Officials with the  Cass County Health System (CCHS) said Wednesday, that as part of the current remodeling project at CCHS, both the Cass County Memorial Hospital and Atlantic Medical Center feature new, private admissions bays.

Admissions Area (Photo provided by CCHS)

To check in for an appointment at the Atlantic Medical Center, patients can use one of four private bays to check in with staff. Just around the corner is Hospital Admissions, and those bays face towards the atrium and feature new doors that slide shut for increased patient privacy.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports two roads, which had been temporarily closed for construction projects, are now re-open. Roads now open include Redwood Road, which was closed for an expected 24-hour repair project, was opened sooner than expected, late Wednesday afternoon. And, 2300th Street, just east of Juniper Road, where a pipe replacement project was underway, is also now open to normal traffic.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of a Red Oak Man on Wednesday afternoon following a  traffic stop.  At 4:15pm Officers stopped a vehicle in the 1200 block of N. 4th Street in Red Oak for driving the wrong way on a one-way street.  Officers then arrested 44-year-old Jesse Lee Simmons of Red Oak for Driving While Barred, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.  Simmons was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.  He was also cited for Failure to Have Valid Insurance and was given a written warning for driving the wrong way on the one-way street.

(Update 6:30-p.m. 7/20 – construction has been completed, and Redwood is open!)

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports Redwood Road will be closed for one day, effective today (Wednesday). The closure is between 147 and 210 Redwood Road, Monroe Township Section 328. Construction is expected to last for about one day.

The area has many dirt or Level B roads. Considerable route planning will be necessary for some emergency responders if they are called to residences in the area.

With rising tensions between police officers and some members of the public, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s introducing legislation calling for a series of reforms in the criminal justice system. Grassley, a Republican, says the bill would look at multiple issues, including ways to make the sentencing process more fair along with tighter regulations on law enforcement.

Grassley says, “In light of recent and justified public concern over treatment of suspects by some police and the treatment of police by people who would do them harm, the need for criminal justice reform is even greater now.” The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act aims to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. It would also enhance prison programs that are proven to reduce the likelihood of an inmate re-offending once released. Grassley says inmates who successfully complete those programs could see a reduced sentence.

“I’ve heard from Iowans who have raised concerns about the fast-growing federal prison population,” Grassley says. “I guess you hear at the state level as well, also about the cost to taxpayers to house those prisoners.” Grassley says he’s also hearing concerns about people who’ve committed relatively minor crimes being given lengthy sentences that are usually reserved for hard-core criminals.

Grassley says, “The bill I’ve authored is a step forward in healing wounds by closing some disparities in sentencing that disproportionately affect African-Americans and helping people already within the prison system become productive members of our society.”

The legislation would also require states receiving certain federal funds to report information regarding the discharge of a firearm by a law officer which results in the death of a civilian. Another element of the bill would offer various reforms to the federal criminal justice system, like allowing people convicted of certain crimes as juveniles to expunge their criminal records if they turn their lives around.

(Radio Iowa)