DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The companies running Iowa’s newly privatized Medicaid system are complaining of drastic underfunding of the program in documents obtained by The Des Moines Register. Gov. Terry Branstad ordered the shift to private Medicaid management last year, and it went into effect April 1.

The Des Moines Register reports Amerigroup, AmeriHealth Caritas and UnitedHealthcare told state officials their reimbursement rates were based on deeply flawed cost estimates provided to them before the program began. According to reports filed last month with regulators, the companies have lost hundreds of dollars on the program.

Branstad says he remains confident the state will save over $110 million with private Medicaid management. Branstad announced in October that the state would pay the companies an additional $33.2 million this fiscal year for unexpected cost increases.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers said today (Thursday), that  on Monday, December 19^th at approximately 5:15 p.m., officers were summoned to the Clarinda High School to investigate an incident during which was alleged that two CHS students were in possession of firearms while on school property and threatened a third CHS student with the weapons. The incident is alleged to have occurred in the parking lot immediately north of the high school.

The victim, a 16-year old from Clarinda, said he was allegedly threatened by a 17-year old male from Clarinda. The threat involved the younger teen being struck with the stock portion of a long gun. He was also allegedly threatened with a pistol by a second, 17-year old male from Clarinda.

Complaints alleging juvenile delinquency for prohibited possession of firearms and assault have been forwarded to Page County Juvenile Court Services for review and additional action by juvenile court authorities. The victim did not suffer any injuries during the incident.

Brothers said the matter is an isolated incident that occurred strictly between the three students involved and there was no danger to the public or administration, faculty, staff and students at Clarinda High School.

Harlan Police Chief Frank Clark, today (Thursday), issued a statement to thank members of the public for their outpouring of support to the law enforcement community. Chief Clark says “This past year, for us in law enforcement, has been a trying one. The public opinion and respect has dropped drastically for our profession across the Country.”

The Chief went on to say “The officers and staff of the Harlan Police Department would like to take just a minute to say ‘THANK YOU!'”  He said also, “In this smaller town atmosphere, the out-pouring of support shown to us has been overwhelming! The cards of thanks, the goodies dropped-off at our office, and just the simple ‘thank you for what you do’ while we’re out and about in public, has certainly not gone unnoticed by our officers.”

Chief Clark said in closing, “We strive to serve this community with dignity and respect, and your support is greatly appreciated.”

A new analysis concludes Iowans have the second-lowest amount of credit card debt in the country. The new study finds the average American household with credit card debt has racked up more than 16-thousand dollars worth of charges this year. The analysis compared average credit card debt with the median income of each state. It found North Dakotans carried the least amount of credit card debt, followed closely by Iowans.

Experts recommend using 15 percent of your income to pay off credit card debt. According to creditcard.com, the “typical Iowa resident would get out of debt in 13 months” using that formula. The average Iowa household is carrying about 44-hundred dollars in charges on their credit cards.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County say a Deputy dispatched to a business parking lot in Underwood Wednesday afternoon to check on a man sleeping in a car, arrested the subject on drug and alcohol charges. 26-year old Kyle Jordan Lanoha, of Avoca, was arrested at around 3:45-p.m., for Possession of Meth and Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver, OWI/2nd offense, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Following his arrest, authorities seized separate plastic bags containing about 43-ounces of Meth and 2.6-ounces of Marijuana, a pill bottle with different pills, and two syringes. Lanoha was booked into the Pott. County Jail.

And, a man from Carson was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his place of employment in Council Bluffs, when a Pott. County Deputy served civil papers. A records check showed 23-year old Tyler Allan Dittus, of Carson, was wanted on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Revoked charge, and a warrant out of Mills County, for Driving While Barred. Dittus was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Pott. County Jail.

An Iowa State University researcher is part of a team studying online harassment, something almost half of all American internet users have been subjected to in some form. Rey Junco, an I-S-U professor of education and human-computer interaction, says this study is in its early stages and they’re still working to develop a good definition. Junco says, “Certainly, harassment involves someone being targeted and nasty things being directed at them.”

It can include: cyberbullying, racial slurs and sexually-charged comments in multiple venues, from discussion forums and news websites to video games and social media. While some 140-million of us have been harassed online, there’s still much to be learned about the root causes of such harassment, the impact and how best to intervene and prevent it from happening.

“I’m looking at a specific kind of harassment,” Junco says. “I’m looking at the re-sharing of sexually-explicit images that are shared in confidence. I’m just at the beginning stages of looking at some personality factors and some psychological factors that predict harassment.”

Sometimes referred to as “revenge porn,” he’s studying how the re-sharing of such private video or photos can have tremendous personal and social consequences. “First is to get a sense of how often this occurs and the different ways in which it occurs,” Junco says. “For instance, whether people re-share these images when they’re still in a relationship or after they break up, for instance.”

Some people turn to harassment as a weapon as they’re more anonymous online and may be more likely to say something using a keyboard that they wouldn’t say face-to-face. In order to best study the issue, researchers are working to connect with people who have left social media because of harassment. Some schools and news organizations may shut down comment sections or ban access to certain websites due to harassment, which he says may do more harm than good.

(Radio Iowa)