PANCAKE DAY
QUARTERFINAL LOSS
The annual Kiwanis Club Pancake Jamboree is scheduled March 10 at United Methodist Church. More information can be found on page 2A. >>
The Bedford girls basketball team lost to Exira/Elk-Horn Kimballton in the quarterfinals of the state basketball tournament held Monday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. More in SPORTS, page 6A. >>
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Part 2: A proactive approach for patients Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series detailing the local impact of the mental health institute in Clarinda closing and how local services are changing to continue to provide proper care. By JAKE WADDINGHAM
CNA associate editor jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
The concept of regional mental health services in Iowa has been active about eight months. Union County is part of Southern Hills Regional Mental Health along with Adair, Adams and Taylor counties. In February, Gov. Terry Brans-
tad proposed to close two of Iowa’s four state mental health institutions. Lori Nosecable, CEO of Southern Hills Regional Mental Health, said no services have been lost and there is not a waiting list for a patient in crisis. “Things continue much the same,” Nosecable said. “We are trying to expand services, but I don’t think at this point people will find much difference.” The Clarinda and Mount Pleasant institutes are expected to close July 1, with employee layoffs starting as early as March 30. Branstad’s plan would add 30 beds at the Independence mental institute, how-
ever, most other services would be farmed out to private agencies. The other state institute is located in Cherokee. Iowa Department of Human Services Director Charles Palmer has said the two closures would save the state up to $10 million per year. In the Creston area, Greater Regional Medical Center is not an inpatient option for psychiatric services. In an emergency situation — under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — there is a legal obligation to provide treatment for the patient. “When we have determined that somebody needs placement ... the
bed availability is so limited that we will spend hours on the phone calling all those resources,” said Mary Groves, emergency department director at GRMC. In response to the Governor’s restructure of mental health, Nosecable said the region is working to be more proactive in providing services to mental health patients. Medicaid option For adults and children who are Medicaid eligible, Health Home is an option that provides care coordination services. Pete Brantner, executive director at Crossroads in Creston, said patients are served by a team made up
by a nurse, care coordinator and a peer support person. “The peer support person is someone who has had a mental health diagnosis, so they know what it is like to be in that position,” Branter said. The team helps coordinate services for the person’s well being including mental health, other medical aliments and dental. “The theory is, if you have a team that helps folks get services around them they need, they are less likely to be in crisis, less likely Please see MENTAL HEALTH, Page 2
Ralls resigns as director of Gibson Memorial Library Her resignation is effective March 31. Library board moving forward with hire of architect firm. ■
CNA file photo
In January, Creston Police investigated an attempted burglary at Quik Pawn in Creston. At this time, it was the fourth burglary or attempted burglary at Creston businesses in 14 days.
Juvenile charged in string of Creston burglaries By BAILEY POOLMAN
CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
Dyrrel Malik Thornton-Culbertson, 17, of Lorimor was deferred to juvenile court over the weekend on three counts of third-degree burglary, attempted burglary and second-degree criminal mischief. The charges stem from a string of alleged burglaries from local businesses.
According to Creston Police reports, an employee of Family Shoe Store, 219 W. Adams St., reported a brick was thrown through the front window, and cash and merchandise was taken from the store Dec. 29. Also, an employee of Coens Furniture Store, 121 N. Maple St., reported a brick was thrown through the front window, but an unknown amount was taken Jan. 2. An employee of Per Mar Security reported a com-
By KYLE WILSON
CNA managing editor kwilson@crestonnews.com
said Tim Kenyon, Union County attorney. “Those are the ones that we felt we had sufficient evidence to go forward with at this time.” Third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief are class D felonies, and attempted burglary is an aggravated misdemeanor. “As a result of the proceedings today (Monday), he (Thornton-Culbertson) is in detention in a juvenile facility,” Kenyon said.
mercial burglar alarm was activated at Quik Pawn, 101 W. Taylor St., 11:29 p.m. Jan. 13, but no entry was gained. The attempted burglary and criminal mischief charges stem from an incident when an employee of Windrow, 102 W. Taylor St., reported a window of the business was broken between Feb. 6 and 7 while the business was closed. “There are other cases that are still open, that are still under investigation,”
Body-camera maker has financial ties to police chiefs IOWA CITY, (AP) — Taser International, the stun-gun maker emerging as a leading supplier of body cameras for police, has cultivated financial ties to police chiefs whose departments have bought the recording devices, raising a host of conflict-of-interest questions. A review of records and interviews by The Associ-
ated Press show Taser is covering airfare and hotel stays for police chiefs who speak at promotional conferences. It is also hiring recently retired chiefs as consultants, sometimes just months after their cities signed contracts with Taser. Over the past 18 months, Taser has reached con-
sulting agreements with two such chiefs weeks after they retired, and it is in talks with a third who also backed the purchase of its products, the AP has learned. Taser is planning to send two of them to speak at luxury hotels in Australia and the United Arab Emirates in March at events where they will ad-
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dress other law enforcement officers considering body cameras. The relationships raise questions of whether chiefs are acting in the best interests of the taxpayers in their dealings with Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser, whose contracts for cameras and storage systems for the video can run into the millions of dollars.
If you do not receive your CNA by 5 p.m. call 641-782-2141, ext. 6450. Papers will be redelivered in Creston until 6:30 p.m. Phones will be answered until 7 p.m.
Creston Library Board voted 3-0 Monday evening to accept the resignation of Marilyn Ralls, director at Gibson Memorial Library, effective March 31. Jean Ide, vice chairman of the library board, said the resignation came during a closed session with Ralls around 6:30 p.m. Monday. Voting to approve the resignation were Jeromy Brown, Ide and Connie Maxson. Absent were board chairman Ann Coulter and Josh Borgmann. Ralls has been director at Gibson Memorial Library for 12 years. Ralls declined to comment this morning as to why she resigned. Ide thanked Ralls for her time as director and wished her well in the future. “I appreciate everything she’s done,” Ide said. Ide said the board will now focus on assigning an “acting director” for Gibson Memorial Library and will soon begin discussion on the hire of the next director.
Third architect Meanwhile, Creston Library Board continued discussions Monday to move forward with a library expansion. The board has
already met with and interviewed OPN Architects and Invision Architecture of Des Moines. The board will meet with a third architect firm — FEH Associates of Des Moines — later this month. They will then hire one of these three firms to tell them the strengths and weaknesses of the current library site on Howard Street and which direction to expand. The board does plan to present all expansion possibility to the public sometime after the hire of the architect.
Donation
In 2014, a house in Omaha, Neb., was donated to the Creston Library Board by Edwin and the late Virginia (Stamper) Van Surksum. The board sold that house for $95,000 in the summer of 2014 and those funds were to be used to help transform Lincoln School into the city’s new library. Virginia was a teacher at Lincoln School when it was in use. However, Creston City Council sold Lincoln School in August 2014 to Seldin Company of Omaha, Neb., which has plans of turning the building into senior housing. Still, Edwin Van Surksum has told city officials the sell of the house and other funds he’s donated can be used for further expansion of library services in Creston. Mandy Houk, marketing consultant for the board, said she’d contact Edwin about the possibility of setting up a special event to thank him for his continued support.
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