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

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This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Iowa and the yearly event is among the reasons why the number of survivors continues to grow across the state and nationwide. The death rate from breast cancer in this country has dropped by more than a third over the past 25 years. Roger Dahl, executive director with Susan G. Komen in Iowa, says increased awareness has led to an increase in women getting regular screenings and that saves lives.

“Because in those early stages of breast cancer it is far more treatable,” says Dahl. “The variety of treatment options available today make early detection even more important.”

Dahl recommends women get annual mammograms starting at age 40 or talk to their health provider about the possible need for earlier screenings if they have certain risk factors, such as family history. Dahl notes that risk factors or not, around one-in-eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. “So we really try to emphasize, don’t assume that breast cancer does not impact you, because chances are, sooner or later, unfortunately it will,” he says.

In Iowa, there are about 2,400 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year along with around 400 deaths.

(Iowa News Service)

Iowa school districts are encouraged to apply for federal funding to replace old school buses that emit large amounts of air pollution. Karen Grimes, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says only a few Iowa districts are likely to be awarded a share of the money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “There’s $7 million available nationwide…so that’s only about $140,000 per state,” Grimes said. Last year, seven school districts in Iowa were awarded EPA funding toward the purchase of at least one new bus.

Last year, seven school districts in Iowa were awarded EPA funding toward the purchase of at least one new bus. They were the Cherokee, Columbus, North Linn, Odebolt Arthur, Starmont, Waverly-Shell Rock, and West Delaware Community School Districts. Grimes says school buses built before 2007 have diesel engines that emit tiny particles linked to some serious health problems. “You know, here are school children who wait for those buses, often as those buses are running,” Grimes said. “So, it’s a really great program and opportunity to cut those diesel exhaust fumes down and make it safer for our kids.”

School districts have until October 30 to apply for the EPA funding rebates, which can be used to purchases new buses. The Iowa Department of Education reports there are around 6,000 school buses in the state and roughly one-third are from model years 2006 or older. Buses built after 2006 were designed to cut emissions by 90-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

Among the bacterial infections that are tracked by state health officials, sexually-transmitted diseases are the most frequently reported.  According to George Walton, a program manager for the Iowa Department of Public Heath, “Chlamydia definitely has the greatest number of new diagnoses, by far, compared to any other sexually-transmitted infection.”

State law requires doctors and laboratories to report confirmed cases of chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, H-I-V and AIDS to the department. There were more than 11-thousand cases of chlamydia confirmed in Iowa last year. “It is relatively easy to diagnose and treat, but you have to be looking for it,” Walton says. “…The testing that we have available now is very sensitive…not nearly as many false-negatives as we saw with older testing technology.”

Chlamydia is the most common infectious disease in the United States. If left untreated, chlamydia can make it difficult for women to become pregnant. The recommended treatment now for chlamydia is a single dose of a prescription drug. The second-most prevalent sexually-transmitted disease in Iowa is gonorrhea. About 16-hundred cases of gonorrhea were reported in Iowa last year. Walton expects even more cases to be reported this year.

“That’s one that we’re really keeping an eye on for a number of reasons,” Walton says. “One is there’s a lot of concern with antibiotic resistance with that particular infection.” The other most common sexually-transmitted disease in the U.S. and in Iowa is syphilis. There was a 450 percent INCREASE in the number of new syphilis cases in Iowa in 2013. Syphilis is highly-contagious, but it can be treated with one dose of penicillin.

There were 99 cases of H-I-V infections diagnosed in Iowa during 2014. That was a “significant decline” of 19 percent from the year before according to Walton, but he expects the number of confirmed cases of H-I-V to be higher in Iowa this year. “My guess is that it’ll be closer towards the average for the last five years,” Walton says. Other types of infectious diseases that must be reported to state officials include any of the five strains of Hepatitis.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Farm equipment manufacturer Deere and Company says United Auto Workers members have approved a new six-year labor agreement that covers facilities in multiple Iowa cities. Deere and UAW reached a tentative agreement last week. The company said in a statement Sunday it received notification that UAW members had ratified the deal.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad’s executive order to create an office for bullying prevention in schools bypasses failed legislative action on the issue. But the September 28th move raises questions about how the small office will tackle major problems. Alan Heisterkamp is the director of the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Northern Iowa, which will manage the Governor’s Office for Bullying Prevention.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and injuring his brother. The Sioux City Journal reports police were called to the home where the stabbing happened around 3 a.m. Sunday. The victim told police that his 32-year-old brother, Lonny Reuney, had stabbed him. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment, and Reuney was taken to the Woodbury County Jail. Reuney is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 100 people watched the Riverfront YMCA in Des Moines crumble to the ground. The Register reports the building imploded Sunday when workers set off about 100 pounds of dynamite that had been placed around the 1957-built structure.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and injuring his brother. The Sioux City Journal reports police were called to the home where the stabbing happened around 3 a.m. Sunday.

The victim told police that his 32-year-old brother, Lonny Reuney, had stabbed him. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment, and Reuney was taken to the Woodbury County Jail. Reuney is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating an incident of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon. Authorities say at around 12:10-p.m., Sunday (Oct. 4th), officers responded to the area of 1800 block of Ave “B” for a report of shots fired. Upon their arrival, police found shell casings in the street and several residents who had witnessed the
incident.

An investigation revealed that persons unknown in a suspect vehicle were traveling eastbound in the 1800 block of Ave “B,” when several shots were fired from the inside the vehicle. A pedestrian on the sidewalk at the time of the shooting was not injured, but one of the rounds did strike the outside of a residence in the area.

No one in the home was injured during the shooting, and the round fired did not penetrate to the interior of the residence. The Council Bluffs Criminal Investigation Division is currently following up on this incident. Anyone with information
regarding the incident is requested to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4765 or Crime Stoppers Hotline at 712-328-7867.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Sunday) morning resulted in a Nebraska man being arrested on drug charges. Red Oak Police say 52-year old Douglas Lee Kuester, of Ralston, NE., was taken into custody at around 1:10-a.m., after the car he was driving was pulled over at the corner of N. 3rd and E. Market Streets.

Following a brief investigation, Kuester was arrested on a felony charge of OWI-drugged/3rd offense, and serious misdemeanor charges that include Possession of a controlled substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving while revoked.

Kuester was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond.

An Arizona man wanted by authorities for his alleged role in a shooting incident that took place last Sunday evening in Glenwood, has turned himself-in. The Mills County Attorney’s Office said Saturday, 42-year-old Hurl Beechum III has returned from Arizona and surrendered to Mills County authorities, as expected.

Beechum III, of Queen Creek, AZ, faces felony charges that include Intimidation with a dangerous weapon and Going armed with intent, as well as aggravated misdemeanor charges of Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. He was being held in the Mills County jail on $10,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 25-years in prison.

His arrest followed an investigation into an incident that began with a racial slur allegedly uttered by a person in a group of people who were walking by the home of Beechum’s step-father, Glenwood High School Principal, Richard Hutchinson.

Beechum is alleged to have shot 21-year-old Colton McDaniel with a 9 mm handgun during a fight that erupted a little before 5:45 p.m., Sept. 27th. The Mills County Attorney Tricia McSorley says Beechum claimed he fired the shot in self-defense after being “jumped” by the group. She said the evidence indicates his life was not in danger when he pulled the trigger.

Middle- and High School Bands from around southwest Iowa traveled to Clarinda Saturday, to compete in the 60th Annual Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree. The event included a parade around the downtown square in Clarinda, Saturday morning.

In the Middle School Parade competition, the Tri-Center Middle School, under the direction of Paul Hart, took 1st place in Class I, followed by Treynor. Essex and Mount Ayr tied for 3rd place. In the Middle School Class II competition, the Glenwood 7th graders finished 1st, followed by Creston and Underwood. In the Middle School Class III competition, Harlan took 1st place, while the Glenwood 8th grade came in 2nd.

In the High School Parade competition: Class 1A – 1st place went to Wayne, followed by Nishnabotna, Fairfax, Sidney, Bedford, Fremont-Mills, Griswold and Lenox; Class 2A – Treynor placed 1st, followed by Tri-Center. Red Oak was 3rd and Underwood came in 4th; Class 3A – Waverly took 1st place, followed by Savannah, Creston, and Harlan; In the 4A High School competition, Ankeny Centennial finished in 1st place, Papillion LaVista was 2nd, Lewis Central took 3rd, and Thomas Jefferson finished 4th.

The Field Competition for high school-aged students took place at the Clarinda Football field Saturday afternoon: In Class 1A – 1st place went to Nishnabotna, with Bedford taking 2nd; Class 2A – 1st place went to Treynor, while Tri-Center came in 2nd; in Class 3A – Waverly won 1st Place, with Creston coming in 2nd; In Class 4A–  Ankeny Centennial placed 1st, followed by Papillion/LaVista in 2nd.

Ankeny Centennial won a Field Certificate for “Best Overall Band,”  “Best Brass Line,” “Best Woodwind Section,” and “Best Auxiliary Line.”  Lewis Central brought home certificates for “Best Soloist-trombone solo,” while Creston was honored for “Best Drum Line,” and Waverly took the honors for “Best Drum Majors.”