The Cass County Democratic Central Committee will be holding a school supplies drive to help local Cass County students have new supplies for the 2015-2016 school year. Chair Sherry Toelle reported that the Committee has donated school supplies to each of the three school districts over the past three years.

Toelle says “This is who we are as Democrats—helping those who could use a helping hand, providing school supplies that some students otherwise might not be able to afford. We think it is important that we live our Democratic values.”

The Central Committee welcomes donations of new school supplies, such as backpacks, notebooks, pencils and pens, rulers, scissors, and other needed items. Donations can be dropped off at the Democratic Party’s booth at Atlantic Fest or by calling Toelle at 243-4861. The donated school supplies will be distributed the week of August 17th.

A Georgia man whose son died after using synthetic marijuana was the keynote speaker Thursday at a conference on synthetic drugs in Sergeant Bluff. Lynn Dyer’s 14-year-old son Dakota took his own life three years ago. “He tried it once. He tried it and went through what they call a psychotic break, took his handgun and shot himself in the head,” Dyer says. “He made an extremely bad decision over a very shot amount of time — and it cost him his life.”

Dyer’s wife is a health care professional and he says they had no idea that K-2, Spice and other such synthetic drugs existed, or that their son knew about them. “We’d had all the talks with our sons — the alcohol, the sex talk, the drug talk — we had them all. We didn’t know what synthetic drugs were, she didn’t and she dealt with drugs every day in the hospital. And when we found out what facilitated our son’s death, we became self-educated,” Dyer explains.

The Bremen, Georgia resident established a foundation in his son’s name and travels the country speaking about the dangers of synthetic drugs. He has three goals. “Education of our young people and parents. Two is to facilitate and help law enforcement, first responders and E-M-S with education, awareness and information on where this stuff is coming from. And third, is hopefully, prevent a parent from going through what we went through,” Dyer says.

He says the substances are packaged in pouches designed to appeal to teens. “They market these products strictly to our young people. You see flashy little bags, you see one that has Scooby Doo on it called Scooby Snacks, you see on that has the smiley face on it,” Dyer says. “There’s just countless different kinds and they are all in flashy little bags geared to our young people.”

You can find out more about the dangers of the drug at the Dakota Dyer Foundation on-line at dakotadyerfoundation.org.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 26-year-old Sioux City woman accused of causing her son’s skull fracture has been given probation. The Sioux City Journal reports that Kara Jackson was sentenced on Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court. She was given three years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of five years. Jackson pleaded guilty in June to one count of child endangerment resulting in injury.

Jackson’s 5-month son was admitted to a hospital emergency room on Feb. 26. In court documents, Jackson and the baby’s father, Aaron Tucker, accused each other of dropping the child on several occasions. Prosecutors closed their case against Tucker in March, saying it was unclear whether Tucker was at fault.

An Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) annual report on problem gambling treatment outcomes indicates while treatment is successful for most individuals, more than half of Iowans don’t know it is available. Only 44 percent of Iowans are aware treatment for problem gambling is available.

According to the 2014 Iowa Gambling Treatment Outcomes Monitoring System report, the greatest treatment success was among those clients who received four or more services (such as individual face-to face-counseling) within the first 30 days after admission, those who received recovery support services (care coordination, education, and recovery peer coaching), and those who received treatment via e-therapy (phone, Web, chat, text, video, etc.). The report and analysis, which were compiled by the University of Northern Iowa Center for Social and Behavioral Research, found significant evidence that treatment works. For example, after discharge, the number of days a client reported gambling in the past 30 days dropped from eight days upon admission to treatment to one day at discharge. The vast majority (92 percent) of clients at discharge reported reduced signs of problem gambling. The signs include:

• Thinking a lot about gambling, such as past gambling experiences, future gambling ventures, or ways of getting money for gambling
• Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or with larger bets in order to get the same feeling of excitement
• Repeatedly trying to cut down or stop gambling without success
• Feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling
• Gambling to run away from problems or to get relief from feeling depressed, anxious, or bad about yourself
• After losing money gambling, often returning another day in order to win back losses
• Lying to family members, friends, or others in order to hide gambling from them
• Losing or almost losing a significant relationship, job, or an educational or career opportunity because of gambling
• Relying on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling

The report found older clients (age 51 or older) were more likely to complete treatment than younger clients (18-50 years) and male clients were more likely than females to stay in treatment. Clients who had been trying to control their gambling on their own before admission were more likely to complete treatment than those who said they were ready to change their gambling behavior, but hadn’t actually made any changes prior to treatment.

To learn about treatment options or to speak with someone about problem gambling concerns, visit www.1800BETSOFF.org or call 1-800-BETS OFF.