Page County Sheriff’s Deputies, Thursday, arrested a man on a Page County warrant. 53-year-old Rodney Eugene Allely, of Shenandoah, was arrested at his residence on the warrant for Possession of a controlled substance. Allely was transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $1,000 bond, pending further court proceedings. Shenandoah Police assisted with the arrest.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies responded Thursday night to an alleged domestic incident in Bayard, involving a firearm.  According to Sheriff Marty Arganbright, a woman told authorities 40-year-old Justin Wynia, allegedly pointed a firearm at her, and claimed he would hurt her.  Wynia was taken into custody and transported to the Guthrie County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office says an investigation into the incident is ongoing, and that no charges have been filed at this time.

Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson reports three recent arrests:

• Thursday (March 11), 35-year old Cassandra Huston, of West Des Moines, was arrested on six outstanding traffic citation warrants. She appeared before the magistrate and was released on a promise to appear. The warrants stem from a traffic stop in June of 2019.
• On March 6th, 19-year-old Treynor Dixon, of Corning, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated- 2nd offense, and Providing False Identification Information. He posted bond and was released. He will appear before the magistrate at a later date. The charges stem from a traffic stop in the area of Littlefield Dr. and Heron Pl.
• and, 41-year old Christopher Knight, of Denison, was arrested in Audubon County on March 5th. He was taken into custody on two counts of Domestic Abuse Assault- 3rd or subsequent offense. The charges stem from two separate incidents occurring on March 3rd and March 4th. Knight was seen by the Magistrate and was released to another county on an outstanding warrant.

The man who struck and killed an eight-year-old boy in Council Bluffs last Spring, was sentenced to five-years in jail. The hit-and-run accident happened April 15, 2020, and claimed the life of Quintin Brownfield. KETV reports 37-year-old Troy Pokorny pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the collision.

Officers called at around 6:30 p.m. to the intersection of Franklin and Carson Avenues in Council Bluffs, found the child lying in the roadway, bleeding from the head. Brownfield was taken to UNMC where he was pronounced deceased soon after his arrival. Witnesses told police that the vehicle involved fled the scene. One witness was able to identify Pokorny as the driver.

When approached by officers, Pokorny said he was on his way to Walgreens at the time of the collision. He stated that he was northbound on Franklin Avenue when he saw a child on a scooter coming down a steep hill west bound. He stated that as he was approaching the child the child failed to stop resulting in him clipping him with his vehicle. The report also says he panicked before fleeing the scene.

Officers said they observed some clues of intoxication coming from Pokorny. Some signs included the smell of an alcoholic beverage, watery eyes and admission of drinking. Tests for sobriety showed a .052% and a .030% BAC at the time of the test result. Drug test results showed positive for marijuana metabolites but it was too low to qualify as OWI. Officers also discovered Pokorny has not has a driver’s license since 2015 when it was first suspended.

A GoFundMe page has been started by Quintin’s family.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No need to lose sleep over the shift to dayshift saving time (Daylight Saving Time [DST]), this weekend. The sun will still come up, though the dawn’s early light will break through later than it has during standard time and the twilight’s last gleaming will extend deeper into the evening. The annual shift comes at 2 a.m. local time Sunday in most of the United States.

Graphic is a reminder to turn the clocks ahead one hour

Don’t forget to set your clocks an hour ahead, usually before bed Saturday night, to avoid being late for Sunday morning activities. No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas. Standard time returns Nov. 7.

And yes, it is said “Daylight Saving Time,” not “Savings” Time.

(Des Moines, IA) As Iowa anticipates one million doses administered of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have issued updated guidance for nursing homes to safely expand visitation options during the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency (PHE). Nationwide, more than three million doses of vaccines have been administered within nursing homes to staff and residents. To date in Iowa, through the Long Term Care Pharmacy Partnership Program, a total of 139,142 doses have been administered; 75,125 first doses and 64,017 second doses. Resident doses account for 78,204 of the total and 60,963 are staff.

According to the updated guidance, facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times and for all residents, regardless of vaccination status of the resident, or visitor, unless certain scenarios arise that would limit visitation for:

• Unvaccinated residents, if the COVID-19 county positivity rate is greater than 10 percent and less than 70 percent of residents in the facility are fully vaccinated;
• Residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met the criteria to discontinue transmission-based precautions;
• or, Residents in quarantine, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met criteria for release from quarantine.

“Spending time with loved ones and seeing them in person is critical to overall well-being. This past year has been incredibly challenging and hard on older Iowans and their loved ones. This is great news and one more step closer to normal,” said Kelly Garcia, Director of the Department of Human Services and Department of Public Health interim director. The updated guidance also emphasizes that “compassionate care” visits should be allowed at all times, regardless of a resident’s vaccination status, the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate, or an outbreak. Compassionate care visits include visits for a resident whose health has sharply declined or is experiencing a significant change in circumstances.

CMS continues to recommend facilities, residents, and families adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection control, including maintaining physical distancing and conducting visits outdoors whenever possible. This continues to be the safest way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, particularly if either party has not been fully vaccinated. An updated guidance document from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Department of Inspections and Appeals is forthcoming.

March 12, 2021 – Carrie Petersen, owner of “coffeegirl” in Atlantic, has announced the new location of her shop, effective March 24th, will be 422 Chestnut Street, formerly known as the Tinder Box. coffeegirl has been serving Atlantic for two and a-half years, with coffee, smoothies, specialty drinks, and more. With some recent unexpected changes to her brick-and-mortar location, Peterson says she  has embraced the opportunity to expand her footprint, and square footage, by relocating to 422 Chestnut Street.

coffeegirl will no longer be located in The Franklin Market as of (Saturday) March 13th, but will reopen the doors on March 24th at the new location. These “doors” will be mobile in front of the soon-to-be permanent brick-and-mortar establishment while renovations take place for all that her new location will provide the community of Atlantic. On the docket is the same great drink menu, with aspirations to continue to expand offerings that have long been requested.

In the meantime, if you see the mobile coffeegirl RV, know that she is open for business as usual and eager to continue serving her faithful customers. coffeegirl would like to “Thank you for the outpouring of support the past couple of weeks. coffeegirl’s hours will be 7:00 a.m – 2:00 p.m., Monday – Friday and 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Saturday, once she reopens on March 24th. Stay up-to-date on the renovation process and all future announcements by following coffeegirl on Facebook.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for a 2019 shooting that killed one man and injured another in a commercial district north of I-235 in Des Moines. Television station KCCI reports that Michael Lyke Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years on each of three counts in the case. He was ordered to serve the sentences one after the other. In February, Lyke pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter, willful injury and a weapons count in the June 2019 killing of 41-year-old Earl Caldwell.

Another man, 39-year-old Des Moines resident Littleton William Clark, was injured. Lyke had been scheduled to go to trial in April on more serious charges and would have received a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Friday), shows 559 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 369,643. There was also 11 additional deaths statewide, for a pandemic total of 5,631. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,213 of the total number of deaths across the state.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are down to just three. Hospitalization numbers show: 168 Iowans hospitalized with COVID (2 more than Thursday); 36 in an ICU (6 fewer than before); 41 people were admitted to a hospital across the state, and 13 patients are on a ventilator. The state reports 56 positive cases and 38 recoveries among residents and staff within those facilities. Iowa reports 0 positive cases in the last 14 days. Facilities must be free of cases for 28 days before being considered virus-free.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show 12 hospitalized COVID patients, six are in an ICU, three persons were admitted since Thursday’s report, and three are on a ventilator.

Nearly one million COVID-19 vaccine doses have now been administered in Iowa and more than 347,000 individuals are fully vaccinated against the virus. Iowa reports 998,054 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, with 347,382 individuals completing the vaccine series.

The 14-day positivity rate remains 3.9%, while the seven-day rate is down to 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, 1,375 cases; {+2}; 52 deaths
• Adair, 938; {+4}; 31
• Adams, 327 {+0}; 4
• Audubon, 495 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,184 {+2}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,805; {+5}; 70
• Madison County, 1,602; {+2}; 18
• Mills County, 1,656; {+9}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,042; {+0}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 10,936; {+10}; 149
• Shelby County, 1,246 {+6}; 34
• Union County,  1,275; {+1}; 31

(UPDATED) – Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Friday) released an agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Massena, for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. Sand reported ten findings related to the receipt and disbursement of taxpayer funds. The findings address issues such as a lack of segregation of duties, the lack of utility system reconciliations, disbursements exceeding budgeted amounts, business transactions that may represent conflicts of interest, a deficit fund balance and transfers that were not approved by resolution.

One issue the popped-up, was a potential conflict of interest in a purchase agreement.

Sand provided the City with recommendations to address each of the findings, including the need for more transparency.

He said the City Attorney is the best source for information, when development agreements are made, to make sure there isn’t the appearance of impropriety.

The City Council he says, has a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the City’s operations and financial transactions. Sand says oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity. Rob Sand said also, it’s worthy knowing his office still has a “PIE” Program going, that they would like more public entities to participate in, and that promotes efficiency, and those entities are pinching pennies every chance they get. There’s even a reward for being efficient, aside from saving the taxpayers money.

PIE stands for Public Innovations and Efficiencies.

A copy of the agreed-upon procedures report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s web site at https://auditor.iowa.gov/audit-reports.