Fort Madison, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reported Tuesday (today), that 82-year-old John L Barrett was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 1:25 A.M., Saturday, September 3, 2022 while in hospice at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Barrett was housed at the facility due to chronic illness.

Barrett had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 1st Degree from Pottawattamie County. He began serving his most recent sentence on August 1, 1986.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Tuesday afternoon, said a man from Warren County died from injuries he suffered during a rollover accident Monday night, east of Greenfield. The Sheriff says 42-year-old Sean Alein Hagen, of Prole, was driving a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, westbound on Highway 92 at around 10:30-p.m., when the SUV left the road and entered the north ditch near 2432 Highway 92.

The vehicle continued westbound and re-entered Highway 92 before going back into the north ditch. The SUV continued westbound in the ditch, striking a No Passing sign. It re-entered the roadway again, at the intersection with Orange Avenue and Highway 92, where the vehicle went into the north ditch and rolled about 3 1/2 times before coming to rest.

Hagen – who did not wear a seat belt -was ejected from the vehicle through the roof. While providing aid to him, medics advised they could smell alcohol coming from Hagen, and they advised he informed them he had previously consumed alcohol, prior to the accident. He died at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Michigan based Trinity Health completed its acquisition of the Iowa-based MercyOne medical system on September 1st. MercyOne C-E-O Bob Ritz says patients across Iowa won’t notice any immediate change as the early transition involves business systems. “We have two different sets of what I’ll call infrastructure, underneath operating our organization, we’ll be moving to one,” he says. “So rather than having two payroll systems, for example, we’ll have one.” Ritz says this process will take two years to complete and that’s when patients will notice the change.

“Patients will see a marked improvement in our ability to move their information with them wherever they go in our system of care. So we have upwards of 400 locations across Iowa,”he says, “and if a patient moves from location one to location two because they need to get additional services or see a different doctor, or whatever the case may be, all that information will go with them.”

He says that should be ready by the spring of 2024. Ritz says there are no plans to rename MercyOne, and they don’t anticipate any drop in employee numbers. Ritz says they are still struggling to find staff in what he calls the prolonged aftermath of a global pandemic. “We continue to rely on outside agencies to help us with temporary staffing. And we see that across the country. And I don’t want to use the word all hospitals, but I would I would bet safely that the majority of hospitals in the country are having the same type of situation,” Ritz says.

Ritz says staffing will continue to be an issue moving forward — just as it is for a lot of businesses. “It’s been a big challenge to help all the colleagues that are part of our organization, we get the help they need to take care of the patients we care for. We’ve relied on outside agencies, and they’ve been great for us. But it’s not, you know, it’s not a long term solution. And it’s, quite frankly, it’s very, very costly,” according to Ritz.

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the country with operations in25 states. MercyOne was founded in 1998 through a collaboration between Catholic Health Initiatives, now CommonSpirit Health, and Trinity Health.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa educator has been placed on administrative leave and a student faces expulsion after the video of an incident at Pekin Community School District building was posted on social media Friday. The video shows a student punching and kicking another student while on the floor in a lunchroom.

After several punches and kicks to the head, a staffer can be heard saying stop and then the staffer enters the frame, but the assault continued. Even after being separated for a few moments, the student kicked the downed female victim two more times before leaving the frame.

A statement from Pekin Superintendent Derek Philips stated the event “does not meet our high expectations for a safe school environment.” Once the video was circulated on social media, questions arose about how the staffer handled the situation. The staffer, who is not identified, has been put on leave with pay until further review.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Harlan Police Department report six arrests took place from August 18th through Sept. 1st.

September 1, 2022: Donald David Jacobsen, age 42, Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Jacobsen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault.

August 31, 2022: Ricky Lee Komor Jr, age 21, Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Komor was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with driving while suspended and possession of a controlled substance; Alejandro Hernandez, age 21, Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. Hernandez was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with driving while suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia; Tammy Jo Sales, age 53, Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Sales was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with driving while suspended, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance.

August 20th: Mamuch Diw Guin, age 32, Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Guin was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

August 18, 2022: Lydell Jay Smith, age 36, Omaha, NE, was arrested on an active warrant. Smith was transported to the Shelby County Jail.