Le Mars Ambulance Services To Celebrate 40 years
(Le Mars) — This week is National EMT-First Responder Recognition Week and the Le Mars Ambulance Service will celebrate 40 years of existence with a Chamber After 5 event scheduled for Thursday evening. The event will be held at Fire Station #2 located on 12th Street southeast. Bill Rosacker, the director of the Le Mars Ambulance Service reviews Thursday evening’s events, including the start of a new program.
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Rosacker says the Le Mars Ambulance Services responds to three times as many calls today, compared to when the city ambulance service started 40 years ago.
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The Le Mars Ambulance Service is fortunate to have 26 volunteers. Rosacker says by having that many volunteers, the city is saving money.
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As some smaller communities find it more difficult to find and retain volunteers to operate a community ambulance service, Le Mars is finding itself covering a larger territory.
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Rosacker says the state is aware of the problem and is trying to find a suitable solution to fully staff and equip the smaller towns with an ambulance service. Rosacker admits stricter bureaucratic regulations may have discouraged people from volunteering as an Emergency Medical Technician or a Paramedic. We will learn more about the history of the Le Mars Ambulance on Thursday.
State Audit Shows Mismanagement At Drug Treatment Center
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state audit shows the former director of a drug treatment center in Des Moines mismanaged more than $130,000 intended for client benefits.
The report released Wednesday says Mindy Williams, former executive director of Center for Behavioral Health in Des Moines, falsified receipts and other documentation when seeking reimbursements for incentive benefits issued to clients who do well in the program, including gas cards, gift cards and bus passes. Records showed it was unclear if clients received them.
Brent Massman, president of the center, called the discovery disappointing. Public records did not list a number for Williams.
The audit examined financial transactions between Jan. 1, 2011, and May 21, 2013. Copies of the report have been filed with local and state officials, including the Attorney General’s Office.
Waterloo Parolee Arrested After Leaving Iowa Without Permission
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – A Waterloo man who was paroled from a life sentence for a 1976 killing has been arrested on suspicion of leaving Iowa without permission.
Authorities say they found 58-year-old Duane Eugene Brant in California on May 11 with more than $220,000 in cash. Troopers with the California State Patrol found the money along with a dozen empty hockey bags in Brant’s SUV.
Brant is being held at the Black Hawk County jail in Iowa without bond. A parole violation hearing has been scheduled. It’s not immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Brant was convicted of first-degree murder in a 1976 convenience store robbery that left the clerk dead. Brant was accused of providing the murder weapon and being the getaway driver.
Police Chief Arrested
DONNELLSON, Iowa (AP) – The police chief in a southeast Iowa community has been charged with domestic abuse assault.
Thirty-one-year-old William “B.J.” Sackett was arrested on Monday but already has posted bond and left custody.
A public phone listed for Sackett was not in service on Wednesday. The police department administrative number rang unanswered. Online court records don’t list the name an attorney for Sackett who could be contacted to comment on his behalf.
Lee County Sheriff James Sholl says Sackett’s wife suffered minor injuries Monday from broken glass and didn’t require hospitalization.
Donnellson Mayor David Ellingboe says Sackett has been suspended without pay until the case is resolved.
Sackett was hired as police chief in October 2013 after serving Princeton as chief for two years.
Grain Bin Rescue
OTTER CREEK, Iowa (AP) – An eastern Iowa man who’d been trapped up to his chest in corn has been rescued.
Crews from four fire departments were called to the rural Otter Creek site on Monday afternoon, and they brought rescue devices and machinery to free the man, who wasn’t identified.
Nick Ludwig with the LaMotte department says the man “was engulfed in corn,” and it took about 90 minutes of work before a fire department aerial truck could lift him out of the bin.
The man was taken to a hospital.
