DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa residents are largely expressing support for a plan to expand low-income health care, although there are still questions about some of the details.  About 75 people attended a public hearing Monday in Des Moines on the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan.

Under the plan the state will accept federal dollars offered to states that expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. That funding will be used to provide health coverage for as many as 150,000 low-income residents by putting some on a new state-run program and to pay the premiums for others to get private insurance on the new health care exchanges.

Attendees questioned how proposed health incentives would be structured in the plan and why transportation for non-emergency appointments is not covered. Another hearing on the health care expansion plan will be held 11:30-a.m. Tuesday, in the Looft Hall Auditorium at Iowa Western Community College (2700 College Road), in Council Bluffs.

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – The Monona County auditor has been released on a promise to appear in court after her arrest on charges of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.  The Iowa Department of Public Safety says in a statement that 27-year old Brooke Kuhlmann scheduled a methamphetamine buy and pickup from an undercover Iowa State Patrol officer on Monday who had seized a dealer’s cell phone the day before.

After the drug purchase, Onawa police initiated a traffic stop and took Kuhlmann into custody for questioning. She was arrested, charged and released. Kuhlmann, a Democrat, is serving her second term as auditor.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Department reports two men were arrested recently. 27-year old Lance Nicholas Schmidt, of Omaha, was arrested early this (Monday) morning for Violation of a Protective Order. And, 47-year old Carl David Galvan, of Glenwood, was arrested Friday night on a Public Intoxication charge. Galvan and Schmidt were held in the Mills County Jail on $300 bond, each.

And, sheriff’s officials say no injuries were reported following a collision Sunday afternoon. A 2009 Ford Super Duty pickup driven by Roscoe Moore, of Plattsmouth, NE, was pulling a travel trailer westbound on the Bellevue Bridge at around 12:10-p.m., Sunday, at the same time a 2009 Ford tractor pulling a hay rake, and driven by Robert Brandon, of Pacific Junction, was traveling east on the bridge. The hay rake tapped the side of the bridge, causing it to swerve and hit the travel trailer. A damage estimate was not available.

Police in Red Oak arrested an Emerson man this (Monday) afternoon.  41-year old Darold Eugene Bredberg was taken into custody in the 400  block of East Washington Avenue, at around 2:10-p.m. on a “Breach of  Peace” charge. Bredberg was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

Police in Shenandoah report the arrest on Saturday of a Wisconsin man. 18-year old Kenneth Gerner, of Hillsdale, WI, was taken into custody for possession of controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after being questioned about a possible BB gun shooting. Gerner was leaving the Nishnaland Seed building at around 8-p.m. when he was approached by officers. He was subsequently released on $1,000 bond, with orders to appear in court at a later date.Officials say the investigation into the incident continues, and other charges are possible.

An Atlantic man was arrested Sunday. The Atlantic P-D says 24-year old Marshall Fischer,  was arrested on a charge of Disorderly Conduct. Fischer was transported to Cass County Jail and booked in.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region VII office announced today (Monday), that the states of Nebraska and Iowa, along with Washington County in Nebraska and Pottawattamie and Harrison counties in Iowa, will participate with the Omaha Public Power District in a one-day exercise on Tuesday, August 6th, in support of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, located near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. The routine exercise will test the abilities of the states of Nebraska and Iowa, the utility, and the participating counties to protect the health and safety of the public living and working in the vicinity of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station.

The exercise is a biennial requirement to determine the adequacy of the state and local radiological emergency preparedness and response plans. It will require the activation of emergency facilities by the participating state and local officials. The activities of the state, county and local units of government will be observed and evaluated by the FEMA Region VII Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) Program. Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station on-site performance will be observed and evaluated by officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

On Thursday, August 8th,  a public meeting will be held to describe and explain the full-scale response exercise process. Because the process of evaluating the full-scale response exercise will take months, the preliminary findings are very limited in scope.

Members of the public and the media are invited to attend the meeting beginning at 10:30 a.m.  in the City Council Chambers of Blair City Hall, located at 218 South 16th Street, Blair, Neb. Representatives from FEMA Region VII will chair the meeting and explain the exercise process.  A representative from the NRC Region IV office, located in Arlington, Texas, will discuss activities conducted on-site at the power plant during the exercise.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa residents have a chance to weigh in on the state’s plan to expand low-income health coverage.  A public hearing is scheduled for this (Monday) afternoon in Des Moines on the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. The hearing is part of the process the state must go through to get federal approval for the plan.

Under the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, the state will accept federal dollars offered to states that expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. That funding will be used to provide health coverage for as many as 150,000 low-income residents by putting some on a new state-run program and to pay the premiums for others to get private insurance on the new health care exchanges.

Another hearing will be held Tuesday, in Council Bluffs.  It begins at 11:30 a.m., at Iowa Western Community College, Looft Hall Auditorium (2700 College Rd.).

(Today’s meeting in Des Moines takes place 2-p.m., at  River Place, Room 1, 2309 Euclid Ave.)

A pickup truck reported stolen from Taylor County over the weekend was discovered Sunday, in rural Union County. According to the Lenox Police Department, the owner of a  pickup reported at 9:30-a.m., he had entered the Casey’s parking lot, parked his vehicle and left the keys in it. When he went to get in the truck, the keys were missing.

The owner called a friend, who picked him up and brought him to his residence in Afton, where he held a spare set of keys. When he returned to the store’s parking lot Sunday morning, the truck was gone. The Lenox P-D notified area law enforcement agencies, and the missing vehicle was found Sunday in rural Union County by Union County Sheriffs Deputies. The truck, a white 2006 Chevy Silverado was believed to have been taken sometime between 1-a.m. and 3-a.m., Sunday. Lenox Police are asking anyone who may have driven by the Casey’s General Store in Lenox during that time frame and noticed any activity, to call the P-D at 641-333-2929.

The Iowa Department of Education has come up with new proposed rules for when schools can start classes in the fall. Current law says schools can start no earlier than the week in which September 1st falls, but most schools get waivers to start earlier in August. Under the new formula, schools could continue to easily get waivers to start between August 19th and 23rd, but it would be tough to start any earlier. The Education Department’s Mike Cormack says the plan will still leave some people unhappy.

“It’s one side that says schools should be able to make whatever decision they want on this and that’s been the defacto status quo,” Cormack says, “and the other side says the law has a date there for a purpose. Why are we not having a September 1st start?”

The new proposal is considered a compromise between educators who want to set their own calendars and the tourism industry which loses money when kids go back to school earlier in August. Cormack says with their current calendars, 30-percent of school districts would be affected by the new formula, but most would miss the new cutoff date by only a few days. The change means it will be harder to start school before the state fair concludes, which will upset some administrators and parents.

“We’ve had people from both perspectives say if we don’t like how this comes out we’ll sue you,” he says. “We’ve heard that from both elements.” If the board approves the new rules this week and a legislative committee signs off, the change would go into effect for the 2014 school year.

(Radio Iowa/9-a.m. News)