(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers reports a meeting between the Board of Supervisors and AFSCME officials, representing the Sheriff’s Union, will exchange Initial Bargaining Proposals. The session takes place 9-a.m. Thursday, in the Supervisor’s Board Room inside the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic. No action will be taken other than the exchange of proposals.

(Radio Iowa) – At a time when many rural hospitals are closing their birthing units, a medical center in northwest Iowa is planning a significant expansion. Tara Geddes, chief nursing officer at Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars, says construction will start on a major project next spring that will broaden the scope of the maternal care department. “We offer anything from preconception through our medical clinic all the way through OB care and then delivery afterwards and postpartum care, again, through our clinic,” Geddes says. “So we currently have an inpatient unit and deliver a little over 100 babies per year within that unit and are looking at expanding that.” One of the first things moms-to-be will notice is the larger rooms, which Geddes says are getting a much-needed update.

Floyd Valley Healthcare

“They’re pretty small. They’re a little over 280 square feet and the new rooms will be 411 square feet,” Geddes says. “It allows the moms and their families to have more room to come and see the new babies, to have more room to spread out, and also as equipment has evolved through the years, the rooms get pretty tight.” Geddes says the hospital strives to meet the expectations of patients, and the plans call for a new arrangement for care rooms that should make the process a little easier for mothers.

“Currently, moms, when they come in, will labor in a room and then once they’re ready to progress to the end of delivery, they move into a delivery suite,” Geddes says. “This will allow them to stay in one room, so they’ll be able to labor there, deliver and then actually be able to stay in that room postpartum, so they don’t have to move to different rooms.” Radio Iowa reported on a University of Iowa study in May that found rural Iowa hospitals are losing birthing centers at “striking” rate, with the statewide number of labor and delivery centers falling from 77 in 2000 to just 46 in 2020. Geddes says the expansion in Le Mars will represent a change of setting, but not a change in care.

“Our patient load is one-to-one, so for every patient here to deliver, we have one nurse for that patient,” Geddes says. “They’re not taking care of other patients, they are able to give individualized care and really personalize that to the patient and their family and that will continue in our new unit.” Construction will begin in March and should take about a year and a half.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report two men were arrested Tuesday, on separate warrants. 58-year-old Timothy Jay Blank, of Dubuque (IA), and 50-year-old David Joy Anderson, of Carter Lake, were each arrested on warrants for Violation of Probation. Blank was taken into custody at the Polk County Jail. Anderson was arrested at the Miller County Jail, in Missouri. Bond for Blank was set at $5,000. Anderson’s bond was set at $20,000.

Sheriff’s officials said also, 63-year-old Paul Lowell Otten, of Riverton (IA), was arrested on I-29 in Mills County, for Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000.

(Nevada, Iowa/KCCI) — A woman charged with killing her child in Story County has pleaded not guilty to the crime. KCCI reports 23-year-old Sheyenne Shore faces charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death. Nevada (Nuh-VAY-duh) police charged her earlier this year in the death of her 7-month-old child. Court documents state the child suffered suffered multiple injuries. Another suspect, 35-year-old Juan Angel Montalvo Jr., also faces murder and endangerment charges in his case.

He’s currently being held in the Fresno County California Jail awaiting extradition.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A man in custody in Polk County in connection with a crime spree last year and who was arrested in Union County, now faces murder and theft charges. Investigators initially connected 24-year-old Davossi Wisdom to a bank robbery, other car thefts, breaking into a home and assaulting two people in January, 2022. He was convicted and is serving time for robbery and theft.

Police say Wisdom stole an SUV on Jan. 12, 2022. He ran over 32-year-old William Kline several times, and then drove away. Kline died from his injuries. Wisdom is now charged with first-degree murder, second-degree theft and leaving the scene of an accident.

(Monticello, Iowa) – One man is dead and another is in custody after a shooting Tuesday morning behind a Fareway store, in Monticello.  Police Chief Britt Smith said in a press release, that officers were called to the Fareway Store in Monticello at around 7:29-a.m., Tuesday, for a reported shooting. A 48-year-old store employee, later identified as Aaron McAtee, had been outside the store near the loading dock when he was shot. Investigators say the incident appears to be a random act of violence.

McAtee was flown to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he died from his injuries. The Monticello Fareway Store had previously released a statement on social media, saying it was a member of the “Fareway Family” that was shot, calling it a “senseless act of violence.” The store has since taken that post down.

A Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputy later found the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Nathan Russell of East Dubuque, in Hopkinton. While attempting to take Russell into custody, the man failed to comply with directions from the Deputy, who subsequently shot Russell. The suspect was also taken to the UIHC for treatment of his gunshot injuries.

The Delaware County Deputy who shot Russell has been placed on incident leave, pending the continued investigation. The incident was under investigation by the Iowa DCI, Jones and Delaware County Sheriff’s Offices. The incidents will be reviewed by the Jones County and Delaware County Attorney’s Offices.