(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Public Health is part of an ovarian cancer study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Doctor Mary Charlton at the University of Iowa says they are trying to find out why women don’t go to a gynecologic oncologist for treatment. “The guidelines says that the survival and other outcomes are much better when women are operated on by these specialist providers,” Charlton says. “So, we are trying to figure out what are some barriers and what are some things we might be able to do better.”

Charlton says one issue maybe access to the specialists. “That’s a big part of it — we only have six in the whole state of Iowa — and five of them are here in Iowa City. So they are not geographically distributed very well,” she says. “But the ones that I have talked to here believed that between the six of them they do have the capacity to treat all of our ovarian cancer patients in Iowa.”  She says that isn’t the only issue and they want to find out more. “Is it that rural patients don’t know that they should go? Is it that they can’t –they have some transportation barriers, lodging barriers — things like and so they just really need to be treated closer to home. We are looking into is it possible for some of the hospitals to work closer together. Can we do a little bit more outreach?,” Charlton says.

She says the study involves a lot of interviews. “We’ve already been talking with O-B-G-Y-N’s around the state and some hospital administrators to get their perception of what’s happening,” according to Charlton. “We’ve talked to some of the gynecologic oncologists and then also through the Iowa Cancer Registry, where I am the associate director, we are also interviewing survivors of ovarian cancer to ask them about their experience and any barriers to receiving care.”

Charlton says the study will take one year to complete. She says they will spend part of the time figuring out what the problems are and then trying to figure out what they can do to make things easier for patients. Charlton says it is the eighth most common cancer in Iowa and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women. “So definitely nowhere near the numbers like breast cancer. But it’s a lot more deadly than breast cancer,” Charlton explains. “Where you have almost I think a 90 percent five-year survival rate for breast cancer — you have a less than 50 percent five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer patients.”

Charlton says there are no effective screening or early detection tools for ovarian cancer. Given the lack of prevention and early detection, effective treatment has emerged as an evidence-based mechanism for reducing ovarian cancer deaths.

MEAD, Neb. (AP) —  Authorities say an Iowa man was killed when the pickup truck he was riding in went out of control on an icy highway in eastern Nebraska. Authorities say Jose Rodas died Friday after the pickup collided with an oncoming sport utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 77, about 1.75 miles north of Mead. Rodas lived in Sioux City, Iowa. The pickup driver, Nicolas Leon, of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, was taken to a Wahoo hospital. Another passenger, Anevol Hernandez, of Sioux City, Iowa, was treated for minor injuries. The SUV driver was identified as Kristen Kusik, of Lincoln. Kusik was taken to an Omaha hospital.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A Nativity scene removed from a county courthouse lawn in southern Iowa won’t be returning. The scene was erected Nov. 18 outside the Appanoose County Courthouse in Centerville, but some residents complained that a religious display shouldn’t be placed on government property. It was moved away Dec. 9. Other residents soon called for its return. The county owns the building and the land underneath; the city owns the lawn.

The Daily Iowegian reports that City Administrator Jason Fraser said at Monday’s council meeting that the Nativity scene location was just an agenda discussion item, so the council couldn’t vote on the issue.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man on Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charges, Monday, following an incident at a residence in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, in Red Oak. 34-year old Randon Phelps, of Red Oak, was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where his cash bond was set at $300.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Department reports four arrests over the past week. Last Friday, 22-year old Ty Ron Sears, of Decatur, NE., was arrested in Stuart by the Iowa State Patrol, for OWI/1st offense. Sears was released the following day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

On Dec. 11th, 19-year old Hamadi Osman Makoma, of Erie, PA., was arrested by Adair Police at the Casey’s Store in Adair, for Theft in the 1st Degree, with regard to the theft of a vehicle from Boise, ID, and a gun that was stolen from another vehicle. Makoma’s bond was set at $10,000.

On Dec. 8th, 33-year old Rachel Anne Johnson, of Stuart, was arrested in Stuart by Stuart Police, for Domestic Assault/Bodily Injury, after the vehicle she was in struck her boyfriend, following an argument at a restaurant. Johnson was released from custody later that same day, on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, 18-year old Jesse Slade Brees, of Greenfield, was arrested by Greenfield Police on Dec. 8th, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (a small scale and baggies), and Possession of a small bag of marijuana with the intent to deliver, a Class D felony. Brees was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Few details are being released about a federal investigation into allegations that sexual arousal experiments were done on residents of a state-run Iowa institution for developmentally disabled residents. The U.S. Department of Justice notified Gov. Kim Reynolds in November that investigators will see if there are law violations at Glenwood Resource Center, an investigation first reported by the Des Moines Register. The investigation is focusing on whether residents were subjected to harmful and uncontrolled human experiments and whether they had inadequate medical and nursing care. Investigators also will look at whether there have been harmful restraint practices and needless injuries.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The state auditor on Monday criticized $40,000 in relocation benefits that helped a veteran Iowa State Patrol supervisor relocate his family home farther away from his new assignment in western Iowa. State Auditor Rob Sand concluded that there was no “public benefit” for taxpayers to cover closing costs and other expenses on the sale of Lt. Joel Ehler’s home in Adel. Sand’s office investigated the matter after The Associated Press reported on the benefits in May. An internal investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety found that the benefits were appropriate and that Ehler did nothing wrong.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Vandals have defaced the artwork and property of an Iowa man who displayed paintings of Confederate flags and swastikas in his front yard. The Des Moines Register says the vandal or vandals scrawled the words “Nazi scum” on a trailer and the pickup parked at William Stark’s house in Des Moines and spray-painted over several of the wooden pallets in his yard on which he had painted the Confederate battle flag. The vandalism was discovered Wednesday. Stark told the newspaper for a story earlier last week that he isn’t a racist or white supremacist and would paint any flag, if asked.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Deputies have arrested a Carroll man on charges that he used a stick to kill a rabbit at a Des Moines animal shelter. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday night charged 64-year-old Bobby Carothers with animal torture after the death of the rabbit at the Animal Rescue League of Central Iowa shelter. According to a criminal complaint, Carothers admitted he killed the rabbit, named Petunia. The Des Moines Register reports staff identified Carothers as being the last person in the shelter Sunday night. He was asked to leave and a short time later employees found the dead rabbit. Carothers was held at the Polk County jail.