(Glenwood, Iowa) – Two Glenwood women were arrested Tuesday on separate Mills County warrants. The Glenwood Police Department reports 35-year-old Nicole Spracklin was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, until seen by a magistrate judge.

And, 55-year-old Brenda Long was arrested on a Mills County warrant for OWI/1st offense. Her bond was set at $1,000. Long has since posted bond, and was released.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a SPECIAL session at 9:00 A.M. Tuesday (Jan. 31). Auditor/Clerk Mark Maxwell reports in his minutes of the meeting, that the Board set the stipend for the Dam Inspection purpose at $3,500.00 for fiscal year 2024.

Taryn Knapp, Shelby County IT Coordinator, was present to ask for consideration and ask approval of an internal IT Audit of the County IT system to work on recommendations going forward.  A vote was held and the motion was approved unanimously.

Budget issues were presented by Budget Director Mark Maxwell, then was asked questions directed at the Budget Director as why the County is experiencing low reserves in several funds as he claims. Some answers were discovered that an unbudgeted transfer was made in December 2022. Mark Maxwell, Budget Director, failed to budget that amount into the next fiscal year to make up for the loss. Also amendments reduce reserves and not all of the reserves were replaced by the next years budget. This continues to reduce reserves. The estimated budget for the current fiscal year is being done to make sure the predicted fund balances at the end of the fiscal year are not predicted to be too low. Some cuts in planned spending in fiscal year 2024 may be needed. No further discussion or action was taken.

An update was presented to the Supervisors by Chairperson Kenkel on the many activities he has been involved with recently. With no other action or discussion for the Supervisors. The meeting was then adjourned.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a man was arrested Tuesday night on multiple drug charges. 39-year-old Jaime Nam Torres, of Creston, was taken into custody at 301 New York Ave and charged with: Possession Controlled Substance, 3rd offense (marijuana); Conspiracy with intent to manuf/deliver other I, II, III CS; Failure to affix drug tax stamp- forty-two and one half grams or more; attach a used drug tax stamp- 10 or more dosage units, and, conspiracy w/intent deliver false marijuana under 50 kg. Torres was being held in Union County Jail on $27,000 cash or approved surety bond.

About 90-minutes earlier, Creston Police arrested 18-year-old Meadow Rae Cruickshank, of Osceola, Iowa, for Failure to Appear. She was taken into custody at 302 N. Pine Street and transported to the Adams County Jail, where her cash-only bond was set at $300.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Red Oak man was arrested for OWI/1st offense, Tuesday. According to Red Oak Police, 27-year-old Bradley Clark Perry was arrested in the 600 block of E. Hammond Street, at around 6:30-p.m., Tuesday. Perry was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Seventeen Iowa nursing homes closed last year. Iowa Health Care Association C-E-O Brent Willett says all but two were in rural communities. In our area, facilities that closed include the Good Samaritan Society in Fontanelle, and  Westmont Care Center in Logan (See a list of other facilities at the end of this story)

“These facilities are closing as a result of financial strain, primarily related to the cost of staffing facilities,” Willett says. “Year on year wage inflation of more than 15% has bitten into the sector. Medicaid rates have not moved in those two years and facilities in these smaller communities have found it impossible to continue to operate.” The Medicaid program pays for the care of over half of Iowa nursing home residents.

Governor Reynolds is recommending an increase in Medicaid daily rate for nursing home care. Willett says he’s optimistic legislators will increase that reimbursement rate. “It’s going to be a question of where to find those dollars and whether we can find enough to kind of stave off this wave of closures that we’re currently experiencing,” Willett says. Medicaid reimbursement rate currently covers about 80 percent of the daily cost of care for a nursing home resident.

“Identifying ways to close that gap rapidly are of a significant level of urgency for everyone involved,” Willett says. About seven out of 10 Iowa nursing homes are holding beds open as a way to deal with the staffing shortages and budget shortfalls according to a recent Iowa Health Care Association survey. In the past two years, 39 Iowa nursing homes have closed — reducing the number of nursing home beds in the state by more than 800. Facilities are required to provide 60 days notice of a closure and help residents find care in another nursing home. Willett says it means residents have had to move farther away from family and friends — and they often have to adjust to a new primary caregiver.

“It’s created challenges both logistically and in terms of just the experience of those residents,” Willett says. Nationally, 129 nursing homes closed in 2022 — 13 percent of them were in Iowa.

(According to the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, the following Iowa nursing homes closed in 2022: Patty Elwood Center in Cresco, , Good Samaritan Society in Postville,  ABCM Rehabilitation Centers East Campus in Independence, Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson, Sunnycrest Nursing Center in Dysart, Dumont Wellness Center in Dumont, Grinnell Health Care Center in Grinnell, Jefferson Place in Pella, Big Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Community in Polk City, Touchstone Health Care Community in Sioux City, Morningside Care Center in Ida Grove, QHC Humboldt South in Humboldt, Good Samaritan Society in Newell, Nelson Manor in Newton and Heritage Care Center in Iowa Falls.)