(Radio Iowa) — From ice cream socials to picnics, some four-dozen Iowa cities are taking part in this year’s National Night Out, which in most communities is tonight (Tuesday). Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons says Webster City is hosting their events this evening. “This event is a community policing project,” Sheriff Timmons says. “In today’s world, everybody thinks the police are out to get ’em. No, we’re not. We’re there to help you. We have a job to do and we try to do it the best that we can. This way, you guys can come out and see who we are.”

Night Out events have been held for more than 30 years as a way for law enforcement and communities to work together. “We have handouts for the kids, handouts for the adults, a light meal, I’ve got a fellow coming from Stanhope to have music,” Timmons says. “The fire department will be set up showing their stuff. The ambulance will be there. We’ll have all of our gear and the squad cars. We’re working with the National Guard to have a climbing wall. We have all sorts of good things planned.”

To find communities in Iowa where National Night Out events are taking place, visit: www.natw.org. The list (locally) includes: Bridgewater, Carter Lake, Council Bluffs, Harlan, and Red Oak.

A call about an accident Monday night in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. Police were dispatched to the scene at the intersection of Walnut and N. 2nd Streets in Red Oak, at around 7:34-p.m. An investigation determined 40-year old Angela Sue Hunt Mitera, of Hamburg, was driving east on Walnut Street, and failed to yield to a car driven by 28-year old Morgan Davenport, of Red Oak.

When Mitera’s 2017 Ford C-Max was struck broadside by Davenport’s 2006 Chevy Impala, the Ford rolled onto its top. Damage from the accident amounted to $18,000 altogether. Both drivers were checked out by EMS at the scene, and both refused transport to the hospital.

Hunt-Mitera was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, with 5 withdrawals in effect. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a little more than $566 bond, and cited for Failure to Yield, along with Violation of License Restriction (No SR-22 Insurance).

Red Oak Police were assisted by the Red Oak Fire Department and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Sixteen Iowans applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacancy on the Iowa Court of Appeals that occurred when Judge Gayle Vogel retired on July 1, 2019.

The nominating commission met Monday, August 5, 2019 to interview the applicants for the vacancy. Following the interviews, the commission deliberated and selected a slate of three nominees from the group of applicants and delivered the slate to the Governor. The nominees selected are:

Tim Gartin, Ames

Myron Gookin, Fairfield

Julie Schumacher, Schleswig

The governor has thirty (30) days in which to appoint the new judge.

The 17-member commission is composed of, eight commissioners elected by lawyers licensed to practice law in Iowa, and nine commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate. The names of the commissioners are on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A hospital in Marshalltown plans to close its obstetrics unit and women’s health clinic because of a drop in births at the facility. The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports UnityPoint Health announced Monday it would make the move in response to a 45 percent decrease in the number of births at the obstetrics unit. The closures will result in the loss of 32 jobs but UnityPoint says it’s trying to find work for displaced employees elsewhere in the organization.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa Republican lawmaker held a campaign fundraiser featuring U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley at a shooting range, despite calls to cancel the gun-centered event following weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. State Rep. Steve Holt blamed the shootings on “the loss of our value system brought about in part by idiotic far-left ideology that forced Biblical values from our schools, the media and the public square…”

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Democrat J.D. Scholten says he will make another run for an Iowa congressional seat held for 17 years by Republican Rep. Steve King. Scholten announced Monday he would again seek the Democratic nomination in the 4th Congressional District, made up of 39 counties covering much of northwest and central Iowa. Since winning the seat in 2002, King has been re-elected eight times, usually by margins of 20 to more than 30 percentage points until last November, when he beat Scholten by 3 points.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two bodies were found in a rail car that had carried about 100 tons of steel from Mexico to south-central Iowa. The Daily Iowegian newspaper reports that Iowa Southern Railway workers discovered the bodies Friday when decoupling cars from an engine about 1.5 miles southeast of Centerville. Authorities think the two were killed by the tons of shifting steel that had been loaded in Monterrey, Mexico. It’s unclear when they got into the car. The pair have yet to be identified.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A hospital in Marshalltown plans to close its obstetrics unit and women’s health clinic because of a drop in births at the facility. The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports UnityPoint Health announced Monday it would make the move in response to a 45 percent decrease in the number of births at the obstetrics unit.

As Jennifer Friedly, president of UnityPoint Health — Marshalltown put it, “There simply aren’t enough women choosing to deliver locally.” The closures will result in the loss of 32 jobs but UnityPoint says it’s trying to find work for displaced employees elsewhere in the organization.

The closure follows the June 2018 loss of the hospital’s catheterization lab and the November 2018 ending of its intensive care unit.

ATLANTIC- The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to the laboratory at Cass County Health System (CCHS) based on the results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP’s Accreditation Programs. CCHS Laboratory Director, Mitch Whiley, MLS (ASCP)CM was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services being provided.

The CCHS Laboratory is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide. The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government’s own inspection program. During the CAP accreditation process, designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years.

CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management.