A new report on county-by-county health in Iowa shows Cass County is ranked 92^ndout of 99 in overall health.

Counties shown in white are among the top 25 healthiest in Iowa; Those shown in gray rank 26th-50th; Those in a light shade of green rank 51st-74th, and those counties shown in dark green rank 75th to 99th, or least healthiest.

The findings are in the “2013 County Health Rankings” study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The study compares the health of counties in every state across the nation, measured by overall health and factors that influence health. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, Sioux County ranked highest in overall health outcomes; Johnson County was ranked highest for all factors that influence health.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, Shelby County ranked highest on the list, in 23^rd place, followed by Guthrie County in 34^th, and Adair County, which was ranked 49^th. On the upper end of the rankings, Audubon County placed 72^nd, Pottawattamie County 88^th, Cass County 92^nd, Montgomery County ranked 94^th, and Adams County was near the bottom of the list, in 97^th place.

More specifically, Cass County has a higher rate of mortality/premature deaths than the statewide average. We also are higher in the number of obese residents as compared to the statewide average, but lower in excessive drinking and sexually transmitted diseases. Conversely, Cass County was higher than the statewide average, in the areas of teen births, and motor vehicle fatalities. Twelve percent of the residents in Cass County do not have medical insurance, which is slightly more than the statewide average, and there is a higher number of children living in poverty, than across the state.

The County Health Rankings were compiled taking into account a wide range of health factors, including healthy behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. For a county-by-county breakdown of the factors and rankings, go to www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/iowa/2013/rankings/outcomes/overall/by-rank

(updates w/suspect’s name released)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County have released additional details about a pursuit that ended in a crash early this (Thursday) morning. According to the sheriff’s report, at around 1:45-a.m., a broadcast was put out over the radio that Council Bluffs Police were looking for a stolen, red Monte Carlo, from the Lakewood Villa area. Officers with the Bluff’s P-D observed the vehicle traveling westbound on Veterans Memorial Highway (VMH) as it entered Omaha.

A Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy entered Council Bluffs to assist the P-D in a search for the car, with the deputy positioning his vehicle at VMH and 35th Street. When the stolen car approached and passed the deputies’ position, the deputy took off in pursuit, having taken over the chase from authorities in Omaha. The Deputy pursued the car eastbound on the VMH at speeds reaching 100-miles per hour.

As he was approaching South 24th Street, the deputy saw an Iowa State Patrol cruiser traveling westbound. The driver of the stolen car attempted to jump the center median at 90-mph, which caused him to lose control of the vehicle. The car went airborne and landed on its top. It then slid down the roadway and into the south ditch before coming to rest.

The suspect, 30-year old Chadwick Rowland, of Pacific Junction, was taken into custody and transported to Mercy Hospital to be checked for injuries. He was treated at the hospital and released to law enforcement. Rowland was being held in the Pott. County Jail on $70,000 bond, 20-thousand of which was for warrants issued for his arrest out of Douglas County, Nebraska.