Police in Red Oak are investigating a recent incident of vehicle vandalism. According to the police department, a Red Oak resident told authorities Monday, that while he was away from his home, the driver’s s side window of his 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup was smashed, and the entire vehicle scratched by an unknown device. The incident occurred while the vehicle was parked near the man’s residence. Authorities estimated damage to the pickup at around $3,000.

If you have any information about the incident, call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at (712) 623-5107, or Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-432-1001.

A study of cancer survivors from Iowa and Nebraska finds exercise may have an important impact on how patients respond to treatment and how quickly they recover. Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha looked at how exercise boosts the immune system of cancer survivors. UNMC’s Dr. Laura Bilek says the results are preliminary.  “It appears that exercise may help combat some of the negative side effects from chemotherapy and radiation,” Dr. Bilek says. “We hope that this may help cancer survivors enhance their ability to ultimately fight cancer.” Therapies like radiation and chemo can leave a person feeling wiped out.

“When the immune system recovers, we’re left with a lot of cells that are old and not terribly functional,” Bilek says. “Those hang around for a long time. We know in other areas of research that exercise can help to get rid of those slowly and make room for cells that are more helpful.” The study finds those new cells, sparked by exercise, may be able to help the body to fight infections and possibly kill surviving tumor cells. The older we get, Bilek says the more of those older, unhealthy cells we’re carrying around.

“That’s why older individuals are more prone to infection,” she says. “We also know that in the aging population, persons that are more active have a lower number of these non-functional cells and we also know older individuals who exercise tend to get less infection.” This is an early study and Bilek says more research is needed.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A lobbying campaign aims to convince state officials to provide forgivable loans to students studying to be doctors, if they agree to practice in Iowa once they graduate. Sue Huppert, a vice president at Des Moines University, made her pitch directly to Governor Branstad earlier this month. “We’ve been working very closely with the American Academy of Family Practice. They have, in fact, taken the lead last year and as you may know we were successful in getting legislation through for the forgiveable loan,” Huppert said. “We were unable to fund it. You had some fiscal issues that you had to deal with in the past two years and we appreciate that you’ve done that — and now we are here asking for $2 million.”

That money would provide loans to 10 students at Des Moines University who are studying to be osteopathic physicians and another 10 students in the University of Iowa’s College of Medicine. The forgiveable loans would be made available to students just entering the programs. “Who make a committment, up front, to practicing and staying in the state of Iowa,” she said. According to the Iowa Medical Society, 43 percent of the doctors in Iowa today are above the age of 49.  “So this is definitely a workforce issue,” Huppert told the governor. “It’s definitely an economic development issue.”

(Radio Iowa)

A new state program aims to line up unpaid internships for unemployed Iowans, with the goal of having that internship turn into a full-time job. Teresa Wahlert is director of Iowa Workforce Development, the state agency that’s managing the program. “We take people who are still collecting their unemployment benefits and match them to jobs that are open,” Wahlert says, “where a company has several jobs, can’t seem to get the jobs filled.”

The interns will work for 24 hours a week and must spend another 16 hours per week getting a special certification that shows they’re skilled at applied mathematics, reading comprehension and searching for information. Just one intern has completed the program so far, working at a lumber supply company that could not find applicants to fill a job opening.

“Instead of having an eight-week internship, this person only had a two-week internship which is just fine,” Wahlert says. “The company offered him a full-time job and the rest of the story is that intern only had seven weeks left on his unemployment benefits…and it just so happens that the intern happened to be a very, so it’s really a great story.”

State officials launched the program statewide in late November, with 15 unemployed beginning their eight-week-long internships.

(Radio Iowa)