BLAIR, Neb. (AP) – Midland University has dropped plans to reopen the former Dana College campus in Blair. The university announced Friday that it will focus on improvements in its Fremont campus and on finding a permanent home for MBA, other graduate and nontraditional programs in Omaha.

In June 2013 Midland announced that it was raising money to use on the Dana campus. The 126-year-old Lutheran college closed in 2010, and many of its students transferred to Midland University in Fremont, about 20 miles away. Midland officials say the Dana campus required a significant amount of money to maintain an aging physical plant and a challenging path to acquire accreditation. The officials concluded that the costs of reopening Dana were prohibitive compared to other growth options.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A daily quiet time has been established at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Hospital officials say less noise provides a more professional atmosphere for staff members and easier rest for the more than 33,000 patients admitted each year. The initiative took effect Tuesday.

Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that quiet time runs from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Lights are dimmed and people are encouraged to speak softer. The hospital also is working on equipment changes. Hospital officials say the campaign was prompted by patient feedback.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s public universities aren’t off the hook yet for refusing to pay millions of dollars in fees to a program that subsidizes health insurance for residents with health risks. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Iowa Individual Health Benefit Reinsurance Association can sue the universities to try to collect the unpaid fees. The decision overturned an appeals court, which ruled last year that the association didn’t have the power to sue.

The association contends that the universities, like all state agencies, school districts and municipalities with self-funded health plans, are members and required to pay annual assessments. For years, the schools agreed and paid. But after the University of Iowa became self-insured in 2010, all three universities contended they were not covered by the law and stopped paying.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court is warning government officials that they cannot make decisions in private by negotiating agreements through third parties. The court ruled Friday that Iowa’s open meetings law extends to all in-person meetings in which a majority of a board is present “by virtue of an agent or a proxy.” The first-of-its-kind ruling in Iowa comes in a case involving the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

To avoid discussing a controversial downsizing plan in public, the board’s three members met individually with the county administrator to negotiate details. The administrator passed along concerns and feedback raised by members to the others.
County employees who were laid off filed a lawsuit alleging the board had violated the open meetings law. Friday’s 4-3 decision reinstates the case for further proceedings.