans to add any new medical marijuana dispensaries

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Today is the deadline for companies to notify  the Iowa Department of Public Health they are interested in the second license to manufacture medical marijuana.

DPH deputy director Sarah Reisetter says while they can add a second manufacturer, there are no plans to offer more licenses to sell the products as  the law only allows five dispensary licenses. “For us to be able to offer additional dispensary licenses, the legislature would need to change the statute,” Reisetter explains.

A Cedar Rapids city council member called for more licenses after the recent awarding of licenses Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Windsor Heights, Waterloo and Davenport. He says some Iowans will have to drive a long way to get to the dispensaries.

Reisetter says the Health Department will keep an eye on the situation as the products start being distributed.”We will certainly collect information and we will collect feedback. We want to be a source of information for the people in the program,” Reisetter says. “Being the regulators and being the people who maintain the patient registry, we are a natural place to hear some of those concerns and questions that a patient may have.” She says there is another way for people in the program to provide feedback.

Reisetter says the Medical Cannabidiol board is another way for people to give input on changes in the law as she says the board makes an annual report to the Iowa Legislature on January 1st of every year. She says they will keep the board up to day and she says the board has a public comment period at every meeting. Reisetter says they want to be sure they are hearing from those involved in the program.

“Certainly we will provide feedback in terms of information that we are receiving, and our advisory board might decide to make a recommendation as well,” Reisetter says.

MedPharm Iowa is required to have the medical marijuana products available by December 1st of this year.

 

Board of Regents approves increase in room and board rates

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The cost of tuition isn’t the only thing going up at the three state-supported universities.

The Board of Regents approved an increase in room and board rates for the schools at their meeting Thursday in Council Bluffs. The cost for the most popular double room and meal plan at the University of Iowa will go up 2.7%, it increases 2.4% at Iowa State University, and 1.9% at the University of Northern Iowa.

Regent Nancy Boetger of Harlan asked Brad Berg of the Regents office if the rates go up consistently every year. “Yeah, I think that’s a fair statement. These systems are 100% responsible for all of their operating costs in addition to all of their capital improvements, and they are a self supporting unit,” Berg says.

Berg say they try to keep the costs increases down as he says they are aware that this is part of the cost of attending the three schools. There are a variety of different meal and room plans available at each of the schools.  The most common plan at the University of Iowa with a double room and full board will increase $269 to $10,284. At Iowa State the plan will increase $203 to $8,720. The same type of plan at the University of Northern Iowa increases $167 to $8,948.

Here’s a rundown on the room and board rates: Room-and-Board-rates-PDF