(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux City Planned Parenthood office is seeing an increase in patients from South Dakota and other states where abortion is now banned. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood North Central States, says as more states pass abortion restrictions, the clinic is poised to become a critical point of access for the Midwest. Traxler says, “Places like Sioux City that are situated in tri-state areas, not very far from rural areas, it’s going to play a really key role in expanding access for people across our region.”

The clinic is being careful in how it handles abortions for patients from states with bans, as Traxler says those patients now have to complete their medication abortion on-site. “Because none of us want to be placed in a position where we are charged with a felony, losing our medical license,” she says, “because then we can’t take care of anyone.”

The clinic is now open two days a week to accommodate Iowa’s new law requiring patients seeking an abortion to make two appointments, at least 24 hours apart.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly/end of month meeting this (Friday) morning. During their meeting last week, the Board heard from Engineer Trent Wolken, with regard to a move by the NRCS to accept a bid from Jorgensen Dirt Works, for the Crooked Creek 5C pipe replacement project. At that time, the Board elected to see if Wolken could obtain requests for quotes.

Cass County Secondary Roads Department Technician Dennis Vogl said Jorgensen Dirt Works was the lowest bidder at $18,326. He recommended, and the Board moved to approve, the bid. On a related note, the Board also acted to pass a Resolution to Vacate an Excess Right-Of-Way (ROW). The area lies around bridge #319, and is more than what is needed. Rich Hansen, Assistant to Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken explained.

Trent Wolken said last week, that he would like to vacate and then purchase the ROW needed for the bridge project. He said at that time, that it was technically an easement that was never called into play, and that there is no bearing on the current bridge. The Board tabled the Resolution last week, until Wolken could speak with the land owner. The Cass County Supervisors passed also, a Resolution for participation in the Safe Streets & Roads for All (SS4A) grant application process, which is part of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA) in the Federal Transportation Bill.

Rich Hansen explained the program provides a total of Five-to Six-Billion dollars in grants across the U-S, over a span of the next five-years.

The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. In the past, the County has used Safety Funds in the past.

The Boards of Supervisors in Guthrie, Montgomery and Pottawattamie County are among those in the area that have already approved their participation in the grant process.

In other business, Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes presented the Board with his Quarterly Veteran’s Affairs Report. And General Assistance Director Debbie Schuler presented also, her June GA/Mental Health report for June, 2022.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Glenwood man wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation, turned himself-in, late Thursday morning. Once the warrant was confirmed, 39-year-old Jared Daniel Newman was transported to the Pott. County Jail and turned over to Corrections Staff.

And, a woman from Des Moines was picked up by Pott. County Deputies, from Polk County Corrections and transported to the Pott. County Jail.  36-year-old Trafonia Massenberg was wanted on a valid warrant for Driving While License Suspended, and OWI/2nd offense. Her bond totals $3,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report indicates Iowa’s public health funding increased nine percent during the pandemic. Nadine Gracia is president and C-E-O of the non-profit Trust for America’s Health, which issued the report. Gracia says federal pandemic aid helped many states increase public health funding — and it’s important state and federal lawmakers invest more to address issues beyond COVID. “The public health needs of communities continues to increase,” she says. “We see increases in chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, which are leading causes of death and as well as leading drivers of health care costs.”

Gracia says increased funding can also help address workforce shortages in health care and update outdated data systems.  “It’s difficult to hire a workforce and maintain that workforce if you don’t have reliable and sustained funding for public health, whether it’s to respond to an infectious disease, like monkeypox, or efforts to be able to address some of the chronic conditions that we also see in communities,” Gracia said.

The Trust for America’s Health report found the state’s public health budget was 116-million dollars for the fiscal year that started July 1st of 2020.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs)

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report a man was arrested at around 3:30-p.m. Thursday. 23-year-old Jonathan Michael Palmer, of Creston, was arrested at his residence, on charges that include Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, and Disorderly Conduct. Palmer was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,300 cash, or approved surety bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa’s warm, dry weather has worsened the drought situation, while in states to the south, too much rain is the problem. That’s according to the latest Iowa Drought Monitor map which was released Thursday morning. The map shows over 56% of the state in abnormally dry conditions or some level of drought. That’s an increase of almost 10 percent. The hardest hit area is still northwestern Iowa. Extreme drought conditions, shown in red, have now extended into four counties there.

The Drought Monitor summary says “The Midwest saw a mix of degradations and improvements in the Drought Monitor this week, after weather was highly variable across the region. Hot and dry weather covered south-central and southwest Missouri, where flash drought continued to intensify and agricultural problems continued as a result.” Heavy rain fell in two areas, one from southeast of Kansas City to southeast Missouri, and a second in central, eastern, and northeast Missouri. The latter caused flash flooding in the St. Louis area and a record one-day rainfall at St. Louis Lambert Airport.” (click on the image to the right to enlarge)

Improvements to the drought situation occurred in parts of northeast Illinois, though heavier rains missed the severe drought area centered near Champaign. Drought expansion paused this week in the Michigan Lower Peninsula where widespread rain fell. Localized improvements were made in parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky where short-term conditions improved due to heavy rainfall. A mix of improvements and degradations occurred in Minnesota and Wisconsin around areas where heavier rain fell. Soil moisture deficits continued to mount in far northern Wisconsin, where moderate drought developed.

The latest 10-day forecast shows little chance for rain in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) -The last of the original staff members who got the Iowa Lottery up and running is preparing to retire. Larry Loss was working for a beverage distributor in Spencer when the Lottery started hiring to go into business. “There were 22-hundred people applied for 30 jobs. And I was fortunate enough to get one of those 30 jobs. And so I was able to start in July of 1985, with the Iowa Lottery,” Loss says. Larry was able to impress his new employers enough that they overlooked his last name when they hired him.  “I understand. There was some interesting conversation about that before I was hired, whether the lottery should hire anybody with the name of loss or not. I’m glad they decided they could,” Loss says.

It worked out well for both as Loss started as one of the youngest employees hired at 26 years old — and just marked his 37th year with the Lottery on July 28th. The Iowa Lottery is much different today than it was then when they started with one scratch ticket called “Scratch Match.” “We produced that one game, did everything of signing up retailers, getting locations ready to sell tickets, distributing tickets out to the retailers, so they could go on sale, ultimately, in August 22 of 1985,” he says. Loss says it was exciting for the employees to be making history and getting things underway — but it was also hectic.

“Oh, it was it was just wild, in some respects. Because the lottery started up in a hundred days,” Loss says. “And so from staffing and getting locations for offices, and vehicles and everything, the tremendous amount of work going on.” As a district sales reps he went out and worked with retailers to complete the license applications, they had to evaluate stores, get them licensed and get them ready to sell tickets when they eventually went on sale. Today’s jackpots are in the millions and some surpass one BILLION dollars but the top prize in the fist ever game was five-thousand dollars. Loss had one of the first big winners on the day ticket sales started in 1985 at the store in Spencer.

“The energy that was produced in Spencer that night with somebody winning a five-thousand dollar ticket, you know, it’s just incredible that first, everybody in the store was excited that somebody had won,” he says “the paper came down and took a picture of the winner, and everybody you know. It was a five-thousand dollar prize — but at that time it was a big deal.” He has a newspaper clipping of the story and picture from that day. Retailers had to stamp each ticket with their store name and number in the early days. Loss says technology has been one of the biggest changes he’s seen in the nearly four decades since then.

“Technology has opened the door that you can, with barcodes, with computers with communication systems that are way better — cell phone connections between terminals — you can just do things faster and easier than you could back in 1985,” according to Loss. Loss moved up from his first position to become regional manager of the Iowa Lottery’s Storm Lake office. He then moved to Lottery headquarters and advanced to his current position as the Lottery’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. He even had a two week stint at acting C-E-O during a transition in leadership. He says the constant challenges and opportunity kept the job interesting.

“It’s been tremendously fun to be part of a small organization that offers a statewide product. I’ve been able to be involved in the development of new products, and as technology changed, how can you use that technology to do different things with the tickets,” Loss says. “I’ve been involved with the design and development of the scratch tickets, which is the product that we sell the most of. And so, you know, there’s a lot of art and science and a little bit of luck that goes into creating those games and promotions around them. And it’s really been a lot of fun. And I’ve enjoyed it every day.”

Loss’ last day is August 18th, and says he will take a few months to enjoy retirement and decide what comes next. He does say he will continue on the board for the Heart of Iowa Mental Health Region, and explore other volunteer opportunities. It’s also rumored Loss has a lawn mowing passion and will continue those efforts.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – It’s day number three of the seven-day Cass County Fair in Atlantic. Activities begin at 8-a.m. with the Rabbit Show, followed by Part 2 of the Horse Show, at 9-a.m. The Dog Show gets underway at 11, and the Clover Kids Animal Show takes place at 3:30-p.m. The kids will get a chance to participate in the fast-paced Mutton Busting at 6:30-p.m., and the big event takes place at 8-p.m., with the Bull Ride, which is always popular.

The highlighted meal at the Fair today is chicken and noodles. The Cass County Fair is Free! No fee to park, and admission to all exhibits and entertainment is free. The bulk of the Cass County Fair runs through Monday evening. The week concluding Tuesday morning with the Livestock sale.

Here’s the complete Fair Schedule (click on the image to enlarge):

(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa spent nearly three-point-two million dollars over a decade in defense of former Governor Terry Branstad’s attempt to replace the state’s Workers Compensation Commissioner. The state’s Executive Council has approved the final payment of 371-thousand dollars to the Des Moines law firm that represented Branstad. Iowa Workers Compensation Commissioner Christopher Godfrey filed a lawsuit in 2012.

He accused Branstad of singling him out because he was gay, pressuring him to resign, then cutting his salary by a third when he refused . In 2019, a jury awarded Godfrey one-and-a-half million dollars. Two years later, the Iowa Supreme Court tossed out the jury’s verdict, ruling that there was no evidence to prove Branstad is anti-gay. Godfrey also alleged he was fired because business groups complained about his rulings on workers’ compensation cases.

The Supreme Court ruled whether correct or not, Branstad was entitled to take that perception into consideration and ask Godfrey to resign before his term had ended. Godfrey is now director of Workers’ Compensation Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa plans to offer a major in Risk Management and Insurance starting in the fall of 2023 as a way to strengthen the state’s largest non-agriculture economic sector. A U-I finance professor, Thomas Berry-Stoelzle,  will direct the new major. For now, he says U-I students can only get a certificate in the insurance program, which is similar to a minor.

“There used to be an insurance major here at the university that was discontinued in the mid-80s,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “I would say the local companies always wanted to get a major back. We started the certificate 15 years ago and there was always a push to expand the program.” The goal is to attract 20 students to the new major in the first year, expanding to perhaps 80 students within five years. Risk Management and Insurance may not have the curb appeal of some other majors, but Berry-Stoelzle believes it will definitely attract interest.

“The biggest selling point are the job opportunities here in the state. The insurance industry accounts for 11% of the state’s GDP and there are great career options for students in the state and in the region,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “The insurance industry is important for the economy as a whole and less cyclical when you think about longer-term careers.” The new major will be offered in the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, where graduates will be able to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree.

“The Risk Management insurance program at the University of Iowa is already recognized as a global center of insurance excellence by the International Insurance Society, and that puts us within the top 25 Risk Management insurance programs in the country,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “We hope that the major will further help us to elevate our reputation and become a top 10 program in the near future.”

Des Moines is one of the nation’s top hubs for insurance, and has been ranked third in the world behind Hartford, Connecticut and London, England. Some 212 insurance companies are now operating in Iowa, with dozens of them based in the Des Moines metro. So what makes Iowa such an insurance mecca? “A big advantage for insurance companies in the state is the predictable regulatory environment,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “There’s less politics involved in terms of regulation here in the state of Iowa, compared to other places.”

More than 60,000 Iowans work in the insurance and risk management profession. The industry is expected to grow in the future, as climate change, cyberattacks, and other hazards will require companies to better manage those risks.