(Atlantic, Iowa) – This Saturday, May 13th, marks the 31st annual NACL (National Association of Letter Carriers) food drive across America. Postal carriers in Atlantic will be participating again this year, to benefit the local food pantry. Post Office Supervisor Mark McNees says “The carrier food drive is one of the largest efforts in the country and the Atlantic post office, and carriers, are proud to be a part of the effort to help out our customers who may be in need of assistance.”

Atlantic customers are asked to leave non-perishable food items in bags at their mailbox, and the carriers, and management, will collect the items and deliver them to the Atlantic food pantry. Atlantic Pantry Manager and Operations Coordinator Ken Burkhart says donated food items are always welcome, but so are monetary donations.

Burkhart said they can’t possibly store all the donated food the Pantry needs for everyone, so they purchase it on a weekly basis, as needed. Your cash or check donations can be left with your letter carrier this weekend, mailed to the Atlantic Food Pantry at P.O. Box 285 (Atlantic, IA 50022), or dropped-off at the Pantry, which is located at 704 W. 7th Street (The former “After 5 Somewhere” building). Drop-off hours for monetary donations are Mondays and Thursdays, from 9-until 11-a.m.

Customers wishing to contribute through their postal mail carrier should clearly address an envelope as a food pantry, or food drive donation, and leave visibly as outgoing mail. No stamp is required for this type of donation. Checks should be made out to the Atlantic Food Pantry. Customers may also hand donations to their carrier as well. Ken Burkhart says the pantry can take meat, but there are legal criteria they must abide by.

Burkhart says the need for food has not waned in Cass County, since the pandemic. The Pantry received a grant last year, but that grant is expiring, hence the need for monetary contributions. Food distribution at the Atlantic Food Pantry is on Thursday’s from 12:30-to 3-p.m. Burkhart says a majority of their clients show-up each week as needed. Anywhere from 70-to 80-percent are at or below the Federal Poverty Level. They typically are low income Senior Citizens (35-40% of their clients), persons temporarily laid-off from work, or are new to town and are between paychecks, and displaced domestic violence survivors.

The Atlantic community has donated tons of food and thousands of dollars over the years to the local food pantry by participating in the letter carrier’s food drive. Post Office Supervisor Mark McNees says “Your support is very much appreciated.” For more information about the Atlantic Food Pantry, please call 243-5019.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is leading the bipartisan effort to create a task force to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak and identify lessons learned regarding U.S. preparedness, response, and recovery to improve our ability to respond to future outbreaks. Ernst, along with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), introduced the bipartisan National Task Force on the COVID-19 Pandemic Act, legislation that would create a 9/11 Commission-style task force to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force would investigate the origins of the pandemic, the U.S. response, availability of medical supplies and other resources, public health messaging, the government’s role in the development and distribution of vaccines, and more.

Ernst said, “In hindsight, there were many missteps made in the preparation and response to COVID-19—and possibly even in the origins of the pandemic. Learning from these mistakes is the only way to avoid them in the future. Every day we delay this independent, transparent investigation, we risk a fatal repeat. I am proud to be part of this bipartisan effort to uncover the truth before it is too late.”

SARS-Covid virus (Image from Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

The task force would have the authority to hold hearings, take testimony and issue subpoenas, and would be comprised of twelve members, six appointed from each party. The task force would submit an interim report to Congress and the president within six months, and a final report within 18 months of its initial meeting.

Red Oak, Iowa – Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst has announced that former South Caroline Governor, U-N Ambassador and 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, will be one of her special guests at her annual Roast and Ride taking place on Saturday, June 3, 2023.  Ernst, who is from Red Oak, said she is “Thrilled to welcome Nikki Haley to Roast and Ride this year.” Ernst said also, her annual Roast and Ride is the perfect opportunity for here “…to showcase Iowa to all of our Republican candidates, and for them to speak directly with countless folks from all corners of the state. Iowa Republicans, Ernst says, are maintaining our FIRST in the nation status, and we take our job of vetting presidential candidates very seriously. Roast and Ride is THE event to be at in 2023, there’s no doubt about it!”

Nikki Haley speaks during an event in Denison, IA. April, 2023

Ernst, a combat veteran, donates the proceeds from her annual Ride to a veterans charity. This year, she will be honoring the Freedom Foundation of Cedar Rapids.  Nikki Haley says “America’s veterans are our greatest treasure and have sacrificed so much for our freedoms. We are blessed by their sacrifices, and it is an honor to work with Joni and the Freedom Foundation in supporting Iowa’s veterans on and off the battlefield.”

All 2024 Republican presidential candidates and hopefuls have been invited and additional special guests will be announced soon.  Senator Ernst’s first Roast and Ride was  held in 2015. Over the years, the event has featured some of the biggest names in Iowa and national politics, including President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott, Senator Marco Rubio, Governor Mike Huckabee, Governor Terry Branstad, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and many more.

Sen. Joni Ernst on a “Roast and Ride.” (2016 file photo from Radio Iowa)

(Creston, Iowa) – A Taylor County man was arrested late Tuesday night on an assault charge, in Creston. According to Creston Police, 51-year-old Pedro Quintanilla-Flores, of Lenox, was arrested at 611 W. Adams St., at around 10:17-p.m.

Quintanilla-Flores was charged with Assault. He was cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – The board that governors the three state universities will hold the first reading of a proposed three-and-a-half percent tuition increase in a meeting Thursday. The Board of Regents’ staff is proposing that increase of in-state tuition for Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa for the 2023-2024 academic year after the Iowa Legislature provided no increase in overall funding to the schools. U-I students would see a 305 dollars tuition increase, I-S-U students 304 and U-N-I students would pay 285. The proposal would also increase mandatory fees at the U-I by 306 dollars, 60 dollars at I-S-U, and 32 dollars at U-N-I.

The Board will consider the final reading of the increase at its meeting in June.

(Radio Iowa) – A program underway in Iowa is using opioid settlement funds to provide opioid prevention toolkits for surgery patients as part of the “Billion Pill Pledge” that’s designed to cut the use of prescription painkillers. Goldfinch Health is administering the program in conjunction with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Doctor John Greenwood co-founded the company and says their approach involves teaching how to cut opioid use. “Consultation, education of providers and hospitals, and those involved in really the prescriptions of the opioids on some of these better alternatives, and these better approaches to treating people and their pain around surgery so that we are not relying on opioids nearly as much,” he says. The toolkits also contain what’s called an R-X destroyer to deal with extra painkillers.

“They’re actually able to have in their hands an ability to denature and destroy any leftover opioid pills, so we can safely dispose of them,” Greenwood says. The education includes what’s called “Enhanced Recovery”, to better prepare patients before surgery. Greenwood says that involves educating providers that the old notion you can’t eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your operation doesn’t fit. You can have a clear drink up to two hours prior to your operation. “I want to be very clear, you cannot have, we don’t want to have food on your stomach. But a clear drink up to two hours prior gets through your stomach and leaves you with all of the benefits of electrolytes and carbs and water — but it doesn’t increase your risk of aspiration and any of those potential fallouts,” Greenwood says. He says there’s also education on the proper timing of pain medication.

“We’ve all heard the idea of get ahead of the pain stay ahead of the pain. Well, let’s take that thought to its natural conclusion,” he says. ” When does the pain start? Not when you wake up from your surgery after your surgery, it’s when your scalpel that scalpel hits your skin during the operation. So we’re educating providers on nonaddictive pain medications provided to the patient before the procedure even begins.” The preparation before the surgery also helps patients use less medication after surgery. “And so when you come out of surgery, we’re encouraging staggering, alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen for most patients. And that has been that combination has been shown to be three times more effective at treating pain than drugs like Percocet,” Greenwood says. “So that’s how we’re able to treat pain better, with better timing with better a mixture and dramatically reduce the number of opioid pain medications that people needed.”

The Cherokee Regional Medical Center and Floyd Valley in Le Mars, Decatur County Hospital in Leon and the Regional Medical Center in Manchester are the first four hospitals to sign up. Greenwood says they will be rolling out more soon.

(Radio Iowa) – Warmer spring weather may finally be here to stay and Iowa motorists are being urged to keep a sharper eye out for motorcycles. Colleen Powell, spokeswoman for the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, says May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and she’s reminding drivers to look for motorcycles, looking over the shoulder and not just in the mirror. When following a motorcycle, Powell says to give them plenty of room, as “they’re much more vulnerable than people in cars.”

Powell says 49 motorcyclists were killed on Iowa’s roads last year. Iowa is one of just three states that has -no- motorcycle helmet law, and she notes, about 75% of motorcyclists who are killed aren’t wearing helmets.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop a little after 9-p.m. Tuesday, in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police report 36-year-old Robert Edward Reafling, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving Under a Suspended license in the State of Iowa. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $491.25 bond.

(Harlan, Iowa) – A former middle school teacher with the Harlan Community School District faces charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. According to KETV in Omaha, 31-year-old  Eric Croghan was released on bond in Shelby County, according to court documents.

In March, Croghan was placed on leave amid an investigation alleging he communicated with an undercover agent online, requesting nude photos of a child. According to court documents, Croghan allegedly distributed an image depicting child pornography to an undercover FBI agent and admitted that, while using Kik, received images depicting child pornography more than 100 times and sent images depicting child pornography less than 100 times.

Croghan also allegedly told the agent that he slept with three female students between 14 and 16 years old, according to court documents. FBI agents tracked the IP address, phone information, social media and property information for the username to Croghan. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s cybercrime unit was alerted and, in February, served a warrant on Croghan for all digital and electronic devices.

According to court documents, Croghan was interviewed on the same day as the search warrant and he admitted to using Kik, as well as sending and receiving images depicting child pornography. In March, the district put him on leave, calling the allegations troubling, and accepted his resignation