The Iowa Board of Chiropractic said in an order filed Oct. 10th, that the Board and local practitioner Melissa Sternberg, Doctor of Chiropractic, have entered into a Settlement Agreement and Final Order, to settle a contested case currently pending before the Board. Sternberg, of Carson, was with Zook’s Family Chiropractic in Atlantic at the time of the Board’s original actions against her.

The allegations contained in the Statement of Charges against Respondent (Sternberg) will be resolved without proceeding to hearing, as the Board and she stipulate the following as facts in the case, which include, but are not limited to:

• The Board filed a Notice of Hearing and Statement of Charges on July 11, 2018.
• Sternberg admits the allegations in the Statement of Charges and acknowledges that the allegations, if proven in a contested case proceeding, would constitute grounds for the discipline agreed to in the Order.
• Execution of the Order constitutes the resolution of a contested case. Sternberg has a right to hearing before the Board on the charges, but has indicated she will waive the right to hearing and all attendant rights, including the right to appeal or seek judicial review of the Board’s actions, by freely and voluntarily entering into the Order.

The Order requires Sternberg to be CITED for representing herself as a chiropractic physician when her license was suspended and WARNED that failure to comply with the laws governing the practice of chiropractic in the future could result in further discipline. Sternberg furthermore agreed that she will not practice chiropractic while her license is suspended and/or on inactive status, and the Order assessed a civil penalty in the amount of $750, to be paid within six months from the date the agreement is accepted by the Board.

On Dec. 2nd, 2014, the Board filed a Notice of Intent to Suspend Sternberg’s license. On Feb. 16th, 2015, they filed a notice of Indefinite Suspension. A Notice of Hearing and Statement of Charges was filed in her case on July 11, 2018, with the Settlement Agreement and Final Order filed Oct. 10, 2018. Read more at https://idph.iowa.gov/Licensure/Iowa-Board-of-Chiropractic/Discipline-and-Public-Actions?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been delayed until next year for a 19-year-old in northwest Iowa accused of stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend and another young man. Woodbury Country District Court records say prosecution and defense attorneys requested another delay in the trial of Tran Walker. The trial had been set to begin Tuesday . The new starting date is Feb. 19. The original starting date was July 24.

Walker’s pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan and 18-year-old Felipe Negron Jr., who both lived in Sioux City. Police say Walker was in a car with the other two on Jan. 28 when he began to stab Sullivan because he was upset that she had broken up with him. Police say that when Negron tried to intervene, Walker stabbed him, too.

The Creston Police Department reports five arrests took place over the past few days, and one incident of vandalism was reported. Sunday evening, 53-year old Richard Beam, of Ottumwa, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation on an original Domestic Assault charge. Beam was being held in the jail while awaiting a bond hearing. Just before 1-a.m. Sunday, 19-year old Nicole L. Bendt, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was later released on a $300 bond.

Friday night, 46-year old Jonathan Mandel, of Springfield, IL., was arrested in Creston for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. He was released on a $1,000 bond. Friday afternoon, 24-year old Austin Jones, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County LEC on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Jones was later released on a $5,000 bond. And, 27-year old Peter Larsen, III, of Decatur City, was arrested Friday afternoon in Creston, on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation. Larsen was being held on a $1,000 bond.

A Creston resident reported to authorities late Sunday morning, that sometime between Oct. 11th and the 14th, someone entered a rental property he owns in the 200 block of N. Pine, and caused damage to the walls, doors, and miscellaneous items inside the home. The damage was estimated at $300.

(Radio Iowa) — Many of Iowa’s rural communities are experiencing a doctor shortage but physician assistants, or P-As, are helping to fill the gap. Jonathan Sobel, president of the America Academy of Physician Assistants, says some Iowans may not know just how much a P-A can do versus an M-D — which is just about everything. “We’re medical professionals who diagnose illness and develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications and often serve as the patient’s health care provider,” Sobel says. “We work on health care teams with physicians and other providers in just about every medical setting and specialty you can think of and there’s more than 123,000 of us in the United States.”

In Iowa, there are more than 14-hundred P-As and they have a median base salary in the state of $108,000. The P-A profession was ranked #3 in U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 Best 100 Jobs List. Sobel says those interested in medicine should consider a P-A program. “It’s now currently at the masters degree level and we have 236 accredited programs across the country,” Sobel says. “We’re helping to fill the shortage in physicians and that gap that exists throughout the country in many areas.”

The programs run 27 months or 3 academic years and a bachelor’s degree is required for acceptance. The P-A concept was developed in the 1960s as there was a doctor shortage and experienced combat medics were returning from Vietnam. The program was developed to put their skills to civilian use.  “PAs increase access to care for patients and reduce wait times,” Sobel says. “PAs have been time-proven, we’re over 50 years old. A few years ago, a Harris Poll looked at satisfaction amongst patients with their PAs and it was well over 90%.”

With thousands of hours of medical training, he notes P-As are versatile and collaborative.