The Atlantic Police Department, today (Thursday), issued a reminder to citizens of the community, that phone scams are still taking place, and are affecting residents. Officials say “Lately, the police department has had reports of high-dollar amounts and personal information being taken over the phone, from persons who call, pretending to be from “Microsoft” and “Discover Card.” Authorities warn you to be very careful in handing out any personal information, and do not allow companies to access your computer to “fix” anything.

Microsoft will never contact you to tell you your computer is infected by a virus. If you have any questions about your credit card account, contact the company directly.

Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson informed the City Council during their meeting Wednesday night, that Lt. Devin Hogue was presented with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce’ Angel of Christmas award, Sunday, during the Holiday Concert. Hogue started the can food drive for the Food Pantry six-years ago, and the collection has for the most part, grown each year since. He said in the first year, kids in the community collected 3,126 cans; the 2^nd year, 3,891; the 3^rd year 3,173; the 4^th year, 3,608; the 5^th year, 5,991 and this year, 4,896 cans.

Another program coming up Dec. 15^th, is the Atlantic Police Department’s “Christmas Family Dreams.” It starts at 8-a.m. In front of the Police Station, with stops for shopping all over town. “Shop with a cop” takes place 12:45-p.m. Dec. 16^th at Wal-Mart in Atlantic. Erickson says his officers will show-up, along with a boy by the name of Myles Jones, from Cumberland. He came to the Police Department in June with a hand written note inviting officers to his birthday party. His grandmother made a Police uniform for him.

Lt. Devin Hogue and “Officer Myles” (APD Facebook photo)

Myles also raised almost $1,000 on his own, for the kids’ Christmas programs this year in Atlantic. Lt. Hogue drove Myles around town to collect the donations, and the P-D made Myles an honorary Policeman. They also invited him to the “Shop with a Cop event” this Sunday. Erickson said also, the P-D has invited Atlantic kids to attend a free movie this Saturday, with the help of some chaperones.

The Chief also thanked the Council for their investment last May in new, Load Bearing Vests (LBV’s), that replaced the standard duty belts officers wear that weight nearly 30-pounds with all the added equipment necessary for them to perform their duty. Those belts were responsible for causing lower back pain among many officers, old and young alike.

A type of Load Bearing Vest similar to the one in use by the Atlantic P-D.

12 vests were purchased for about $5,130 altogether. The vests have a five-year warranty, and match the current color of A-PD uniforms. They were paid for through the Employee Benefits Fund.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports a suspect wanted in connection with the search for a stolen vehicle, was arrested Wednesday afternoon. 30-year old Joshua Michael Ackerson, of Fort Dodge, was arrested at around 3:45-p.m. and held in the Audubon County Jail, pending extradition to Greene County. Authorities say just before Noon, Wednesday, the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a suspicious vehicle stuck in a field on the 1800 block of 170th Street. The reporting party advised Dispatch the male occupant of the vehicle was walking through his field. When Law Enforcement arrived a short time later, the license place on the car came back stolen out of Jefferson earlier that morning. The occupant or occupants were not around.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped an assault charge filed against an Iowa man more than 20 years ago. Forty-one-year-old Dawarn Moncrief turned up as a passenger in a car stopped Aug. 30 in Burlington for an illegal license plate. He was arrested on drug charges unrelated to the June 27, 1998, stabbing of another man in Burlington.

The Hawk Eye reports that prosecutor Justin Stonerook told the court in a filing last week that many of the witnesses have died or moved away and can’t be found, making it impossible to prove the assault charge.
Moncrief is awaiting trial later this month on new assault charges and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 4 on convictions for the drug possession charges filed after his Aug. 30 arrest.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report 33-year old David Wallace White, of Treynor, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m. Wednesday, following a traffic stop. White was arrested on a charge of Driving While Barred. And, at around 12-a.m. today (Thursday), 36-year old Frederick James Driscoll, Jr., of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Pott. County, following a traffic stop for speeding 57 mph in a 35 mph zone. Authorities say Driscoll displayed signs of being impaired, and was taken into custody for OWI/2nd offense, and Driving While Revoked.

(Radio Iowa) — A University of Iowa study finds rural hospitals that use tele-medicine in their emergency rooms save money and find it easier to recruit new physicians. The study’s author is Marcia Ward, a professor of health management and policy in the U-I College of Public Health. Ward says tele-medicine technology is advancing quickly through the use of high-definition cameras and the latest critical communications gear. “There’s a red button on the wall and even if the nurses know an ambulance is arriving, they’ll hit that red button,” Ward says, “and within a matter of a minute or two, they’re connected to a specialist, an emergency department specialist.”

U-I researchers analyzed data from 19 rural hospitals in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Avera Health hub-and-spoke network. The “spoke” hospitals were located in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. The experts at the “hub” who are tapped to help in emergency room settings weren’t in some other region of the country, they’re part of the local network and they’ve visited the hospitals in person. “They know the staff by name, they have ongoing communication and education with them and they know what’s in the storage cabinets,” Ward says. “So, they’ll say, ‘Okay, please, start a drip and that’s in Drawer #3, pull out the whatever,’ and they’ll guide them through it.”

Ward says many rural hospitals can’t staff their E-Rs with doctors who are trained in emergency medicine, so the use of tele-medicine can be an enormous plus and a literal lifesaver. “Imagine a scenario where there’s a car accident and there’s several people injured in the middle of the night,” Ward says. “In a small hospital, it’s going to be a family physician who may rarely see really severe injuries.” The U-I report found hospitals that switched to tele-E-R services found it easier to recruit new physicians because they could offer a better work-life balance, since the doctor wouldn’t have to cover an E-R shift. Ward says the model gives doctors more downtime, reducing burnout and increasing retention. Some rural residents — the patients — are hesitant to adapt to tele-medicine, she says, at least until they need it. “People love the convenience. Once they try it out, it feels comfortable to them,” Ward says. “Overwhelmingly, 90-plus percent of patients say once they get used to it, yes, they like it. There’s a lot of research that shows for certain uses, they like it more than in person.”

The report finds rural hospitals which switched to tele-medicine to back-up their E-Rs saved an average of $117,000 a year in health care provider costs. Also, rural hospitals that continued to staff their E-Rs with on-site or on-call physicians saw an average increase of $138,000 in annual provider compensation costs. The study was published in the December issue of the journal Health Affairs.