(Radio Iowa) – Walgreens has announced it will not distribute abortion pills in 20 U.S. states, including Iowa.

The move comes after Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and other Republican attorneys general around the country threatened to sue Walgreens if the company sold abortion pills in their states. Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all U.S. abortions.

According to a Politico story, Walgreens has notified Bird and other attorneys general that it will not sell abortion pills from its stores in their states or mail them into Iowa and those states either.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would allow pharmacies to apply to fill prescriptions for abortion pills.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Forest City man was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Monday (February 28, 2023), on charges related to the possession of child pornography. A judge sentenced 53-year-old Gerald Lawrence Von Ruden to 120 months (10-years) in prison, following his plea of guilty to possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, on April 28, 2021, an Iowa State Trooper pulled Von Ruden over during a traffic stop. Von Ruden had an outstanding arrest warrant. Based on the nature of the warrant, the Trooper seized Van Ruden’s electronic devices. A forensic analysis of those devices revealed that Von Ruden received and possessed numerous images and videos of child pornography.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Iowa State Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by Elvis Haas, State Farm, on Thursday, March 2nd, 2023. The Ambassadors joined Elvis and his family in celebrating the opening of his new location in Atlantic with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Elvis graduated high school in 2003 and immediately joined the Air Force where he served for 6 years. After basic training and bootcamp, Elvis attended college and studied Marketing Management and Sales. After graduation, Elvis went into automobile sales where he spent 14 years with Deter Motor Company. Through his career in Car Sales, Elvis had the opportunity to build lasting relationships with community members and their families.

In January of 2022, Elvis began the year long process of onboarding with State Farm which included licensing, training, product knowledge and much more. Elvis spoke about the importance of customer satisfaction, hard work and effort in building a business.

Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors Celebrate with State Farm

Elvis and his team opened the doors on February 1st and is ready to serve the community by helping “Managing everyday life, recovering from the unexpected, and helping people realize their dreams.” Elvis Hass, State Farm offers Auto, home, life, health, investment planning and is open Monday – Friday 8-5PM. State Farm is available 24-hours, 7 days a week.

Elvis Hass, State Farm is located at 204 W 7th Street in Atlantic.

Appointments can be made by stopping in or calling the office at 712-243-4824 or visiting https://www.myagentelvis.com/?cmpid=vaessp_blm_0001

Ambassadors Left to Right: Kelsey Beschorner, Colt Doherty, Alisha Hass, Josh Hass, Braeleigh Hass, Braxton Hass, Wyatt Adderton, Elvis Haas, Kim Helper, Kathie Hockenberry, McKenna Nelson, Krysta Hanson, Jeremy Butler, Dolly Bergmann, Calley Hansen, Bailey Smith, Rick Mericle, Anne Quist, Adriana Mendez, Megan Sramek, Scott Bennett, Angie Bitting, Jim Kickland, Ruth Sears, Julie Waters, Graydon Schmidt, Brian Ruge and Chelsie Maddsen.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the legislature are proposing new income thresholds for who qualifies for government food and health care assistance. Committees in the House and Senate have approved bills that say households with more than 15-thousand dollars in liquid assets, like checking and savings accounts, would not be eligible for SNAP benefits — commonly called food stamps — or for Medicaid, although the value of a home or a vehicle would not be included in that calculation. Current rules for Medicaid and food stamps do not have an asset test, but are restricted based on income. The bills also call for a new system to check the finances and verify the identities of Iowans receiving food or health care assistance. Republican Representative Thomas Jeneary, of Le Mars, says the bill would make distributing benefits more efficient and help prevent fraud.

“The legislature is dedicated to protecting Iowa’s safety net for Iowans in need while at the same time protecting the Iowa taxpayer from paying services for ineligible individuals,” Jeneary says. The bill that’s now eligible for debate in the HOUSE also seeks to require some people getting food and health care assistance to work. Democrats opposed the bill. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames says if the bill becomes law, many Iowans currently receiving SNAP benefits or health care coverage through Medicaid will lose that safety net. “This just seems to me to lack so much compassion for parents who are trying to feed their children and for Iowa’s elderly living on fixed incomes,” Wessel-Kroeschell said.

More than 800-thousand low income and disabled Iowans are currently enrolled in Medicaid. An average of about 280-thousand Iowans received SNAP benefits monthly during the last state fiscal year.