(Radio Iowa) – The number of providers and people using the state’s medical-marijuana program increased last year as the state came out of the pandemic. Program Bureau Chief, Owen Parker, says the number of providers increased to 16-hundred in 2021. “And that was a 21 percent increase over 2020 — at the end of 2020 we had a little over 13-hundred providers,” Parker says. He says they started seeing the impact of the law that added more people to the list of those who can prescribe medical cannabis for patients.

He says 50 percent of the new prescribers were Advanced Registered Nurses, 40 percent were doctors and less than one percent were podiatrists. He says the number of people who got cards for medical marijuana increased to more than eight thousand. “During the pandemic due to numerous issues that we came up with solutions for, we had a little less than five thousand at the end of 2020. So we’ve seen almost a 60 percent increase in the total patient population since 2020 ended,” according to Parker. Parker says the age of those getting the products hasn’t changed dramatically.

“There’s always a concern about whose participating in the program. But at this point less than two percent of the population is under the age of 18,” he says, “And then, it’s really kind of broken down 50-50 between those under the age of 50 and those over the age of 50.” Parker says sales went up in 2021.

“We saw over six-point-two million dollars in sales — that’s a 76 percent increase over the three-point-five that we saw in the year before. We are seeing about 33-hundred average transactions per month, which when you compare year-end end 2020, is 36 percent more traffic,” according to Parker. He says the average transaction price stayed right about 150 dollars. Parker made his comments at the Board’s meeting last week.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests from over the past week:

On Feb. 9th, 28-year-old Donovan Charles Bruning, of Griswold, was arrested on an active warrant for Failure to Appear.  He was transported to the Cass County Jail and later released on bond; and, 28-year-old Robert Paul Joens, of Exira, was arrested on three active warrants for Violation of Probation. Joens remained in the Cass County Jail as of Monday.

On February 10th, 18-year-old Tamora Deion McGee, of Atlantic, was arrested on an active warrant for assault with intent to inflict serious injury.  She was released from custody the following day.

On the 11th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 26-year-old Dalton Eugene Christensen, of Atlantic, on 2 active warrants for Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, and Reckless Use of a Firearm.  Christensen was booked into the Cass County Jail and subsequently released on bond.

And, four people were arrested last Saturday, in Cass County, and later released:

• 25-year-old Lucas Lee Stone, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance.
• 42-year-old Nicholas Gene Paulsen, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
• 29-year-old Stephen Edward Ross, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance.
• and, 20-year-old Mikayla Veronica Waldron, of Atlantic, was arrested on an active arrest warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree.

(Radio Iowa) – The League of Women Voters of Iowa led a coalition of groups that have collected five-thousand signatures on petitions asking the Republican-led legislature to repeal recent election law changes. The coalition is asking Republican lawmakers to restore a longer period of early voting and get rid of restrictions that limit who may help older Iowans cast an absentee ballot. The group cites data from low turn-out elections held in 2021 that indicate hundreds of Iowans who tried to vote early couldn’t get an absentee ballot in time and they warn thousands more will face those obstacles in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa says the coalition is on a moral mission to protect Iowans’ fundamental right to vote. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has said the election law changes made a year ago give Iowans even greater confidence as they cast their ballots. During debate last year, Republican Senator Jim Carlin said the changes were made because many in the G-O-P believe the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater today (Monday), said there was just one arrest last week. 39-year-old Joshua William Cox, of Harlan, was pulled over by Adair Police on I-80 westbound, near mile marker 72. The traffic stop at around 7:15-p.m. was the result of a call about a vehicle unable to maintain its lanes, causing a dangerous situations for other motorists.

The subject vehicle, a 2016 Dodge RAM pickup, was located and stopped when the Adair Police Officer saw the pickup crossing the center and yellow lines on the road. During questioning of Cox, the Officer noticed a strong odor of alcoholic beverages, and observed multiple open beer cans in the cup holders.

When Cox refused to take the Standard Field Sobriety Tests, he was taken into custody and transported to the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, where he also refused implied consent. He was booked into the Adair County Jail for OWI/1st offense and Open Container-Driver. Cox was released later that night on a $1,000 bond.