10/13/22: Area Happenings & Accomplishments

Beware of third parties charging for military records

It has been reported in recent weeks that a third-party company has been charging veterans to record military documents. According to the Iowa County Recorders Association, however, recording or requesting military records is always free of charge for all veterans.

Below are the Iowa Code chapter and information regarding submitting copies of 00214 documents below. Remember to always contact your local county recorder for assistance recording or requesting military records.

The county recorder's office has on permanent record military discharges that have been presented for recording by the veterans themselves. Pursuant to Chapter 331.608(6), notwithstanding section 22.2, subsection 1, such record shall be confidential and shall not be made available for examination or copying except as follows:

• To the person who is the subject of the record, to a member of that person's immediate family or to that person's agent or representative duly authorized in writing.

• To a person requesting to examine or copy a record when the event that resulted in the record being made occurred more than 62 years prior to the request. However, the recorder shall redact any Social Security number included in a record made available pursuant to this paragraph.

• To a person who is a funeral director licensed pursuant to Chapter 156 and who has custody of the body of a deceased veteran.

• When otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

• When otherwise required by a department or agency of the federal or state government or a political subdivision. The recorder shall make these records available to the Department of Veteran's Affairs. The department and its employees are subject to the same state and federal confidentiality restrictions and requirements that are imposed on the recorder.

Veterans are also eligible to submit legal copies of their 00214 to the recorder's office in the county in which they reside. There is no fee to record the 00214. Copies of military discharge records are also free of charge. Veterans and entitled immediate family members may request in-person or complete a military discharge application. All records not recorded in your local county can be requested from the National Personnel Records Center.

For more information, contact the O'Brien County Recorder's Office at (712) 957-3045.

Medicare open enrollment period opens Oct. 15

Every year between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7, Iowans on Medicare can review and make changes to their drug plan or Medicare Advantage. The Part D and Medicare Advantage plans can change their coverage, premiums, co-payments and provider networks every year. It is important that Iowans on Medicare use this time to review changes to their current plan and compare with plans available to them in 2023.

Iowa Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) and Senior Medicare Patrol Program (SMP) are here to help you. Iowans need to take advantage of the annual open enrollment period and local counselors are ready to help. O'Brien County residents can contact their SHIIP-SMP office at (712) 957-5579.

SHIIP, the Senior Health Insurance Information Program, and SMP, the Senior Medicare Patrol Program, are free, confidential and unbiased services offered by the State of Iowa. SHIIP-SMP counselors are trained by the state and do not sell or promote any insurance companies, policies or agents.

SHIIP-SMP services are made available in O'Brien County at MercyOne Primghar Family Practice Clinic. For more information or questions call (712) 957-5579 or visit http://www.shiip.iowa.gov.

Locals included in 77th annual anthology Lyrical Iowa 2022

The Iowa Poetry Association (IPA) this week announced the publication of its annual poetry anthology Lyrical Iowa.

The poems in this year's edition of Lyrical Iowa are anchored in lived experiences, cultural memories, and hopes and dreams for the future, according to Editor Marilyn Baszczynski.

The 2022 edition of Lyrical Iowa is IPA's 77th anthology. Local writers included in the book include:

O'Brien County: Carolyn Rohrbaugh, of Sutherland, third honorable mention, "Poems For Children;" also published, Nancy J. Peters, of Sheldon.

Clay County: Erin Olson, of Greenville, third honorable mention, "National/World Events;" also published, Janis Myers, Jim Quinn, Joanne Schar and Dwight Rutter, all of Spencer.

Poems for the anthology are selected from among close to 2,000 submissions each year to the Lyrical Iowa competition. Membership is not a requirement for having poetry included in the anthology. Contestants need only reside in Iowa. IPA has close to 350 members across the state.

Besides those awarded cash prizes or honorable mentions in the seven adult categories and four student divisions, many other top-ranking poems are showcased in this 168-page book with full-color cover. This year, a total of 319 poems were selected from about 1,800 entries submitted to IPA's 2022 contests, including five Pushcart Prize nominations. Entries came from 122 towns in 71 of Iowa's 99 counties, sent by persons ranging in age from kindergartners to near-centenarians.

Visit iowapoetry.com or contact the editor at [email protected] for ordering information.

Highly-touted radiation oncologist joins Abben Cancer Center

First impressions can make a big difference. Abben Cancer Center and northwest Iowa left a great first impression on Dr. D. B. Nguyen, an Ivy League trained and experience radiation oncologist, when he visited in 2019. That fond memory has drawn him to return to establish a full-time practice.

Three years ago Dr. Nguyen (pronounced 'Wen') decided to take a break from his full-time practice to accept temporary positions to provide more flexibility in his schedule for his family. The first assignment he accepted was to provide one week of professional coverage at Abben Cancer Center for a vacationing physician.

"I remember thinking it was just a beautiful place," Dr. Nguyen said in a news release. "Also, I was so impressed with the technology available and the team of health professionals at Abben Cancer Center."

In the following years, Dr. Nguyen traveled to various cancer centers in need of his professional services, including another assignment in Spencer. So, when earlier this year he learned there was an opening for a full-time radiation oncologist, he reached out to Abben Cancer Center director Mindy Sylvester to express his interest.

For Dr. Nguyen, that path to Spencer has been a long and interesting one. Born in Vietnam in the 1960s, he and his family faced the hardships that accompany living in a country at war. When communist forces invaded Saigon, he and several family members were able to escape by climbing onto an open-topped barge with 200 other refugees. That barge traveled down the Saigon River to the open sea, where after days without food or only occasional fresh water from cold, drenching rainstorms, they were fortunately rescued by a U.S. freighter. The family was sponsored by a family in Virginia and established their lives in the United States.

Deemed mentally too slow to start first grade nor second grade in Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen excelled in school in America. As a result, he was awarded an academic scholarship to Harvard. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with highest honors in electronics and optics, he received a scholarship to Dartmouth Medical School. As a medical student, he made a discovery that led to a PhD in biomedical engineering, in addition to earning his medical degree.

Dr. Nguyen was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in radiation oncology at Yale. He received a National Science Foundation NATO post-doctoral Fellowship, one of 50 awarded worldwide by NATO, to spend one year in any NATO country of his choice. He selected Denmark and became a guest professor at Aalborg University. While there, a bureaucratic procedure resulted in his representing Denmark at a NATO Advanced Study Institute in Italy.

He returned to United States for a residency in internal medicine and radiation oncology at Yale University School of Medicine. Upon graduation, he was offered an academic position in Boston. Yet, he was interested in practicing medicine in the Midwest and chose to begin his career as a radiation oncologist in Minnesota. While in Minnesota, he became a Hubert Humphrey Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota, where he received an invitation to dinner with Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union.

Over the next few years, Dr. Nguyen's career took him to other parts of the country – to the upper northwest to be near to family, back to the Midwest, and then to Ohio. In 2019, as his bright, curious twin boys turned four years old, Dr. Nguyen sought a more flexible schedule, opting to transition from his full-time practice to locum tenens work. The first assignment he accepted was that one-week opportunity in Spencer.

"It's wonderful to return to Spencer and also return to a fulltime oncology practice," Dr. Nguyen expressed. "The care team at Abben Cancer Center is excellent and the technology available is impressive."

Dr. Nguyen shared that due to the technology capabilities at Abben, two treatment options will be added. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) are being incorporated into the array of treatment options available for patient care.

"Both treatments use high-dose radiation therapy, which precisely targets the cancerous cells and spares the surrounding healthy tissue," Dr. Nguyen explained. "As the name implies, stereotactic body radiation therapy is used for treatment of cancers in various locations of the body. Stereotactic radiosurgery is typically used for treatment of brain tumors."

In addition to radiation therapy delivered by the linear accelerator, Dr. Nguyen also will work with the local urology team of Dr. David Christ and Dr. Charlotte Caligiuri to offer brachytherapy, a radioactive seed implant procedure used to treat some prostate cancers, as a one-day treatment option, instead of daily treatments over several weeks.

In addition to radiation therapy, Abben Cancer Center provides medical oncology and hematology services. Abben Cancer Center has provided comprehensive cancer treatment services to northwest Iowa and southern Minnesota since opening in 1997.

ILCC receives $587K for veterans center

Iowa Lakes Community College received a $587,298 grant to develop a Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success (CEVSS) on the Estherville and Emmetsburg Campuses. The center, funded by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, will support the success of veteran students by coordinating services that address academic, financial, physical and social needs.

"This center will provide a welcoming space and a new, improved way for us to meet the unique needs of our student veterans and their families," said Tim Ireland, the CEVSS Grant Director at Iowa Lakes, in a news release. "People who have served our country and are now hoping to begin or continue their college education will have extra support transitioning out of the military, enrolling at Iowa Lakes, and completing their degree."

With the grant, Iowa Lakes will expand upon existing military and veteran student services by developing a CEVSS to coordinate comprehensive support services, including academic, mental health, physical health and enhanced learning opportunities. The overall goals of the center are to increase veteran enrollment, improve veteran academic success, and increase veteran post-graduation outcomes.

"This grant makes it possible for us to expand on our existing tradition of supporting members of the military, veteran students, and military dependents. Funding like this is crucial for our programs to grow and serve the veterans who have served our country. We are grateful for their sacrifices, and we are pleased to have an opportunity to help them reach their educational and career goals," shared Ireland.

In addition, Iowa Lakes will establish a veteran student support team of members from key departments, including admissions, registrations, financial aid, veteran's benefits, academic advising, student health, career advising, and disabilities service.

Iowa Lakes is committed to providing services to student Veterans, service members, and dependents of the Armed Services with welcoming spaces, guidance on educational benefits, and engagement opportunities through the college and the larger Northwest Iowa Community.

Iowa's Water Year ends on a downward trend

After yet another month of below normal precipitation across the state, the water year ended with deteriorating conditions across Iowa, according to the latest Water Summary Update by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The "Water Year" is defined as the period between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30. Precipitation for the 2022 Water Year was 29.51 inches, or 6.04 inches below normal. Drought expansion continues into the fall months, with 85 percent of Iowa in some form of dryness or drought, and more than 25 percent of the state in moderate or severe drought.

Conditions were improving as the state moved from spring into early summer, but since then things have gotten gradually worse. September marked the sixth month in a row of below normal precipitation.

"A repeat of last October's above normal rainfall would help to turn things around for the state, and we are certainly hoping for that to happen," said Tim Hall, Iowa DNR's coordinator of hydrology resources, in a news release.

The 2022 Water Year was the third water year in a row of below normal rainfall for the state.

2023 Paint Iowa Beautiful grant now open

Keep Iowa Beautiful and Diamond Vogel Paint recently announced the 2023 Paint Iowa Beautiful program.

The program provides free paint to a wide variety of community projects throughout Iowa. It is administered through Keep Iowa Beautiful with the paint provided by the Diamond Vogel Paint Company.

During the 20-year partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful, Diamond Vogel has awarded over 12,000 gallons of paint for nearly 1,300 community projects in Iowa. The online grant application is now open to Iowans and can be completed and submitted by Feb. 10, 2023. Access the Paint Iowa Beautiful application at: https://keepiowabeautiful.org.