The CEO of the Cass County Health System reports the Cass County Memorial Hospital has been named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by iVantage Health Analytics and The Chartis Center for Rural Health. CEO Brett Altman said today (Wednesday), “This achievement is very gratifying and validates our daily commitment to providing the best health care possible to our community, while maintaining an efficient and effective facility.  It is this commitment to excellence by staff throughout the facility that made me want to become a part of CCHS a few months ago.”

CCMH scored in the top 100 of Critical Access Hospitals on iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength INDEX®. The INDEX is the industry’s most comprehensive rating of rural providers. It provides the data foundation for the annual Rural Relevance Study and its results are the basis for many of rural healthcare’s most prominent awards, advocacy efforts and legislative initiatives. The list of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals and more information about the study can be found at www.iVantageINDEX.com.

The Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals play a key role in providing a safety net to communities across America – and the INDEX measures them across eight pillars of hospital strength: Inpatient Share Ranking, Outpatient Share Ranking, Cost, Charge, Quality, Outcomes, Patient Perspectives, and Financial Stability.

Michael Topchik, national leader of the Chartis Center for Rural Health, said “It’s more important than ever that rural hospitals proactively understand and address performance in the areas of cost, quality, outcomes and patient perspective. iVantage’s INDEX was designed to serve as this industry model. Across the spectrum of performance indicators, there are rural providers that are writing the blueprint for success as they transition to value-based healthcare. Our analysis shows that this group of top performers exhibits a focused concern for their community needs.”

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report a central Iowa man has been arrested on an Audubon County warrant for Failure to Appear in court for a pre-trial conference Sept. 26th, on a Driving While Revoked, charge. 40-year old Christopher Jon Comes, of West Des Moines, was extradited from the Dallas County Jail and transported to Audubon County, where he was held in the jail on $5,000 bond. Comes is scheduled to appear in District Court next Monday.

(In an update to our earlier report) – The Iowa State Patrol says a student at the Sidney High School was flown by Life Net Helicopter to Creighton Hospital in Omaha, after the 2003 Chevy Silverado pickup he was driving collided with a 2004 Sidney Community School District Bluebird School Bus this (Wednesday) morning. The driver of the pickup was identified as 18-year oldDrew Thomas Graham, of Sidney. Officials say he was not wearing a seat belt. The bus driver was identified as 60-year old Dennis Charles Golden, also of Sidney.

The Patrol says the pickup was westbound on Knox Road from Maple Road at around 8:17-a.m., when it crossed the center line and collided with the eastbound school bus. Following the collision, the pickup came to rest on the road, while the bus came to rest in the ditch.

The collision, which occurred near the Sidney Junior/Senior High School, also resulted in injuries to the bus driver and two students on the bus, all of whom were transported to the hospital as a precaution. The bus had just left the grounds to take seven students to vocational classes in Sidney, when the crash occurred.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the use of automated speed cameras in Iowa, rejecting challenges in two separate court cases filed by citizens claiming Cedar Rapids cameras violated their constitutional rights.

In one case six car owners ticketed on Interstate 380 sought class-action status claiming the cameras violate equal protection and due process rights among others. In the second case Marla Leaf claimed the city failed to clearly prove she was speeding.

The court on Wednesday rejected each challenge saying federal courts have already declared the cameras constitutional. The attorney representing the car owners says they’ll appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. Several other pending court cases in Iowa challenge the legality of automated cameras and a bill to ban them has resurfaced in the Iowa Legislature.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of 21-year old Jayson Anthony Scarborough, of Marshall, MO., following the alleged assault of a Cass County man and destruction of property. Authorities say 36-year old Jeffrey Shane Cloughly, of Atlantic, walked with a baby to the Casey’s Store in Avoca at around 9:25-a.m., Monday, after Cloughly was allegedly struck on the back of the head at 707 N. Chestnut Street, in Avoca. The man refused medical treatment, and told deputies his bedroom in the residence had been damaged by the suspect, in the form of holes being punched in the drywall. The damage amounted to $500. Scarborough was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree and Simple Assault.

And, a 17-year old male from Council Bluffs was referred to Juvenile Corrections in connection with the armed robbery Tuesday afternoon, of the DeSoto Mini-Mart, in Missouri Valley. Authorities say the store clerk reported at around 4:40-p.m., that a juvenile male had come into the store and pointed a shotgun at him. The suspect demanded money and other items before leaving the area in a 2016 Chevy Silverado pickup. The pickup was located and impounded. The unnamed suspect faces charges that include Robbery in the 1st Degree and Theft in the 5th Degree.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the 1st Degree Robbery conviction in Shelby County, of Chad Dean Meek, of rural Defiance, who robbed the Irwin County Store during the late night hours of May 25th, 2015. Meek was 36 when crime occurred. His case went to trial in May, 2016 and a jury found him guilty. Meek was sentenced to 25-years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 70 percent of that time being served.

The Appeals Court also affirmed the conviction of Barbara Kay Svoboda, who had challenged her guilty plea to forgery, with regard to the altering of a rental agreement in Guthrie County. She has also faced six six felony charges in two previously filed cases but reached a plea agreement with the State in three of the cases, and agreed to plead guilty to three felony charges associated with Identity Theft, 2nd Degree Theft, and Forgery. In the Forgery case, she claimed her guilty plea was “defective” because the district court did not ensure she understood the nature of the forgery charge and did not review her right to have an attorney appointed to represent her at trial. The Appeals Court upheld the District Court’s ruling in her case.

And, in an Adair County case, the Appeals Court vacated the conviction of Jordan Campbell and remanded the case for further proceedings, Campbell had appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence and subsequent conviction for Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver, and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. He argued the traffic stop on Interstate 80 and detention of him by an Iowa State Patrol Trooper that subsequently resulted in the discovery of evidence against him, were unconstitutional, based on the duration of the stop beyond the time necessary to complete the reason for the stop. He also contended the drug-dog sniff of his vehicle without a warrant was unconstitutional.  The Appeals Court in its ruling, agreed the roadside duration of the stop was unconstitutional (in violation of the 4th Amendment), and the lower court should have suppressed the evidence of contraband in Campbell’s vehicle.

The Harlan Police Department today (Wednesday), released a report on arrests and incidents dating back to last Friday. Authorities say on Sunday, 34-year old Justin Henriksen, of Harlan, was taken into custody on an active warrant and transported to the Shelby County Jail.  Upon a search of Henriksen’s person, a controlled substance was located.  Henriksen now faces an enhanced Possession of a Controlled Substance, charge.

On Saturday, Harlan Police took into custody a minor, after officers observed a vehicle driving recklessly.  Consent to search the vehicle was granted and Officers charged the minor with Minor using Tobacco, 3rd offense; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Possession of Controlled Substance and Prohibited Acts. The youth was brought to the Shelby County Jail.

Last Friday, 40-year old Brian Paul Werner, and 22-year old Jaime Alexandra Sully, both of Harlan, were taken into custody and transported to the Shelby County Jail after officers observed a vehicle driving the wrong way down a one-way street.  Consent was granted to search the vehicle, where Officers located drug paraphernalia.  Werner was charged with Prohibited Acts; Child Endangerment; and Possession of a Controlled Substance.  Sully was also charged with Child Endangerment and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Also last Friday, 33-year old Ronald Anthony Leal, of Harlan, was arrested after  Officers were called to the Shelby County Jail about administering a preliminary breath test to Leal, who had reported to the jail to serve time on previous charges.  Leal was placed under arrest and charged with additional Public Intoxication charges.

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) – At least three students have been injured in a collision between a school bus and a pickup truck near the front of a school in southwest Iowa. Authorities say the collision occurred around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Sidney Junior/Senior High School in Sidney. District Superintendent Gregg Cruickshank says the bus had just left the grounds to take seven students to vocational classes in Sidney when the oncoming pickup swerved across the street and hit the bus.

Cruickshank says a student driving the pickup was flown to an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital for treatment. The superintendent says the bus driver and two boys on the bus were taken to a local hospital as a precaution. He declined to release any names.

Cruickshank also says classes continued as scheduled Wednesday.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst followed Tuesday’s loud and cantankerous public forum in Maquoketa with a closed-door meeting with a drug abuse fighting organization in Clinton. Ernst spoke with local reporters after the meeting and expressed concern about the tone of the Maquoketa meeting. “I am o.k. with people coming out and exercising the right to free speech,” Ernst said. “They certainly can do that, but what is concerning is that when are we going to start coming together and having a productive dialogue.”

Ernst says she hosted the Maquoketa forum to discuss veterans-related issues. “It was really hard. We had a veterans roundtable and we’re gathering a lot of information about veterans initiatives and where we need to do better, so there were a number of issues that were presented and it was really hard to delve into those issues…when you had so many other people talking over those veterans,” Ernst says.

“For the most part,” she said, “the crowd tried to remain respectful of those veterans that actually attended to get their information to us, but there were others that were just so angry that it didn’t matter what the discussion was, they weren’t going to pay attention.” When Ernst arrived at the Maquoketa forum, she was greeted with a chant of “just one term,” and when she ended the event at the 45 minute mark, the crowd erupted with chants of “do your job” and “shame on you.” Ernst says Republicans in Washington are focusing on promises made to voters during 2016.

“What we have seen is a president now that’s transitioned into the administration. He’s doing everything that he said he would do when he was out on the campaign trail, so people shouldn’t be surprised at his actions out there,” Ernst says. “Nor should they be surprised that in the senate we’re trying to get down to work…to move in the direction that they asked us to move in this last election cycle.”

Ernst also held a private meeting in Davenport with a cancer support group yesterday (Tuesday).

(Radio Iowa)