Officials with the Cass County Health System have announced Dr. Elaine Berry has received the Iowa Hospital Association’s 2016 Hospital Hero award. The award was presented on October 19^th during the IHA annual meeting in Des Moines. On hand to present the award was Pat Markham, CCHS CEO and former professional boxer/motivational speaker Sugar Ray Leonard, who was a keynote speaker at the event.

According to the IHA website, the IHA Hospital Hero Award “recognizes hospital employees who have performed heroic acts or have consistently and tirelessly given of their time, talent and expertise to improve their organizations, patients and communities.  These everyday heroes are the role models for other hospital employees and the communities they serve.”

Only 10 people from across the state are chosen as hospital heroes each year.  Dr. Berry’s nomination was submitted by hospital staff with letters of support noting her dedication to the community and her patients, particularly with hospice care and emergency medical services throughout Cass County.

From left to right: CCHS CEO Pat Markham, Dr. Berry, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University campus police are using body cameras but because no formal policy for the technology has been adopted, it is unclear when the public has the right to see the videos.  The Des Moines Register reports that campus police began using cameras this summer under a draft policy that the department has refused to release. There is no timeline for when a formal policy may be finalized.

University interim police chief Aaron DeLashmutt says the public safety department wants to make sure privacy rights are looked at before making a policy public. ISU student government president Cole Staudt says that although campus police told the organization that officer were going to wear body cameras, no student input was sought while developing the policy.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa is increasing the amount of money it pays three private insurance companies to administer the state’s Medicaid program. The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency says the Iowa Department of Human Services decided recently to pay more in rates distributed for each Medicaid patient. It’s unclear how the extra $33.2 million will affect the state’s cost projections.

LSA analyst Jess Benson says the agency will predict a $20 million to $30 million shortfall for the current budget year when the agency meets soon with state officials. The figure is preliminary, and it’s unclear if the Department of Human Services would absorb such costs or if Gov. Terry Branstad would request extra state funding.

Branstad said Monday he still believes the state will save roughly $110 million this budget year from privatization. Senate Democrats have challenged those savings.

Police in Council Bluffs say a man from Mississippi is in custody on robbery, kidnapping and assault charges, following an incident that took place Sunday night at the Hampton Inn, in Council Bluffs. 53-year old Allan McGowan, of Olive Branch, MS, was arrested sometime after 7:46-p.m., which was when officers responded to a reported assault at the hotel.

Allan McGowan

McGowan was charged with Robbery 1st Degree, Kidnapping 1st Degree, Assault while Participating in a Felony and Obstruction of Emergency Communications. He was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

The victim of the assault, 37-year old Norma Hineline, of Omaha, told police she was attacked by McGowan inside one of the hotel rooms. She said prior to being assaulted, McGowan grabbed her purse and began to remove some of her cash. The woman said  she attempted to use the hotel phone to dial 9-1-1, but McGowan hung up the phone.

After being unable to get her purse back from McGowan, Police say Hineline attempted to leave the room, but McGowan reportedly grabbed her and pulled her back into the room, putting her in a “choke hold” and strangling her until she lost consciousness. When Hineline awoke, McGowan was removing cash from her purse and had possession of her cell phone. Eventually, McGowan allowed Hineline to leave the hotel room.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a man from Neola was arrested Sunday night on assault and other charges associated with an incident involving his girlfriend, that took place earlier that evening. 32-year old David Joseph Martin Kilibarda faces charges that include Domestic Assault with Injury, Criminal Trespass and Interference with Official Acts. He was taken into custody at around 10:50-p.m. and brought to the Pott. County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office says also, 26-year old Michael Allen Lee, of Crescent, was arrested Sunday morning for OWI/2nd offense, after a deputy investigated a vehicle parked about a mile north of Big Lake Road, on Joslin. Lee’s preliminary breath test (PBT) registered nearly twice the legal limit for intoxication, and a later blood alcohol test came back as .121, or just over the legal limit.

Also arrested on an OWI charge Sunday, was 25-year old Alex David Friesen, of Crescent, who was taken into custody a little after 3-a.m. following a report of a tired or intoxicated driver in the Crescent area. Friesen was located on Old Lincoln Road and following an investigation was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His blood alcohol level later tested as .164, or twice the legal limit.

Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert, today (Monday), updated the County Board of Supervisors on some recent good news and bad news. The good news, he said, was he received funds from the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool, or, I-CAP.

Koppert said he received $1,000 last Friday from ICAP for a fire extinguishers grant to supply extinguishers for the courthouse and other vital County buildings. The funds will be used to reimburse the County for the already paid for and received extinguishers. The extinguishers cost around $1,300-$1,400 altogether, and Koppert said he would look into using funds from the County E-911 membership to make up the remainder of the costs for reimbursement.

The bad news, Koppert said, had to do with numerous County communications systems. An incident happened that happened the night of Oct. 22^nd took down the internet and other vital systems affecting the courthouse and Communications Center.

A dispatcher on-duty texted Koppert, who was in Iowa City at the time. A couple of minutes later, he was notified the County’s radio communications system was down. Koppert said there was no reason they could find or think of that would have caused both systems to crash. The Avaya phone system was also down in the courthouse. 9-1-1 was not affected, however, because the Administrative lines are run to the Comm. Center. At that point, Koppert instructed the dispatcher to active the phone tree method of communication to emergency responders.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon was also notified, and responded to the Comm. Center in a coordinated effort with Koppert, to try and figure what was going on and walk through the check-list of steps to correct the problem. A radio tech from Indianola was also called to try and get communications up and running, and Solutions, Incorporated was called to deal with the internet issues.

Early the next morning, the efforts resulted in the internet “WatchGuard” firewall security system being reset in the basement of the courthouse. Koppert said one of the Watch Guards apparently went into a “Kernal panic” mode, which occurs when there is an issue with either system hardware, OS, or firmware. It’s taken by an operating system upon detecting an internal fatal error from which it cannot safely recover.

Koppert says there are plans in-place to have a back-up radio in the Comm. Center, and having someone on-site, available on short notice, to handle similar situations.