Two Iowans who served a combined 66 years in the U.S. House of Representatives say they’re glad to be sitting on the sidelines these days. Ninety-three-year-old Neal Smith, a Democrat from Des Moines, served 36 years in the House, starting when Dwight Eisenhower was president. “The people I served with, most of them wouldn’t be there today because they wouldn’t stay,” Smith says. “…It’s just so different. When I was there we put coalitions together on every bill. We just expected to.”

Former Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican from Iowa City, says he never saw a time as “intense” as this during his 30 year career in the House. “People didn’t think that dysfunctionality should be a goal or a strategy,” Leach says. Leach was asked if he’s happy not to be in congress right now. “Oh gosh yes. I’m happy to be sitting next to Neal and we’re both happy to be free men.” Leach and Smith are the guests on this weekend’s “Iowa Press” program which will be broadcast Sunday at noon on Iowa Public Television.

Both lawmakers were known for their low-budget campaigns. Leach refused to accept contributions from political action committees and Leach argues America has become “less democratic” because “power brokers” with deep pockets are calling the shots. “I always considered myself a moderate in politics, but on one subject I’m terrifically radical and that is I would take both PACs and corporations out of the money game and have partial public financing of elections where small contributions could be matched, up to a point,” Leach said on IPTV. Smith spend a little over 10-thousand dollars on his first race in 1958. By 1994, his last campaign, Smith had hired a fundraiser.

“I never did ask anybody for a contribution,” Smith said. “I just wouldn’t do it…Today, you couldn’t run for congress that way. Today, you have to spend one or two days a week asking people directly for money.”
According to Leach, that’s ridiculous. “Both parties tell all newly-elected members, ‘You have to spend two days a week on telephones raising money,'” Leach says. “Well how many voters think they’ve elected someone to do that? Money is the driving force behind everything in the word politics today. If there’s any reaction to what is happening in this shutdown, it ought to be a demand for reform of that system.”

Leach, who is 70 years old, is currently a visiting professor at the University of Iowa. The 93-year-old Smith credits his longevity to healthy living, as he never drank liquor or coffee and only smoked for three months when he was in his late teens.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say they have found skeletal human remains in a drainage ditch in Council Bluffs. Omaha TV station KETV reports officers found the remains Friday morning just south of the riverfront exit near Interstate 480 in Council Bluffs. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says the remains were of an adult. Police and criminal investigation crews remained on the scene long after the remains were gone, excavating the area in search of evidence. No human tissue had been found as of Friday afternoon. Investigators sent the remains to the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, for identification. The results are expected to take several weeks.

Police Sgt. Dave Dawson says officers were following up on a 2-year-old missing person report from Omaha police when they found the remains. The missing person, Chance Fletcher, was last seen in a chase with officers under the freeway bridge. Fletcher would have been 22-years old this year. On Dec. 15th, 2011, Fletcher led several Iowa law enforcement agencies on a high-speed vehicle chase that ended when he wrecked off of I-480 and fled on foot. Authorities searched the area for two hours with police canines that day but were unable to find the suspect. Fletcher’s family confirmed that he hasn’t been seen since that day. In March of 2012, he was entered into National Missing and Unidentified Persons Database.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say a law that allows a parent to give up custody of a newborn has been used 17 times since it was enacted in 2002. The state Department of Human Services says the latest safe haven case involves a girl born at a home on Oct. 5. The newborn’s mother sought medical attention and requested the child be declared a safe haven baby.

Iowa’s safe haven law allows a parent to give up custody of a baby that’s 14 days old or less with no questions asked. The law is in response to a 2001 case involving a mother accused of killing her newborn. All safe haven babies in previous cases have been adopted. Officials say the latest newborn girl has been placed with a foster family.

A conversation on the impact and benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) held Thursday evening in Red Oak, drew an audience of about two dozen people. Officials say attendees hear from panelists who shared their personal stories of how the ACA (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) will provide access to individuals and their families, under a variety of circumstance.

Audience questions included those pertaining to prescription medications and current dollar amount caps, whether ACA coverage is better than current coverage, and where to find help. The event was held at the Red Oak Fire Station.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Friday (Today), of an Atlantic man on on OWI charge.  35-year old Nicholas Alan Pelzer, was taken into custody a charge of OWI 2^nd Offense. Pelzer was brought to the Cass County Jail where he was released later in the day on his own recognizance.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) urges all Iowans over 6 months of age to receive their yearly seasonal influenza vaccine. Surveillance by IDPH influenza sentinel sites and confirmatory testing by the State Hygienic Laboratory shows the flu is circulating in Iowa. Three cases of seasonal influenza have been identified in eastern and central Iowa in the last two months; all were type A – the strain that can cause more serious illness. All the individuals are recovering and were not hospitalized.

IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk says “It’s important to note that influenza is not a ‘reportable disease’ in Iowa. This means health care providers are not required to notify IDPH each time a patient tests positive for influenza; thus there are probably a lot more people with the flu out in our communities.”

Influenza surveillance also gives an indication of the types of influenza viruses circulating, how sick people are getting with the flu, where outbreaks are occurring, and how widespread influenza illness is. Vaccination is the best defense against influenza, but personal actions also help prevent the spread of illness. Remember the 3C’s:

Cover your coughs and sneezes; Clean your hands frequently; Contain germs by staying home when ill.

The flu is a respiratory illness caused by viruses. The flu comes on suddenly and symptoms may include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches. Illness typically lasts two to seven days. Influenza may cause severe illness or even death in people such as the very young or very old, or those who have underlying health conditions.

Two people were arrested Thursday on separate charges, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Department says 32-year old Angela Danielle Neil, of Malvern, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail. And, 26-year old Nathan Michael Blezek, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday on a charge of OWI/2nd offense. His bond was set at $2,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An audit finds the Iowa Department of Education doesn’t use a competitive process for awarding nearly $67 million to schools or head-start programs for at-risk children and does little monitoring of those efforts.  The Des Moines Register reports  the audit released Thursday shows the grants are awarded to the same recipients without evaluations to determine if others have a greater need.

Jeff Berger, deputy director of the Iowa Department of Education, says the audit is fair and changes are underway. However, some education officials told auditors they have concerns about opening some funding to competition because private entities and other head-start programs may not be able to compete with public school districts. They argue that inconsistent money would make it difficult for districts to maintain standards for their programs.

A subcommittee of the Cass County Public Safety Commission is scheduled to explore a building which potentially could serve as a new 9-1-1 Center. The committee will gather 8-a.m. Monday, Oct. 14^th, at the former Rutherford/Knuth Law Offices on east 7^th Street, next to Nishna Valley Cycle.

Possible location of Cass Co. 9-1-1 Center (Ric Hanson/photo)

Cass County E-911 Director Rob Koppert says the building is a decent size, and while the Commission is exploring the option of privatizing Emergency/Public Safety services, there isn’t a lot of time left to act on that particular aspect, because of the current space and equipment needs. He says equipment and requirements for the Next Generation 9-1-1 systems the County needs to upgrade will also mean updating an 18-year old radio console/system, which runs on Windows 2000. The system was designed with a life expectancy of 12-years.

Rear view of the building.

Koppert says the Commission is looking for a building that can be used not only for the new 9-1-1 and radio equipment, but some offices to free up more space at the courthouse, which is already very cramped. He says the building is capable of housing the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), as well as the Emergency Management and E-911 Director’s offices. The Commission he says has been looking at several buildings because the equipment still needs to be ordered and installed before the current equipment fails.

The Knuth Building is a two-story structure.

Cass County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Wedemeyer has confirmed he has been in contact with a New Jersey company with regard to the possible privatization of County Emergency & Public Safety Communications. The County has been looking at options for the 9-1-1 Center, currently based in the courthouse. The Center is outgrowing its present facility, and efforts have been made to look into remodeling sections of the courthouse to expand the space, as well as other, possible locations for the center. Wedemeyer said he contacted Cranbury, NJ-based iXP (http://www.ixpcorp.com) before meeting with the Public Safety & Communications Commission on Sept. 23^rd, and presented some information about their services. 

Wedemeyer said they’ve been trying to negotiate a deal on another property for the 9-1-1 center, and some people has suggested other municipalities had opted for privatization. He did some research and brought it up to the Commission, which told him to move forward with exploring the option.

Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert told KJAN News Thursday night he wasn’t aware the subject would be brought up at next week’s meeting, and as far as he knew, neither was anyone on the Commission. Wedemeyer, who is the Supervisors’ representative on the Commission, said the County is only exploring the option at this time. 

He said “We wouldn’t do it if it weren’t financially better for the County. Mostly, where these companies are coming in is where there are unionized people with big retirement” packages. The private companies take over and are able to save money in those cases. He said he wants residents of the county to be aware the option is being considered at this time.

Ron Koppert said during the September meeting, that he wasn’t aware of any firms in Iowa or around the region that would handle 9-1-1 calls in the private sector, but Wedemeyer says there are very instances across the country, where emergency dispatch services have been turned over from County-run operations to a private provider. The topic has been broached at past ISAC (Iowa State Association of Counties) meetings, and Wedemeyer said the County should look into it before “We spend a lot of money.”

One such case where local governments have opted for privatization, is Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, NJ., which in January, 2013, agreed to hired iXP Corporation to handle its 9-1-1 dispatches.  iXP was awarded a two-year, $719,400 contract to run police dispatch for the community, whose population as of the 2010 Census was nearly 33,500. It was estimated the move would save the county $1.1-million over a period of 5-years. Another case is Sandy Springs, GA, an incorporated suburb of Atlanta with 94,000 residents, which has its 9-1-1 dispatch center also operated by iXP.

Wedemeyer says officials with iXP seem to think the County might not need its services, but additional information is needed. They told him “It looks like we’re doing a pretty good job the way we’re doing it,” but they want to conduct an assessment, which is not free.

The theory behind privatizing the service is to save a County money, but there are many questions that remain, including: How much money would be saved? Would the calls be routed to iXP’s facilities in New Jersey, or would there be a local office? Would the current dispatchers, with knowledge of the county be utilized? And, will the service be as efficient as the current system. We hope to learn the answers to those questions and others, during  Wednesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting, which begins at 9-a.m.