A new watchdog report finds Veterans Affairs medical centers still aren’t adequately addressing wait times for veterans requesting care and some hospitals continue posting the wrong numbers to make it appear like wait times are improving. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the issue came to light two years ago and Congress reacted.

“We appropriated more money,” Grassley says. “We made it possible to fire people that weren’t doing their job. We made it possible for people that aren’t getting help from the VA within 30 days to go to private practitioners. None of this stuff that we thought corrected this is working out the way we anticipated.”

While the V-A claims the average wait time for a veteran to get service is between four and 28 days, the report from the Government Accountability Office says in the cases reviewed, the actual averages were between 11 and 48 days. Some newly-enrolled veterans waited more than 70 days to be seen.

“There’s been some follow-up by Congress,” Grassley says, “but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s not a case of more money, a case of more laws, it’s a case of administration, people listening to whistleblowers, not punishing whistleblowers, following up on whistle blowing, firing the people that aren’t doing their job.”

The controversy came to light in 2014 after it was reported the V-A medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, was falsifying wait times and at least 40 veterans died while waiting on care. The suicide rate among veterans continues to bound. Five years ago, a study found 16 veterans a day took their own lives. Today, that suicide rate has climbed to 22 veterans per day.

“I’m not surprised to hear this report,” Grassley says. “I will study the report and I will do the appropriate follow-up. I’m going to do everything I can through the constitutional responsibility of oversight to make sure veterans are treated the way they were promised.” The G-A-O report reviewed scheduling records for 60 veterans at three V-A hospitals and found improper scheduling in 25-percent of the appointments. (View the full GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-328)

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education, Monday night, approved savings of nearly $140,000 by making budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2017. Superintendent Brett Gibbs told KJAN News nearly $96,000 in those reductions are due to the Superintendent Sharing arrangement with Coon Rapids-Bayard. The reductions also include reducing one-half a Vocal Music position, and, a 9^th grade Volleyball position won’t be filled. Gibbs said there are a number of factors that led to the cuts.

Declining enrollment and lack of State Supplemental Aid he says, leaves schools little choice to make cuts. “We’ve been cutting here for a long time through attrition and early retirements, but this year we’ve got to the point where we actually had to reach out and go a little deeper then that.”

In other business, the Audubon Board approved a letter of resignation from first-year High School English Teacher Kourtney Self, who has accepted a position in Avoca, where she and her husband lives and her husband teaches. The District will begin advertising to fill her position, soon. The Audubon School Board also approved an LED lighting project for the first floor of the 5-through 12 building.

MidAmerican Energy is providing a rebate of nearly half the cost to replacement fluorescent lights. The project will be paid for out of PPEL/SAVE funds, not the General Fund. He said it should also allow the district to save some energy dollars, going forward. And, they approved end-of-season softball field improvements.

A crew with the Iowa Cubs will come in after the season concludes, and re-do the entire softball infield. And, a bid from Devore Fencing was approved. They’ll remove the old fence and install a new fence around the softball field. Gibbs said the new softball field lights are up, but not connected to a power source. The old poles will be coming down soon, and the project is expected to be completed no later than this fall.

The Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council, along with Kemin Industries, formally recognized the six 2016 I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award recipients during a reception hosted by Gov. Terry Branstad at Terrace Hill, Monday night.

Among the six 2016 I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award recipients, was:

• Erin Wetzel, Project Lead The Way and computer teacher, Southwest Valley Middle School
• Kent Muyskens, science teacher, Carroll High School

The award, sponsored by Kemin Industries, was created in 2014 to celebrate one K-12 STEM teacher from each of the six STEM regions who exemplify I.O.W.A., being Innovative in their methods, Outstanding in their passion for education, Worldly in how their students see that STEM is all around them and Academic in engaging students both in and out of the classroom. Each recipient was nominated by a fellow educator, school administrator, student or parent and submitted an application that was evaluated by a panel of judges. Each received an award of $1,500 with an additional $1,500 designated for their classroom.

The ceremony was attended by nearly 150 STEM leaders and supporters from across Iowa. To learn more about the award please visit www.stemaward.fluidreview.com. For pictures of the event and of each recipient, please click here.