The FBI says a Nebraska man was arrested Thursday for allegedly making threats against a Republican Senator from southwest Iowa. 64-year old Robert William Simet, of Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested for making the alleged threats against United States Senator Joni Ernst.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter. No other information or comments will be released until documents have been filed with the court as part of the public record.

Emergency crews from Griswold and Lewis were dispatched to the scene of a rollover accident late this (Friday) morning. The crash happened near 65375 620th Street at around 11:30-a.m.  There was a man reportedly trapped under the vehicle, but he was conscious and breathing. A later report indicated he was suffering from a broken femur.

Griswold Fire and Rescue and Lewis 1st Responders responded to the scene. No other details are currently available.

Sheriff’s Deputies and rescue crews were called to the scene of a motorcycle accident a little north of Brayton, this (Friday) morning. The accident happened near the curve at around 10:25-a.m. According to dispatch reports, a 56-year old male was complaining of back and shoulder pain, but was otherwise okay. No other details were immediately available.

Exira Rescue was one of the emergency units responding to the scene.

Officials with the Iowa Army National Guard have announced Brigadier General Steven W. Altman, Deputy Adjutant General of the Iowa Army National Guard, will retire from the Iowa National Guard effective September 1, 2017 after 38 years of service. Governor Kim Reynolds has selected Brig. Gen. Benjamin J. Corell, a native of Crescent, as Altman’s successor.

Altman enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in September 1979 and received his officer’s commission through the Creighton University Reserve Officer Training Corps in May 1983. He has commanded at the company, battalion, and brigade level, to include commanding the Regional Corps Advisory Command-East, Afghanistan. Altman was promoted to brigadier general and appointed by Governor Terry Branstad as the full-time Deputy Adjutant General for the Iowa Army National Guard in September 2011.

Official Selection photograph for Brig. Gen. Steven W. Altman (485-88-7931 / 1141593869), taken at the Freedom Center of Camp Dodge, Iowa, on Monday, August 8th, 2016. (Iowa National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Linda K. Burger)(Released)

Altman has earned numerous medals during his years of service, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (with two bronze oak leaf clusters), National Defense Service Medal (with bronze service star), Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with bronze service star), and Combat Action Badge.

General Altman has commanded at the company, battalion, and brigade level, and most recently commanded the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa Army National Guard, from June 2010 to June 2012 during which time he deployed this unit to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).  He is currently completing an active duty tour as the Deputy Commander, NATO Multinational Division Southeast, Bucharest, Romania.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported after a car struck the Griswold American building (517 Main Street) in Griswold, Thursday afternoon. The accident happened at around 1:40-p.m.  Authorities say a 1999 Buick Lesabre owned and driven by 90-year old Lila Yvonne Kunze, of Lewis, was westbound on Main Street.  When Kunze tried to turn into an angle parking stall, her car went over the curb, and struck the building, causing $2,000 damage to the structure, and $5,000 damage to the car.

Kunze was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

Iowa State University plans to launch a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program in the fall of 2018. Professor Ginny Wangerin, director of nursing education at I-S-U, says the program should appeal to registered nurses who are already working in the field as well as recent graduates of approved nursing programs. Wangerin says, “The Iowa State program is designed for nurses who’ve already received, typically, their associate’s degree and their nursing license, so they will be RNs already.”

The campus-based program aims to meet a need as more hospitals and health care providers in the state are requiring — or are at least encouraging — nurses to get a B-S-N degree. “Looking at the numbers in our community and the graduates from our local community colleges, we’re anticipating about 50 students with each admission,” Wangerin says. “Given they will be in the program about two years, three to four semesters, we expect to reach a capacity of about 200 students over time.”

Nationwide, about 65-percent of R-Ns have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but the rate in Iowa is only around 46-percent, dropping to nearly 30-percent in rural areas. The program at I-S-U won’t likely help to reverse the state’s nurse shortage, but Wangerin says there will still be valuable benefits. “Programs such as this, the RN to BSN, do not necessarily put more nurses in the field, but what it does is advance the education of the nurses that we have,” Wangerin says. “All of the research tells us that leads to safer care and better care.”

Studies find when hospitals or health care providers have more B-S-N-prepared nurses on staff, there are fewer medical errors, deaths, infections or injuries for patients, and patients spend fewer days in the hospital. Wangerin says about 88 to 90-percent of all nurses in Iowa are female.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Willie Stevenson Glanton, Iowa’s first black female legislator, has died. Henderson’s Highland Park Funeral Home confirmed Friday that Glanton died Thursday in Des Moines. She was 95.

Glanton served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1965 to 1967 as a Democrat. The Des Moines Register reports she was the first woman to become an assistant Polk County attorney. She also was the first black person to be elected president of the Iowa chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

The newspaper reports Glanton, who was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1986, served on numerous boards, commissions and councils during her life.
Details about Glanton’s funeral services are pending.