(Davenport, Iowa) – A pursuit in eastern Iowa’s Scott County, Thursday night, resulted in a crash and two people injured. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 1988 Suzuki motorcycle operated by 28-year-old Dayshaun Rias, of Davenport, was actively eluding law enforcement, when Rias failed to yield the right-of-way to a 2016 Dodge Dart, driven by 25-year-old Ryan Harris, of Davenport. The motorcycle and car collided at the intersection of W. 2nd and Gaines Streets, in Davenport, at around 10:20-p.m., Thursday.

Harris was not injured in the crash. Rias, and a passenger, 26-year-old Jessica Brady, of Davenport, were injured and transported by ambulance to Genesis East Hospital, in Davenport. The incident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Davenport Police, Fire and Medic personnel.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A non-profit group whose goal is to put an end to the sex trafficking of minors, gives Nebraska and Iowa an F for how the States handle prosecution of the crime. Shared Hope International handed out grades in six different categories. Iowa got a B- for how the state holds traffickers accountable and a C for having other options when it comes to victims testifying against traffickers. But in all other categories, the group claimed Iowa failed.

Nebraska did well in criminal provisions with a B but failed in four other categories including response to victims, tools for victims, and prevention and training. Shared hope said the lack of safe harbor laws plays a major factor in the grading. “Those laws are ones that protect survivors from being re-victimized in the criminal justice system and that also give victims access to services that can help them recover from that,” said Stephen Padre from the organization.

Almost every state surrounding Iowa also got an F in the report.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The state-run Glenwood Resource Center for people with disabilities has allegedly failed to comply with all the requirements of a 2022 settlement agreement with the federal government. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the agreement was intended to address claims by the U.S. Department of Justice that the state had violated the constitutional rights of Glenwood residents and exposed them to unreasonable harm. The DOJ alleged that harm stemmed from “uncontrolled and unsupervised experimentation” on residents, as well as inadequate physical and behavioral health care.

Glenwood is run by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the same state agency that’s charged with protecting the health and welfare of children and dependent adults in Iowa. The agency plans to close Glenwood by the end of 2024.

As part of DHHS’ 2022 settlement with the Justice Department, the agency agreed to implement a wide range of changes intended to improve the overall care and treatment received by the residents of Glenwood. The agreement includes a provision that has resulted in a court-approved monitoring team checking on conditions in the home to ensure the state’s compliance with the agreed-upon standards of care. In October, the monitoring team completed one such review and recently submitted to the court a written report of its findings.

The report indicates Glenwood has failed to meet numerous standards in two critical areas: the protection of residents who are being transitioned into community settings as Glenwood moves toward the planned shut-down in 2024, and the clinical and medical care that’s now being provided to residents, In the area of clinical and medical care, Glenwood was found to be in substantial compliance in only 15 of the 65 standards that were evaluated. In the area of discharge and transition planning, the home was judged to be in substantial compliance in only four of 34 standards.

To be considered in substantial compliance with one of the agreed-upon standards, the home had to meet those standards in only 80% of the cases that were reviewed.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Thursday, arrested 37-year-old Ryan Allan Wells, from Red Oak. Wells was taken into custody at around 3:10-p.m. in the 1100 block of E. Reed Street, after officers responded to a reported theft. Upon further investigation, Wells was arrested for Possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawful possession of prescription drugs. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Three dog parks in the Quad Cities have been closed after a few cases of a mysterious respiratory illness have been diagnosed in local dogs. The illness has been reported in 14 states, leads to pneumonia in some dogs and, in rare cases, has been fatal. Dr. April Blong, a veterinarian, is a professor at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She says there have been no known cases at the university’s Small Animal Hospital and researchers do not yet have a definitive answer about what may be causing some dogs to get seriously ill.

“Until we have some idea or a better idea of exactly what we’re dealing with, it’s a little hard to track,” Dr. Blong says. Dr. Blong says just like when humans catch the flu, some dogs are getting far sicker from whatever virus this may be. “Just like with regular kennel cough that dogs get all the time, in certain individuals for whatever reason it seems to become more serious and can progress to an overt pneumonia that can be very serious,” she says. As with kennel cough, puppies and dogs with underlying health conditions like diabetes may be at higher risk.

“An animal with a chronic disease, you should just be more mindful of where you’re taking them, what they’re potentially being exposed to and the same with the young dogs,” Dr. Blong says. “There’s a lot of things younger animals can contract besides a respiratory illness, just by being in contact with other dogs.” That’s because it takes a while for the immune system in a young animal to fully develop. Coughing, difficulty breathing and lethargy are symptoms of respiratory disease in dogs. Dr. Blong says if your dog is healthy, though, being around other health dogs is a good activity.

“Dogs are social animals,” she says, “so if we keep them by themselves or don’t let them play with anyone or do anything, that actually could be detrimental from a behavior standpoint.” The American Veterinary Medical Association says dog owners should take their pet to a vet as soon as coughing or other respiratory symptoms appear. The medical group says researchers haven’t determined if recent cases of serious respiratory distress in dogs were caused by a virus or bacteria. There’s no indication the illness can spread to humans.