Officials at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic report “Dry needling” is the topic for the next session of Healthy U, scheduled for noon on July 19th at Cass County Health System. Ryan Legg, DPT, CLT and Dan Vogel, DPT, will present together on what dry needling is, what it is used for, and the science and training behind it. Vogel says “Dry needling is performed by a physical therapist to treat pain. Most patients have great success with dry needling and feel relief right away.”

Ryan Legg, DPT, performs dry needling on a patient’s hip.

Healthy U is a free educational lunch series at Cass County Health System held monthly in Conference Room 2. The public is invited and welcome to attend, but reservations are required as lunch is provided for all attendees. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat.

Numerous law enforcement agencies are currently in a high speed pursuit of a man on a “crotch rocket” type motorcycle. The chase entered the northern limits of Atlantic past the KJAN studios at around 9:25-a.m. The rider got to about the Troublesome Creek bridge on Olive Street,  where a road block was set up. He turned around and went north on Olive to the interstate. Speeds were estimated at 125-to 130 miles per hour. When he flew past KJAN the man was wearing a white shirt, shorts or blue jeans, and was carrying a backpack. He was also wearing a helmet. Law enforcement entities involved in the chase include Iowa State Patrol, Cass County Sheriff’s Department, Atlantic Police, Iowa Dept. of Motor Vehicle Enforcement and Iowa DNR.

The chase was still underway on I-80 westbound near Shelby, at 9:45-a.m. It’s not clear what precipitated the pursuit or why the man is running.

With hundreds of Iowa homes damaged or destroyed by flooding just this month, the director of the National Flood Insurance program is launching a campaign to get more people to buy flood insurance and to focus on addressing hazards ahead of time. Dave Maurstad says the effort is working to close the insurance gap. “We estimate that 40% of the properties in the high-risk area have flood insurance coverage and we need to do much better than that,” Maurstad says. “We’ve set a goal within the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration to double the number of properties covered by flood insurance by 2022.”

Difficult, back-to-back hurricane seasons and events such as inland flooding, wildfires and mudslides helped shape the new strategy. Maurstad says the highest priority of the strategic plan is to develop what he calls a “culture of preparedness.” “When we look at how the nation responds to natural disasters, insurance is a key part of it,” Maurstad says. “Event after event shows not enough people have the right kind at the right limits of insurance that could really help them and their communities recover so much faster.”

There are now about five-million flood insurance policy-holders in the nation, generating about five-billion dollars in revenue. For homeowners in low- to medium-risk areas, preferred-risk flood insurance policies can cost around $500 a year. For those in high-risk flood zones, the cost can rise to around $2,000. Maurstad says homeowners need to become better informed about the areas where they live and make changes before the next storm hits. “Part of it is how we can make sure people know what their risk is, so they can take the right steps to mitigate their properties,” Maurstad says. “They can either elevate them, storm-proof them or do something to help minimize the damage, and in some cases, identify areas that maybe we shouldn’t be developing in.”

Maurstad says one goal of FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program is to quadruple the amount of investment in mitigation by 2022. He says that would allow the nation to bounce back faster from natural disasters.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of setting fire to a Sioux City house has been given probation. The Sioux City Journal reports that 33-year-old Jesse Bigeagle pleaded guilty Thursday to an arson charge after prosecutors dropped charges of burglary and criminal mischief. He was given four years of probation and a suspended 10-year prison sentence.

Woodbury County District Court records say Bigeagle entered the home early on Sept. 19, went to the basement and started a fire there before leaving. No injuries were reported. The records say Bigeagle had lived at the house.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — An August trial is scheduled for a northeast Iowa woman accused of hitting and starving her 3-year-old daughter. Court records say 28-year-old Monica Flores, of rural Cresco, entered a written plea of not guilty Tuesday to a charge of child endangerment. Her trial is set to begin Aug. 29th. Authorities say the little girl had bruising on her neck, torso and legs and was malnourished.

Creston Police report two men were arrested Thursday on separate Driving While Suspended charges. 24-year old Cody Joseph Parmenter, of Creston, was arrested at around 3:45-p.m., and 37-year old Briankeith Andre Whitfield, of Creston, was arrested at 6:40-p.m.  Both men were being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond, each.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A convicted Nebraska sex offender has been given 15 years in an Iowa prison for taking video of a college student showering in a residence hall. Authorities say 30-year-old Zachary Person was sentenced Wednesday in Sioux City. He’d pleaded guilty to burglary and invasion of privacy. Prosecutors say he took the video March 1, 2017, in a bathroom at Morningside College’s Dimmitt Hall.

The Sioux City Journal reports that in return for Person’s pleas, prosecutors dropped charges related to separate attacks that occurred Feb. 12, 2017, on another woman at Morningside College and on a woman at a Sioux City hotel. Nebraska records say Person, from Norfolk, was sentenced in October to 15 to 20 years for trying to assault a woman in Omaha. The Nebraska Sex Offender Registry says he’d also been convicted of sex crimes in 2012 and 2016.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers will participate in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Operation Safe Driver Week July 16-20 at various locations around the state. This initiative is aimed at identifying unsafe driving behaviors by commercial motor vehicle drivers and those drivers of other vehicles operating around the commercial motor vehicles. The events will be held in Council Bluffs, Mason City, Iowa City, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area. During each event, officers will be issuing citations and warnings to those drivers in an effort to reduce crashes caused by dangerous driving behaviors.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 94 percent of all crashes can be attributed to some form of driver error. MVE Chief David Lorenzen said, “With these events, we’re actively seeking out those drivers who pose a danger on the road.”  Examples of dangerous driver behaviors that enforcement personnel will be tracking throughout Operation Safe Driver Week are speeding, distracted driving, texting, failure to use a seatbelt while operating a CMV or in a passenger vehicle, following too closely, improper lane change, failure to obey traffic control devices, etc.

Operation Safe Driver Week is sponsored by CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and with support from industry and transportation safety organization.