The Cass County Sheriff’s Office on Friday (today), reported five arrests from April 30th to May 5th. On Wednesday (5/5), Deputies arrested 53-year-old Charles Jonathan DeJong, of Manning, on two Cass County warrants for Failure to Appear.   DeJong was transported from the Carroll County Jail to the Cass County Jail and later released on his own recognizance.

On May 2nd, 59-year-old Myron L. Flathers, of Bridgewater, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for violation of probation.  Flathers was transported to Cass County Jail.  Upon arrival at the jail, he was found to be in possession of drug contraband.  He subsequently was assessed with an additional charge of possessing contraband, and was being held on $7,000 bond.

On May 1st, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 29-year-old Shialea Kay Cozad, for driving while barred.  Cozad was transported to Cass County Jail as was later released on her own recognizance. That same day, 31-year-old Marshall Brandon Fischer, of Atlantic, was arrested on charges of driving while barred and assault with bodily injury.  Fischer was transported to Cass County Jail and also later released on his own recognizance.

And, on April 30th, Cass County Deputies arrested 29-year-old Nathan Drew Simington, of Griswold, for OWI/1st offense.  Simington was cited and released.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, that a little before 4-a.m. Sunday, May 2nd, deputies responded to an accident on eastbound I-80 at mile marker 57 (the Olive Street exit). Authorities say Loren Griffin, of Exira, was driving a 2016 Dodge Ram when he fell asleep at the wheel. The pickup truck ran over 50 yards of cable barrier and support posts, until it came to rest on the north side of the eastbound lanes. Griffin was not injured. His vehicle sustained an estimated $20,000 damage.

(Radio Iowa) – A Las Vegas man who’s making a cross-country journey on a stand-up electric scooter is almost done with the Iowa leg of his month-long adventure. Alex Simon left Boston, Massachusetts on April 24th and is traveling in segments all the way to Newport, Oregon. The past several days, Simon’s been quietly making his way across Iowa via U-S Highway 20, making stops in Dubuque, Iowa Falls and Fort Dodge.

“I’m promoting micro-mobility,” Simon says. “It’s nothing more than replacing cars with a smarter alternative when traveling short distances, based on zero to three miles. Instead of taking a

Alex Simon

car just to go down the road or to the coffee shop or to the park, maybe we can take an electric scooter or an e-bike or a skateboard, and that’s what this trip is all about.”

Alex Simon on an electric scooter

Simon plans to ride from Fort Dodge to Sioux City today (Friday) and is scheduled to arrive in Oregon by May 23rd.

https://www.facebook.com/zerotoepic/

The Iowa Department of Public health Friday, reported 459 new COVID-19 positive tests, and 18 additional deaths, including one in each of Audubon, Mills and Montgomery Counties, and two in Pottawattamie County (See the County-by-County-data below). This latest round of recorded COVID-related deaths bring the statewide total for the pandemic, to 5,980. The health department reports 397,132 total positive tests since the start of the pandemic. The state’s 14-day positivity rate is 3.8%, and the seven-day positivity rate is 3.7%.

COVID hospitalizations across the state are nearly steady. As of Friday, there were 189 hospitalized, 43 persons in an ICU, 44 people were admitted, and 16 were on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (hospitals in western/southwest Iowa), there are 14 COVID patients hospitalized; three remain in an ICU; four people were admitted, and two people remain on a ventilator.

There have been more than 2.4-million doses of a COVID vaccine administered in Iowa, with 1.14-million persons having completed their respective vaccination series.

The state reports there are now two Long-Term Care Facility Outbreaks. Those are at the New Hampton Nursing and Rehab Center in northeast Iowa, and Urbandale Health Care Center. Combined, they have 22 positive cases among residents and staff,  with 18 total recoveries. The state reports 2,323 care facility deaths since the pandemic began.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:
Cass, 1,460 cases; {+2}; 54 deaths
Adair, 982; {+0}; 32
Adams, 349 {+1}; 4
Audubon, 526 {+0}; 10
Guthrie, 1,290 {+0}; 29
Harrison County, 1,925; {+1}; 73
Madison County, 1,746; {+2; 19
Mills County, 1,781; {+0}; 22
Montgomery, 1,106;{+1}; 38
Pottawattamie County, 12,161; {+20}; 168
Shelby County, 1,364 {+0}; 37
Union County, 1,362; {+2}; 32

The news at 8:07-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Pandemic restrictions are being relaxed in some areas after more than a year, and optimistic Iowans are responding by planning summer vacations to destinations near and far. Hamilton County Public Health director Shelby Kroona, says to do your homework first and make certain visitors are being accepted before you buy plane tickets. “It’s really important to know where you’re traveling, especially if you’re going international,” Kroona says. “Some of those countries are going to start to open up to us. Europe is talking about letting Americans come and travel this summer, same with cruises and different things.”

Even some places in the U-S aren’t exactly safe from COVID-19, as she notes Oregon is experiencing a spike in cases at the moment. “Go online, look at the health departments for those states and there’ll be information on there if that is a hotspot right now,” Kroona says. “If you can delay, then plan that into your trip. Be thinking ahead of where you’re going and knowing what that state requires, because different states have different requirements.” No matter where you’re planning to go, researching options in advance is key and Kroona says the Centers for Disease Control is a good clearinghouse. “If you go to the CDC website,” she says, “there’s a wonderful travel page and it will give you all of the up-to-date guidelines for that particular country.”

For domestic vacations, even getaways to other parts of Iowa, she says smart travelers will familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations before venturing forth. “If you’re flying or using mass transportation, buses, subways, taxicabs, Uber or Lyft, all of those, even if you’re fully vaccinated, you will be required to wear a mask,” Kroona says. “It is in your best interest on some of these smaller things, like Uber and Lyft, just because you don’t know if the person driving has been vaccinated or not.”

It was announced this week that Broadway theaters in New York will reopen in September to 100-percent capacity since being closed over a year ago. All of the COVID travel facts can be found at cdc.gov.

Police in Creston report 45-year-old Kevin Eugene Early, of Creston, was arrested recently at the Dollar General Store, on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree. Early was cited for the offense and released at the scene, on a Summons to Appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa House of Representatives have sent a bill to the governor that would ban certain topics from government diversity trainings and school lessons. The original bill referred to a list of divisive concepts that would be off-limits. The bill was adjusted to say teaching about slavery, sexism, segregation and racial discrimination are fine, but teaching that the state and country are fundamentally or systemically racist is banned. Representative Steven Holt is a Republican from Denison.  “We don’t have to use racism to teach against racism,” Holt said. “We don’t need to have to be racist and scapegoat entire groups of people in order to teach against racism.”

Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says Republicans made cosmetic, but not substantive changes to the bill. “It doesn’t make what was-in my opinion, and I think the opinion of many, many people, a very problematic bill any better,” she said. Wolfe and other Democrats say the policy could prevent implicit bias training and limit discussions of systemic racism.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

The 7:06-a.m. News broadcast from Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Democrats on a House committee joined Republicans in voting for the House G-O-P’s latest tax plan. It includes more than two dozen tax changes, but notably does NOT include using state tax dollars rather than county property taxes to support Iowa’s mental health system. SENATE Republicans and Governor Reynolds back that move, but House Republicans say it’s a big policy shift that needs more work. Representative Chuck Isenhart of Dubuque, a Democrat, agrees.

“I understand that the Senate bill proposes to make what many could consider potentially radical changes to how we deliver mental health in this state based on who pays for it,” Isenhart says, “and I agree with Speaker Grassley that we have not really considered all the ramifications.” House Ways and Means Committee chairman Lee Hein, a Republican from Monticello, acknowledges the debate among Republicans over tax policy isn’t resolved, however.

“I’m hoping we’re getting close to being at the end, but anything can happen and ‘stay tuned’ I guess would be my message,” Hein said. The HOUSE is planning to debate some state budget plans today (Thursday) and perhaps tomorrow (Friday), but there’s no universal agreement on state spending among Republicans in the House and Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says there is no end in sight for the 2021 legislative session.

“Here we are now, swinging into May, and Republicans are kind of squabbling with each other over the budget and taxes…and don’t really have a clear sense of how to get out of this mess that they’ve made for themselves.” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says Senate Republicans want to resolve the tax impasse before making final decisions on the state budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1st.

Officials with City Hall in Atlantic say at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, a council member asked how citizens could report complaints since the city no longer had the old system for reporting online. City Clerk Barb Barrick says citizens can report issues here:  https://atlanticia.seamlessdocs.com/f/citizenreportingform

The link can also be found on the city’s website (at atlanticiowa.com) or the city’s Facebook page (City of Atlantic). Just a reminder:  Junk vehicles and barking dogs cannot be reported on this form.  For those issues, please contact the police station at 243-3512.