DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is proposing a 9.35 percent increase in premiums for more than 70,000 individual customers in Iowa, saying it’s needed to offset rising health care costs. The Des Moines-based health insurer announced the increase Monday. Wellmark executives say the primary factor behind the increase is increased use of health care services as Iowans become less healthy, in part because of obesity. The proposal would translate into an increase of up to $47 per month. Earlier this year, Wellmark imposed an 8.5 percent increase on individual customers. That followed an 18 percent hike in 2010. Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, calls the proposed increase “outrageous” during a time of economic crisis. A public hearing on the increase is scheduled for Dec. 10.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports all lanes of I-80 eastbound near Shelby are now open, following a semi-tractor trailer fire earlier this morning.

Cass County Mental Health Coordinator Teresa Kanning says seats are still available for this Thursday evening’s “Conversation on Mental Health,” which takes place at Iowa Western Community College, in Atlantic. The event begins at 7-p.m., with keynote speaker Joan Becker.

Becker’s son Mark shot and killed Aplington-Parkersburg Football Coach Ed Thomas in June 2009. A jury found him guilty of 1^st degree murder in March 2010, after rejecting his insanity defense. He was later sentenced to life in prison.

Joan Becker, who has two other sons, is making her way around the state to hold conversations about mental health issues. She spoke last month at the Wallace Country Life Center in rural Orient, about her son‘s struggle with paranoid schizophrenia.

Kanning told the Board of Supervisors during a meeting earlier this month, that Becker will discuss what parts of the mental health system failed her son, and which parts were helpful. A local mental health panel discussion will follow Becker’s presentation about how the system works or doesn’t work, in Cass County.

Several mental health and medical professionals, as well as Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren and County Attorney Dan Feistner, have signed-up for the program. Some of those individuals will participate in the panel discussion that evening. The event is open to the public. To reserve your seat, call 712-243-4424.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office reports five people were arrested over the past week and a half. On October 10^th, 62-year old Mary Jane Hammes, of Tabor, was arrested for 5^th degree theft, and 19-year old Alexandra Brooke Odell, of Hamburg, was arrested on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge.

On October 8^th, 47-year old Michelle Dawn Campbell, of Thurman, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for 3^rd degree theft. She posted a $2,300 cash bond that same day. And, 24-year old Lester A. Gonzalez, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested for 1^st Offense OWI.

And, on October 6^th, 21-year old Amy Marie McConahay, of Glenwood, was arrested on two counts of allegedly providing alcohol to minors. The woman posted $1,000 bond. Her arraignment is set to take place October 31^st, with a jury trial scheduled for December 6^th.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department today (Monday), released a compiled report on accidents which occurred over the past couple of weeks. Officials say two people suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident Oct. 11^th, northeast of Sidney. The accident happened when Justin Carter, of Nevada, MO, missed a curve on 195^th Street, as he was traveling north onto 305^th Street. The car rolled into the east ditch. Carter, and a passenger in the car were injured, and transported by Sidney Rescue to Grape Community Hospital in Hamburg.

Another accident happened October 8^th, near the Sidney Recreation area. Officials say Rosemary Spiegel, of Hamburg, was traveling north on Highway 275. As she passed 230^th Street, Spiegel lost control of her 1998 Buick LeSabre and overcorrected, sending the car across the opposite lane of traffic and into the west ditch, where it rolled onto its top. Spiegel and a passenger in the vehicle were transported to the hospital in Hamburg by Sidney Rescue.

And, on October 4^th, two passengers in a van were taken to the Shenandoah Hospital after a car driven by Brittany Corbin, of Tarkio, MO, collided with the van as Corbin was passing a semi. The accident happened on northbound Highway 275. Neither Cordbin, nor the driver of the van, David McSorley, of Sidney, were injured in the crash.