Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports an accident early Friday morning resulted in the arrest of a woman on alcohol-related charges. The Chief says shortly after 12- a.m., officers arrested 32-year old Megan Renee Warrick, of Clarinda for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Her arrest stems from an investigation to the crash of a 2007 Ford Mustang into the garage attached to a residence at 1101 S. 22^nd St. , in Clarinda. The vehicle caused extensive structural damage to the residence, owned and occupied by Mike and Renee Williams. There were no injuries reported.

Warrick posted bail and was released pending initial appearance before the Page County Magistrate Court. Her case has been referred to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and the filing of formal charges. Brothers says the investigation is continuing and additional charges being filed are anticipated.

(12-p.m. News)

A petition urging the D-N-R to no longer accept deer killed with lead bullets as donations to its food program that helps feed the needy was denied Thursday by the Natural Resource Commission. The D-N-R works with the Food Bank of Iowa in the Help us Stop Hunger or Hush program, which allows hunters to shoot a deer then donate it to be processed and fed to the needy. The N-R-C voted to reject the petition because commission members said there was not enough evidence to show the bullets caused lead poisoning. Cynthia Hansen, the manager of the “Lead Is Poison Coalition” testified that people eating venison are at risk when a deer is shot with lead.

“Many of the fragments are too small to see with the naked eye or to feel when the meat is being processed. But the lead is there as shown in the x-ray and CAT scans during the research studies,” Hansen says. Hansen cleaning the wounds won’t prevent lead poisoning. “So when deer is shot with lead the fragments are scattered beyond the wound channel,” according to Hansen. “And that lead can be dispersed anywhere from two inches to eighteen inches outside the wound channel based on research. “ While the commission recognized people are poisoned by lead in Iowa, the secretary of the N-R-C, Kim Francisco , says this lead often comes from other sources.

Francisco made the motion to deny the petition, saying there is no strong proof that the venison donated to HUSH contained toxic lead.  “There are some legitimate concerns, and we heard it today, the presenters did a really nice job, about sub-lethal levels. Certainly understand that but 800,000 meals a year and we haven’t had any public health issues come up, “ Francisco says. The D-N-R reports five-thousand-281 deer were donated to the program in the 2012-2013 season. Kim Francisco, says HUSH serves a couple of purposes.

“The value of the program both to the people who are utilizing the meat and discussing the deer management problem in the state. And so providing an outlet for that meat that way,” Francisco says. The commission also made the point that it was not the right venue to address the problem — instead it should be taken to the legislature. The D-N-R says just over 56-thousand deer have been processed in the program from 2003 to 2012, which resulted in 10 million meals being provided.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Atlantic report the arrest on Thursday of 26-year old Lacey Dorris, of Atlantic. Dorris was charged with OWI/1st offense and three-counts of Child Endangerment. She was brought to the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Iowa’s hospital emergency rooms rank just short of the top ten nationwide, according to a new study which finds support for hospitals and emergency room patients is ailing. Dr. Jon Mark Hirshon, spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, says the report gave the country’s E-Rs a grade of D-plus overall, and Iowa was just a little better.  “Iowa actually did relatively well, they got a C overall and they were 11th in the nation,” Dr. Hirshon says. “They’re about average or a little above average.”

While the state has moved up in the rankings to 11th from 19th in the last study, conducted in 2009, Hirshon says Iowa has actually seen declines in a few key categories. “They did best in public health and injury prevention and in access to emergency care,” Hirshon says. “But having said that, there are significant medical workforce shortages that threaten people’s access to emergency care in Iowa. This has declined quite a lot since 2009.”

Overall, he says the quality of care in emergency rooms nationwide is deteriorating and while Iowa is rising in the rankings, he says state’s performance in some categories is still very poor. Hirshon says, “They’ve got the lowest per capita rate of emergency physicians, and near last for having specialists such as neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, orthopedists, hand surgeons and they’ve had a declining Medicaid C level since 2007.” He says Iowa’s rankings on the study should be red flags to residents.

“This really looks to be an alarming issue related to workforce and the ability to access physicians when you need them,” he says. The study ranked E-Rs in Washington D-C tops, followed by Massachusetts and Maine. The bottom-ranked states are: New Mexico, Arkansas and last, Wyoming. See the full report at www.emreportcard.org.

(Radio Iowa)

In an update to our story Thursday morning about a rollover accident just north of Interstate 80 near the Cass/Audubon County line, sheriff’s officials in Cass County report a Red Oak man faces numerous charges associated with the incident. Authorities say the driver of a Dodge van, 36-year old Timothy Welch, of Red Oak, was charged with Driving while Barred, 3^rd offense OWI, three-counts of Child endangerment, Possession of a Controlled Substance, failure to maintain control, and failure to obey a stop sign. He was also cited for having no proof of insurance.

The accident happened at around 4:10 a.m., as Welch, an adult female, and three children, ages 3, 4 & 5, were traveling on 710 Street. The van went out of control and rolled onto its side. The children and one adult were taken by Anita Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. Welch was transported to the Cass County Jail, where he was being held pending an appearance in front of a magistrate.

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A Red Oak man was arrested late Thursday night. According to Red Oak Police, 23-year old Devin Alexander Davis was taken into custody at the intersection of west Valley and north Broadway Streets at around 11:35-p.m.  Davis was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Revoked charge. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 cash bond.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened up tax filing early for some individuals. I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says those who qualify for free filing can get a jump on the process. “If you make 58-thousand dollars or less, you can sit at your computer and use brand name tax software and get your taxes done early with free file,” Miller explains. Miller says all you have to do is go online at I-R-S-dot-gov (www.irs.gov) to begin the process. “It’s a great program for first-time filers, students, families wanting to save money — even seniors — because it is so fast easy and free,” Miller says. He says they believe not everyone who is eligible is taking advantage of the free filing option.

“Last year in Iowa, around 26-thousand people used free file out of some one-point-four million filers,” according to Miller. “So, a a lot of people used free file in Iowa last year — but a lot more could.” Other filers have to wait until January 31st to send in their returns, but qualified free filers can now do it anytime. “As long as you have your W-2 in hand from your job, you can be in your pajamas and get your taxes done right now. All you need is an internet connection at a computer,” Miller says. Miller says the returns from the free filers will be entered into the system now and will be the first ones processed once that step begins after January 31st.

(Radio Iowa)