A new report gives Iowa good marks for preparing for a potential outbreak of infectious disease. Rich Hamburg, is deputy director of the Trust for America’s Health. He says it’s an annual report on outbreaks and emergency preparedness for everything from Ebola, the flu to antibiotics resistance. He says Iowa had a pretty good showing.Hamburg says Iowa met six of its ten indicators, which puts it in the upper half of the states.

“One that is critically important for any kind of all hazard preparedness effort is funding. This was two years running that Iowa did increase the amount of state-level funding for public health,” Hamburg explains. Hamburg says Iowa only had 48-point-six percent of residents who got a flu shot. The highest state was 57 percent, and he says to pass the indicator the state needed to have 50 percent immunized.

You can see the full report at:www.healthyamericans.org.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Creston report a man from Afton was arrested over the weekend for Credit Card Fraud. 26-year old Travis Lynn Weland was taken into custody Saturday, at the Union County Law Enforcement Center (LEC). Weland was later released on $2,000 bond.

And, on Monday, 46-year old Susan Rae Lemon, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County LEC on a warrant out of Union County for Failure to Appear in Court. Lemon was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Iowa motorists are finding it’s a lot cheaper to fuel up for holiday travels this year compared to last. The Triple-A (AAA) Fuel Gauge Report shows regular unleaded gas, on average, is selling for $2.20 a gallon across the state. Triple-A Iowa spokesperson Gail Weinholzer says the statewide average compares to $3.10 one year ago. “The last time prices were this low over the holiday season was December 2009,” Weinholzer said. At some gas stations right now, Iowans can fill their tank for under $2 a gallon.

While gas prices continue to fall, Weinholzer doubts we’ll reach the point where the statewide average dips below $2 a gallon. She notes the last time Iowa posted statewide average gas prices below $2 a gallon was May 4, 2009. The low gas prices, combined with a longer holiday travel season, has prompted Triple-A to forecast a record number of Americans will be hitting the road. Both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Thursdays this year, meaning many people will have some extra time away from work.

“We expect just under 100 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more between December 23 and January 4,” Weinholzer said. “Overwhelming, we expect people to travel by automobile — about 91-percent.” Iowa has the lowest average gas prices of any of the Upper Midwest states, according to Weinholzer. Nationally, the average price of gas stands at $2.37 per gallon, 88 cents less than a year ago.

(Radio Iowa)

Three people were arrested overnight Monday-into early Tuesday morning, in Montgomery County, including two people who were taken into custody on drug-related charges.

Today (Tuesday), at around 2:20-a.m., 39-year old Brian Louis Reinhart, of Carroll, was arrested on drug charges, following  a traffic stop at Highway 71 and 250th Street, north of Villisca. As a result of the stop and the use of the Montgomery County K-9 Unit, the Sheriff’s Office seized nearly 12 grams of Methamphetamine. Reinhart was charged with Possession of Meth with the intent to deliver, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $100,000 bond.

At around12:35-a.m. (Tuesday), Police in Red Oak arrested 30-year old Marcus John Josephson, of Red Oak, on charges of Serious Domestic Assault, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. Josephson was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Sheriff’s officials say at around 11-p.m. Monday, 30-year old Christopher Allen Lundgren, of Omaha was arrested, following a traffic stop on Highway 34. Lundgren was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended, with 17 withdrawals in effect. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

The Iowa Department of Education has announced another round of school districts chosen to receive funding to launch teacher leadership plans. Department spokesman, Jim Flansburg, says 126 district’s were selected for the next round under the new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System. “There’ve been so many of them there’s going to be 76 in the next year and then another 50 in the following year,” Flansburg says. The program is part of education reform measures passed by the Legislature in 2013 and signed into law by the governor.

“The very essence of the program is that teachers will have mentors, the very talented teachers will have a career path in which they can get out of the classroom to an extent, and help newer teachers become better teachers,” Flansburg explains. “The bottom line is that we create a career path for teachers and make the education system better for children.” There were 39 districts chosen in the first round for the program and Flansburg says the Department has gotten some good feedback already.

“The things that we’ve been hearing have been absolutely tremendous. In fact, in Benton County there’s a school district out there that’s just doing a stupendous job with it. They’ve already seen some very specific evidence that scores are going up,”Flansburg says. Districts that apply to start teacher leadership systems are required to have a set vision and goals for what they plan to accomplish. They also must address meet certain requirements — such as setting a minimum yearly teacher salary of 33-thousand-500 dollars.

“Ultimately we’d like to be able to have all the districts participate if they want. The legislature has allotted the money so there is 50 million dollars a year , and adding another 50 million dollars a year thereafter until all school districts are participating if they want to,”Flansburg says. In the latest group, 76 schools would create plans for the 2015-16 school year and another 50 during the 2016-17 school year.

The selected districts for 2015-16 include (locally): Atlantic; Audubon; Carroll; Glenwood; Lewis Central; Nodaway Valley; Red Oak; and West Monona.

2016-17 districts include (locally):
Adair-Casey (in collaboration with Guthrie Center); Adel-DeSoto-Minburn; CAM; Charter Oak-Ute (in collaboration with Maple Valley-Anthon Oto and Schleswig); East Sac County; Guthrie Center (in collaboration with Adair-Casey); Lenox; Maple Valley-Anthon Oto (in collaboration with Charter Oak-Ute and Schleswig); and Schleswig (in collaboration with Charter Oak-Ute and Maple Valley-Anthon Oto).