About 250 people gathered at the Clarinda Mental Health Institute Saturday morning to attend a public forum pertaining to the possible closing of the more than 125-year old facility.  The Omaha World-Herald reports Iowa Department of Human Services Director Charles Palmer faced the fired-up crowd and mental health professionals, including Dr. Marin Broucek, of Omaha, who called for more mental health services, not less.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer said closing the facility would burden local law enforcement. Having to transport the mentally ill people hundreds of miles could take two deputies or police officers, which would be difficult for smaller agencies. A woman who identified herself as Ruth King and said she was mentally disabled, pointed out that state facilities that would remain open are a long way from Clarinda.

In his remarks, Human Services Director Palmer said mental health care was changing and the way services are being delivered is downsizing. Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed ending funding for both the Clarinda institute and a similar facility in Mount Pleasant, in eastern Iowa, shutting them down on July 1.

The Cherokee Mental Health Institute in northwest Iowa would remain open, as would the Independence Mental Health Institute in eastern Iowa. The state says the move would save nearly $8 million. But Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers said the closings were not planned to save money, but to serve patients better. Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, said last week that she supports the move to close the two facilities; a more community-based model is better than an institutional model, she said.

But she wants to make sure the savings are put into community-based mental health treatment. Amy Lorentzen McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, said the plan is for savings to be put into Medicaid and into expanding beds in the facility in Independence. Neither institute targeted for closing is nationally accredited, mostly because of their aging facilities and an inability to attract the psychiatrists needed to prescribe medication, McCoy said.

There is no psychiatrist at Mount Pleasant, and in Clarinda, the full-time psychiatrist is retiring, she said. The number of mental health patients served by Clarinda and Mount Pleasant has been declining for decades, with 24 currently being treated in Clarinda and 47 in Mount Pleasant.

Iowa is spending nearly $7 million to run the Mount Pleasant institution and $8.7 million on the Clarinda location. Both have been around since the 19th century; Mount Pleasant was founded in 1864 and Clarinda in 1888. A consultant hired by Gov. Chet Culver’s administration in 2009 recommended shuttering Clarinda and Mount Pleasant, but the proposal was dropped when local and union officials protested and the Legislature didn’t approve the plan.

During a hearing at the State Capitol last week, Mental Health and Disability Services Division Administrator Rick Shults said the facilities are outdated, costly and serve only a small number of people. Shults said it wasn’t clear how many people would lose their jobs. About 160 people in total work at the facilities, 76 of them in Clarinda, but some could get other positions with the state.

Democrats and Republicans at the meeting raised questions about the proposal. Legislators also asked what would happen to four elderly sex offenders who live at the Clarinda institution. Shults said the state will work to find facilities for them, but it was not clear where that would be. Human Services Director Palmer said Saturday some of those offenders could be placed in nursing homes.

One person was taken into custody following a motel robbery and chase in Council Bluffs, Saturday morning. Officials says the Days-Inn Motel on south 7th Street in Council Bluffs  was robbed just before 1-a.m. Saturday. The suspect entered the lobby area, pointed a hand gun at the clerk on duty and then removed cash from the register before fleeing on foot. The clerk saw the suspect get into a white SUV with no license plates.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A teacher accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student at Thomas Jefferson High School has submitted his resignation, and a second teacher accused of knowing about the relationship has also resigned. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that Council Bluffs Community School District will hold a special school board meeting on Tuesday to accept the resignation of 29-year-old Jeff Daugherty. Another teacher also submitted his resignation, which was effective Friday.

Daugherty is charged with sex abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation by a school employee and lascivious conduct with a minor. Police say the 15-year-old girl’s mother discovered the relationship when she saw a late-night text message Daugherty had sent the girl. He was arrested on January 8th.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As Iowa’s modified Medicaid expansion hits the one-year anniversary mark, some enrollees will be asked to pay small monthly premiums because they haven’t completed a physical exam and health questionnaire. For Gov. Terry Branstad, those health requirements were key provisions for expanding Medicaid in Iowa using funding from President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Iowa received federal approval to make modifications to the traditional Medicaid terms, including setting health requirements and charging contributions.

Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers says the governor “continues to believe that a critical component of improving the health and wellness of Iowa is having citizens take ownership of their health.” Lydia Mitts, a policy analyst with health care advocacy group Families USA, says such incentives might not work and could hurt people who need health coverage.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A winter storm raking the Midwest this weekend is expected to dump up to 6 inches of snow on parts of eastern Nebraska and up to 10 inches in parts of southern Iowa. The storm is expected to drop between 5 to 10 inches of snow across Iowa by Sunday night.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque-based insurance broker has announced plans to add 90 jobs over the next three years. Cottingham and Butler President and CEO David Becker tells the Telegraph Herald that it could add as many as 45 jobs this year. The remaining positions would be filled by the end of 2017.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Centerville firefighter has died after fighting a blaze at a 300,000 square-foot building. Des Moines television station KCCI says the firefighter, who has not been identified by authorities, had been released from the fire scene at Cowan Enterprises on Friday night and had gone home, where he died.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A teacher accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student at Thomas Jefferson High School has submitted his resignation, and a second teacher accused of knowing about the relationship has also resigned. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that Council Bluffs Community School District will hold a special school board meeting on Tuesday to accept the resignation of 29-year-old Jeff Daugherty. Another teacher also submitted his resignation, which was effective Friday.