Michael Lee Rose, Sr.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports that on May 27th, Deputies were called at around 1-a.m., to 112 2nd Street, in Hepburn. The call was with regard to a verbal dispute involving a firearm. An investigation was made and a weapon was located in the residence. The Sheriff says Michael Lee Rose Sr. was arrested for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm (a Class D Felony). His cash or surety bond was set at $5,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa man who will be arraigned this month for exposing himself to a teenager was sentenced last week to two years in prison for another child-related crime. Twenty-nine-year-old Matthew Reynolds of Sigourney received a two year sentence for enticing a minor in Wapello County. The incident occurred in 2018. The Sheriff’s Office says video evidence showed Reynolds driving a blue Pontiac in downtown Eldon and following a 9-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother.

Reynolds eventually rolled down a window and told the girl to get into the vehicle. Both children ran and were not harmed. Reynolds also faces an indecent exposure charge in Mahaska County. His arraignment for that case is scheduled for June 21st.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican U-S Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is blasting Democratic President Joe Biden’s six-trillion dollar budget proposal, which was unveiled on Friday afternoon. Grassley calls the budget “reckless” and the timing “one of the oldest tricks in the book,” suggesting the administration was hoping no one would notice, heading into a three-day holiday weekend. “Biden’s budget would shatter previous records for spending and debt,” Grassley says. “Under his plan, debt would reach 117% of gross national product. That’s well beyond World War Two levels, even adjusted for inflation.”

The spending plan, which Grassley calls “massive,” aims to make good on many of Biden’s campaign promises, including reinvesting in education and infrastructure.  “It also includes a slate of new taxes which would be felt at all income levels across the country,” Grassley says. “Keep in mind, this is on top of this administration’s nearly $7-trillion spending proposals Biden already sent to Congress.” Grassley says presidential budgets usually arrive on Capitol Hill the first week in February with much fanfare, but the Biden plan is “bad news,” in Grassley’s words. “As a member of the budget committee, I’ll push to restore some sanity to government spending,” Grassley says. “We simply cannot continue this reckless spend and tax strategy.”

Friday on Twitter, Biden tweeted that the budget “builds on the progress we’ve made over the last few months and makes historic investments that will help our nation build back better for decades to come.”

(Radio Iowa) – An infectious disease specialist in Fort Dodge says to hit the goal of herd immunity against Covid, vaccination rates must increase in Iowa and Dr. Megan Srinivas says creativity may be the key. “We’ve seen that incentive systems do work,” Srinivas says. “We saw in New Orleans that just having people who were willing to vaccinate during the time when people were going out at night and saying: ‘Hey, this bar is partnering with us. We’ll give you a free drink if you get your Johnson & Johnson one shot vaccine,’ was extremely effective.”

A chance to win a million dollar lottery prize has significantly boosted the Covid vaccination rate in Ohio. Dr. Leyla Best, an infectious disease specialist with UnityPoint, says one-on-one discussions with patients are key to addressing myths about the vaccines. “I always like to take the opportunity when I see patients in my clinics…to talk about, ‘Have you been vaccinated?'” Best says. “And without pushing — I’m not pushing or making people get the vaccine — I want to understand what their fears are.”

Best says this has been a difficult year for everyone and it’s important for physicians to be available for their patients to answer questions. About 43 percent of Iowans are fully vaccinated. Both Best and Srinivas specialize in health care outreach to rural areas. The two doctors made their comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television.

(Radio Iowa) University of Iowa researchers are sending out surveys to randomly-selected Latino households in nine Iowa counties with significant Latino populations to gauge the long-term impact of COVID-19 on that segment of the population. Miriam Velez-Bermudez is one of the U-I doctoral students leading the study. She says the findings will be sent to organizations throughout the state to help public health responses in the future. “We can’t address those needs if we’re not able to assess them,” Velez-Bermudez says. “So, this is sort of the first step in knowing what needs there are, so it can inform public health measures moving forward.”

The surveys come with a five-dollar incentive. The researchers hope to have enough data to analyze by early summer. U-I researcher Crystal Garcia says she’s starting to receive feedback and the responses will help the team figure out what effect the virus is having on Latinos in the state. “We don’t really have a good sense of what those long-term impacts might be,” Garcia says. “We’ve heard food security, mental health, but really quantifying what that looks like.”

Other organizations have tried to find that data in the past, but their efforts hit obstacles. Garcia says with their research, “disappearing is not an option.”

(By Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

With Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The pandemic has put extreme pressure on Iowa’s food pantries and soup kitchens and there’s no sign of it letting up as families continue to struggle. Michelle Book, president and C-E-O for the Food Bank of Iowa, says a COVID-19 vaccination won’t cure poverty in Iowa. “Before COVID, food insecurity was hovering right around 10%. COVID struck, and immediately, the demand doubled,” Book says. “We have seen things leveling off but still higher than pre-recession levels.”

In the past month, Barilla donated more than eight truckloads of pasta to the Food Bank, the equivalent of 166-thousand plates of pasta. Even with that generous donation, Book says there’s a constant demand for more food and more funds. “One in six Iowans and 20-percent of our kids, one in five Iowa children, suffers from food insecurity,” Book says. “We don’t expect those levels to decrease to pre-COVID levels for the next year or two.”

The Food Bank of Iowa rescues safe, edible food which would otherwise clog landfills and gets it quickly to food insecure Iowans through an established network of 650 smaller front-line, hands-on partners. Still, she says, the need is persistent, especially with the pandemic continuing to loom. “Folks that were already struggling with poverty or were hovering right there on the precipice of not being able to make ends meet,” Book says, “those folks are going to have a tough time for months and perhaps years to come.” Across Iowa’s 99 counties, 324 grants totaling more than three-point-four million dollars were awarded to Feeding America partner pantries and feeding sites. The money is being used to mitigate additional costs to front-line food assistance providers who stepped up to respond to unusually high demand during COVID.

On the web: www.foodbankiowa.org

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest on May 28th, of 29-year-old Amanda Steinbach. The Creston woman was taken into custody at her residence, on charges that include Driving While Barred, and Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Offense, the bond for which $3,000. She was also being held on a Union County Warrant for Failure to Serve Jail her Sentence, on original charges of Burglary 2nd degree amended to Accessory After the Fact, and Violation of Probation. Steinbach was being held without bond on those charges, with the balance of her sentence to be served before she’s released.

At around 2:50-a.m. Saturday, Creston Police arrested 42-year-old Brady Richert, of Creston, on the charge of OWI 2nd Offense. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond. And, Monday afternoon, 33-year-old Robert Johnson, of Banning, CA, was cited in Creston and subsequently released, on a Summons to Appear, on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree for an incident that occurred at the Dollar General Store in Creston, on May 29th.

With News Director Ric Hanson.

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