County Changes Insurance Provider

Union County employees will have a new health insurance provider going into the next fiscal year.

Bernie Lowe and Associates of Ankeny will serve as Union County's health insurance agent as of July 1. Skip Lowe, along with associate Katheryn Brown and Denise Ballard of the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan, met with the Union County Board of Supervisors on Monday. The firm was officially hired on May 23.

The board has met with several insurance carriers over the past few months, researching a possible change. The primary order of business Monday was choosing a plan line-up to make available for this year's employee sign-up period, which begins June 1.

The chosen plan includes three options similar to what is currently offered. Lowe and the board hope to streamline the county 's offerings gradually over the next couple years. The goal is to have all union contracts and non-contract employees synchronized by 2013.

Lowe says the goal is to move people to plans with higher deductibles, a much more important factor in the insurance cost picture than employee contributions. According to Lowe, higher deductibles tend to make health care users more conscientious consumers. Informational meetings for employees will be held June 9. The change means the end to the county's total self-insuring era, and will hopefully save the county money.

The county has budgeted $19,000 per employee for the employer's share of their insurance premiums. Lowe estimates the cost through his agency will be closer to $16,000. That amounts to a total savings of $180,000 for the coming fiscal year. The county should also save money in years to come by being part of a larger pool through the Iowa Governmental Health Plan, as Ballard explains.

Ballard says rates increased this past year 4-5 percent.

Lowe and Associates replaces TriStar Administrators, which has administered the county's self-insurance claims since the 1990s. TriStar senior vice-president Frank DeMarco has estimated a 30-40 percent increase for next year.

Weekly Crop Report

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reports:

Persistent precipitation almost completely stopped planting progress in south central Iowa while allowing only limited progress in the remainder of the State. Localized heavy rains have caused erosion and ponding with farmers along the Missouri River keeping an eye on rising water levels. High winds during the week prevented spraying in weedy fields.
 
Ninety-nine percent of Iowa’s corn acreage has been planted. South central Iowa still has more than 5 percent of their corn crop remaining to be planted. Ninety percent of the State’s corn crop has emerged.

South central Iowa also lags 33 percentage points behind the State average with only 54 percent of soybeans planted. Fifty-two percent of the State’s soybean crop has emerged, behind last year’s 57 percent but slightly ahead of the five-year average of 50 percent.

Oats have begun heading with 3 percent of the crop headed compared with 9 percent in 2010.

With weather conditions that have not been conducive to cutting hay, first cutting alfalfa hay harvest, at 6 percent complete, is well behind last year’s 41 percent and the normal 23 percent. The condition of the hay crop is reported at 1 percent very poor, 3 percent poor, 29 percent fair, 55 percent good, and 12 percent excellent.

Free Fishing This Weekend

Iowa residents may fish for free on June 3, 4 and 5, when the Iowa Department of Natural Resources waives the requirement that anglers possess a valid fishing license while fishing. The free fishing weekend is for Iowa residents only and all other fishing laws are in effect.

A list of fishing clinics, derbies, and other fun events co-sponsored by the DNR are available on the special events page. Log on to www.iowadnr.gov then click on Fishing then click on Classes and Clinics in the right column under Hot Topics, then on Fishing Events and Classes for Kids/Families and finally click on Search for Events. 

Clarke County Sheriff's Report

The Clarke County Sheriff's Office reports Joshua William Currie of Osceola was involved in a car/deer collision on May 28. Currie was traveling northbound on Highway 69 when several deer ran into the roadway in front of his car. The accident occurred approximately 8:50 pm

Creston Police Report

The Creston Police Department received a report early this morning from Dallas Floyd at 802 ½ W Adams reporting that the glass was broken out of his screen door sometime between 1:35 and 1:45 am.

Two arrests were reported on Tuesday. Twenty four year old Jory John Larkins of Creston was arrested at 11 am and charged with Possession of Paraphernalia. Larkins was issued a police citation to appear.

Twenty Two year old Kurtis Lee Fooken of Creston was arrested at 5:30 pm at the Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear. Fooken was being held on $2000 bond.

Union County Sheriff's Report

The Union County Sheriff's Office reports 18 year old Tori Renae Boynton from Creston, was arrested on Saturday at 1:58 AM in Creston for possession of marijuana. Boynton was released from the Union County Jail on a promise to appear.