(Anamosa, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports a fiery, single-vehicle accident in eastern Jones County has claimed the life of a man from Delaware County, Iowa. 96-year-old Maurice Vincent Hennessey, of Ryan,  died, when the 2000 Ford Focus wagon he was driving was apparently on the wrong side of the road, prior to leaving the road and entering a ditch.

The vehicle then struck a road sign, re-crossed the road and struck a tree on the opposite side before catching fire. The accident happened at around 3:30-p.m., Saturday, on Newport Road in rural Anamosa. The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – A man who was injured when a tornado struck Minden on Friday has died. Officials say about 50 homes in the western Iowa community of Minden were destroyed by Friday’s tornado and dozens more were damaged. First responders found an unconscious man in the aftermath and Pottawattamie County officials confirm he has died of his injuries. The National Weather Service office in metro Des Moines says at least 12 tornadoes touched down in central Iowa Friday. The Weather Service office in Omaha will released its report on Friday’s tornadoes in western Iowa later today (Monday).

Sixteen-year-old Avery Assmann of Minden says her family and four dogs were in the basement when the tornado struck. She says her home is still standing, but others weren’t as fortunate. “There’s a lot of trees down. A lot of people’s houses are down. A lot of people’s siding is gone, but the house isn’t gone. There are two houses that came off their foundation, so, they’re just like in people’s yards,” she said, “but it’s very scary to see the town like that.”

Assman was at the Neola Area Community Center Sunday, where a distribution center has been set up for tornado victims. JoDee Junkman is the center’s director and she says donations are coming from as far away as Des Moines and from Omaha, which took a hit from a tornado, too. “It’s amazing. It just makes you feel good,” she said. “We’ve had some families come in to go through donations, and they’re almost in tears because of everything that’s here that they can use.” Governor Reynolds toured Minden Saturday and said it appears 40 percent of the homes and businesses in the community have been damaged or destroyed.

As of yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, all roads into Minden were still closed to the public and volunteers while crews worked to restore power to the town.

In Union County, the tornado that caused damage in Creston reached speeds of 125 miles an hour. Two other twisters were reported in Union County, west of Afton. A tornado in Ringgold County stayed on the ground for 27 miles, with damage reported in Tingley and Redding. The tornado in Clarke County that caused damage in and around Osceola reached speeds of 135 miles an hour.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has declared a state of emergency in their county, where about 60 homes in rural areas were damaged or destroyed. There was significant damage between Harlan and the small community of Portsmouth. The Shelby County Golf Course north of Harlan was significantly damaged. Late Friday night a tornado hit Pleasant Hill, a suburb on the eastern side of the Des Moines metro.

(By: Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Last year, the federal government imposed 244 fines totaling $5.7 million against Iowa nursing homes, but it won’t say which of those fines remains unpaid.

Federal data show that just five of Iowa’s 422 care facilities accounted for more than $1 million in regulatory fines imposed in fiscal year 2023. Three of those homes – Lantern Park Specialty Care of Coralville, Arbor Court of Mount Pleasant, and Genesis Senior Living of Des Moines – each were fined more than $200,000.

The fines represent penalties imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and typically stem from quality-of-care violations reported by state inspectors. Although CMS publicly reports the fines imposed against all Medicare-certified nursing facilities, the agency does not disclose whether such fines have actually been paid.

In response to a recent Iowa Capital Dispatch inquiry about the payment status of 28 fines CMS imposed this year against two Iowa nursing homes, an agency spokesperson declined to provide the information and explained that “CMS does not publish the status of any nursing home payments for imposed fines.” No reason was given for the refusal.

“There is so much secrecy surrounding this whole regulatory process,” said Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy. “This is public information. Who are they hiding this information from? Who are they protecting by not saying which fines aren’t paid? The public has a right to know what is going on.”

According to the CMS data, the Iowa nursing homes that in fiscal year 2023 compiled the highest level of federal fines were:

• Lantern Park Specialty Care, Coralville
• Arbor Court, Mount Pleasant
• Genesis Senior Living, Des Moines
• Pine Acres Rehabilitation and Care Center, West Moines
• Cedar Falls Health Care Center, Cedar Falls
• Aspire of Gowrie, Gowrie

Other Iowa facilities that were fined more than $100,000 in 2023 were Garden View Care Center in  Shenandoah, which was fined $163,034; Crown Pointe Estates in Sioux Center, which was fined $161,905; Ivy at Davenport in Scott County, which was fined $111,039; Maple Crest Manor in Fayette, which was fined $107,7468; and Heritage Specialty Care in Cedar Rapids, which was fined $105,645.

Two of the Iowa care facilities that racked up the highest number of federal penalties in the current fiscal year, without regard to the total dollar amounts, are Valley View Community and Lakeside Lutheran Home. So far this year, each of the homes has been fined $97,073 for 14 violations — all of which are tied to a failure to submit weekly COVID-19 data reports to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The data reported by CMS makes it difficult to identify the Iowa nursing home chains that have the worst record of compliance with regulations. Facilities that are clearly part of a multifacility chain, operating under common ownership, are incorrectly reported as having no affiliation with any chains.

For example, two of the most heavily fined care facilities in Iowa, Lantern Park Specialty Care and Heritage Specialty Care, are part of a 44-facility chain run by Care Initiatives of West Des Moines. CMS. However, reports state that neither facility has any affiliation with a nursing home chain.

In June 2021, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that CMS was only informing the public of the fines it had imposed against care facilities if and when the owners chose to pay those fines. Unpaid fines were not being reported at all by CMS.

That policy led to situations such as the Dubuque Specialty Care nursing home being fined $84,825, with CMS reporting to the public several months later that no fines had been imposed. At the time, an agency spokesman said that because the facility had not paid anything toward the fine, CMS policy was to report to the public that no fine had been imposed.

By the end of the year, CMS had reversed that policy and was reporting fines within 90 days of when they were incurred, rather than when they were paid. However, the agency also stopped disclosing whether the fines were paid, stating only that “this information is not generally publicly available.”

MINDEN, Iowa – A man who was hurt during Friday’s tornado in Minden, Iowa, has died of his injuries. Family members confirmed the news to Omaha area media.  According to a deputy with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, the man was unconscious when first responders found him.

He was transported to the hospital and was in stable condition, authorities said. He was then moved to the ICU on Saturday, the deputy said. The storm victim’s name was not immediately released.

County officials confirmed that three people were also injured from the tornado. They were treated and released.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs are investigating the deaths of two men whose bodies were found Sunday morning, less than one-mile apart. According to a press release, 36-year-old Deonte Ivory,of Omaha, was found dead on the roadway in the 2100 block of S. 29th Street. An autopsy will be done early this week to determine how he died.

Then at about 7:02 -a.m. a person walking their dog near the entrance of the Western Trails Historic Center (3200 block of S. 24th Street) found a man on the ground. Officers identified that body as that of 25-year-old Michael Anderson, also of Omaha. An autopsy will also be done early this week to determine how he died.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

Detectives are investigating the circumstances and are trying to figure out whether or not they are related. Police ask anyone with information on the deaths to call the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at (712)328‐4728 or CB Crime Stoppers at (712)328‐7867.

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

(Clarinda, Iowa) –  The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports the following arrests:

4/11/2024 Daniel Jude Kruse (34) of Omaha Nebraska. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
4/11/2024 Corey Burton Dugger (40) of Onawa Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI.
4/11/2024 Megan Renee Sunderman (38) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, Drug tax stamp violations and prohibited acts by a registrant.
4/13/2024 Michael Lee Dunlap (39) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for burglary 3rd degree and possession of prescription drug.
4/13/2024 James Linley Moses (66) of Shambaugh Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving under suspension and possession of a controlled substance. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
4/13/2024 Bryant Lee Kirby Fuller (23) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for assault.
4/14/2024 Wendy Sue Wood (52) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of a controlled substance (X2) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
4/14/2024 Eric Lee Adams (42) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of a controlled substance (X2), possession of drug paraphernalia and prohibited acts by a registrant.
4/14/2024 Mark Eugene Greene (56) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia.
4/15/2024 Justin Joseph Reed (46) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for contempt.
4/15/2024 Lissa Jade Dunkeson (36) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for domestic assault and reckless driving.
4/16/2024 James Vincent White (60) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for harassment.
4/16/2024 Michael Lloyd Harms (53) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
4/17/2024 David Alfonso Clark (45) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for domestic assault.
4/17/2024 Sherry Danette Young (46) of Polo Missouri. Booked into the Page County Jail for disorderly conduct.
4/17/2024 Nicholas Alan Haidsiak (39) of Coin Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for an active warrant out of Cass County Missouri warrant for possession of a controlled substance.
4/17/2024 David Allen Mulkins (64) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI third offense. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
4/18/2024 Blas Rendon Luevanos (22) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail violation of a no contact order
4/19/2024 Merlin Glenn Lininger (51) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
4/19/2024 Matthew John Stubbendieck (48) of Essex Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
4/21/2024 Nathaniel Gene Teeters (48) of Bedford Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while barred. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
4/22/2024 Devin Michael Lee Betsworth (22) of Mapleton Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for criminal mischief. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
4/23/2024 Megan Renee Sunderman (38) of Omaha Nebraska. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of a controlled substance (X3) and possession of drug paraphernalia (X3)
4/25/2024 Trent Thomas Brammer (30) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI second, carrying a weapon while intoxicated and possession of drug paraphernalia.
4/26/2024 Merlin Glenn Lininger (51) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
4/26/2024 Alisa Lynette Alexander (48) of Shambaugh Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while revoked.
4/27/2024 Rebecca Ann Mayer (36) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for violation of a no contact order.
4/27/2024 Mark Allen Olson (60) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI first offense.

A charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.