(Radio Iowa) – A recent poll found nearly half of Iowans or those close to them experienced a serious mental health issue at least once in recent years. The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll also showed 57-percent of those surveyed say it’s difficult to access competent mental health treatment. Christie Harris, a wellness education specialist at Gundersen Health, says mental and physical health are both vital to our lives, but they often aren’t perceived of as equals.

“Like if we had a broken arm, we would share that story with somebody and we would talk about why we went to the doctor and this is what they did,” Harris says, “but when we have mental health, we just don’t seem to be as open about that. Sometimes, that can be the barrier between somebody feeling like they truly are supported.” While there are improvements and strides being made, Harris says stigmas about mental health still exist, and some people hesitate to talk about it freely.

“Mental health is mental health. Physical health is physical health. They both affect each other and they’re both really important,” Harris says. “It would be really healthy for just about everybody to see someone regarding their mental health even if it was just for a little tune up and I think that’s where we’re lagging a bit.” Courage is needed to take the next step and seek mental health treatment, Harris says, and it’s a tremendous help if those we’re close to are open and supportive.

“As human beings and friends and family members, we could maybe be more comfortable and confident in having conversations with people that we love and that we care about, to check in on them more frequently,” Harris says. “I think that is definitely getting better, but we still have a ways to go with that.” While it’s normal to be a little nervous if you’ve never had mental health treatment, she says there has to be a leap of faith to try it in order to begin the healing process.

Gundersen Health System has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A man from Red Oak was arrested Tuesday evening on a Pottawattamie County warrant. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 21-year-old Braden Alan Gray was arrested at around 8-p.m. in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, in Red Oak. He was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation. Gray was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

ANKENY, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — An Ankeny firefighter faces first-degree theft charges for allegedly embezzling more than $72,000 from the Ankeny Professional Firefighters Local 4814 union. According to court documents, Zach Farrell was the union’s treasurer from 2020 to May 2024. A month later, in June, an investigation began.

The City of Ankeny says Farrell is a member of the Ankeny Fire Department and he is currently on administrative leave. The investigation started mid-June when union leaders reported a theft.

According to court records, union leaders say Farrell began acting “weird” a few months ago, when they were considering moving the union’s bank accounts from one bank to another. A search warrant shows the leaders realized Farrell was the only person with access to the accounts and despite calling him to gain access, those calls were not returned.

However, court records show the union leaders did eventually gain access to the accounts, looked through bank statements from the last five years, and saw transactions that were not related to the union: payments to personal credit cards, MidAmerican Energy bills, and cash withdrawals in Farrell’s name.

According to a criminal complaint, Farrell did admit to investigators that he used union funds to make “personal expenditures” not related to the union.

(UPDATE: Officials with the Ottumwa Community School District identified the 8-year-old boy who died Tuesday after being hit by a truck. Jaxxon Cain had just finished second grade at Douma Elementary School in Ottumwa, the school district posted on Facebook.)

(Ottumwa, Iowa) — An accident Tuesday afternoon in southeast Iowa claimed the life of a child from Ottumwa. The Iowa State Patrol says the 8-year-old died after being accidentally backed over by a pickup truck.  The incident happened shortly before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the east alley of the 200 block of North Hancock and Dewey Street in Ottumwa.

The unidentified child was riding a bicycle in an alley, and was in the pickup truck driver’s blind spot, when the accident occurred.

No charges have been filed and the incident remains under investigation by the Ottumwa Police Department and Iowa State Patrol.

(Fort Dodge, Iowa) – A crash late Tuesday night in Fort Dodge resulted in the death of one teenager and injuries to two others. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 11-p.m. in Loomis Park. A car driven by 16-year-old Leah Claire Lynch, of Ft. Dodge, was traveling through the park when the vehicle went out of control and struck a tree. Despite having worn her seat belt, Leah Lynch died at the scene.

Her passengers, 16-year-old Amyrra Marie Lumsden and 16-year-old Jessie Bibi Leyja, both of Ft. Dodge, were injured in the crash. Lumsden was flown by Life Flight to Mercy One in Des Moines. Leyja was treated at the scene and released. Both teens were wearing their seat belts.

The crash remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the crash site by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Dodge Police and EMS.

(Radio Iowa) – The power went out in most of Estherville on Saturday and City Administrator Penny Clayton says a temporary fix to get electricity flowing again is now permanent. “We worked with Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative to install an emergency tie in…so that we could backfeed power into our system from theirs,” Clayton says. “That will stay in place and will be available when we need an emergency tie in with them or they need one with us.”

The Iowa Lakes Electric Coop has 13-thousand customers, while the Electric Department for the City of Estherville serves 32-hundred accounts. Saturday’s power outage in Estherville was unrelated to flooding in northwest Iowa. Estherville’s city administrator says officials are evaluating how city-owned infrastructure withstood the floodwaters.

“As we transition from the response phase into the recovery phase, we’re looking at any and all things that we can do to protect city infrastructure,” she says, “so that in the event that we have these type of floodwaters again, we can respond better or just have more safeguards in place.” A long period of heavy rainfall pushed the crest of the West Fork of the Des Moines River in Estherville past 18 feet on Sunday, June 23rd. That’s well over flood stage. Clayton says although the river level is falling, the city will keep its flood protection measures in place.

“If we were to receive torrential amounts of rain, the river could come up fairly quickly again,” Clayton says, “so we’re keeping it in place until we feel we’re out of the woods.”

On Monday, “disaster survivor assistance teams” from FEMA began going door to door in Estherville to ensure flood victims are registered with the agency.