An annual study of problem gamblers in the state shows Iowa's publicly funded treatment services are helping people quit. Mark Vander Linden is the Gambling Treatment Program coordinator with the Iowa Department of Public Health.

He says the study found, six months following treatment, 95% of respondents reported they had reduced or quit problem gambling behaviors. In addition, 41% of people entering treatment said they had been late paying their bills.

By discharge, that number dropped to 21%. The study was conducted in partnership with the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Social and Behavioral Research. Around 940 people sought help from Iowa's Gambling Treatment Program in 2008.

The treatment usually involves a group setting or one-on-one visits with a counselor. "It's primarily driven by the goals of the person who is seeking the help, paying attention to whatever problems that brought them in and trying to come up with some concrete solutions to address those problems," Vander Linden said.

The number of people seeking help for problem gambling dropped between 2007 and 2008. Vander Linden says he expects the numbers to jump back up considering the economic downturn and the state's rising unemployment rate.

"Often times it's an accumulation of problems that drive a person to get help for the gambling problem," Vander Linden said. "So, it'll be interesting to see...how many individuals are out there asking for help."

The Iowa Gambling Treatment Program's annual budget is around four-million dollars. That money come from the Iowa Legislature's general fund. The program has providers at 55 locations in the state. Iowans seeking help for gambling problems, regardless of their ability to pay, can call 1-800-BETS-OFF to receive assistance.

See the study here . 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Rants is touting four ideas he says could raise the quality and lower the cost of health care in Iowa. "Some of these proposals are common sense, practical solutions (like) electronic health records," Rants says. "Making a commitment that the state should enable that is something that I think both parties should be able to agree upon."

In addition to calling for all medical records in Iowa to be digitized within four years, Rants proposes adjusting the system of reimbursing hospitals for the care provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients. Rants says high-quality care should be rewarded with the highest payments.

"We have a real problem in this state with hospitals that in danger of going under in some cases because of low reimbursement rates," Rants says. "...There are things that we can do here in Iowa and state policymakers and candidates running for governor really ought to talk about what role the state has and what the state can do to try to improve things for Iowans."

Rants, a legislator from Sioux City, says the state should create a website where Iowans could find out more about what hospitals and doctors charge for certain services and find out more about insurance plans that are available in Iowa. "As patients, we really don't have a lot of information. People walk into the doctor's office, they walk into the emergency room and they don't know what anything costs until they get the bill afterwards. They don't know, you know, who has a good success rating and who doesn't," Rants says.

"If we want to have patients become better consumers, we've got to give them more information." Rants is also pressing for a changes in the legal system that he says would reduce the medical malpractice insurance premiums Iowa doctors and hospitals are paying.

"I recognize that doing medical malpractice liability reform will be somewhat controversial, but there are some of those parts to my plan that I think even some Democrats could support," Rants says. For example, Rants suggests all medical malpractice cases go to mediation first, before a trial begins, and Rants would require a "certificate of merit" endorsed by another lawyer and an independent doctor before a medical malpractice suit could be filed.

Rants hints he'll have more to say on the subject of health care reform between now and election day in 2010. "This is not the end-all, be-all list. These are four, practical, first-steps that need to be taken," Rants says. "There's another 14 months to go in this campaign." The Republican Primary is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8th -- about nine months away. The General Election is Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats says Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, should convene Iowa's top business minds and ask them to develop a plan to fix Iowa's economy and stop mounting job losses. Vander Plaats, a business consultant from Sioux City, says there's a need for urgency.

Vander Plaats points to this week's announcement that 400 workers in Lake Mills will be laid off -- their jobs are being moved to a plant in Mexico. "As a business leader I know we need leadership to open up Iowa for business so our young people have a chance to stay and to develop and grow their families in Iowa," Vander Plaats said at a recent campaign event in Dallas County.

According to Vander Plaats, "this isn't something that can wait until the next governor takes office."  Vander Plaats is calling on Culver to focus on "private sector job creation" rather than adding more employees to the government payroll.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party blasted Vander Plaats for saying, "President Obama has been really, really good for two industries -- guns and ammunition." Democratic Party chairman Michael Kiernan calls those sentiments "outrageous" and "inflammatory."

An American Legion Post in Marion is pushing to make the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids the next "Honor Flight" hub in Iowa. So-called "Honor Flights" have been arranged so the nation's elderly World War Two veterans can travel to Washington, D.C. for free to see the memorial there that honors their service.

The Des Moines Airport was the hub for an "Honor Flight" earlier this month. Mary Clapp, commander of American Legion Post 298, is hoping the next "Honor Flight" leaves from Cedar Rapids. "If we can bring just a little bit of joy to them and help them have closure on their lives, I think it just brings a peace to them and comfort."

Eighty-six-year-old Larry Moore flew planes in World War Two, but he can't afford to pay the plane fare for the trip to D.C. "The thought of going to Washington is kind of overwhelming and here's an opportunity to get in there on a conducted tour and to see other veterans and to see other things," Moore says.

Casey's General Stores announced Tuesday is would donate $250,000 so a second "Honor Flight" could depart from the Des Moines Airport.

A Cedar Rapids school employee is charged with taking thousands of dollars in school funds. Cedar Rapids police say 42-year-old Jamie May was charged with first degree theft after an investigation into the possible embezzlement of 250-thousand dollars of school funds during the 2008-2009 school year.

The school district website says May works in business services and is responsible for cash receipts. A release from the district says they were made aware of the possible embezzlement by the police department on August 18th and began an internal investigation. The district says May has been place on administrative leave pending her termination.

The district has also contacted the State Auditor's Office and asked them to conduct an independent audit. That audit could take several months. The district says the embezzlement is covered by insurance.  

The attorney for an eastern Iowa woman who is accused slitting the throats of her two sons, killing one and injuring the other, wants her trial moved out of Buchanan County. Michelle Kehoe of Coralville faces one count of first degree murder and another count of attempted murder for the alleged knife attack last October.

Kehoe's attorney, Andrea Dryer, is asking the court to call a mock jury to see if potential jurors in Buchanan County could offer a fair trial. Dryer says comments on websites lead her to believe the trial should be moved. "Name calling, directing profanities at Mrs. Kehoe, expressing their opinions about what should be done to her," Dryer said.

Kehoe attended today's motion hearing, but did not speak. Assistant Attorney General Andrew Prosser, who is helping prosecute the case, said media coverage has been statewide so he believes a fair trial is just as likely in Buchanan County as any other county in the state. Prosser also asked the judge to extend a no-contact order between Kehoe and her surviving son to also include her husband.

Prosser says the meetings between Michelle and Eugene Kehoe are doing "incalculable" psychological harm to their son Sean. "There is potential harm in the fact that this now 7 or 8-year-old child knows that his father is going to see the woman who sliced his throat and his brother's throat," Prosser said. "I can't begin to comprehend the kind of long term damage that fact alone could have."

Buchanan County Judge Bruce Zager listened to the arguments and will submit a written ruling on the mock jury and no-contact requests at a later date. Another hearing is set for September 18th, while Michelle Kehoe's actual trial is scheduled for October 28th.

A D-V-D-based game developed by the University Hygienic Laboratory will soon be going out to thousands of schools in Iowa and nationwide. The game, "Did You See That," is designed to get students in middle and high school -- and in college -- interested in the public health field.

Beth Hochstedler, the lab's training and outreach coordinator, says they shot video interviews with a variety of staff members to assemble the game. Hochstedler says, "It's based somewhat off the game 'Scene It,' where you have video clips and then answer science trivia questions and there is a game board and you can move on the game board to get to the different career paths in public health."

The lab is making all of the clips available on the popular website YouTube, in addition to launching a page on the social networking website Facebook. Hochstedler says there are also plenty of free DVDs available for people like school counselors and science teachers.

She says they have 5,000 copies of the DVD that'll go out, while the game is also available for free on-line via the University Hygienic Lab's website at "www.uhl.uiowa.edu".

Hochstedler says the primary goal is to attract students to the field of laboratory science. "Public health is facing a national workforce shortage with an estimated 250,000 job vacancies by 2020," she says. The game was funded through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The University Hygienic Laboratory is Iowa's environmental and public health laboratory, with facilities in Ankeny, Milford and at the University of Iowa's Research Park in Coralville.