CRITTENTON CENTER GRANT
A 2.5 million dollars grant has been awarded to the Crittenton Center of Sioux City. The grant, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is 500-thousand dollars per year over the next five years. Crittenton will use the funds to launch and operate a program dedicated to helping runaway, homeless and street youth up to the age of 26.
Under this program, Crittenton will help youth transition into safe and stable housing. It will also address the underlying issues contributing to youth homelessness, such as mental health challenges, substance abuse, and lack of access to educational and employment opportunities. The Crittenton Center has been in service since 1895. They manage and provide programming to the Le Mars Community Daycare Center.
OFFICIALS SEEK PORTABLE CLASSROOMS FOR SPENCER, ROCK VALLEY SCHOOLS
State officials say ensuring schools start the fall semester in two flood-stricken northwest Iowa cities is a priority. Iowa Department of Education director McKenzie Snow says public school districts in Spencer and Rock Valley and the Rock Valley Christian School are dealing with extensive damage.
Snow said some progress has been made, but her agency has been involved in finding portable classrooms in other school districts that can be transferred to Spencer and Rock Valley.
Governor Kim Reynolds says the first day of school is just around the corner — and the goal is to get kids in a classroom for in-person instrcution. Last year, more than two-thousand students were enrolled in Spencer and the public schools in Rock Valley had just under a thousand students. There were 236 students enrolled in Rock Valley Christian School for the 2023/24 school year.
HIGH WATER HURTS TOURISM AT GREAT LAKES
Tourism is down in the Iowa Great Lakes after heavy rains and high water forced the implementation of boating restrictions. The Executive Director of Vacation Okoboji , Kiley Zankowski, says summer business is important to the area. Zankowski estimates flooding has decreased tourism by 40 to 60 percent and some hotel occupancy was cut in half during the Independence Day holiday.
MOTORISTS AID CRASH VICTIM
A Sanborn woman was extricated from her car by passing motorists after a crash on Iowa Highway 60 south of Alton. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office the crash occurred just after midnight Friday. Madison Borden, age 25, of Sanborn, was driving northbound on 60 when she lost control, entered the median, and rolled. The vehicle started on fire, and Borden was extricated from the vehicle by other motorists. Borden was transported by the Orange City Ambulance to the Orange City Area Health System for treatment of minor injuries. Alcohol is suspected to be a factor and the accident remains under investigation.
The sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Orange City/Alton Police, Orange City and Alton Fire departments, and Orange City Ambulance.
SCHOLTEN PITCHES FOR EXPLORERS
A 44-year-old from Sioux City has won his second start after being asked to return as a pitcher for Sioux City’s minor league baseball team. J.D. Scholten, a state representative who works as a paralegal, has played pro-baseball for teams in seven countries, including a four-year stretch for the Sioux City Explorers. Scholten got an emergency call last Saturday, asking him if he could get to the Explorers’ stadium in Sioux City for the game that started in half an hour. Scholten made it and threw 100 pitches in the first six innings. Scholten was also the starting pitcher in the team’s game Thursday night in Fargo. Some of his pitches had been clocked at 87 miles an hour.
HEAD OF AMA ADDRESSES SCARCITY OF RURAL DOCTORS
The president of the American Medical Association was in Iowa Friday to address the state’s top doctors about key healthcare issues, including Iowa’s worsening shortage of rural physicians. Dr. Bruce Scott says one of his priorities is to seek out ways to turn around the exodus of experienced doctors from our nation’s rural areas. Scott says 97 of Iowa’s 99 counties are partially or entirely designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas, while Iowa ranks 45th in the nation in terms of availability of physicians and the patient-physician relationship. Scott spoke before members of the Iowa Medical Society in Des Moines, and says rural Iowa physicians are retiring in droves and they’re not being replaced by new doctors due to the lower wages, increased administrative burdens, and the rising cost of practice in rural areas.
