The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. On Monday, 36-year old Joshua Robert Saunders, of Omaha, was arrested just before 1-a.m. in Pacific Junction, for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender charge. His bond was set at $3,000.

On Saturday, deputies in Mills County arrested 18-year old Madison Leigh Bendt, of Glenwood, for Interference with Official Acts. Bond was set at $300; 33-year old Douglas Charles Heitman, of Silver City was arrested for Leaving the Scene of an Accident and Failure to Maintain Control. His bond was also set at $300. And, 28-year old Seth Allen Osler, of Malvern, was arrested Saturday morning for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

It would be illegal to use a hand-held cellphone while driving if a bill proposed by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau becomes law. Texting while driving would also become a primary offense, meaning an officer would be able to pull someone over if they suspect the driver is texting. Patrick Hoye, the former head of the Iowa State Patrol, is now chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.
“We just think it is life-saving legislation,” Hoye says.

Hoye met with members of the Senate Transportation Committee to discuss the bill. He says cell phone use while driving — to either talk or text — is just as bad as drunk driving because not only does it take one hand off the wheel, it takes the driver’s attention away from the road. “For my family, does it matter if they’re drunk and they cross the center line and they take out my family or they cross the center line because they were texting and take out my family,” Hoye says. “You’re not only putting yourself in danger, but you’re putting everybody on the road in danger.”

The distraction of smart phones has become an “epidemic” on Iowa’s roads, according to Hoye. He cites 2013 stats showing 63 percent of the fatality crashes on Iowa roads involved a vehicle that had left its lane. “I think you can make a pretty strong correlation,” Hoye says. “…Something is causing our citizens to leave the road and we just believe that obviously distracted driving and, in particular texting, is one of those strong reasons.”

Fourteen other states have laws which forbid drivers to use their hands to text or hold their phone to talk. The Iowa law that’s been proposed by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau would impose a 30-dollar fine for texting or talking on a cell phone while driving and it is similar to the law that’s been in effect in Illinois for over a year. Sergeant John Thompson of the Illinois State Police told members of the Iowa Senate’s Transportation Committee that public opinion in Illinois was overwhelmingly in favor of banning cell phone use while driving.

“It’s scary out there to see what people are doing in vehicles,” Thompson says. “…You see people who are just all over the road…They’re doing everything in a vehicle but driving.” Thompson says traffic fatalities declined in Illinois last year — the first year the cell phone ban while driving was in effect. Last year, a bill banning texting while driving passed the Senate, but it was not considered in the Iowa House.

(Radio Iowa)

JOHNSTOWN, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa Army National Guard medical unit won’t be joining the fight against Ebola in West Africa. A National Guard news release says the 294th Area Support Medical Company’s estimated six-month deployment was canceled “due to completion of Ebola Treatment Unity construction and other major training in West Africa.” Because that work has been completed, more than 800 U.S. military personnel have been sent home, with more to follow.

Originally, 80 Iowans were scheduled for the West Africa mission, but that number was reduced to 40. The National Guard says the Iowa solders would have provided care only for Defense Department personnel and others sent to help, but they wouldn’t have been treating West Africans.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports Highway 6, which had been closed since Sunday due to snowdrifts and vehicles stuck on the road, has officially re-opened to traffic (as of 9-a.m., Tuesday). Officials say the roadway is still slick, so motorists should travel with caution.