No injuries were reported but one person was cited, following a collision Monday evening in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 42-year old Travis Boyce, of Osceola, was traveling south in the 1700 block of Highway 169 at around 4:30-p.m., when he fell asleep at the wheel of a 2004 Ford F-150 pickup. The vehicle crossed the center line of the road and collided with a northbound 2007 International truck driven by 23-year old Andrew Stalcup, of Mt. Ayr.

Damage to the straight truck, registered to the Farmers Co-Op of Afton, was estimated at $15,000, while the pickup sustained $10,000 damage. Authorities cited Boyce for Failure to Maintain Control.

The Iowa State Bar Association is recommending that voters retain all 63 Iowa judges and three state Supreme Court justices who will be on the ballot in November. Iowa voters do not decide between two candidates when it comes to judges — they are simply asked to vote on whether a judge or justice should remain on the bench. The state bar association survey of its members was administrated by a committee led by attorney Guy Cook.

“Lawyers are asked to rate judges and justices on knowledge of the law, temperament and demeanor. Promptness of rulings. Whether the judge or justice avoids personal observations. Decides cases on the law and the facts. Not by outside influence. And is courteous and patient with litigants. And treats people fairly,” Cook says. Cook says nearly 15-hundred attorneys were surveyed to compile the rating for judges.

“You have people who really know the process and interact with these judges on a daily basis. And have the information necessary to rate them. As opposed to some anecdotal story, something people have read in the news,” Cook says. Cook says the lowest score a judge could have and still get the Bar Association’s recommendation is 51 percent. None on this year’s judges rated below a 68.

Judicial elections had been an afterthought for voters until 2010 when three state Supreme Court justices were voted off the bench following their vote for the controversial ruling that overturned Iowa law and legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

You can find out more information about the professional qualifications and background of every judge on the November 8th retention ballot at the Iowa Judicial Branch website. (www.iowacourts.gov). There is also a link there to the Iowa State Bar Association recommendations.

(Radio Iowa)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Mason City mom has been accused of making her kids sleep in a feces-covered room. Online court records say 25-year-old Alexis Martinez was arrested Monday and is charged with three counts of felony neglect of a dependent person. Cerro Gordo County Jail records say she remained in custody Tuesday.  Court documents say Martinez forced her children, ages 2, 4 and 6, in late August to sleep for a week in a room that had feces on the walls and floor.

The Creston Police Department says officials with Agrivision (710 E. Taylor St.) in Creston, reported Monday that sometime between Aug. 13th and 14th, someone stole a zero-turn radius lawnmower from their business. The machine was valued at $3,500.

And, Monday afternoon, 52-year old Robbie Allen Dohrn, of Creston, was arrested in the 500 block of S. Birch Street in Creston, for allowing an animal to run at-large. Dohrn was cited for the offense, and then released.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Iowa Hospital Association’s legal counsel is pushing back against Governor Terry Branstad’s statement that having private companies manage care for Iowa Medicaid patients since April 1st has prevented “significant fraud and abuse.” Natalie Ginty of the Iowa Hospital Association spoke yesterday (Monday) during a “listening post” with federal officials. “IHA wants to emphasize that historically Medicaid fraud is extremely rare in Iowa and that if MCOs were actually finding fraud in billing from providers, there would be news of indictments for these supposed crimes,” she says.

One-hundred-18 Iowa hospitals are members of the association. Ginty says hospitals are having trouble getting proper payment from the three private companies. “Instead of fraud, providers are seeing a sharp increase in unpaid or denied Medicaid claims from the MCOs due to increased prior authorizations, unclear claims filing procedures and complete confusion by the MCOs on proper reimbursement requirements,” Ginty says. “…Rather than mislead the public with unfounded claims of fraud and abuse, IHA encourages the Iowa Department of Human Services to focus on real solutions to ensure managed care works.”

Branstad released a statement Monday morning, saying “managed care is working for Iowa taxpayers by stopping improper payments.” According to the governor, there were 318-million dollars worth of “improper” Medicaid payments to Iowa hospitals, doctors and other health care providers in 2014. Since April 1st of THIS year, Dani Valentine of Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics in Belmond and Clarion has tracked down nearly 30 payments due to her organization for care of Iowa Medicaid patients, but the checks were sent elsewhere. Some went to hospitals in other states.

“When I follow up…we usually get the run around,” Valentine says. “We get told: ‘Hey, we’re checking into it,’ or we get no response whatsoever and I think that’s the part that has been the most frustrating.” Confidential patient information has been misdirected by the private companies, according to Valentine. “I hope something can be done about this because six months in and all of the issues that providers and patients are dealing with is deeply, deeply frightening,” Valentine says.

Jennifer Pearson is supervisor of patient services for U-C-S Healthcare in Des Moines. Pearson says none of the three companies that have been managing care for Medicaid patients since April 1st will pay for the prescriptions for patients trying to kick an opioid addiction, so her company has been covering the cost. “We’ll not be able to sustain this for much longer,” Pearson says. “Approximately 375 patients will be affected if we can’t provide these services any more. Several people that are being successful in their recovery may be cut off of their medication, leaving them susceptible to relapse and huge setbacks from all the work that they have put in their recovery.”

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, methadone costs about 18 dollars a day for out-patient treatment. Officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services held a “listening post” Monday for Iowans with concerns about Medicaid privatization. Governor Branstad’s office issued a news release about 90 minutes before the event began, saying there had been an “unprecedental level of outreach” about the switch to privately managed care for the 560-thousand poor, elderly and disabled Iowans who are on Medicaid.

Branstad Administration officials say they’ve held 365 meetings throughout the state during the past 20 months to talk with patients and providers about the switch. A new state law requires state officials to hold monthly “listening sessions.” The next meeting is this Wednesday, September 14th, in Waterloo.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state report says auditors found dozens of public bidding improprieties by the Iowa Education Department. The report released Monday also says the department ignored a law that requires reports about efforts to prevent discriminatory employment practices.

The Des Moines Register reports the audit was for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015. It found 34 contracts that began service before formal approval while three did not include the state-required monitoring and review clauses. It also found that of 12 contracts that had been amended, six had not been properly authorized.

Department deputy director Jeff Berger says the bidding issues have largely been resolved. Berger also says the employment reports went undone because of an oversight, which he says will be corrected.

Police in Red Oak report a woman was arrested at around 10-p.m. Monday for felony Possession with the Intent to Deliver, less than 5 grams of Methamphetamine. 21-year old Darian Elizabeth Heideman, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at the intersection of W. Washington and N. Broadway Streets and brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where her cash bond was set at $50,000.

And, a Red Oak man was arrested early this (Tuesday) morning, for Driving While Revoked for OWI test failure. 29-year old Joshua Kenneth Wolcott was arrested at around 12:15-a.m. during a traffic stop in Red Oak. Walcott was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

A 26-year old man from Villisca was arrested late Monday night, for Public Intoxication. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports Gabriel Frances Romero was arrested a little after 9:20-p.m. in the 2300 block of Highway 71. Romero was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.