Des Moines, Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds today announced a new grant opportunity intended to reduce language barriers in the workforce. The Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will help employers provide sustained programs for English language instruction to support improved communication in the workplace. “Here in Iowa, we’re focused on breaking down any barrier that may stand in the way of a successful career,” said Governor Reynolds. “As I travel the state, employers regularly highlight the importance of English Language Learner training. The Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will provide employers with resources to offer or expand ELL training while at the same time supporting job safety, recruitment and retention efforts.”

The Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will provide a total of $5 million in grants to support employer programs that help employees improve English language proficiency in relation to work-related duties, policies, or procedures. Applicants must be employers or groups of employers with at least 25 full-time employees who are either expanding or creating a language program.  “The ability to communicate is key to making any workplace connection successful,” said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “This grant opportunity is another great tool to help Iowa employers find the skilled workforce they so desperately need and support employees interested in improving their communication skills at work.”

Applications are now being accepted at IowaGrants.gov and are due on December 2, at 11:59 AM. Visit this link for more information on the grant and the application process.
A webinar will take place on October 11 at 11:00 AM to provide more information on the grant and a Q&A session. Interested employers can sign up to participate by visiting (Link).

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) — Officials with the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, Tuesday, said two of the five Cass County (Iowa) residents who were arrested for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, have plead guilty to the charges. According to documents 29-year-old Kelsi Marie Thurman, of Lewis and 19-year-old Mason Blaine Loudermilk, of Atlantic, have pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. The arrests were the result of a six-month investigation into a series of fentanyl overdose cases in Cass and Shelby Counties. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, a maximum fine of $20 million, and a 10-year to life long term of supervised release.

According to court documents, Thurman admitted that beginning at least as early as August 2019, she and co-defendant 28-year-old Chase Daniel Jahnke, of Lewis, entered an agreement or came to an understanding to distribute fentanyl — including Thurman driving Jahnke to Omaha to obtain, deliver, and collect money from the sale of fentanyl. On or around October 3, 2021, Thurman, along with Jahnke, provided fentanyl pills to two individuals, one of which was found to have died October 4, 2021 from an overdose by using half of the pills provided by Thurman and Jahnke. Thurman and Jahnke also supplied fentanyl pills to co-defendants 25-year-old Colby and 20-year-old Collin Clarken, and Thurman admitted that Colby Clarken supplied pills to an individual who died of an overdose on or around February 24, 2022.

Loudermilk also entered a guilty plea last month, and sentencing proceedings will be held on February 28th. A sentencing date for Thurman is unknown at this time.
According to court records a trial for Jahnke, Colby Clarken and Collin Clarken, both of Atlantic, is set for November 7th with a plea deadline of October 21st.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Veteran’s Affairs Director Mitch Holmes and County Recorder Mary Ward, along with the Iowa County Recorders Association, want to make all veterans are aware that recording or requesting military records is always free of charge for a veteran. In recent weeks, it has been reported that a third-party company has been charging veterans to record these documents. Please review the Iowa Code chapter and information regarding submitting copies of DD214 documents, and please remember to always contact your local County Recorder for assistance recording or requesting military records or your local Director of Veterans Affairs. 

The County Recorder’s office has on permanent record, military discharges that have been presented for recording by the veterans themselves. Those records are confidential and will not be made available for examination or copying except under certain conditions or circumstances as described below:

• To the person who is the subject of the record, to a member of that person’s immediate family, or to that person’s agent or representative duly authorized in writing.
• To a person requesting to examine or copy a record when the event that resulted in the record being made occurred more than sixty-two (62) years prior to the request. However, the recorder shall redact any social security number included in a record made available pursuant to this paragraph.
• To a person who is a funeral director licensed pursuant to chapter 156 and who has custody of the body of a deceased veteran.
• When otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
• When otherwise required by a department or agency of the federal or state government or a political subdivision. The recorder shall make these records available to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs and its employees shall be subject to the same state and federal confidentiality restrictions and requirements that are imposed on the recorder.
• Veterans are also eligible to submit legal copies of their DD214 to the County Recorder’s office in the county in which they reside. There is no fee to record the DD214. Copies of military discharge records are also free of charge. Veterans and entitled immediate family members may request in-person or complete a military discharge application. All records not recorded in your local county can be requested from the National Personnel Records Center.

For more information, please contact the Cass County Recorder’s Office at 712-243-1692 or the Cass County Director of Veterans Affairs at 712-243-6662.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested twice in a little more than 24-hours.  At around 3:15-a.m. Tuesday, 43-year-old Jeffrey Christopher Potter, of Elliott, was arrested in Montgomery County, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Revoked charge. He was transported to the Mills County line and transferred to the custody of Mills County Deputies.

Jeffrey C. Potter (Photo Courtesy the Montgomery County Jail)

Then, at around 4:35-a.m. today (Wednesday), Potter was arrested following a traffic stop in the 1100 block of 110th Street. Upon further investigation, Potter was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak, and held without bond.

(DES MOINES, Iowa) – To help address the issue of opioid misuse, the Iowa Department of Health of Human Services (HHS) is expanding their initiative to provide naloxone (the opioid overdose reversal medication) to Iowa organizations, businesses and schools, which may be in a position to render aid to a person at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose. Since February of 2022, HHS has offered eligible organizations and businesses free naloxone nasal spray kits. Now, the program is expanding to include schools. The purpose of this initiative is to equip organizations, businesses and schools, in the event that their employees, agents, or volunteers encounter someone experiencing a suspected opioid overdose.

While the hope is there would never be a need for the use of naloxone, having this medication available as part of a first-aid response could save someone’s life. Eligible organizations, businesses and schools, include but are not limited to: retail/convenience stores; libraries; public or nonpublic schools, community colleges, colleges, universities; restaurants; bars; community or social services organizations; event venues; and mobile service providers.

Click here to view eligibility information and program requirements.

HHS’ State Opioid Response office was recently awarded $9,083,075 per year for two years to provide treatment and recovery programs for an estimated 1,100 people. In addition, the program will provide prevention and harm reduction services to more than 11,000 people.

Although Iowa is considered a low-incidence state compared to many others, the increases in opioid- related deaths are concerning, with 258 official records of opioid-related deaths in Iowa for 2021, up from 157 deaths in 2019 and 213 deaths in 2020. Synthetic opioids, such as illicit versions of fentanyl, are now involved in the vast majority of opioid-related deaths in Iowa, and have increased in all age groups. Increasing instances of these synthetics being detected in combination with other drugs such as stimulants, indicate that some people who think they are taking something other than an opioid are also dying due to contamination of those substances with illicit fentanyl.

The recently announced award comes as a follow-up to previous opioid grants and will allow for continuation and expansion of the prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in the state. The free naloxone program in combination with training available around the state from local grantee organizations ensures that more Iowans have access to this life saving medicine.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – One person suffered from lacerations, following an accident southwest of Atlantic, this (Wednesday) morning. The Cass County Communications Center dispatched Cass EMS to the scene near 58882 Whitepole Road, at around 6:35-a.m., where a vehicle apparently crashed through a gate or fence. After Deputies arrived, they determined that a 2016 Jeep Cherokee left White Pole Road north of a residence, went through a fence and a bean field, before striking machinery in the yard of the residence.

The injured party was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital and later transported by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha. Additional details are currently not available.