SEIRMC and HCHC not taking Aetna and Wellpoint Anymore

By Yorke Prough · Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 at 8:06 am CDT

“Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center (SEIRMC) and Henry County Health Center (HCHC) will no longer accept Medicare Advantage plans offered by Aetna, effective October 10, 2024, and Wellpoint (formerly Amerigroup), effective December 31, 2024, for clinic or hospital services. In addition, the new Medicare Advantage plan being offered by Molina for 2025 will not be accepted. All patients, regardless of insurance, will receive emergency care in SEIRMC and HCHC Emergency Departments.

This decision was made after the contract terms Great River Health presented to these carriers were not accepted.  The contract terms were reasonable and accepted by other insurance carriers.  Negotiations to extend the terms of the Aetna contract to the end of the year were unsuccessful.

Patients with these plans have been notified of this upcoming change by Great River Health. Staff are working with patients to navigate receiving continued care and finding an in-network provider.

Patients wishing to receive healthcare services at SEIRMC or HCHC that are covered by their insurance must enroll in an accepted plan during Medicare Open Enrollment which runs from October 15-December 7, 2024, with a plan effective date of January 1, 2025. Great River Health will continue to accept current Medicare Advantage plans offered by Humana, United Healthcare, and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield.”

West Burlington Police Department Pursuit Ends in Two Arrests

By Yorke Prough · Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 at 7:04 am CDT

Just before 9pm on Sunday, officers of the West Burlington Police Department were on routine patrol when they observed a black Chevrolet pickup truck turning north onto West Burlington Ave. from Agency St. Officers knew the registered owner did not have a valid driver’s license, and conducted a traffic stop at West Burlington Ave. and East Pennington St.

The vehicle initially pulled over in the parking lot of Heartland Packaging, 506 West Burlington Ave, but once officers opened their door to approach the vehicle, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. Officers initiated their audible siren. The vehicle fled northbound on West Burlington Ave., running the stop sign at West Burlington Ave. and Mt. Pleasant St. continuing north.

When Officers approached Plank Rd., they could not see where the vehicle was going. They observed the vehicle’s brake lights westbound on Plank Rd. and realized the vehicle had turned its lights off. The vehicle continued to flee to Hwy 61. Officers of the Burlington Police Department deployed stop sticks at Roosevelt Ave. and Sunnyside Ave. This caused all but one tire to deflate.

The vehicle eventually stopped near Mt. Pleasant St. and Cottage Grove Ave. The driver was identified as Dalton Mckeown of Burlington, IA. The passenger was identified as Breanna Villarreal of Burlington, IA.

K9 Maverick was deployed and subsequently alerted to the odor of narcotics emanating from the vehicle. Villarreal was found to be in possession of Marijuana and other controlled substances.

Dalton Mckeown is charged with Eluding (D Felony), Driving While Barred (Aggravated Misdemeanor), and other traffic offenses. Breanna Villareal was charged with an outstanding warrant for Child Endangerment as well as Possession of Marijuana and Possession of a Controlled Substance-Other (Serious Misdemeanors).

Officers of the West Burlington Police Department were assisted by the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office and Burlington Police Department.

Sports, September 25th

By Slaten Swords · Wednesday, September 25th, 2024 at 6:51 am CDT

High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will stay on the road to compete against Mt. Vernon on Friday, September 27th, at 7:15 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7 pm.

Columbus will attempt to right the ship at home on Friday against Highland with kickoff set for 7 pm. 

Mediapolis will square off against West Burlington/Notre Dame at home on Friday at 7:30 pm. 

Fairfield starts their district play against Benton on Friday at 7 pm at home. 

Danville will host Wapello on Friday at 7 pm. 

WACO will travel to Easton Valley on Friday at 7 pm. 

Winfield-Mt. Union will hit the road to take on English Valleys at 7 pm on Friday. 

New London will look to pick up their first win of the season on Friday at home against HLV with kickoff at 7 pm. 

Central Lee will look to stay undefeated for the season against Albia on Friday at 7:30 pm at home. 

High School Volleyball

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) will be back in action for their tournament pool play tomorrow, September 26th, at 5 pm. #4 Holy Trinity Catholic will host Hillcrest Academy, Louisa-Muscatine, and Van Buren County. 

Central Lee, #10 West Burlington, and Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to Lone Tree, while Mediapolis will host Columbus, WACO, New London, and Highland. Lastly, Danville, #11 Burlington Notre Dame, and Wapello will head to Pekin. 

Mt. Pleasant fell to Washington in straight sets 25-12, 25-19, and 25-15. The Panthers will host Fairfield on Tuesday, October 1st, at 7:15 pm for their senior night.

Fairfield picked up a road conference victory last night against Fort Madison 3-1, rallying back to win the final three sets 25-22, 25-15, and 25-20 after losing the first set 25-21. Faith Jones tabbed 54 assists, while Claire Thompson led the squad with 17 kills. 

High School Cross Country

Mt. Pleasant hosted their invitational yesterday and Mid-Prairie swept the team and individual golds for Class 1A and 2A, while the Washington boys’ team led by Tyler Alderton won the boys’ Class 3A and 4A race and Fort Madison won the girls’ team title with 32 points, despite Washington’s Iris Dahl taking the individual prize with a time of 19 minutes and 35 seconds. 

Looking at the girls’ Class 1A and 2A race, Mediapolis and Danville each scored 93 points, but the Bulldogs won the tiebreaker to take 2nd place as a team. Avery Dietz was the top runner for Mediapolis with a time of 22 minutes and 30 seconds, which claimed her 16th place. Alaina Gourley of Danville’s time of 20 minutes and 14 seconds was good enough for 4th place. 

WACO’s Josie Dykstra had a top 20 finish overall and the 7th best time of Class 1A and 2A at 21 minutes and 28 seconds. Central Lee beat Columbus in the tiebreaker to claim 5th place as a team. Evelyn Adkins finished in 13th place with a time of 22 minutes and 24 seconds, while Iris Garza led the charge for Columbus with a time of 22 minutes and 7 seconds, grabbing 11th place. 

Moving over to the boys’ Class 1A and 2A race, Danville finished ahead of Mediapolis in the team standings with 58 points compared to the Bulldogs’ 77 points; however, Will Schmidgall had the 2nd fastest time with a mark of 16 minutes and 27 seconds. Danville’s Jackson Shacklett grabbed 4th place with a time of 16 minutes and 41 seconds.

In a return to Mt. Pleasant, WACO’s Jude Dykstra turned in a 3rd place performance with a time of 16 minutes and 34 seconds as the Warriors finished in 6th as a team. Dykstra was excited to return to his old stomping grounds,

“I mean, I got a 45 second PR, so I’m pretty happy with it. I knew I had to bring the fire back to Mount Pleasant.”

Ty Muniz led Columbus to a 4th place team finish as the Wildcat took 6th place with a time of 16 minutes and 50 seconds. Central Lee, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Holy Trinity Catholic grabbed 7th through 9th place, respectively. Kohlby Newsom led the Wolves with a 12th place time of 18 minutes and 2 seconds. 

Looking at the Class 3A and 4A boys’ race, Washington took the team title followed by Fort Madison as the Demons’ Tyler Alderton won the individual race with a time of 16 minutes and 33 seconds. 

Fairfield finished in 4th place followed by Mt. Pleasant. Aaden Regur led the Trojans with a time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds. Locken Henderson claimed 4th place with a time of 17 minutes and 15 seconds.

On the girls’ Class 3A and 4A side, Iris Dahl turned in a 1st place time of 19 minutes and 35 seconds for Washington. Mt. Pleasant finished in 5th place as a team followed by Fairfield. Quintrie Lee grabbed 10th place with a time of 21 minutes and 14 seconds for the Panthers, while Alex Jo Steward was the top runner for the Trojans with a time of 22 minutes and 5 seconds, which was good enough for 15th place. 

Mt. Pleasant’s girls’ coach Lyle Murray was happy with last night’s results,

“Yeah, I thought it was great. It Turned out to be a beautiful night. Couldn’t ask for better weather. The girls ran season bests for all five of them. So that’s always how you like to do it. Especially at home, lights out. They all did. They just, I mean, Summer dropped another minute. So they’re just all chopping off time. So that’s a good day.”

Mt. Pleasant, WACO, and Fairfield will travel to Washington on Tuesday, October 1st.

Winfield-Mt. Union, Columbus, and New London will run at Iowa City on Monday, September 30th. 

Danville will travel to Williamsburg next Tuesday. 

Van Buren County, Mediapolis, Burlington Notre Dame and Wapello will travel to Burlington to compete tomorrow, September 26th. 

Southeast Iowa Playbook

Tune in to KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, tonight at 6 pm for a new episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook with WACO set to be our school of focus. 

Southeastern Community College

The volleyball team lost on the road last night to Kirkwood Community College 3-0 by scores of 25-17, 25-16, and 25-23. The Blackhawks will take on Hawkeye Community College tomorrow, September 26th, at 7 pm at home.

College Football

#18 Iowa State will start Big 12 play on Saturday, September 28th, at 6 pm against Houston. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the broadcast. 

Iowa is on their bye week. 

This Day in Sports History

1926 – The NHL grants franchises to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

1955 – Detroit outfielder Al Kaline, at the age of 20, is the youngest batting champ.

2000 – Vince Carter jumps over 7 foot 2 Frédéric Weis in the 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as “le dunk de la mort” (the dunk of death).

Prep Volleyball: Pool Play Assignments for the SEISC Tournament

By Slaten Swords · Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 at 4:09 pm CDT

Prep Volleyball- The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) is gearing up for their conference tournament as their pool play starts on Thursday, September 26th, with #4 Holy Trinity Catholic, Lone Tree, Mediapolis, and Pekin acting as the hosts for the four pools.

Holy Trinity Catholic

At Holy Trinity Catholic, the Crusaders will be battling with Louisa-Muscatine, Hillcrest Academy, and Van Buren County. Holy Trinity Catholic—the eight time SEISC champs—has not faced off against any of these teams this season.

Louisa-Muscatine lost to Hillcrest Academy 3 sets to 1 back on September 17th, while the Raves just lost to Van Buren County in three sets at the Cardinal Invitational last weekend.

Lone Tree

Joining the Lions will be #10 West Burlington, the defending conference champion, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Central Lee. Since winning their first two games of the season, Lone Tree has gone 2-10 with zero wins against SEISC opponents.

West Burlington has only dropped one conference game although the Falcons got their revenge against Holy Trinity Catholic with a 2-0 sweep at the Lisbon Invitational last weekend.

The Wolves are 3-1 on the season in conference games, but they have not played since last Tuesday, September 17th.  Central Lee has a marquee win against Holy Trinity Catholic, since that conference win the Hawks have gone 5-3 in SEISC, sporting a three-game win streak.

Mediapolis

Mediapolis is where the extra team will play as Columbus, Highland, New London, and WACO make the trip. The Bulldogs would like to add on to their conference high nine titles, but the Huskies do hold the season advantage, winning 2-1 at the Wilton Tournament.

New London has struggled this season as the Tigers are 1-9 on the year and 0-7 in SEISC play, including a loss to WACO. However, Central Lee entered the conference tournament last year 1-8 against SEISC opponents before winning their pool.

WACO is in a similar situation to Central Lee last year with a 1-7 conference record, including recent losses to Columbus and Highland.

Pekin

Lastly, Danville, #11 Burlington Notre Dame, and Wapello will be joining the Panthers for this round of pool play. Pekin has not faced off against any of these teams this season but sport a 2-5 SEISC record.

Danville could be a sneaky team to look out for as they have battled the Nikes to a five-set thriller and had a four-set thriller against Mediapolis with scores of 28-26, 23-25, 24-26, and 13-25. Unfortunately, the Bears have just been on the wrong side of the scoreboard in those games, while losing in straight sets to Wapello twice this year.

The Nikes won the conference title back in 2022 and this underdog squad would like to do it again. Burlington Notre Dame swept Wapello and played West Burlington close this season. If Madalynn Knapp and Chloe Wenzel keep the pressure at the net, then the Nikes will be a tough team to beat.

Schedule and Notes

The Conference Tournament pool play will start at 5 pm at each of the host locations on Thursday, September 26th. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the conference finals on Saturday, September 28th, at Southeastern Community College with first serve at 5 pm.

Henry County General Election Information

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 at 3:26 pm CDT

The General Election is just 42 days away now, where a new United States President will be elected, as well as multiple roles at the local level. The link provided (https://henrycounty.iowa.gov/election/) is information from the Henry County Auditor’s office, regarding the upcoming election. You can find all candidates at both the national and local level, as well as a sample ballot.

Here are a few dates to keep in mind for the upcoming election.

August 27, 2024 – October 21, 2024

       Absentee Ballot Request will be accepted

October 16, 2024 – November 4, 2024

       Early Voting on the second floor of the Henry Co. Courthouse 8am – 4:30pm

October 21, 2024

       Voter Pre-Registration Deadline for anyone not registered in Henry County

October 16, 2024 – October 21, 2024

       Absentee Ballots will be mailed

November 2, 2024

       Open for early voting at the courthouse 9 am – 5pm.

November 5, 2024

       Election Day Polls open from 7am – 8pm

Mount Pleasant City Council Meeting Agenda 09/25

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 at 3:13 pm CDT

The Mount Pleasant City Council will meet in Regular Session on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at City Hall, 307 E. Monroe Street, second-floor meeting room at 5:30 p.m.

AGENDA

  1. Roll Call.
  2. Consent Agenda: To the Public — All items with an asterisk (*) are routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion and a roll call of the Councilmembers. There will be no separate discussion of items unless the Mayor, a Councilmember or citizen so request, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered in its normal sequence on the Agenda.
  3. Receive & file communications. Domestic Violence Proclamation.
  4. Approve agenda.

*5. Approve minutes of previous meetings.

*6. Approve payment of bills.

*7. Receive report of Officers.

  1. Old Business-
    1. Renewal of a Class B Retail Alcohol License for Aldi Inc. at 1309 E. Washington Street.
    2. Renewal of a Class C Retail Alcohol License for Iris Bowling Center at 300 S Iris Street.
  2. New Business-
    1. Accept retirement/resignation letter from Public Works Director.
    2. Resolution hiring Drew Schumacher for the position of Public Works Director.
    3. Resolution hiring Tyler Robertson for the position of Lead Parks Worker.
    4. Approve the FYE24 Road Use Tax Report.
    5. Resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign an agreement with Iowa

Department of Transportation accepting a grant to construct the Airport Taxiway/Aprons for Hangar.

  1. Resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign an agreement with Iowa

Department of Transportation accepting a grant for the Airport Hangar Structural Improvement Proj ect.

  1. Approve mayoral appointment to the Community Development Committee.
  1. Public Forum.
  2. Adjourn to meet in regular session on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.

Changes for Medicare Advantage Plans at SEIRMC and HCHC

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 at 3:03 pm CDT

Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center (SEIRMC) and Henry County Health Center (HCHC) will no longer accept Medicare Advantage plans offered by Aetna, effective October 10, 2024, and Wellpoint (formerly Amerigroup), effective December 31, 2024, for clinic or hospital services. In addition, the new Medicare Advantage plan being offered by Molina for 2025 will not be accepted. All patients, regardless of insurance, will receive emergency care in SEIRMC and HCHC Emergency Departments.

This decision was made after the contract terms Great River Health presented to these carriers were not accepted.  The contract terms were reasonable and accepted by other insurance carriers.  Negotiations to extend the terms of the Aetna contract to the end of the year were unsuccessful.

Patients with these plans have been notified of this upcoming change by Great River Health. Staff are working with patients to navigate receiving continued care and finding an in-network provider.

Patients wishing to receive healthcare services at SEIRMC or HCHC that are covered by their insurance must enroll in an accepted plan during Medicare Open Enrollment which runs from October 15-December 7, 2024, with a plan effective date of January 1, 2025. Great River Health will continue to accept current Medicare Advantage plans offered by Humana, United Healthcare, and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield.

Great River Health offers free, confidential, one-on-one counseling to help make informed decisions about Medicare and other health coverage options through the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP). You can request an appointment with a volunteer SHIIP counselor at HCHC by calling 319-385-6774 or in Fort Madison, Keokuk, or West Burlington at 319-768-3342 or requesting an appointment online at https://outlook.office365.com/book/SHIIPBookings@grhs.net/

 

These schedules fill up quickly so other options for changing your plan during Annual Open Enrollment include contacting the insurance provider or a local health insurance agent. Clients can also contact the SHIIP office in Des Moines at 1-800-351-4664 or www.shiip.iowa.gov

 

Patients with questions can call Great River Health Patient Financial Services at 319.768.3625, option 2.

 

 

 

Prep Football: Change of Date for Mt. Pleasant’s FROSH Game Against Fort Madison

By Slaten Swords · Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 at 2:59 pm CDT

Mt. Pleasant- The Mt. Pleasant Panthers are scheduled to face off against the Fort Madison Bloodhounds on Friday, October 18th, at Fort Madison. However, that will just be the varsity game due to a lack of numbers for Fort Madison’s squad.

The Freshman/Sophomore game will now be played on Monday, October 14th at 6 pm still in Fort Madison. The buses will depart at 4:10 pm.