(Updated 12:50-p.m.)

Authorities in Clarinda says no serious  injuries were reported following a minor accident involving a school bus and a car Monday morning. According to the Clarinda Police Department, a Clarinda Community School District bus was leaving a child pick-up site at 1040 West State Street and beginning to travel east,  when the 2001 Bluebird bus was hit from behind by a 2012 Ford Fusion. The accident happened at around 7:50-a.m.

The driver of the car, 28-year old Ashley Michelle Cabbage, of Stanton, told investigators she was distracted by her phone, and took her eyes off the road. When she looked up, she hit the brakes but her vehicle slammed into the rear of the bus. After the impact, the Ford veered left, off the road and crossed the westbound lane before coming to rest on the westbound shoulder.  The bus, driven by 60-year old Connie Ruth Miller, of Clarinda, came to a stop on the eastbound shoulder of the road.

Both drivers and five students on the bus, all of whom were from Clarinda and ranged in age from 9-to 13, were transported by Clarinda EMS to the Clarinda Regional Health Center to be checked for possible injuries. Cabbage was determined to have suffered non-incapacitating injuries during the collision.

A check of the bus’ flashing lights was made by the investigating officer, and all were determined to have been fully functional. Cabbage was subsequently cited for Following too close.  Damage from the accident amounted to $14,000.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reported a Pacific Junction woman was injured during a single-vehicle accident Thursday morning on Eastman Road. Officials say Cassandra Wendt was traveling northbound when she failed to negotiate a curve in the road. Her 1990 Chevy went off the road to the right and hit a tree before coming to rest in a ditch. Wendt was transported by Pacific Junction Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest late Sunday night of a Shenandoah man on drug and weapon charges. 36-year old Joseph Ryan Bredberg was taken into custody at around 11:30-p.m. following  a traffic stop. Bredberg faces Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Carrying a Dangerous Weapon charges. His bond was set at $3,300.

Also arrested Sunday, was 39-year old Derek Michael Dodge, of Corning, on a charge of OWI 1st offense, and 33-year old Jerad Keith Perkins, of Pacific Junction, on a charge of OWI/2nd offense. Dodge was being held in the Mills County Jail on $1,000 bond, while Perkins’ bond was set at $2,000.

Mills County deputies arrested 31-year old Cassandra Sue Wilkins, of Omaha, on Saturday. She was charged with OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000. And Friday night, 37-year old Carl David Galvan, Jr., of Council Bluffs, and 46-year old Cynthia Sharece Devault, also of Council Bluffs, were arrested on respective, separate Interference with Official Acts and Protection Order Violation, charges. Galvan’s bond was set at $300, while Devault was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

And on Thursday, 53-year old Jonathan S. Elliott, of Haysville, KS, was arrested in Mills County on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge. He was taken into custody during a traffic stop on I-29 at around 5:45-p.m. His bond was set at $300.

(9-a.m. News)

Police in Atlantic arrested a local man Friday, on an assault charge. 30-year old Daniel Duranceau, of Atlantic, faces a charge of Domestic Assault. He was transported to Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance in front of the magistrate.

Atlantic Police also investigated a personal injury accident that occurred Saturday evening. Officials say at around 5-p.m., vehicles driven by Alyssa Adams and Donna Rourick, both of Atlantic, collided near the intersection of 9th and Chestnut Streets, as Adams was pulling out of a parking spot on Chestnut.

While doing so, she failed to see Rourick also pulling out of a parking spot. Rourick’s vehicle hit Adams’ on the left side, causing $10,000 damage. Adams was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance. Adams was subsequently cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a through Street.

A report from the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) claims hospitals across the state that participate in a program designed to reduce medical errors prevented potential harm to more than 43-hundred (4,300) patients last year. Scott McIntyre, spokesman for the Iowa Hospital Association, says the effort is part of the federal Partnership for Patients initiative, with the goals of reducing harm by 40 percent and hospital re-admissions by 20 percent.

“We just feel there’s been very positive and noteworthy progress,” McIntrye says. “In reality, we’re keeping people out of the hospital…and we’re saving lives.” The report estimates at least 32 lives were saved in Iowa in 2013 because of the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN). The Iowa-based HEN, which includes 12 hospitals in Illinois and Nebraska, also reduced health care costs, according to McIntrye.

“Our estimate is about 51-million dollars was saved because of the improvements in these quality measures,” McIntyre says. In addition to reducing costs, McIntyre says the Iowa HEN reduced the time that patients spent in the participating hospitals by 17,758 days. The report also claims participating hospitals reduced early elective baby deliveries (which can increase complications) by 90 percent; catheter associated urinary tract infections by 44 percent; adverse drug events by 28 percent; central line-associated blood stream infections in intensive care by 24 percent; surgical site infections by 24 percent; patient falls by 23 percent; and avoidable re-admissions by 11 percent.

(Radio Iowa)