Heroin addiction is a very dangerous, growing problem in Iowa, according to a federal prosecutor for the state’s northern judicial district. Assistant U-S Attorney Dan Chatham prosecutes drug crimes, including dozens of heroin cases, the numbers of which have grown as users move from prescription meds to heroin. Chatham says the heroin on Iowa’s streets is getting more and more potent.

Chatham says, “We had a DEA resident agent-in-charge who came from down close to the border who was shocked when he started seeing us having 30% pure heroin in Iowa.” Speaking before the state’s Drug Policy Advisory Council in Des Moines on Thursday, Chatham says an especially powerful variant of heroin known as fentanyl started showing up in Cedar Rapids earlier this year.

“During that same time period, there were over 40 overdose-related calls for service, just in the first three months of 2015, just in this year,” Chatham says. “That’s an incredible number.” Chatham says dealers are meeting growing demand with the purer product. The Cedar Rapids Police Department has created a new position of heroin coordinator. A Des Moines police officer says heroin cases used to be rare and now they happen weekly. Chatham says bed space for critical detox is scarce and he adds, there’s a waiting list for a heroin opiate summit at the University of Iowa College of Public Health next month.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of Iowa presented 27 awards recognizing excellence in the tourism industry Thursday night (Oct. 22nd), in Fairfield, during the 2015 Iowa Tourism Conference. Carla Eysink, president of the Travel Federation of Iowa, said “The Iowa Tourism Awards are the highest honor given in our state’s tourism industry The winners are truly the best of the best.”

Awards to both metro and rural areas were made in 13 award categories. In addition, conference attendees voted for the People’s Choice Award; nominees were the second-highest scoring nominations in 12 of the categories.

In the category of “Outstanding Attraction,” the Hard Rock Hotel in Casino, in Sioux City, won the award in the Metro communities division. Manning’s “Kinderfest” event won an award for “Outstanding Event” in the rural division. Among the persons receiving an “Outstanding Individual Leader” awards, was Cindy Thompson, with the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board (Metro division), and Jay Hartz, with the Hotel Pattee, in Perry (rural division). The Hotel Pattee also won the “Outstanding Niche Marketing Initiative” award in the rural division.

The annual Iowa Tourism Conference brings together nearly 300 industry representatives from across the state to network, attend educational sessions and discuss emerging industry trends. Officials say tourism in Iowa generates more than $8 billion in expenditures, employs 66,500 people statewide and generates $374 million in state taxes.