The Atlantic Police Department reports an accident Thursday evening at 7^th Street and Hospital Drive caused about $4,000 damage to the vehicles involved, but there were no injuries. Officials say a vehicle driven by Tyler Nelson, of Atlantic, was traveling west on 7^th Street (or, Highway 6), at around 5:10-p.m., and approaching Hospital Drive.

At the same time, a vehicle driven by Lee Parrish , of Atlantic, was traveling east on 7^th Street and attempting to turn left into the Atlantic Shopping Plaza drive, when the arrow turned from green to yellow. Parrish proceeded to turn, when his vehicle was hit by Nelson’s vehicle. Parrish was cited for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control device.

The Iowa Board of Massage Therapy has taken action against a Harlan man. Officials said Friday (today), David North of Harlan, advertised his Shiatsu massage therapy practice in the Atlantic News Telegraph when he was not licensed to perform that therapy under Iowa Code. The IBMT seeks to impose a civil penalty upon North amounting to $1,000 per offense, per day up to a maximum of $10,000, based on the allegations.

The Board says the Practice of “Massage Therapy” includes the performance for compensation, of massage, myotherapy, massotherapy, bodywork, bodywork therapy, or therapeutic massage, which comes in several forms.

The Iowa Board of Massage Therapy says North has the right to have a hearing held on the matter within 30-days of its notice to impose a fine. The order was issued December 4^th.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A contest is underway to select a photo for the cover of next year’s Iowa Travel Guide. The annual publication from the Iowa Tourism Office is distributed to thousands of people around the state, country and world.

Iowa Travel Guide 2012

Iowa Tourism Office spokesperson Jessica O’Riley says last year Iowans were presented with three possible cover photos and voted on their favorite. The 2012 cover ended up featuring the High Trestle Trail near Madrid. She says this year, they’re taking it a step further and allowing people to submit their photos for possible inclusion in the travel guide. The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers.

O’Riley suggests submissions should capture the “spirit of Iowa.” That might involve a scenic landscape, a large crowd gathered at a tourist spot or a family picture somewhere in Iowa. “I certainly would not want to limit anybody…anything people see as they cross Iowa,” O’Riley said. Contest rules and submission forms are posted on the Travel Iowa Facebook page. The deadline for submissions is next Friday, December 21.

Finalists for the Iowa Travel Guide cover will be selected and then voting, via Facebook, will take place between January 23 and February 1. The cover design with the most votes will be declared the winner on February 4. Photos that don’t make the cover could be used inside the travel guide or on the Iowa Tourism’s website or Facebook page.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Colleagues of Congressman Leonard Boswell held a tribute to him Thursday, on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA)

“Hadn’t planned on this all coming to this kind of a closure, but it’s caused me to reflect back over life and I feel very blessed,” Boswell said. Boswell’s 16-year tenure in the U.S. House is coming to an end, as he lost his bid for reelection) “I have a regret: I’m sorry my mother couldn’t have heard this discussion today,” Boswell said, drawing laughter from the other members of congress who were on the House floor. Boswell, a Democrat, will celebrate his 79th birthday on January 10th.

Boswell was drafted at the age of 22 and served in the Army for 20 years. Congressman Bruce Braley of Waterloo said Boswell is “too modest” to talk about the two “Distinguished Flying Crosses” he was awarded for flying helicopter rescue missions in Vietnam.
“Leonard has always been a strong advocate for military families,” Braley said. “He has a lot of proud achievements in this body, but Leonard to me your proudest moment was when the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was passed in the House, passed in the Senate and signed into law by the president.” Congressman Steve King of Kiron, agreed that Boswell had a “noble and brave” career in the military.

Each member of Iowa’s delegation in the House paid tribute to Boswell. Congressmen from other states offered praise to Boswell as well, during the 40-minute tribute. Congressman Tom Latham of Clive, the Republican who beat Boswell in November, organized Thursday’s tribute.

(Radio Iowa)

The operator of a tile trenching machine suffered non-incapacitating injuries Wednesday morning in Page County, when a nut came loose on the steering wheel. Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports 31-year old John Mather, of Clarinda, was taken to the Shenandoah Memorial Hospital following the accident, which occurred at around 11:20-a.m. Wednesday, about 2-miles southwest of Coin.

The sheriff says Mather was operating a 2001 Hydro-Max 2600 field tile trencher southbound on F Avenue, when the steering wheel nut came loose. Mather tried to steer the machine but was unable to keep it from entering the west ditch and rolling onto its left side. Mather was able to jump from the trencher before it rolled. He was found on the ground in front of the machine and transported by private vehicle to the hospital, for treatment of his injuries.  According to reports, Mather has since been transferred to the trauma center at Creighton University in Omaha where he was undergoing treatment for multiple injuries.

The trencher sustained $300,000 damage, and was declared a total loss.

A federal audit found a “payment error rate” of two-point-seven percent in the state-run program that provides health insurance to children. The national average was far higher, more than eight percent. Only one state had a lower error rate than Iowa. The federal audit also reviewed Medicaid payments in Iowa and found a four-and-a-half percent error rate. Roger Munns of the Iowa Department of Human Services says that’s an improvement from the error rate discovered in a 2008 audit.

“Every time that an error is identified, we do a correction action plan for it and when you pay attention to things, good things happen,” Munns says. “But I don’t want it to make it sound like we’re perfect. Obviously there is still room for improvement.” Over 400-thousand Iowans are enrolled in Medicaid. The parents of nearly 70-thousand Iowa children have gotten low or reduced cost health insurance for their kids through the state-run “Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa” or HAWK-I program.

“I think it’s useful, I guess, to know that people are looking over our shoulder and they sometimes find things in which we don’t perform as well as we’d like and, in this case, we find that we perform better than many of our peers,” Munns says.

The American Medical Association’s annual analysis of private insurance company error rates was released this summer. It found nine-and-a-half percent of claims were paid incorrectly by private insurance companies.

(Radio Iowa)