(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Education, Monday, awarded over $2.3 million in therapeutic classroom grants to 10 Iowa school districts for the upcoming school year. Among the ten districts awarded this year are the:

• Coon Rapids-Bayard
• Council Bluffs
• and Woodbine Community School Districts

The Iowa Department of Education said therapeutic classrooms are for learners whose “social-emotional or behavioral needs impact their ability to be successful in their current learning environment.” Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo said “All students need support and resources that meet their individual needs. The therapeutic classroom grants help schools build upon their great work to promote the overall well-being of students. I commend this year’s awardees and their community partners for their plans to grow and strengthen a continuum of therapeutic supports so that every student has the support they need to succeed.”

The grant for these classrooms was created with a 2020 state law to increase mental health support for children and families. Grants will be distributed this fall for district implementation during the 2022-2023 school year.

More information on Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grants can be found here.

(Radio Iowa) The Sioux City area is seeing an increase in R-S-V cases — the virus that is usually associated with infants and the elderly. Mercy One Doctor, Steven Joyce, says the most recent cases have been among older adults. “Really anybody can get R-S-V it’s just a matter of how susceptible you are. It is true that it’s more severe in the very young and the very old — and we are seeing an uptick in the older population and the reasons for that aren’t entirely clear, but we are seeing it and again, the severity of it can be worse especially in those who have emphysema, C-O-P-D, heart failure, and other complicated medical conditions,” Joyce says

He says people who get sick with R-S-V might think they have a cold, and some worry it could be COVID. “It mimics kind of a common cold but kind of a little bit worse. So it’s the runny nose congestion, cough. Infants will have more rapid breathing, things like that. They won’t feed as well, especially if they’re very young,” according to Joyce. “High spiking fevers and such isn’t as super common with R-S-V as it is maybe with influenza or even COVID-19.”

He says the only thing that can be done about R-S-V is to let it run its course. “There is no specific treatment for R-S-V. There are no antivirals that are effective there’s no antibiotics of course because as we’ve learned antibiotics do not kill viruses. Really we’re at supportive care so in those people who have a lot of secretions, trying to get those up and keep those secretions thin,” Joyce says.

The virus is spread by people coughing and sneezing and from surfaces. Doctor Joyce says frequent hand washing is a way to prevent it — and you should stay home if you are ill. He says it will usually run its course in seven to ten days.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota have announced the arrest of a suspect in a string of break-ins and thefts over the past few weeks. Someone tried to steal an A-T-M from inside a bank in Ledyard early last Thursday. The Kossuth County Sheriff shared video of the suspect’s vehicle with law enforcement agencies in Palo Alto, Emmet and Winnebago Counties in Iowa and two counties in Minnesota where there had been recent reports of thefts.

Twenty-five-year-old Jacob Govern of Ledyard was arrested in Minnesota on a warrant out of Winnebago County and on a burglary charge in Marin County, Minnesota. Officials in the other four counties indicate more charges against Govern are pending. Govern had been arrested in early June and accused of stealing four vehicles in the Kossuth County area. State prison records indicate Govern has five previous felony convictions in Kossuth County over the past three years.

(Radio Iowa) – County officials are rescheduling votes on zoning changes that would allow construction of a large-scale solar farm around the decommissioned nuclear power plant near Palo. Charlie Nichols, Linn County’s planning and development director, told the crowd gathered for a public hearing last (Monday) night that the county had failed to provide proper notice of the hearing.

“I apologize to all of you who have showed up and put this on your calendars, but we will have to set up a new meeting schedule,” Nichols said, “and make sure we get everything properly published before that happens.” The Iowa Utilities Board has indicated it will provide permits for the solar project — if local officials approve zoning changes.

Linn County’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved those adjustments earlier this month. NextEra Energy has proposed a solar farm that would cover over 11-hundred acres and a battery storage facility near Palo.

(Radio Iowa) – A 23-year-old man from Osage is under arrest, charged with decapitating a Mason City women who went missing last year. Twenty-nine-year-old Angela Bradbury of Mason City was last seen in April of 2021. Three months later, a teenager found a human skull on a stick in a park in Mitchell County. In February of this year, Bradbury’s family reported her missing. They provided D-N-A samples and dental records which confirmed the skull was Bradbury’s.

Nathan James Gilmore

Nathan James Gilmore of Osage has been charged with Bradbury’s murder. Court records indicate investigators found a drawing of a satanic goat’s head in Gilmore’s living room. There were numbers on the drawing that coincide with the date Bradbury disappeared as well as the G-P-S coordinates of the park where her skull and other remains were found.

Cass County Deputy Auditor Doreen South has updated the current list of Candidates for 2022 General Election (*advances from the primary election held in June)

District 2 Supervisor– Mark O’Brien (Incumbent)*

District 3 Supervisor– Wendy Richter*

Treasurer-Tracey J Marshall (Incumbent)*

Recorder-Mary Ward (Incumbent)*

Attorney-Vanessa Strazdas (Incumbent)*

Auditor- Kathy Somers (filed papers after being elected by the Cass County Republican Party)

The following have filed nomination papers for Non-Partisan Offices:

Ag Extension- Chad Becker (Incumbent)

Ag Extension

Ag Extension

Ag Extension

Ag Extension

Soil & Water-Gregory D Zellmer (Incumbent)

Soil & Water

Edna Twp Trustee- Kevin A Stender

Edna Twp Trustee- Pat Erickson

Edna Twp Clerk-Travis Erickson

Union Twp Trustee-Richard Hoffman

Union Twp Trustee-Clarke Gerlock

Union Twp Clerk- Cheryl Christensen

Hospital Trustee-Joanne Lorence (Incumbent)

Hospital Trustee-Mike Klocke (Incumbent)

Hospital Trustee- Roger Herring (Incumbent) – Filed nomination papers 8/22/22

Hospital Trustee