Officials with Prudential Financial report a Red Oak eighth-grader will be recognized this (Friday) afternoon, as one of Iowa’s top two youth volunteers for 2013. Samantha Dilocker of Red Oak, Iowa, a student at the Red Oak Middle School, will be presented with an engraved silver medallion, as part of the “Prudential Spirit of Community Awards” program.

Samantha is being honored for initiating an annual auction of baked goods and crafts at her local Elks Lodge that has raised more than $14,000 over the past six years for a local food pantry, a scholarship fund, a community toy drive and a child with cancer.

As a State Honoree, Samantha also will receive $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where she will join other State Honorees from across the country for several days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 of the 102 State Honorees will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2013.

She will receive her silver medallion during an awards presentation in the Red Oak Middle School’s 3^rd floor auditorium, beginning at around 2:55-p.m. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), represent the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.

Two State Honorees-one middle and one high school student-plus a select number of Distinguished Finalists from each state and the District of Columbia were selected based on criteria such as personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth. For more information on Samantha and her volunteering, click here: http://bit.ly/Xf5sRp

One person was injured when a motorcycle and car collided on Atlantic’s west side, Thursday afternoon. According to dispatch reports, the accident at 2nd Street and Sunnyside lane (near the Wastewater Treatment Plant), happened at around 1:45-p.m.  The driver of the motorcycle was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries. He was said to be conscious and talking when authorities arrived on the scene.

No other details are immediately available. The Iowa State Patrol assisted at the scene with the accident investigation.

Police in Red Oak are investigating three incidents of theft which were reported to authorities Thursday afternoon. At around 2:15-p.m., officers were notified of a burglary which occurred at a residence in the 700 block of East Reed Street. On the scene, the found pry marks and about $150 damage to the back door of the residence. Several items were missing from inside the home, and while the list was still being compiled late Thursday evening, the loss was estimated to be around $2,300.

At around 4:50-p.m. Thursday, Red Oak Police received a report from a woman who lives on East Nuckols Street, that someone had entered her vehicle and stolen a set of keys, along with a picture book. The items were valued at $15.

About 20-minutes later, police officers in Red Oak received a report about prescription narcotics having been stolen from another vehicle on East Nuckols Street. No damage was done to the vehicle in the process. All three incidents remain under investigation, and anyone with information about the crimes is asked to contact the Red Oak Police Department, or Crimestoppers, at 1-800-432-1001.

The full details are out about the governor’s “Healthy Iowa Plan” to cover nearly 90-thousand low-income Iowans who have a job, but still live just below the poverty line. Representative Walt Rogers, a Republican from Cedar Falls, says the bill that’s been drafted calls for giving those Iowans access to a “medical home” that’s nearby.  “There may be some rural areas that we run into some issues,” Rogers says. “But our goal is to go within 30 minutes/30 miles of everybody.” The current state program that provides health care coverage to nearly 70-thousand low-income Iowans forces them to go to hospitals in Des Moines or Iowa City for treatment. The governor’s new plan would require participants to make a 10-dollar a month co-payment.

“There’s an element in there — it’s called ‘My Reward Plan,’ so every person has kind of their own plan that they take charge of,” Rogers says, “and they can do things to reduce their own premiums, to reduce their own co-pays, like smoking cessation things.” A combination of property taxes collected at the county level and 23 million dollars in state tax dollars would be used to finance the new “Healthy Iowa Plan.” Rogers has been designated as the lead Republican to deal with this issue.

This is not necessarily the plan that’s going to pass out of the House,” Rogers says. “What we want to do is look at it. We want to look at any ideas that Democrats have.” This “Healthy Iowa Plan” is Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s alternative to what Democrats have proposed — to expand Medicaid to cover as many as 150-thousand more Iowans. The top Democrat in the Senate accuses the governor of “dereliction of duty” for just now getting details of his plan released at the end of week 12 of the 2013 legislative session.

(Radio Iowa)