(Council Bluffs, IA) – (UPDATED) – Officials with the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency today (Tuesday), announced the agency’s upcoming Annual Preparedness Fair is scheduled to take place September 26, 2024, from 5-until 8-p.m. The community event will be held at the Pottawattamie County Emergency Operations Center (205 S Main Street, Council Bluffs). The Preparedness Fair is designed to bring together local residents and organizations to enhance community preparedness related to hazards that could impact county residents. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with a variety of community resources, including emergency services, health organizations, and human service organizations, all aimed at ensuring that Pottawattamie County remains resilient in the face of emergencies and disasters.

Event Highlights Include:
• Disaster Survivor Assistance: Disaster survivors can engage with local human service organizations, as well as state and federal representatives, regarding their assistance applications and to identify any ongoing or unmet needs.
• Interactive Booths: Engage with representatives from emergency services, health departments, and community organizations to learn about vital resources and preparedness strategies.
• Flu Shots: Pottawattamie County Public Health will be providing flu shots with current insurance card or $20 cash payment.
• Resource Demonstrations: Witness firsthand demonstrations of a tornado simulation machine, CPR demonstrations, and preparedness techniques.
• Family-Friendly Activities: Enjoy a range of activities designed to educate and engage all age groups, including interactive games and safety challenges for children.
• Free Food: Rapid Relief Team (RRT) will be providing hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks to attendees of the fair.
• Alert Sign-Ups: Assistance will be available to assist community members to sign up for the public alerting system, AlertIowa.

Doug Reed Pott. County Director of Emergency Management says “This event is an excellent opportunity for our community to come together and learn about the resources available to keep us safe and prepared. We encourage everyone to attend, whether you’re a seasoned preparedness expert or just starting to think about your family’s emergency plan.”

The Preparedness Fair is open to all residents of Pottawattamie County and surrounding areas.

(Creston, Iowa) – A woman from Creston was arrested early today (Tuesday), on a couple of charges. 26-year-old Valen Roseana McKown was arrested at around 12:15-a.m., at the Creston/Union County LEC (Law Enforcement Center). McKown was charged with Driving Suspended and OWI/2nd Offense. She was taken to the Union County Jail and later posted a $2,300 bond before being released.

(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines City Council voted last (Monday) night for a ban on camping and sleeping on public property that targets homeless people. The council also approved lowering the notice time before removing tents and shelters from ten days to three. After each ordinance passed, crowds outside the chamber booed and chanted in dissent. Council member Josh Mandelbaum said the bans would create more problems for homeless people rather than helping them. Mandelbaum says, “When we do this piecemeal and at the last minute and in an untransparent way, we’re not optimizing what we could be doing.” Under the new bans, people who do not agree to move to a shelter can be arrested, charged with a simple misdemeanor and fined 15-dollars.

The ordinances both passed 5-to-2 with Council members Mandelbaum and Mike Simonson voting no. Councilman Chris Coleman, who chairs the Homeless Coordinating Council, said the original idea for the bans came from a group of council members. “The five people that voted for it tonight all ran for election in the fall. We all got elected,” Coleman says. “I think it was loud and clear that people wanted us to find better long term solutions both to help the homeless but also to make sure that we are accountable for keeping our parks and sidewalks safe so that the public can enjoy them.”

Before the vote, Coleman introduced a 50-thousand dollar housing fund that could be used for services such as rental deposits and moving expenses. Coleman said the city would distribute the money through a nonprofit provider which the city has not chosen yet. The council does not have a timeline yet for when the bans will go into effect.

(Creston, Iowa) – A pickup truck struck a legally parked trailer and pickup truck in Creston, Monday morning, causing a police estimated total of $8,500 damage. According to the Creston Police Department, a 2001 Chevy Silverado pickup with a foggy windshield, driven by 17-year-old Teagen Miller, of Creston, was traveling north in the 200 block of S. Lincoln Street at around 7:40-a.m., Monday, when the vehicle struck a parked 2008 Dalton trailer. The Chevy then hit a parked 2020 Ford F-150 pickup. The impact pushed the Ford about one-vehicle length and slightly into a yard.

The trailer sustained heavy fender damage, had a snapped-off axle, and trailer tongue/hitch that was severally bent. The Ford pickup sustained severe rear-end and passenger side damage. The Chevy sustained severe damage to the front passenger side. Creston Police say there were no injuries and no citations issued, but their report noted the teen was operating the pickup “In a reckless, erratic, careless, negligent manner,” and that his vision was obstructed.

(Lenox, Iowa) – Lenox Community School District Superintendent Dave Henrichs, Monday, released a statement (See below) on the District’s social media site with regard to his and other district’s having received screenshots of purported threats of school violence. Henrichs said the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office was notified at around 5:45-p.m., Monday (Sept. 16) by the Governor’s School Safety Bureau, of a concerning social media threat that was re-posted in the Lenox CSD’s boundaries. The Superintendent said the post copied a picture from an online clothing equipment shop from CANADA, along with a vague threatening statement. After identifying the source of the re-posted post, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Henrichs said, notified district officials about the post, at around 7:30-p.m., Monday.

Henrichs said the district takes ALL threats of school violence “incredibly seriously, and will continue to do so.” He reminds citizens it is a crime for any person to create and share electronic communication with the intent to intimidate or alarm others, and that district staff will continue to implement their safety protocols. There will be a law enforcement presence in the district this week. Please report social media threats to your local law enforcement agency, the school, or through the Safe and Sound Iowa website.

An arrest has been made following an investigation into a threat made toward a Norwalk elementary school, last week. According to the Norwalk Police Department, a potential threat to Oviatt Elementary School was reported on Sept. 10. An investigation and response was coordinated with the NPD and Norwalk School District staff. On Monday, the NPD said Margaret Anderson, also known as Maxwell Anderson, made a threat to harm students at the school district. Officials say Anderson was removed from the public at that time and has been charged with a threat of terrorism. Anderson has been booked into the Warren County Jail and is being held without bond.

And, the Perry Police Department, Monday, announced that two teens have been charged for allegedly joking about planning a school shooting at Perry Middle School. In a Facebook post the police department said Perry Middle School staff notified the school resource officer and police department Monday morning about information regarding a potential school shooting threat. An investigation was conducted and it was determined that the threat was not credible.

According to a letter from Perry Middle School, last Thursday two middle school students were discussing how to get class canceled, and allegedly jokingly discussed plans for a shooting at the school. Nearby students overheard the conversation and became alarmed. The middle school said it wasn’t informed of the threat until Monday morning when the students who overheard the conversation told school staff. The police department said the two 14-year-old students have been charged with threats of terrorism in connection to the incident. Both have been referred to Juvenile Court.

(Radio Iowa) – Artificial Intelligence software is being used to reduce paperwork — and headaches — for healthcare professionals at the University of Iowa, and now a pilot A-I program is being rolled out statewide. Dr. Charles Blum, chief health information officer at U-I Health Care, says some physicians were having to spend two hours doing administrative work for every hour they spent with patients. “Those that have started to use the technology have dramatically reduced the administrative burden that they’ve been faced with,” Blum says. “We’ve gotten lots of emails that have said things like ‘game changing,’ ‘life changing,’ ‘I’ve never been able to be done with my work before I went home, and now I’m able to do that. Thank you,’ so we’ve just got fantastic feedback.”

Excessive paperwork can lead to physician burnout, which can translate to reduced job satisfaction and decreased quality of patient care. One study found 42-percent of clinicians are actively considering leaving the healthcare industry due to burnout. Blum says the U-I started testing the A-I program with a small number of providers and they saw very promising results. “People have seen somewhere in the neighborhood of anywhere from a 50 to 80% reduction in their time spent with paperwork and other administrative burdens associated with documentation in the record,” Blum says. “It’s dramatically reduced the amount of time that people are spending after-hours and what we would call ‘pajama time,’ time at night, where people are sitting there on the computer, trying to wrap up their work for the day.”

U-I-H-C has more than one-hundred offices across Iowa and this new technology is now being offered to professionals in all of them. “The vast majority of our providers are here in Iowa City, but we have clinics throughout the state, and it’s available to not just doctors, but our advanced practitioners, our dietitians, our physical therapists, our nurses, it’s available to everyone,” Blum says. “Ultimately, I think that number of people that are using this technology is going to be well above 3,000.” With every encounter, Blum says patients are asked if they’re comfortable with the use of the technology. Of some 65-hundred patents so far, he says only one refused.

“We’re very happy to accommodate whatever the patient’s wishes may be in terms of using this technology,” Blum says. “I think it’s indicative of the fact that our patients in Iowa have really embraced technology, much more than I think they get credit for, and are willing to use things that are going to help their providers lead better lives and provide better care.” Anyone using the software is forced to do a full review of the report before it’s finalized, which Blum says should help improve accuracy. The A-I is referred to as Ambient Listening and it’s being developed by a company called Nabla.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report two people were arrested on separate warrants, Monday. 34-year-old Michael Todd Archer, of Red Oak, was arrested on a Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. His cash-only bond at the Montgomery County Jail was set at $2,000. And, at around 4:30-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 47-year-old Chrystal Rush Stewart, of Red Oak, on a Montgomery County felony warrant for Gathering where marijuana is used. Stewart was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Today (Tuesday) is National Voter Registration Day and Secretary of State Paul Pate has a check list. “If you’ve already registered, is it up to date? Is it the right address? Do you know where your polling location is?” Pate says. “But for those folks who have moved this a chance for them to get it updated and, of course, there are still a few folks out there who haven’t registered.” Pate says a national day dedicated to this issue is a little like civics 101.

“It is to instill some civic pride and to get people thinking about what the mechanics are of an election so that they’re successful,” Pate says. “We want you to know the deadlines. We want you to know where you vote at. Know you have options, you know, if you want to vote by mail, if you want to vote early at the courthouse, whether you want to vote in person — you need to know what those are.”

The period for REQUESTING an absentee ballot is underway. October 16th is the first day election officials can mail absentee ballots to voters. October 16th is also the first day Iowans can vote in person at their county auditor’s office. There was a delay in printing ballots in Iowa’s first, third and fourth congressional districts this year — until the Iowa Supreme Court issued its ruling last Wednesday that Libertarian candidates in those districts had not qualified to be listed on ballots. Saturday, September 15th was the federal deadline for mailing ballots to Iowans in the military who’re serving out of state or to Iowa residents living overseas and Pate says county election officials met that deadline.

“They were prepared because we kept them informed and we also made sure they had almost all the other pieces,” Pate says, “so once we got the last one resolved they could just fit it in and away they went.”

More than two-point-two MILLION Iowans are registered to vote. About 40 percent of them did not vote in the 2022 election.