(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) cut the ribbon on their new Criminal Justice Training Center on their Ankeny campus Friday. Center Coordinator Craig Matzke says it allows them to set up realistic crime scenes to help train students. He says the center can also be used to train professionals in the field as well. Matzke says once students collect evidence, they go through it and try to solve the crime that is staged at the center.

“It’s a new facility so that it gives them a blank slate to operate off of and train to the discipline, which they need the most training with,” he says. Matzke says they can create all kinds of scenarios in a controlled environment for students. He says it’s better to train ahead of time rather than try to learn out on the streets at a potential crime scene.

He says they learn the proper way of handling and collecting and documenting evidence and creating a chain of custody. They can go back and perform tests on the evidence within a certain scope of available equipment, and then learn how to best present that evidence for successful prosecution. Matzke says the faculty all have been out in the field at one time.

“All of our instructional staff have real world experience in law enforcement agencies. And in addition to that, we also have a great working relationship with area law enforcement agencies, E-M-S, and those other entities that we call upon to give us a guiding hand and setting up scenarios, giving us ideas on what we should focus on,” he says.
All that experience helps give the students a real test.

“They can replicate those scenes and put them in the environment that they would actually be in. So it adds a real sense of realism,” Matzke says. Matzke says it’s another way to prepare the students to enter the real world of investigation and law enforcement.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Sunday night, 37-year-old Santos Alejandro Rodriguez-Herrera, of Nebraska City, NE., was arrested for Public Intoxication ($300 bond). And, 23-year-old Blaine Michael Clark, of Omaha, was arrested at around 2:25-a.m. Sunday on Highway 34, for Driving While Barred and on a warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). (Bond $2,000)

Friday evening, 37-year-old Jacob Ryan Jones, of Glenwood, was arrested in the area of Deacon Road and Highway 34, for Driving Under Suspension (Bond $300). And, Friday morning, 43-year-old Tonya Marie Glathar, of Glenwood, was arrested at 310th and Highway 34, for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. (Bond $1,300).

(Mills County, Iowa) – A woman on a motorcycle was seriously injured when her cycle collided with a deer, in Mills County. The accident happened at around 11:17-p.m. Friday, at 31184, Highway 34. Authorities say 60-year-old Pamela Hoselton, of Council Bluffs, was being attended to by witnesses, when a Deputy arrived on the scene. She was transported by LifeNet to the hospital.

(Radio Iowa) – Two veterans who call themselves Team Long Road are making their way across Iowa as part of a cross-country journey from Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon. They’re calling attention to American soldiers who remain missing in action. Justin “J-D” LeHew says he and Coleman “Rocky” Kinzer started their journey on June 6th, and last week passed through cities including Dyersville, Manchester and Independence, headed west.

Both are retired U-S Marines and they say taking this long backpack journey has been an amazing experience.

The two are following the historic U-S Highway 20 for the entire stretch – not only in Iowa, but across the country. They hope to be back home by Christmas. Learn more about the trek at TeamLongRoad.com.

(DES MOINES, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today (Monday) the distribution plan for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) food assistance benefits for eligible Iowa children under the age of six. The federal Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act allows states to issue emergency food assistance benefits to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households with children under the age of six who were impacted by pandemic-related school changes and closures in their area.

P-EBT for children under age six is limited to those children who received SNAP benefits between September 2021 and May 2022. The P-EBT benefits for children under six will be loaded on the household’s existing SNAP card between now and September 20. The monthly amount for each eligible child is $22.01 for September 2021 through December 2021, and $21.15 for the months of January 2022 through May 2022. P-EBT benefits will only be distributed for those months that the child received SNAP. 

“Food costs in Iowa hit historic highs in 2022, making it hard for low-income parents to meet the nutritional needs of their children. These additional benefits will make it easier for parents to put healthy and nutritious food on their table,” said Janee Harvey, HHS Division Administrator of Adult, Child, and Family Services.

Parents are encouraged to visit HHS’ comprehensive FAQ document available on the HHS website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/food-assistance/related-programs/P-EBT for more information about P-EBT.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced today (Monday) a settlement agreement with the Cedar Rapids Community School District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to address the discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities.

The department’s investigation found that the school district inappropriately and repeatedly secluded and restrained students with disabilities as early as kindergarten in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department concluded that instead of meeting the needs of students with disabilities that affect their behavior, the school district subdued them through unnecessary restraints and improper confinement alone in small seclusion rooms, sometimes multiple times in one day and often for excessive periods of time. As a result of these practices, some students lost hundreds of hours of instructional time. The investigation also found that the school district did not end seclusion where students showed signs of crisis or trauma, or when there was no longer any threat of harm. Under the settlement agreement, the Cedar Rapids Community School District has voluntarily agreed to end the use of seclusion, reform its restraint practices, and improve its staff training on anticipating, appropriately addressing and de-escalating students’ disability-related behavior through appropriate behavioral interventions.

“Students with disabilities should not be subjected to discriminatory and abusive seclusion and restraint practices that deny them equal access to education,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When schools isolate and unlawfully restrain children with disabilities, rather than provide them with the supports needed for success in the classroom, they violate the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our agreement puts the Cedar Rapids Community School District on a path to significant institutional change and reform. We will continue working to ensure that school districts across the country are taking all steps needed to provide every student access to a safe and supportive learning environment.”

“Each and every child deserves an equal opportunity to learn and thrive,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy T. Duax for the Northern District of Iowa. “Our office, in partnership with the department’s Civil Rights Division, will vigorously investigate allegations of discrimination on the basis of disability in all settings, including in our public schools. I am heartened by the district’s commitment to this landmark agreement, which will undoubtedly improve the education and everyday lives of many students in our community.”

The school district fully cooperated throughout the investigation. Under the settlement agreement, the school district will implement reforms needed to ensure that its practices do not discriminate against students with disabilities. The district will, among other steps:

• End its use of seclusion;
• Limit its use of restraints, revise its restraint procedures and practices, and consistently implement those procedures and practices in all schools;
• Report all instances of restraint and evaluate if they were justified;
• Offer counseling and other services to students who are restrained;
• Adopt policies and procedures to assess suicide risk, prevent suicide and self-harm, and implement immediate crisis intervention for students who threaten or engage in self-harm;
• Designate trained staff to collect and analyze restraint data and oversee the creation of appropriate behavior intervention plans;
• Deliver appropriate training and resources to help schools implement the agreement; and
• Hire two new administrators to oversee schools’ use of restraint, if any, and ensure the district’s compliance with the agreement and Title II of the ADA.

Enforcement of Title II of the ADA is a priority of the Civil Rights Division. This agreement, obtained jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, is the most recent in a series of Civil Rights Division settlements to address and prevent unlawful seclusion and restraint of students with disabilities in public schools.

Atlantic, IA— The Cass Health Immunization Room is now offering the Moderna bivalent booster for adults aged 18 and older, who have completed a primary COVID vaccine series and it has been at least 2 months since their last COVID vaccination. The booster doses are given by appointment; patients should call 712-250-8122 to schedule. Cass Health officials say the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommends the use of updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for people ages 18 years and older.

Updated COVID-19 boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine composition, helping to restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination by targeting variants that are more transmissible and immune-evading.

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Pfizer bivalent boosters, which can be given to those 12 years old and older, are available at local pharmacies.