Iowa Congressman David Young, this week, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce at a Congressional hearing on efforts to combat the opioid crisis. Congressman Young’s testimony focused on the work the community of Bridgewater, Iowa is doing to combat opioids and other illegal drug use in their community. The Committee was holding the hearings in anticipation of House consideration of legislation to combat the nation’s growing opioid crisis.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the opioid crisis was responsible for the deaths of 146 Iowans and nearly 30,000 Americans across the country in 2016. The CDC also reports that every day an estimated 90 people suffer opioid-related deaths. Communities across Iowa’s Third District have seen the effects of the crisis first hand, telling Congressman Young their stories as he travels throughout the district each month. Young requested time to testify in front of the Committee to help bring Iowa’s voice to the legislative solutions being developed in Congress. Young felt his colleagues would benefit from learning how residents in Bridgewater stepped up to make their community a better place and show how federal support for community based approaches can be an effective way to help address the crisis.

Young’s office says he has been a consistent supporter of federal efforts and resources to combat the opioid crisis, taking advantage of his position as the only member of the Iowa Congressional delegation on the House Appropriations Committee to fund programs to combat opioid abuse. He also supported legislation in the previous Congress, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which was the first major bill to address addiction in 40 years. The bill passed Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in July 22 of that same year. (A video clip of Young’s testimony is available here: https://davidyoung.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/young-shares-success-bridgewater-residents-testimony-house-committee )

Below is Congressman Young’s testimony as prepared for delivery:

“Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the committee for holding this hearing. I want to highlight the actions the community of Bridgewater, Iowa has undertaken in the last year to take back their town. Bridgewater, a small town of around 200 in the heart of Adair County in southwest Iowa, is facing a problem with opioids and a range of other drugs. As drug use in the area slowly started to rise in the community, which relies on the county sheriff’s office to keep them safe, the residents were unable, but not unwilling, to stop the influx of drugs into their town. Residents of Bridgewater started to see cars coming into town with out of state license plates, and from counties across the state. As the cars came, so did the crime.

Residents and law enforcement noticed an uptick of crimes – theft and vandalism – which traced back to drug users and dealers coming to town.  Empty houses turned into drug houses powered by gas and generators, which led to more than four houses burning to the ground. Last spring, residents were fed up as they saw the town they were raised in slipping away. They decided to take action. Concerned residents met in the basement of a church to find a way to save their town. This is when they decided to take back Bridgewater.

Residents formed a non-profit to fight the drug crisis together. As word spread, media outlets across the state came to this small town to shine a light on one of many communities suffering in the Third District. I visited Bridgewater in April to meet with residents in that church basement as they began their mission to make their town safe again. I studied their faces. I listened intently. And their mission is my mission. They started to hold forums with drug counselors, law enforcement, state and local legislators, and other individuals offering help.  As residents started to clean up their town they were met with hostility and retaliation from drug dealers and users.

Leaders of the Take Back Bridgewater movement were run off the road, swerved at by those who wanted to protect the status quo. A number of other incidents occurred, but the residents pressed on. The citizens of Bridgewater will not surrender. As neighboring communities saw what the residents of Bridgewater were doing, they wanted to do the something in their communities. Leaders from towns across southwest Iowa often discuss strategies together to protect their neighbors.  That is what Iowa is all about, neighbors helping neighbors, communities helping communities.

Just last night, residents of Bridgewater gathered in the basement of that very same church to kick off a fundraiser for their nonprofit. They will be going throughout southwest Iowa to sell Christmas wreaths to adorn the doors of homes throughout the region. Residents will use the funds to take back their community. Bridgewater will not turn a blind eye to opioids and drugs in their community. And of course we must not forget this this human tragedy of addiction and desperation. This epidemic is enslaving and killing our sons and daughters; mothers and fathers.

As the federal government addresses this issue, it is my hope we use Bridgewater as an example local communities can have the largest impact if we partner with them and helping with the tools they need to be successful. A one-size-fits-all program will not save as many lives as a solution tailored to each community which has the buy in of its residents.

Take Back Bridgewater is not just a slogan. It’s an action plan. It’s a reality. And it’s happening. And it’s not just happening in Bridgewater, it’s happening all around the country. Thank you again for the opportunity to join you today.”

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday afternoon, released information pertaining to a reported bomb threat at the Southwest Valley Schools, in Corning. Authorities said in a Press Release, that “On October 11th at approximately 11:39 a.m., Adams County Dispatch received a call from the Corning Elementary School regarding a reported bomb threat. An individual had called the Elementary and stated they heard of a bomb threat, but they were not sure which building the bomb was in. Adams County Deputies responded to the schools where students and teachers had already begun evacuating. Corning Fire Department was paged out to assist the Sheriff’s Office in establishing a perimeter, to conduct traffic control and controlling access into the scene.

“As the Sheriff’s Office was arranging plans to search the buildings, contact was made with the original caller to gather more details of the alleged bomb threat. While speaking with the original caller, it was determined that they’d received a phone call from a family member and were informed of a school lock down and bomb threat [heard] on the radio. Upon further investigation, the school lockdown they were informed of happened at the Shenandoah School earlier in the morning (with regard to a person who was seen with what was discovered to be an airsoft – or BB-type rifle. That individual was located and questioned, but not charged).”

The Sheriff’s Office says “There was not a threat made towards Southwest Valley Schools. This information was not learned until the schools were evacuated and dismissed for the day. A coordinated search of the Southwest Valley High School, Activity Center, Shop, and Corning Elementary was conducted by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol Law Enforcement personnel did not locate any items they believed to be a threat. Once the initial sweep was made and determined to be clear, the school staff was allowed back in the schools.”

The Sheriff’s Office extends its thanks to the Corning Fire Department, Prescott Fire Department, and the Iowa State Patrol with their assistance in Wednesday’s events. They also thank everyone for their cooperation and patience throughout the investigation.

(Radio Iowa – Des Moines) The State of Iowa has built a new website that will be used if federal officials approve a new approach to helping about 72-thousand Iowans buy new individual health insurance policies. Chance McElhaney, a spokesman for the Iowa Insurance Commissioner, says if the feds approve Iowa’s waiver, those Iowans will use a new STATE website to see if they’re eligible to buy insurance from one of the two companies that have agreed to sell 2018 policies.  “That is online now,” McElhaney says. “The eligibility portal will flip once open enrollment hits November 1st.”

However, those 72-thousand Iowans won’t be able to BUY insurance on that website on November 1st. McElhaney says a consumer will answer a number of questions there to determine if they are eligible to buy an individual health insurance policy through the process set up by the state. “They will get a letter in the mail once eligibility is determined,” McElhaney says. “That letter will have the amount of their premium credit and it will have an eligibility code.”

That means — if Iowa gets the federal waiver to set up this system — those 72-thousand Iowans will have to wait for delivery of the letter and use the code in that letter to buy policies from either Medica or Wellmark. McElhaney says his agency has “marketing ready to go” if Iowa gets the federal waiver — to help the 72-thousand Iowans navigate the new system. “We’ve done about everything that we possibly can and have been working tirelessly on this,” McElhaney says. “…We’re going to get this over the goal line.”

On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters that if Iowa gets the go-ahead to launch its alternative plan for individual insurance policies, she’s confident the state website will handle all the traffic from those 72-thousand Iowans. Go to https://stopgap.iowa.gov/ to find a link to the new state website that’s been created for this project.

Three people were hurt Wednesday afternoon when three trucks collided in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 12:23-p.m. near the intersection of Highway 30 and Redwood Avenue, or about half-way between Logan and Woodbine.

Officials said a 2000 Freightliner straight truck driven by 58-year old Robert Clay White, of Woodbine, was traveling south on Highway 30 and slowing to turn left onto Redwood Avenue, when the truck was struck from behind by 2017 Peterbilt semi. The impact forced the straight truck into the path of a 2016 Peterbilt semi, which was traveling north on Highway 30.

The straight truck hit the trailer of the northbound semi, causing it to go out of control and roll onto the passenger side on the highway. Highway 30 was completely blocked for a few hours.

The driver of the first semi, 25-year old Tamra Bonny, of Omaha, was transported by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. The driver of the second semi, 49-year old Timothy Watson, of Sweetwater, TN., was transported by Logan Rescue to the hospital in Missouri Valley, while the straight truck driver, Robert White, was taken to the Missouri Valley Hospital by Woodbine Rescue. All three drivers were wearing their seat belts.

The accident remained under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

RED OAK, Iowa (AP) — Red Oak police have charged a man in the death of another man whose body was found near a street in the southwest Iowa city. Police found the body of 27-year-old Devin Alexander Davis about 4:15 a.m. Wednesday. They later determined he’d been killed by a single gunshot. Red Oak police say in a news release that investigators determined 39-year-old Kevin Duane Staley and Davis had a confrontation earlier Wednesday, leading to the shooting. Police charged Staley with voluntary manslaughter.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s prisons agency has fired a judge over a ruling in which she dismissed sanctions against an inmate because the meaning of a two-letter acronym was unclear to her in a report. The firing of Administrative Law Judge Renee Sneitzer has prompted her to allege retaliation and discrimination, and renewed questions about the independence of judges who work for the Department of Corrections. The department says she should have sent the report back for clarification rather than dismissing the case.

NASHUA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an 8-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet while visiting an apple orchard with his parents in northeast Iowa. The sheriff in Chickasaw County says the boy is hospitalized in stable condition, though details about his condition haven’t been released. The sheriff says the bullet was fired Sunday at a shooting range less than a mile from the orchard. He tells the Charles City Press the shooting was a “freak accident” and isn’t being investigated as a crime.

CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman has died after her vehicle was rear-ended on a northwest Iowa road and pushed into the path of a school bus. The Sioux City Journal reports 68-year-old Linda Zahnley, of Correctionville, died in the Tuesday afternoon crash on state Highway 31. The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says Zahnley was stopped, waiting to turn east when her sports utility vehicle was rear-ended by a pickup truck. The crash pushed the SUV into the path of an oncoming River Valley school bus.