Authorities say an Iowa woman accused of shooting her uncle in the ankle has been charged with attempted murder.

The Story County Sheriff’s Office says 33-year-old Candace Mosley, of Ames, is being held at the local county jail on a $100,000 cash or surety bond. Court records do not list an attorney.

Mosley is accused of shooting her 66-year-old uncle on Monday at his home near Maxwell. The man was transported to a local hospital.

Authorities have not released additional information about the shooting. Mosley was taken into custody early Tuesday.

Mahaska Board of Supervisors met Monday and again the issue of behavior health took center stage. The supervisors continue to struggle with how best to handle the behavioral health issue since Department of Human Services Director Charles Palmer denied the existence of the Mid-Iowa Region that contained Mahaska and Marion County.

Board member Willie Van Weelden said he was willing to begin the process to apply to the southern region that contains Wapello, Davis and Appanoose counties. Board chair Mark Doland said he met with the southern region in Bloomfield and there is some willingness for the region to consider the inclusion of Mahaska County.

Board member Mike Vander Molen is insistent that any option should include Marion County as a partner. The snag is that Marion County is not contiguous to any of the south region counties. Vander Molen asked if Mahaska and Marion could apply as a region to join the south.

Julie Bak, Mahaska County’s representative to Mid-Iowa Region said Mahaska would have to be accepted before Marion could be admitted to the region. The board decided to wait until they hear from the state on the appeal before moving forward with an application.

Joe Durian representing the Veteran’s Affairs Commission requesting the movement of Karie Foster to full-time as director. Foster has been on the job since 2005. The board was not against the move, but unsure if there was enough money in the Veteran’s Affairs budget to cover the change.

The commission has allocated $17,971 for the position, but is asking to move to a $45,000 salary plus benefits. Auditor Sue Brown said the benefits package would be about $14,000. Vander Molen asked Durian and the commissioners to look at their budget. The board left the possibility of a graduated increase in hours toward a full-time position. Durian said the commission would look at the information and get back to the board.

The board has decided not to become part of a 28E agreement for the Cedar Creek Watershed Project. The board cited uncertainty on possible funding that may be ongoing once implemented.

Doland will attend the monthly meeting with the landfill and inquire about the possibility of placing a household hazardous waste center at the county landfill. The board would like to pursue working with another county to place a satellite placement in Mahaska County. Doland will bring the interest level from the meeting back to the Aug. 17 meeting.

In other business:

Approved payroll changes in the Assessor, Treasurer, and secondary roads departments

Approved $1,250 for paving of Old White Cemetery

Extended deadline to complete cleanup of Country Life to Nov. 30

Approved letter of authorization for DOT driver license services

Approved seeking a seasonal employee

Accepted bid from Iowa Bridge for $139,153.53 for work on the bridge on 305th Street west of Rutledge

Story provided by RD Keep

The hard work of many has paid off – Oskaloosa is the latest city in Iowa to become a certified Blue Zones Community. The local leadership team was notified last week that Oskaloosa has met all qualifications during its 18-month demonstration period.

“It took a tremendous amount of effort by so many community members for us to reach this important goal,” said Dave Krutzfeldt, mayor of Oskaloosa.

Certification required meeting several milestones, such as 20{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b} of the community pledging to support the program, as well as 50{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b} of Oskaloosa’s largest worksites and 25{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b} of schools, restaurants and grocery stores adopting Blue Zones policies.

As a certified Blue Zones community, Oskaloosa will continue to work on promoting well-being initiatives, says Amy Langdon, co-chair of Blue Zones Project Oskaloosa Leadership Team.

“We’ve got a great volunteer team lined up to make sure we don’t lose any momentum,” said Langdon.

“We want to make sure we continue to grow with more businesses making health a priority, more restaurants providing more healthy options, and more community initiatives that promote more active lifestyles.”

Blue Zones Project encourages communities to make the healthy choice the easy choice. It is based on the series of initiatives outlined in Dan Buettner’s best-selling book analyzing communities around the globe where residents live happy, healthy and long lives. The project, sponsored by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in collaboration with Healthways and Blue Zones, was brought to Iowa as the centerpiece of the Healthiest State Initiative.

Some of Oskaloosa’s accomplishments include increasing community garden and farmer’s market usage, getting a bicycle and pedestrian master plan approved by city council, and getting healthier options on the menu at several local restaurants.

“The past 18 months have been phenomenal in showing us what we could do when we come together to focus on health,” said Langdon. “And we’re just getting started.”

Story Provided by Amy Langdon