The state Supreme Court has approved the 2018 operating budget for the state court system that will be the same as it was last year. The Iowa Legislature approved nearly 176 million dollars for the court system budget. There was a budget cut in the 2017 budget, so the court will operate this year with three-million-dollars less than the 2016 budget. The court will continue the statewide hiring freeze that state court administrator David Boyd says left them with 150 vacant positions. Boyd says the cuts in staff will means work gets processed slower and there are fewer judges to decide cases.

“Iowans will not receive the same type of timely response from the judicial branch and the delivery of timely services that it has in the past,” according to Boyd. There are also cuts to training and education programs, as well as office supplies, furniture and non-I-T equipment. All court personel were required to take a day of unpaid leave on May 26th to make up for state budget cuts. The day off for the 14-hundred-46 employees was project to save 364-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa Health Care says it’s going cashless for clinic services. Patients won’t be allowed to cover co-pays or other medical expenses with cash or checks, starting Saturday.

System spokesman Tom Moore told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that going cashless will help the system save money on administrative costs. He says about 3 percent of the payments received by the University of Iowa Health Care are in the form of cash or checks.

University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital has been cashless since its new building opened in February.

Police in Creston are reporting just one recent arrest. 27-year old Spencer Jordan Leitzel, of Creston, was arrested Thursday night for Driving While Suspended. Leitzel was brought to the Union County Jail and later released on a $300 bond.

An accident involving a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) in Atlantic Thursday afternoon resulted in an Atlantic man being transported to the hospital. Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson this morning confirmed to KJAN News 50-year old Rex McDermott was involved in the crash that happened at around 4:57-p.m.

Lt. Paul Wood told KJAN News Thursday evening, that the UTV McDermott was operating had been traveling south on Mulberry Street when he failed to stop at the intersection with 10th Street. The machine crossed 10th Street and struck a utility pole guy wire on the south side of 10th Street.

The impact caused the 4-wheel machine to flip onto its side and land on a residential driveway. McDermott was ejected from the machine and transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital before he was flown by LifeNet to a hospital in Omaha.

Witnesses told police the man was traveling faster than the posted speed limit prior to the crash. The accident remains under investigation, with charges pending.

photo by KJAN News Director Ric Hanson