(Des Moines, IA) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tuesday, announced the intent to award a Managed Care Organization (MCO) contract to Iowa Total Care. The new Iowa Medicaid contract period begins July 1, 2025, with no change in operations. Iowa Total Care has been serving Iowa Medicaid members as a MCO since July 1, 2019. his RFP and resulting contract aligns all three MCO contracts to the same contract cycle. All three MCO contracts will have a final contract end date of June 30, 2031.

“Providing access to quality health care is critical and a cornerstone of our work at Iowa HHS. Iowa Total Care has demonstrated a commitment to continuous quality improvement and innovation—making them a valued partner for Iowa Medicaid,” said Kelly Garcia, Director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “We are pleased to award Iowa Total Care with this contract as they continue to meet the needs of Iowans and deliver essential medical services.”

Iowa Medicaid members will continue to receive their Medicaid benefits with the health plan they are currently enrolled in – there are no changes as a result of this contract award. Members will be able to make an enrollment selection change during the annual open choice enrollment period in Spring 2025. Iowa HHS staff will communicate with Medicaid members and providers on the continuation of service provision.

Iowa Medicaid contracts with three MCOs: Iowa Total Care, Molina and Wellpoint Iowa, Inc. to provide health care services to Iowans.

Pleasantville, Iowa [KCCI] — An off-duty deputy acted appropriately when he was forced to shoot an aggressive dog in Pleasantville on Monday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office says. The sheriff’s office says the deputy and his fiancé were walking their dogs on East Monroe Street when two unleashed dogs “aggressively” ran up to them. The sheriff’s office says the owner of the aggressive dogs tried to restrain them, but was unable to.

Investigators say the dogs began circling the deputy and tried to bite his dogs. Investigators say the off-duty deputy feared for his safety and drew his gun. He allegedly told the owner to control the dogs, or he’d have to shoot, and the owner replied, “You may have to.” The deputy did shoot one of the dogs, a pit bull mix. Both unleashed dogs ran off after the shooting.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office says the deputy had a legal right to carry his firearm; he gave verbal commands to the owner before firing, and the shooting is justified. No charges have been filed.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]— Des Moines police have identified the man who was shot and killed this weekend on the city’s south side. Police say they responded to a report of a shooting around 1:40 p.m. Sunday in the 3400 block of South Union Street. Responders found a 21-year-old man with gunshot wounds. He died at a nearby hospital. Police identified the man as Tariq Reynolds, of Des Moines.The suspect in the shooting was identified Monday as 19-year-old Martavius Lamon Green, of Atlanta, GA.

Police say evidence indicates Green, a guest at a residence in the 3400 block of South Union Street, became involved in an argument with someone at the home. Reynolds intervened, and a struggle ensued before Green shot Reynolds, police say. Green is charged with first-degree murder.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Iowa lawmakers are demanding updates on an Iowan missing in Mexico. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Joni Ernst asked about Chris Leguisano. On Aug. 10, legislators say Leguisano traveled to Mexico to deliver a truck to family. They say while in Tamaulipas, she was kidnapped for ransom.

In a letter to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Grassley and Ernst said in part, “An attack of this nature is an affront to the United States.” They are asking for updates on recovery efforts — and a progress report within the week.

(Radio Iowa) – A Sergeant Bluff woman is facing charges after an incident involving a gun at a Sioux City Social Security office. Sioux City Police Sergeant Tom Gill says officers were called around noon Tuesday. “We were told that a security guard escorted her outside of the business to her vehicle. She then allegedly pulled a handgun, or some type of a gun, on the security guard, and then drove away. There were no shots fired,” he says.

Gill say the guard and security camera video provided them with a good description of the woman and her car. “We were able to track that female to a residence in Sergeant bluff, where the she then surrendered officers there,” Gill says. Gill says they arrested 27-year-old Stella Ross without incident and recovered a gun.

Ross is charged with first-degree harassment and aggravated assault while displaying a weapon.

(Iowa News Service) –  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new rules, seeking to level the playing field for independent farmers in Iowa and across the country. Food price gouging has become a campaign issue in the Midwest, where the election could be won or lost. Berleen Wobeter and her husband Pete raise cattle on about 300 in central Iowa. She said family farmers want Congress to strengthen the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act, address alleged food price gouging and fix the lack of competition in the beef industry, where four companies control 85% of the market.

“That’s not going to happen the more consolidated it is,” Wobeter pointed out. “Then if there isn’t a market for all of our beef, then I guess some of us need to get out. But it needs to be fair.”
The Biden administration has proposed a new rule designed to update the Packers and Stockyards Act, which was signed in 1921. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking public comment through Sept. 11.

Congress is considering restoring mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef in the next Farm Bill, which would allow domestic producers to charge higher prices for beef grown in the U.S. Wobeter said despite being in a highly consolidated industry among large corporate ag producers, she and Pete have continued to succeed on their 300 acres near Toledo. “I think that has been my husband’s approach to things,” Wobeter explained. “In the ’80s, when it was ‘go big or get out’ he said no, that’s not the way he was raised. You just kind of stay steady, stay within your budget, don’t overspend, and it’s worked for us.”

The 2023 Farm Bill, which has already been extended until the end of this month, remains on hold in Washington.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) — Officials with the Pottawattamie County Republican Party are holding an event September 21, 2024, they are calling “Crisis at the Border: Discussion on Crisis and Consequences: From Border to Heartland.” The event takes place at the New Horizon Presbyterian Church (30 Valley View Drive) in Council Bluffs, beginning at 9-a.m. Officials say during the event, pressing issues surrounding the southern border crisis and its direct impact on our local communities will be explored. Attendees will hear from distinguished speakers with an array of experience, be it firsthand experience fighting the immigration at the southern border or fighting and prosecuting the crisis as it impacts residents in the heartland.

Featured speakers include:

• Dan Dawson, Iowa State Senator
• Aaron Hanson, Douglas County, NE, Sheriff
• Matt Wilber, Pottawattamie County Attorney

Those individuals will provide insight into what the GOP says are the challenges Midwesterner’s face right now, and offer a “Comprehensive understanding of the consequences of the border crisis as it extends into the heartland.” A light breakfast will be offered with a freewill donation welcome at the door. No reservations are needed.

For more information, please contact Starlyn Perdue at pottcountygop@gmail.com or visit pottawattamiegop.com.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) have announced Shelby County Unified Law Enforcement was awarded latelast month with the 2024 ISAC Excellence in Action Award. The Excellence in Action Award Program is a competitive awards program that seeks to identify and recognize innovative county government employees, programs and projects. The awards were presented during a ceremony at the ISAC Annual Conference in Des Moines on August 21^st.

Facing challenges with recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers and adjusting to increasing costs, last year the City of Harlan and Shelby County worked together to consolidate the Harlan Police Department under the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office through a 28E Agreement.

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Since implementing the unified law enforcement services contract, the consolidated agency has seen notable improvements including a streamlined workflow resulting in higher quality and more time-efficient investigations; more successful recruitment efforts due to the ability to offer more competitive compensation, flexibility of shifts and hours, and specialized positions; a single command structure that lends itself to greater oversight, the public knowing who will respond when they call for service, quicker response times, and greater community presence including within the school district; and training that is more efficient, specialized, and cost-effective with the unified force.

This model, officials said, can be implemented in counties and cities across the state, and Shelby County has already fielded inquiries from over 15 jurisdictions statewide interested in replicating the innovation and efficiency of the initiative.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested early this (Wednesday) morning on felony drug charges. 28-year-old Dylan Elwood Taylor was arrested at around 12:18-a.m. on a warrant for two counts of a Controlled Substance Violation – both are Class-C felonies. Taylor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $20,000 bond. Deputies were assisted by Red Oak Police in making the arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also:

• 26-year-old Abigail Jean Kates was arrested at around 4:45-a.m. Tuesday, for Violation of a Protection Order (A Simple Misdemeanor). She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.
• And, 34-year-old Dylan Thomas Griffeth was arrested at around 6:45-p.m. Tuesday, also for Violation of a Protection Order (Simple Misdemeanor).

(Radio Iowa) – The Army Corps of Engineers has completed significant repairs and upgrades to levies, dikes and other structures damaged by flooding along the Missouri River five years ago. Clint Mason, the Corps’ Missouri River program manager, expects barge traffic to increase. “Right now I think we’re seeing a resurgence of navigation after we’ve made the repairs over the last two years,” Mason says.

Officials estimate Midwest flooding in 2019 caused nearly three BILLION dollars in damage. Congress allocated over 340-Million dollars to repair the Missouri River’s navigational channel. Army Corps offices in Kansas City and Omaha typically have total budgets around 10 million dollars. “An influx of $340 million-plus — it was definitely orders of magnitude above what we would get in a normal year,” Mason says, “and even more than what we’ve seen after past floods or other major events when we’ve had damages.”

There are about seven-thousand structures along the lower Missouri River, from Sioux City to St. Louis, that maintain a navigational channel that’s 300 feet wide and nine feet deep. Mason says the influx of funding was particularly helpful in addressing delayed maintenance of structures made of rock and stone. “The rock breaks down with freeze thaw. High flow events will push the rock or move it off of our structures, things like that,” Mason says, “and so over time those rock structures require continual upkeep and maintenance.”

Low water levels in the river due to the recent drought helped speed along the Corps’ repairs. The Missouri River is the longest river in the U-S. It starts in Montana and drains into the Mississippi River at St. Louis.