Great River Health will be hosting an evening of career exploration on Thursday, April 11, 2024.  The event will run from 5-7 p.m. at Catfish Bend Event Center, 3001 Winegard Drive, in Burlington, Iowa.  The event titled Purpose in Partnership: Great River Health Career Exploration, is a free event and the public is invited to attend.

The evening will provide job seekers as well as those interested in finding out more about healthcare careers an opportunity to meet with healthcare professionals. Career Fair attendees will have an opportunity to experience healthcare jobs firsthand with Virtual Reality simulators. Open positions will have on the spot interviews. Door prizes and light refreshments will also be part of the evening’s event.

For more information, contact Great River Health Human Resources at 319-768-3750.

Joshua Michael Bergen, convicted of Willful Injury Causing Serious Injury, Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury, and Burglary 3rd Degree in Louisa County, as well as Escape of Felon in Des Moines County, failed to report back to the Burlington Residential Facility as required yesterday.

Bergen is a 30-year-old, 5’5″, 169-pound white male. He was admitted to the work release facility on Jan. 18, 2024.

Persons with information on Bergen’s whereabouts should contact local police.

On 04/02/24, at 5:09am, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Henry County Sheriffs Office, and Henry County Health Center Emergency Medical Services were notified of a Motor Vehicle Accident with the vehicle in the ditch near mile marker 238 off the westbound lanes of Highway 34. Once on scene it was observed the vehicle was occupied and there were 3 small dogs in the vehicle.

The subject in the vehicle was identified as Ann Kelly of Clinton, Iowa. Ann was assessed by HCHC EMS on scene and later released on scene.

Upon investigation it was determined that Ann was traveling westbound on highway 34, entered the ditch, struck a utility pole, a tree, and came to rest in the ditch several yards away from original entry. Upon further investigation, Ann had a revoked Iowa Drivers License.

Ann was taken into custody after release from medical assessment and was transported to the Henry County Jail where she was charged with Driving While Revoked a Serious Misdemeanor, Reckless, Operate Without Ignition Interlock Device a simple misdemeanor,  Failure to Maintain Control.

The vehicle was considered totaled with over $2500 worth of damage. The 3 dogs were unharmed.

The Mount Pleasant Police Department was assisted by the Henry County Sheriffs Office, HCHC EMS, and Breuers Towing and Recovery Service.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee brought the request of an additional deputy before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday’s meeting. This request came after Winfield-Mt.Union school district explored the idea of adding a School Resource Officer (SRO) for safety, security, and training, on a part time basis.

While McNamee has brought this before the board before, it was not officially voted on as the supervisors waited to garner more information, partly due to a new proposed legislation in the Iowa Senate which would see funds available for school districts to acquire an SRO. The Sheriff was not alone in this battle. Joining him was the New London Community School District Superintendent, Chad Wahls, who has seen his district personally benefit from the presence of an SRO in their buildings. So successful has this SRO, Deputy Lopez, been, that Wahls and the school board requested to make this full-time next year.

Once again, facts about recent school shootings were brought up. In fact, well over 300 of these have happened in schools across the country in just the past 6 years. McNamee asked for the board to be proactive, as he believes it is not a matter of “if” but “when.”

Gage Gill, Winfield Mt. Union 6-12 principal, mentioned how he sees students on their worst and best days. Having an SRO in the building will help ensure those students will experience less and less bad days.

What certainly benefited McNamee was the “penny for penny” reimbursement offered by either school district. Not only will the deputies see their wages (while working at the school) paid for by the district, their gas, uniform, tires, and everything else in between will be fully funded by the school.

Although budget cuts are coming in the size that this county seemingly has not seen, the Supervisors did approve an additional deputy for the Henry County Sheriff’s Office in a unanimous decision. This will likely see a full-time deputy in the New London school district and a part timer in the WMU buildings.

Perhaps McNamee has wind energy to thank for this approval, at least in a sense, as many citizens leftover from the wind energy moratorium discussion voiced their support for the additional deputy cause.