Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A team of University of Iowa researchers has made a “surprising” discovery about cancer cells: they are likely to be tougher than the other cells moving through the blood stream. Michael Henry, a professor in the university’s College of Medicine, is the lead author of the study.  “For many years people have more or less assumed that these (cancer) cells would be very fragile and not able to withstand very high levels of fluid shear stress,” Henry says. “We found that, in fact, although normal cells are fragile and susceptible, the cancer cells exhibit a resistance.” Just like “wind shear” on a plane or a vehicle speeding down the highway, cells in the human body are exposed to “fluid shear” in the blood stream.

Henry says exposure to that kind of “shear stress” seemed to induce a “hardiness” in cancer cells. “What we’ve done so far is work with laboratory-based models. We still need to move our discovery into the clinic and look at real, circulating cancer cells in patients to see if our findings hold,” Henry says. “But what we’ve found so far would suggest that is going to be the case.” This discovery eventually could lead to a blood test that would measure dangerous the cancer might be. “In addition to knowing whether the cancer is going to be dangerous or not, we might be able to take cells out of a patient and very rapidly measure whether they are sensitive or resistant to potential drug therapies without having to look at all of the genes in the cancer,” Henry says.

The research findings were just published in a medical journal and Henry has applied for another grant, specifically to measure cancer cells in melanoma patients.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s Officials in Mills County said Wednesday that a Glenwood man was arrested Tuesday morning on a burglary charge. 33-year old Dean Stephen Kinart was arrested on a warrant for Burglary in the 3rd degree. He was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail just before 9-a.m., and was being held on $10,000 bond.

The Sheriff’s office reports also, no one was injured during a rollover accident early Sunday morning, about 3.5-miles northwest of Glenwood. Authorities say 21-year old Mitchell Moore, of Glenwood, was driving a 2004 Chevy on Elrod Road at around 1:40-a.m., when dense fog obscured his vision and deer on the roadway. When Moore swerved to miss the animals, his vehicle entered a ditch and rolled onto its side before landing on its wheels. Moore was able to drive the vehicle from the scene. The Sheriff’s Office was notified by Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs the driver of the the vehicle (Moore) and a passenger (Dalton Sacca) came to the facility a little over 7 hours later in private vehicles. Moore reported the accident to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, at around 2:15-p.m. Moore was subsequently cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

And, last Saturday, 26-year old Kyle O’Banion, of Glenwood, escaped injury after the 2011 Dodge he was driving went out of control on a curve and entered a ditch before continuing up a hill through the ditch and rolling once. The accident happened at around 2:15-a.m., about 9-miles southeast of Glenwood, on Pease Road, just south of Levi Road.

The top middle school mock trial participants in the state will gather at the Iowa Events Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6^th through the 8^th, to compete in the Twenty-ninth Annual Iowa Middle School Mock Trial State Tournament. The Iowa Mock Trial Program is presented by The Iowa State Bar Association Center for Law & Civic Education with the support of the ISBA Young Lawyer’s Division and the Iowa State Bar Foundation. This year more than 1,700 middle school students from throughout Iowa participated in the competition, the largest middle school mock trial program in the nation. Among them are students from the: Carroll, Harlan and Kuemper Catholic School Districts.

In a mock trial, students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses as they prepare and present both sides of a hypothetical legal problem. Practicing attorneys serve as judges who decide the case on the legal merits and who also assess student performances as attorneys and as witnesses. Participants are given a hands-on opportunity to examine the legal process and current legal issues. Mock trials also help students develop important critical thinking skills and aid in the development of fundamental research, preparation and presentation skills. This year’s Middle School problem deals with the issues of negligence and defamation.

The 34 teams of students advanced to the state competition based upon their performances at regional tournaments throughout the state earlier this month. The students will compete in three rounds of competition on Thursday and Friday, with the top four teams advancing to a semi-final round on Saturday morning, at the Iowa Judicial Branch Building.

The championship round features the semi-final winners presenting the final case starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Supreme Court Chambers of the Iowa Judicial Branch. A special awards program honoring all 34 teams, naming the top ten teams and recognizing individual “outstanding attorneys” and “outstanding witnesses” will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7 at the Veteran’s Memorial Convention Center in downtown Des Moines.

Christmas is coming early to the Pottawattamie County town of Carson. The community is celebrating its 19th annual Christmas Celebration this (Wednesday) evening. The city is decked out in duct tape for this year’s event. Wilma McLaughlin, member of the Carson Christmas Committee, says the fun starts with a soup supper. She says the soup supper is hosted by the Carson Park board, with the proceeds for park improvements. The supper runs from 4-until 7-pm in the Carson Community Building. There will also be kids’ activities and art events at the Community Building this evening.

She says another great activity is the Reindeer run. It’s kind of like a “Poker Run,” and costs just five-dollars. Participants will pick up cards at local businesses. The person with the best hand will win a prize. The Carson Community Center and the Carson Fire Station will host the craft and vendor show for the Carson Christmas Celebration. McLaughlin says the number of vendors and crafts continue to grow. The vendors and crafts will show their merchandise from 4 to 8pm. The main event for the 19th annual Carson Christmas Celebration is “The Red Green Show” at the Dreamland Theatre.

Doors open at 5:45 and the first show starts at 6-p.m.. Santa Claus will arrive at 7-p.m., in between the two shows. Pictures can be taken with the Jolly Old Elf at the Photography studio. Doors open for the second show at 7:15 with the performance at 7:30.” A Duct Tape Fashion Show will kick off the show and tickets can be purchased for $4 at several businesses.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors set Dec. 12^th and 19^th as the dates for public hearings on an amendment to the Division of Taxes ordinance pertaining to the Amaizing Energy “Urban Renewal Area/TIF District. The amendment calls for the removal of certain parcels of land from the URA/TIF District, which Auditor Dale Sunderman says would be advantageous to the county, since they have already decreased in value. Another benefit would be to conserve what economic development incentives are available. The Board is currently waiting on legal advice before the amendment is redrafted and presented at the public hearings.

In other business, the board was asked by a member of the public about current efforts at reaching an agreement with County Employees in the Public, Professional and Maintenance Employee’s Union (PPME), which represents the County’s Secondary Roads Department. In October, the Board received the Union’s initial bargaining proposal, which was rejected. The following week, the County presented its initial proposal, and the two sides went into closed door session later to try and hash things out.

Efforts to reach an agreement are currently in Mediation. The board was asked if it goes into arbitration, how much “Power” does the Supervisor hold to try and reign in the Union’s request for a seven-percent rate increase for the first-year of the contract. They also called for a 4-percent increase across the board the second-year of the contract, and a 3-percent increase for the third-year, effective July, 2013, for a total increase of  14-percent increase over a three-year period. Supervisor’s Gaylord Schelling and Mark Wedemeyer are in on the negotiations, representing the County. Schelling said the next meeting is on the 17^th of December. The next step he says would be binding arbitration.

Wedemeyer said if the County is forced by the arbitrator to meet the demands of the Union, and not reach a compromise, there would likely be job reductions. He said the only thing they could do is to fund a certain portion to the department, until it comes to budget time. Schelling said the arbitrator will likely take into consideration what the level of pay is in other Counties the size of Cass, and what both sides are offering for those wages, when making a determination as to what the percentages should be.

w/ Ric Hanson

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