One person died in an explosion and fire Tuesday night, in Harlan. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports Harlan Police and Fire, Medivac Ambulance and Sheriff’s Deputies were called to 4025 Ridgeway Drive at around 11:18-p.m. When officers arrived, they located a vehicle next to a shed in the back yard of the property. The vehicle and shed were fully engulfed in flames. After the fire was extinguished, human remains were found inside the vehicle. The remains will be sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and cause of death.

An initial investigation determined the vehicle was traveling north on Highway 59 when it left the road near the intersection with Hawkeye Avenue. The vehicle traveled across a grassy area before striking several trees. It then came to rest against the shed, where both caught fire. No names or other information will be released at this time, pending positive ID of the victim and notification of family. The incident remains an ongoing investigation.

Officials with the Creston Police Department report two men were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday. Just before 11-a.m., 50-year old Joel Weeks, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond. And, at around 7-p.m. Tuesday, 18-year old William Wulff, of Chariton, was arrested in Creston on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree. He was later released on a Promise to Appear in Court.

Creston Police said also, a resident of the 600 block of S. Park Street reported Tuesday morning, that sometime between 10-p.m. Monday and 8-a.m. Tuesday, someone stole a Marine Band CB radio from his vehicle parked near the residence. The loss was estimated at $140. And, a woman residing in the 700 block of W. Adams Street in Creston, reported to police that sometime between 5:50-p.m. and 6-p.m., someone broke a window at her residence. The loss was estimated at $150.

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s confident there will be a “seamless” switch after another change in the state-run Medicaid program. One of the three private companies that began managing care for Medicaid patients in 2016 is pulling out of the program this Thursday. State officials originally said 215-thousand Iowans in the Medicaid program would be automatically enrolled with UnitedHealth, but could choose to switch to Amerigroup. Amerigroup is the other remaining carrier. Monday, though, about 10-thousand Iowans found out they cannot make that choice. State officials will step in to manage their care instead. “The Department of Human Services has put together a transition plan and they’re monitoring it very closely every single day,” Reynolds says. “Our goal is to make it as seamless as possible, to make sure that we continue to offer continuity of service, again, to Iowans who really need a coordinated care and need that extra help and to really do everything we can to eliminate as much disruption as possible.”

Iowa’s switch the privately-managed care was approved by the federal government as a way to manage costs and provide choice to Medicaid patients. Iowa Democrats have opposed what they call “privatizing” the Medicaid program and this week the Iowa Democratic Party chairman called the system “ReynoldsCare”. The governor says it’s a “partnership” to ensure the program is sustainable for taxpayers and serving poor, elderly and disabled Iowans who cannot afford health care insurance on their own. “It’s not perfect. I’ve never said it was perfect, but I am willing to put the time and the effort into making sure that Iowans get the care that they deserve in a managed and coordinated and more modern delivery system,” Reynolds said. “I’m not going back.”

Reynold says she has “full faith and confidence” in the people managing the Medicaid program for 600-thousand Iowans. Health care providers say they’re not getting paid and Democrats say it’s time to revert back to a standard fee system with state-paid employees manage Medicaid. “When you have fee-for-service that was on an average increasing at 10/7 percent, that’s not sustainable,” Reynolds says. “I hope you would ask them: ‘How are they going to pay for it?…Are they not going to fund education? Are they not going to fund health care?'”

Reynolds made her comments late Tuesday morning, during a brief news conference in Boone. Iowa officials are seeking a deal with another private company to manage care for Medicaid patients, but that contract won’t be signed until the summer of 2019.

(Radio Iowa)