(Creston, Iowa) – Citing an inability to fully staff the facility, officials with the EveryStep Greater Regional Hospice Home in Creston, on Tuesday, announced they will be closing on Oct. 1st. In a press release, officials said “EveryStep’s Greater Regional Hospice Home in Creston will close October 1, 2022. Members of the EveryStep leadership team met with staff today, as well as patients and families. EveryStep is taking steps to ensure the transition will be as seamless and easy as possible.

“The primary reason for closure of the Greater Regional Hospice Home is understaffing. In today’s environment of difficulty hiring nurses and aides, EveryStep cannot find the staff needed to operate the 24/7 hospice house in Creston. There are currently 10 open, unfilled shifts out of 62 total (16%). Current staffing needs include registered nurses, hospice aides and social worker. Despite actively recruiting, it has been difficult to fill them – a dilemma faced by health care organizations nationwide. EveryStep will continue to provide hospice care to patients in southern and south-central Iowa, but instead deliver that care in a home or long-term care facility setting.”

The press released said also, “EveryStep is currently working with patients and families at Greater Regional Hospice Home to develop individual plans that best meet their needs while ensuring the highest quality care. Depending on their individual care needs, some patients at the hospice house may live out their final days at the facility, while others may be transferred to long-term care facilities or EveryStep’s Kavanagh House hospice home in Des Moines, or they may choose to receive home-based hospice care from our EveryStep Hospice team.

“The 11 employees who work primarily at Greater Regional Hospice Home have been offered other positions within EveryStep. For those who wish to move on to new opportunities, EveryStep has prepared customized severance packages.”

They concluded their message by saying “EveryStep remains committed to providing compassionate and professional hospice care in southern and south-central Iowa. All other EveryStep services will continue to be offered, including home-based care, through our EveryStep Hospice teams and our Creston-based EveryStep Home Care team.”

DES MOINES – Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Workforce Development announced today (Wednesday), the schedule of unemployment insurance rates used to tax Iowa employers will drop to its lowest level in 24 years – the lowest rates currently allowed by Iowa law.  “Today’s announcement is great news for our employers who are already dealing with significantly increased costs due to historic inflation,” Gov. Reynolds said.  “Iowa faced the pandemic and its economic impacts head on, and due to our conservative fiscal practices and prudent investment in Iowa’s Unemployment Trust Fund, unemployment insurance taxes in our state will soon reach their lowest rates since 1999.”

Iowa law requires Iowa Workforce Development to establish a table each year to determine the unemployment tax rates that will impact eligible employers. The trigger for deciding which unemployment insurance rate table to implement is derived from a formula based primarily on the balance in Iowa’s unemployment insurance trust fund, unemployment benefit history, and covered wage growth. Based on this formula, contribution rates will be drawn from Table 8 in calendar 2023 after five consecutive years of being drawn from Table 7. The switch means that a business paying the median tax rate (on employee wages totaling $36,100 or more annually) and remaining in the same tax rank as 2022 would pay $72.20 less per employee in unemployment taxes in 2023.

The announcement follows a decision by Gov. Reynolds last year to invest $237 million in ARP funds to stabilize the unemployment trust fund following record payouts due to COVID-19. In 2020, at the heart of record unemployment, Gov. Reynolds also directed that $490 million of CARES Act coronavirus relief funds be used to support the UI trust fund.  “Governor Reynolds’ commitment to maintaining and preserving the Unemployment Trust Fund throughout the pandemic will result in real savings for Iowa employers in 2023,” said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Employers will see, on average, a 25 percent reduction in their unemployment taxes next year, and those savings will provide more resources for Iowa employers to invest in growing their businesses.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Spirit Lake School Board held a special meeting this week to share a plan to increase security on school grounds and possibly school events. School officials say the goal is to have 10 anonymous staff members on school grounds who would carry a concealed gun. Superintended David Smith says NONE of the 10 would be teachers, as he wants to keep guns out of classrooms, but having others inside the building who are armed is key to responding to an active shooter. “It comes down to statistics and what the experts are telling us on the best way to limit loss is quick action in addressing a shooter,” Smith says.

Spirit Lake has security measures in place to limit access to school facilities. Angela Olsen, director of special projects for the district, says tragic school shootings elsewhere involving students shows that may not be enough. “That raises our level of concern as well that they could also have access to our buildings,” Olsen says.

The ten people sanctioned by the Spirit Lake district to carry a concealed weapon on school grounds will have to complete a five-day, 40 hour training course conducted by a Dickinson County deputy sheriff and have a license to carry a firearm. Spirit Lake school officials say statistics from school shootings show a large portion of casualties occur in the first few minutes and this plan is a way to speed up the response to an active shooter and lower the risk of injuries and fatalities.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, agree to abate the taxes in the amount of $1,592 on a certain parcel, following an explanation of the request from Cass County Assessor Mary Anstey.

The parcel in question is also known as Nishna Manor Condo, Apt. #1.  The Board also passed a Resolution to approve a bid and award a twin box culvert bridge project (and replacing the 52-foot bridge, #182), to Gus Construction, Inc., out of Casey. Assistant to the Cass County Engineer, Rich Hanson, explained there were three bids during the letting.

The project can be found south on Chestnut Street, near the Lewis/Oxford Road. Hansen also reviewed Secondary Roads Department activities. He noted several projects have been completed, while others are almost complete.

All that’s left on the G-61 paving project is shoulder work and centerline striping (pavement markings.) He said also, their project pipe projects are finished.

HARLAN, August, 24, 2022 – The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held in Harlan at Pioneer Park on Saturday, Sept. 10. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the Walk kicks-off at 10 a.m. On Walk day, participants honor those affected by Alzheimer’s with Promise Garden flowers which signify our solidarity in the fight against the disease. The colors of the Promise Garden flowers – purple, yellow, blue and orange – represent the different reasons why people walk to end this disease.

This year, the Alzheimer’s Association has a goal of raising $35,000 at the Harlan Walk. Last year, nearly $20,000 was raised, and so far this year almost $11,000 has been raised. The money raised will help the Association provide care and support to families in Iowa, while also advancing critical research toward methods of treatment and ultimately a cure.

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – a leading cause of death in the United States. Additionally, more than 11 million family members and friends provide care to people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. In Iowa alone, there are more than 66,000 people living with the disease and 73,000 caregivers.

The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s will also be held in Council Bluffs, at the River’s Edge Pavilion on Saturday, Sept. 24. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the Walk kicks-off at 10 a.m.

To register and receive the latest updates on this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, visit: alz.org/walk.

RED OAK, Iowa – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst today (Wednesday) announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House Press Secretary under President Donald Trump and the GOP nominee for governor of Arkansas, will join her as the headline guest for this year’s Roast & Ride. The event is scheduled for October 22, 2022 and will include a “Ruck March” for the first time ever.

Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says “Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a good friend and relentless fighter for our strong, conservative values. I am thrilled to have Sarah joining me, and so many Iowans, for this year’s Roast & Ride. We look forward to seeing you in October!”  Huckabee Sanders says “Joni Ernst is on the frontlines every day, pushing back against the radical policies of the far left in Washington, D.C., and I am excited to join my friend at her annual Roast & Ride this year. Iowans, like Arkansans, know that we need to elect strong conservatives in November who will defend our freedom and enact bold reforms.”

Sen. Joni Ernst on a “Roast and Ride.” (2016 file photo from Radio Iowa)

Tickets for Ernst’s 2022 Roast & Ride are available starting TODAY (Wednesday). Click HERE for more information. She held her first Roast & Ride in 2015. Over the years, the event has featured some of the biggest names in Iowa and national politics, including President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Nikki Haley, Governor Mike Huckabee, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Lindsey Graham, Governor Terry Branstad, and many others.

For more information or to purchase tickets for Joni’s Roast and Ride, click here.

(Radio Iowa) – The potential for wind energy is now severely limited in Woodbury County. The board of supervisors voted Tuesday night to increase the setback distance for wind turbines from 12-hundred-50 feet to 25-hundred. The change will prevent MidAmerican Energy from building the 90-plus wind turbines proposed in its Siouxland Wind Farm Project. County supervisor Justin Wright voted against the measure, calling it unfair to the nearly 60 residents already signed on to the project. “There’s a minority of constituents in Woodbury County that are on the opposing side of the issue,” Wright says, “but we are still going to strip a right away from a smaller group of Woodbury County taxpayers.”

Many residents showed up to the public hearing to support the amended ordinance, citing safety concerns. The majority of the board sided with the almost 900 residents that signed a petition supporting the change. Supervisor Matthew Ung says he understood their concerns about the potential disruption the turbines could pose to the county.  Ung says, “Good, bad or indifferent, the nuisance issues with turbines are exacerbated by the population density in Woodbury County compared to other areas with industrial wind farms that are widespread.”

Representatives from MidAmerican energy opposed the measure, as the new ordinance shrinks the buildable acres in the county from 177 to just one-point-seven.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting this evening at 5:30, in the High School Media Center. The Board will discuss and soon thereafter take action on approving their 2022-23 Strategic Plan and Board Goals. They’re expected to act on approving Contract Recommendations for:

• Daniel Towne, MS Paraeducator
• Loretta Barringer, PreSchool Bus Driver
• and Gerald Luddington, Substitute Car/Van Driver.

The Board will also act on a Sharing Agreement with Adair-Casey, for a School Business Official (SBO), and on approving a Change Order for the HS South Parking Lot Improvement Project. Their final order of business is a closed session for the annual evaluation of Superintendent Steve Barber.

(Radio Iowa) – The Insect Zoo at Iowa State University is hosting an open house this weekend for Iowans who love all things creepy and crawly. Ginny Mitchell, education program coordinator for the traveling insect zoo, says events on Saturday will include “Roach Racing” as well as a feature called “Painting with Maggots.” “We’re going to have over 125 living species of arthropods, so of course, these are things like insects, spiders, tarantulas, millipedes, scorpions, all sorts of fun things,” Mitchell says. “There’ll be lots of hands-on opportunities for the public to get up close and personal with these animals.”

There will be “touch bowls” into which visitors will be able to carefully stick their hands to find out what it feels like to have one of these multi-legged critters scurry across your fingers. “Rosie, our Chilean rose hair tarantula, is definitely a fan favorite. She’s probably the most popular animal we have,” Mitchell says. “Another really fantastic one is the jungle nymph walking stick. It looks nothing like a stick. It looks like a big green leaf. They’re native to Malaysia.” Of course, not every creature in the insect zoo is touch-friendly. “We’re also going to have a deathstalker scorpion which is the most venomous scorpion that we know of,” Mitchell says. “It’s native to the Middle East and Northern Africa.”

Chilean rose hair tarantula Rosie. (ISU photo)

That portion of the open house runs from 10 AM to 2 PM Saturday in the Advanced Teaching and Research Building on the I-S-U campus. The Entomology Graduate Student Organization is also hosting on an Insect Field Day where visitors can learn about common insects in Iowa, go collecting on campus, then learn to preserve what they collected. To register for that event, email “clcunn@iastate.edu”. On Saturday evening, another event will get underway at Carr Park in Ames where ultraviolet lights will be used to see what bugs may be in our own backyards.

“We’ll have white sheet set up with the black lights there and we’re going to attract all sorts of bug friends to those lights,” Mitchell says. “Now before it gets dark, we’re going to be taking the kids around and looking around to the park for bugs that we find during the day, and then we’ll see how many of those bugs come to the light at night.”

That event runs from 6 to 10 PM. Learn more about the zoo and the events here: https://www.facebook.com/ISUInsectZoo/

Police in Creston (Iowa), Tuesday evening, arrested 36-year-old Douglas Edward Woodward III, of Creston. He was taken into custody at around 4:45-p.m.,  in the 1100 block of Sunrise Drive, for Driving While Barred. Woodward was transported to the Union County Jail, where his bond was set at $2,000.