(Radio Iowa) – Supply chain experts say the bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore last month likely will -not- have a major impact on Midwestern manufacturers, even though it could be the end of May before the port reopens. Frank Montabon, a professor of supply chain management at Iowa State University, says farmers buying equipment could see cost increases related to the collapse, but the average consumer likely won’t, as firms adjust their supply chains. “That gets to the idea of resiliency. Can you deal with some sort of shock?” Montabon says. “Some companies are great at it and have figured that out very well. Some companies, for whatever reasons, they don’t want to take the time and energy to be ready for that.”

Henrik Sternberg, also an I-S-U professor of supply chain management, says domestic impact from the collapse will be small, but overseas may be a different story.  “What this means is that the lead time to the overseas customers will get roughly three times longer,” Sternberg says, “and with a longer lead time, then for some time, the products will be less competitive.”

The Maryland port moved nearly 81-billion-dollars in foreign-bound cargo last year, part of which came from major ag equipment manufacturers like C-N-H Industrial and John Deere. Replacing the bridge may cost 400-million dollars and take several years.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates who help refugees resettle in the state of Iowa say there’s a critical need for health care providers. Nick Wuertz is the Director of Immigrant & Refugee Community Services for Lutheran Services in Iowa and says eleven agencies are helping resettle 25-hundred people across the state, which is more than last year.“We do see additional challenges for newcomers, who don’t speak the language and are learning how to navigate insurance and all of these things,” Wuertz says. He says most refugees are coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Burma. Wuertz says there is a shortage of physicians, dentists, and especially mental health workers who can treat refugees.

Fatiya Adam is a native of Ethiopia who came to the United States 20 years after spending a decade in a refugee camp in Kenya. She now is a case worker and knows the challenges first-hand. “It changed my life because I put myself in their shoes. Coming from a different country and then now help those people. I understand what they are going through because we all go through a different trauma,” she says. Adam says there are a couple of issue that seem to be the same for all refugees. “Language and than culture shock, just because we look different, and people just don’t understand. Everybody who comes has a different experience,” Adam says.

Adams and several dozen others attended a conference at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City Friday on how to help achieve cultural awareness in health care.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision in Creston Friday evening caused $500 damage to a box van and $1,500 damage to a car, but no one was injured. The Creston Police Department reports the Isuzu van driven by 40-year-old Maria Fuentes-Rodriguez, of Creston, pulled out from a stop sign at Highway 34 and Abell Street at around 6:20-p.m., in an attempt to turn east.

A 2015 Mercedes C300 driven by 40-year-old Carles Rivera, of Creston, was in the outside lane traveling east, when the van pulled out in front of the car and struck the vehicle. Rivera told police he was going to a convenience store to get some food, and did not have his turn signal on, but Rodriguez said Rivera’s turn signal was on, but that she though he was going to turn east onto Abell Street, which is why she pulled out onto the highway.

There were no citations issued.

(Creston, Iowa) – Three teens were injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident in Union County, Sunday afternoon. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, a 2002 Ford Ranger pickup driven by 15-year-old Candyn Lee Danielson, of Creston, had stopped at the intersection of Clover Avenue and 170th Street. Danielson admitted to deputies that he attempted to slide the corner turning west, and that he and two passengers were “messing around.”

When he attempted to slide around the corner, the pickup went out of control and entered the ditch. The accident happened at around 2:10-p.m., Sunday.

Danielson, who was not wearing a seat belt, recalled being ejected out the side window of the vehicle. The teen, and his passengers, 15-year-old’s Gauge Osborne, of Orient, and Kaydon Delong, both of whom were wearing seat belts, were transported by private vehicle to the Greater Regional Hospital in Creston.

Danielson was cited for Failure to Maintain Control. The pickup, valued at $4,000, was a total loss.