Home News KLEM News for Friday, February17, 2023

KLEM News for Friday, February17, 2023

NEUROLOGY CLINIC

Floyd Valley Healthcare has announced a new neurology outreach clinic with CNOS will open soon.  Floyd Valley Healthcare CEO Dustin Wright says this is a great new addition to the cllinics offered in Le Mars.

Wright says they are always looking for new specialty clinics to offer at Floyd Valley.

Wright says Maria Azpeitia will hold her first clinic Tuesday, March 7, at Floyd Valley Healthcare.

Neurology is a new specialty offered at Floyd Valley Healthcare.

Wright explains some of the conditions which fall under the neurology specialty.

Wright says specialty clinics are considered by staff and patient demand, among other factors.  With an expansion project near completion, Wright says there will be more room for specialty clinics in the future.

 

PIPELINE BILL

The speaker of the Iowa House and 21 of his G-O-P colleagues have introduced a bill that could delay or possibly even derail proposed carbon pipeline projects in Iowa. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, is a lead sponsor.

If the bill becomes law, pipeline developers would have to get voluntary access to 90 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa before state utility regulators could grant the companies eminent domain authority to seize the rest. The bill also says the Iowa Utilites Board could not issue permits until new safety guidelines for carbon pipelines are issued by the federal government AND developers secure permits from the neighboring states that the pipelines would pass through.

Legislators began discussing new pipeline specific rules last year, but took no action. Pipeline backers have said it’s unfair to change regulations after project development is well underway. Holt says it’s not the concept of capturing carbon from ethanol plants that’s the issue, it’s the use of eminent domain to seize private property for these projects that’s the concern.

Republican Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center has introduced five different bills to address pipeline issues, but it’s unclear what the G-O-P majority in the Senate would support. The House bill has the backing of the top Republican in the House as well as the chairmen of House committees that deal with taxation and legal issues.
Holt, who chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the bill would set up a process for landowners to file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Board about inadequate land restoration along the pipeline route.

Holt says the pipelines are major issue in his district, which includes Shelby County. The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has established local zoning rules for the pipelines — and is being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions.

Holt made his comments Thursday during an online news conference. A spokesman for Summit Carbon Solutions says the company announced its carbon capture project two years ago and is hopeful that legislators will not change the regulatory rules in the middle of the game.

 

KINGSLEY POLICE CHIEF ARRESTED

The police chief of Kingsley, Iowa, has been arrested by agents of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

On Monday, the Hinton Police Department asked the Iowa DCI to investigate a potential criminal matter involving Kingsley Police Chief James Dunn.

Wednesday, Dunn was taken into custody at his residence in Kingsley without incident by agents of the DCI.

Dunn is charged with three felony counts of Falsely Obtaining Crimnal Intelligence Data, one count of Non-felonious Misconduct in Office, and one count of stalking.

Court documents state that Dunn used law enforcement technology which returns criminal intelligence data to query information about his ex-girlfriend, the woman’s current boyfriend, and his roommate, for personal purposes.

Dunn was booked into the Plymouth County Jail.

His preliminary hearing is February 27th.

 

REGIONAL PORK CONFERENCE

The annual Iowa Pork Regional Conference will be Monday at the Sioux County Extension Office in Orange City.  Area Swine Specialist Dave Stender says one of the topics at the conference will be the current economic issues in the pork industry.  These include the supply chain issues every business is facing.

The morning session at the conference includes Quality Assurance Plus training.

Other topics include heat stress and mitigation strategies, and preparing for African Swine Fever. The conference is a joint effort between Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and the Iowa Pork Producers.  The event is free, but preregistration is encouraged.  Call 800-372-7675.

 

MALPRACTICE BILL SIGNED

A state law is now in effect to limit medical malpractice claims for non-economic or so-called “pain and suffering” damages. Governor Kim Reynolds hosted a large crowd Thursday as she signed the bill in her statehouse office and it took effect immediately. There is still no limit on coverage for medical expenses or economic losses caused by medical errors, but pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice cases are now capped at two million dollars for hospitals and one million dollars for all other health care providers.  Reynolds says big damage awards in malpractice cases have been a tax on all Iowans and have driven medical providers out of business and out of state. Critics say it’s unfair to place a dollar value on a person’s life that is dramatically changed or ended due to a medical error. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says there’s no guarantee medical malpractice insurance rates will be stabilized and Iowa patients are the true losers.

 

REINSTATE DEATH PENALTY

A bill to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa for kidnapping, raping and murdering a person under the age of 18 has cleared one hurdle in the Iowa Senate, but it faces key opposition in the Iowa House. Senator Brad Zaun (ZAHN), a Republican from Urbandale, says with new members making up about a third of the legislature this year, he’s making another try.

Zaun is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison is chairman of the HOUSE Judiciary Committee. Holt says he could support the death penalty on moral grounds, but there are too many practical problems with it. Getting the drugs for a lethal injection has become increasingly difficult and Holt says there are people who’ve been sentenced to death who have later been exonerated.

During a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, a representative of the state’s four Catholic bishops spoke out against the death penalty. Reverend Heather Wachendorf of New Beginnings Christian Church in Urbandale was among three pastors who testified.

Terry Pierce of West Des Moines was the only member of the public at yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) hearing who spoke in favor of the limited form of capital punishment outlined in the bill.

Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965. In 1995, the Iowa House narrowly voted to reinstate capital punishment, but the bill was defeated in the Senate.

 

LOW-INCOME FINANCIAL BOOST

A group of low-income families in central Iowa will get a financial boost from a program which nonprofit leaders hope will be a better way to reduce poverty. One-hundred-ten families in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties will get 500 dollars per month to spend as they choose through the pilot project called UpLift. Anne Bacon, of IMPACT Community Action Partnership in Des Moines, says that extra cash can keep an unexpected bill from becoming a financial crisis. The two-year program is funded through private foundations and local governments. Researchers will gather data from participants to learn how guaranteed income affects things like food security, housing stability and mental health. Applications for the program will be open for ten days starting Friday at UpLiftIowa.org. The 110 families will be picked at random from the applicant pool.