DES MOINES– Iowa Gov. Reynolds has signed a new Public Health Disaster proclamation that extends critical regulatory relief for an additional 30 days to those on the frontlines of COVID19 recovery. The proclamation issued Friday, continues to strongly encourage Iowans, businesses, and organizations to take reasonable public health measures consistent with guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The proclamation also continues to extend the waiver on transportation restrictions for overweight loads.

The proclamation can found online here.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa was among less than a dozen states with a trend of more coronavirus cases as federal officials urged leaders to continue restrictions on mask wearing and social distancing. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say the 14-day positivity rate on Friday showed Iowa was one of 10 states seeing an increase in confirmed virus cases. The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate also has risen over the past two weeks from 14.15% on Feb. 18 to 19.37% on March 4.

Iowa’s increasing infection numbers come as Gov. Kim Reynolds has ended her orders requiring masks in public places and social distancing. President Joe Biden and health officials have urged officials to retain restrictions for a few more months.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s congressional delegation is urging the Biden Administration to restructure the state’s weekly allocation of Covid vaccine. The group says putting more doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in the mix make sense. Representative Ashley Hinson of Marion said pharmacies in rural parts of the state cannot afford the freezers required to store the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“Rural and low income Iowans face unique barriers to receiving the Covid vaccine,” Hinson said this morning. “One of the challenges, of course, is storing the vaccine in cool enough temperatures.”

Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is “fridge-stable” and only requires one dose, making it “easy to distribute in hard-to-reach areas.” Representative Randy Feenstra of Hull tweeted that 1.1 million people live in rural Iowa and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one way to deal with logistical challenges.

Congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, the former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health said prioritizing distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to rural areas would reduce the burden on rural health care providers and county health officials.

(Radio Iowa) – A missing girl from eastern Iowa will be featured on a national cable T-V show next week. The disappearance of Breasia Taylor of Davenport will be the focus of one-hour special on Investigation Discovery’s “In Pursuit: The Missing.” The ten-year-old girl was last seen at a Davenport apartment complex on July 10th. The night before she vanished, Breasia and her half-brother spent the night with the boy’s father, Henry Earl Dinkins.

Breasia Taylor

He’s a registered sex offender. Davenport police say Dinkins is a person of interest in the case, but has not been charged. The special on Investigation Discovery airs Monday at 8 PM.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture is co-chair of what’s called the Hypoxia Task Force, which works to reduce the size of the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico through cutting nutrient runoff in the Mississippi River basin. Mike Naig says the group, which represents 12 states in the region, recently sent a letter requesting support from President Biden and his administration.

“The federal government can help us with some resources and some regulatory relief, too,” Naig says. “The letter that we sent to the Biden administration, as they come in and set up shop and get their policies underway, that they remember and we encourage them to focus on and be a good partner to the Hypoxia Task Force.” Naig says Iowa launched its nutrient reduction management strategies in 2013 as a way to reduce the size of the hypoxia zone, which covers 21-hundred square miles of the gulf.

“You’ve got states all across the Mississippi River Basin that are implementing their nutrient reduction strategies,” Naig says. “That’s what we want to see, states being proactive, doing what makes sense in their state, working with all of their partners. We want to continue to see that great progress all across the region.” Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen and in the gulf, it means plants die and marine life either dies or moves away. Naig says Iowa farmers are using techniques that are having a beneficial effect on the environment and in battling problems like hypoxia.

“We continue to focus on implementing conservation practices like no-till, reduced tillage, cover crops, building wetlands,” Naig says. “Those are some of the practices that we know, the science tells us those things work. If we see that change on the land, we know we’ll see an improvement in water quality.” The group’s action plan has a near-term target of reducing nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the basin by 20-percent by 2025.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors for Iowa say a Webster City man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says in a news release that 56-year-old Kevin Eugene Dill was sentenced Feb. 26 to 169 months. There is no parole in the federal system.

Dill pleaded guilty in October to single counts of distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography. As part of his plea, Dill admitted that between March 2012 and June 2020, he knowingly received thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa officials are investigating the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for alleged alcohol and hazing violations. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports the fraternity is accused of holding in-person social events that included alcohol inside the chapter’s house in Iowa City. A letter from the University of Iowa’s Dean of Student Accountability says officials also have been notified that activities with new fraternity members allegedly posed a risk to their health and safety.

The Gazette reports the University of Iowa investigated another fraternity for an alleged hazing incident. However, officials ultimately determined the activity — which was recorded on video — was not an initiation or required for fraternity membership.

Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen, Friday, announced the winners of the Park and Rec Snow Sculpture Contest. Rasmussen said they had an amazingly close race.

Winning Sculpture by Acacia Macias

The first place winner, with 36 votes, was Acacia Macias, with her huge bear. Acacia won $25 in Atlantic Chamber Bucks. Helping to create the Snow Bear, was Kycas, Serenity and Lily Macias, and Zoey, Auten, Ian and William Cosgrove.

Patrick Garland’s “Snow Train.”

Ryan Kenneth Means’ “Snow Shark”

Second place, with 33 votes, went to Patrick Garland, who created a Train snow sculpture, that looked like it could have been ridden. And, with 32 votes, a Shark sculpture by Ryan Kenneth Means, took third place. The contest began February first and concluded Feb. 28th.

Votes were tabulated virtually Thursday night, by members of the public.

The Iowa Department of Public Heath at 10-a.m., Friday, reported an additional 564 positive COVID-19 test results returned from the lab, for a pandemic total of 366,055. There were also 13 additional deaths reported, for a total of 5,549, including one additional death in Harrison County, where the total is now 70.

The number of Long-Term Care facility COVID-19 Outbreaks are down to 11. Hospitalization data show 176 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID, compared to 184 in the previous report. COVID patients in an ICU are unchanged, at 39. There were 35 patients admitted to hospitals over the 24-hour reporting period (compared to 30 previously), and nine patients remain on a ventilator.

Hospitals in Western & Southwest Iowa report: 15 people are hospitalized for COVID; seven are in an ICU, four patients with COVID symptoms were admitted over the past 24-hours, and one person remained on a ventilator. More than 200,000 Iowans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Health department data shows 768,426 vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa, with 208,429 individuals completing inoculation. The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, also known as the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, were made available in Iowa this week, the state is not reporting those numbers so far.

Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is 4.0%, while the seven-day rate is 3.8%.

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, 1,358 cases; {+2}; 51 deaths
• Adair, 925; {+4}; 29
• Adams, 325 {+0}; 4
• Audubon, 492 {+2}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,170 {+3}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,800; {+4}; 69
• Madison County, 1,556; {+4}; 18
• Mills County, 1,633; {+1}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,043; {+0}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 10,824; {+21}; 146
• Shelby County, 1,225; {+2}; 33
• Union County,  1,268; {+5}; 31