(Radio Iowa) – The latest report from Iowa Workforce Development shows another drop in jobless claims. The number of initial unemployment claims filed last week dropped to around 5,600, down more than 3,300 from the previous week. Workforce Development says the number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was over 34,000, also down about 2,600 from the week before. More than half of the claimants indicated their claims were not COVID-19 related.

Industries with the most claims included, construction, manufacturing, the self-employed, accommodation & food services, and health care & social assistance.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A is forecasting net farm income for 2020 will jump 43 percent over last year, reaching a seven-year high of nearly 120 BILLION dollars. Ag economist David Widmar is with the consulting firm Agricultural Economic Insights.  “I would summarize this as an update of a pretty dramatic upswing in the farm economy,” he says. The previous U-S-D-A forecast was released in early September. “It was about seven or eight weeks in August and September that the farm economy got to sort of the edge of looking really, really bleak,” he says, “and then all of a sudden things started turning favorably.”

Widmar uses the word “dramatic” to describe the jump in commodity prices since September. There have also been record direct government payments to farmers in 2020, more than double the amount in 2019, as the Trump Administration made extra farm payments for trade disruptions and the pandemic. Government payments will account for 39 percent of net farm income in 2020 according to the U-S-D-A.”$40-plus billion in direct payments,” he says, “a historically high level of direct payments.”

Adjusting for inflation, 2011 and 2013 were the only other years when net farm income has been higher. Widmar cautions, though, that not ever farmer is making a profit, especially when considering livestock and dairy prices.

Health officials in Cass County are trying to get the word out about a recent shipment of flu vaccine they received from the state. Amy Anstey, a Cass County Public Health Nurse, says the vaccinations are available at no charge for everyone, including persons from outside the county.

Anstey says there are a variety of reasons why people may not be taking advantage of the free vaccine, including the possibility they may have already received it. Their focus now is to get it those who have not received the shot, and, she says it’s not too late to do so. She suggests you call ahead to schedule your vaccination.

Anstey says people shouldn’t confuse the flu vaccine with a vaccine against the Coronavirus.

She says it’s important for people to understand also, that by getting a flu shot, you are not being given the flu, and it will not cause the flu.

She says the shot causes your body to generate immunity to the flu. Antey says also, if you currently have COVID symptoms, take the Test Iowa Assessment. Providers will soon be running both a flu swab and a COVID swab, to determine whether you have a cold or a positive case of the Coronavirus.

The flu shots are available seven days a week, weekends by appointment only. To schedule your appointment or for any questions, call 712-250-8008.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa student is accused in sexual blackmail case. The UI Department of Public Safety says a 20-year-old student threatened to report she was sexually assaulted unless the would-be victim paid her a thousand dollars. The student, Vy Nhat Dihn, is charged with extortion. The incident allegedly happened at Catlett Residence Hall in April. Dinh was released and is ordered to have no contact with the victim. If convicted, she could be sentenced to five years in prison.

The Creston Police Department reports a teenager faces a charge of OWI/1st offense, following a chain-reaction accident Monday night. Authorities say 14-year old Sarabeth Shakshak, of Creston, was driving a 2012 Ford Fusion, traveling north in an alley south of Irving street at around 8:35-p.m., when the vehicle left the road and struck a guide wire off of a pole. The vehicle then traveled across the alleyway and hit a 2004 Ford F-250 pickup, which was pushed into a 1995 Ford F-250 pickup. The car then traveled across the alley again before coming to rest and catching fire. The vehicle was a total loss.

Shakshak fled the scene but was later located and after speaking with police, was processed on the OWI charge. Damage to the pickups, which were registered to Tadd Carr and Virginia Wilson, both of Creston, amounted to $5,000.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Walnut City Council will meet in a regularly scheduled session, 5-p.m. today at the Walnut Community Center (or, online via GoToMeeting). On their agenda is discussion with regard to:

• The Sesquicentennial Celebration
• The Walnut Community Facilities
• Property Maintenance
• The City Budget
• Fire Department
• and, the annual evaluation of City Employees along with salary discussion.

The Walnut City Council will also receive an update on Ramsey’s Market, and a Housing Rehabilitation Grant. They’re expected as well, to set the date for a Public Hearing on the proposed FY City Property Tax Levy, among other matters.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (as of 10-a.m., Thursday), indicates there are 2,926 new, Positive cases of COVID-19, and 70 additional deaths. The total number of Positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic, amount to 236,792. Deaths total 2,519. The IDPH says one more death was reported in Adair and Mills Counties, and there are two more deaths in Harrison County. Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities report 1,097 deaths, and deaths attributed in-part to preexisting conditions number 1,352.

Hospitalizations statewide fell from 1,162 on Wednesday to 1,124, today. Health officials say 224 COVID patients are in an ICU, 136 were admitted, and 131 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in southwest/western Iowa (RMCC Region 4) report: 63 hospitalized; 17 are in an ICU; four were admitted, and eight COVID patients are on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are up again, to 169 today. The IDPH says 5,306 patients/staff have tested positive; 2,367 have tested negative. Area LTC data show: 217 cases among three facilities in Cass County, and 135 recovered; 139 cases in Harrison County (1 facility), with 120 recovered; 240 cases in Pottawattamie County (3 facilities), and 104 recovered; and, 113 cases among two facilities in Shelby County, with 23 recovered.

Iowans who have recovered from the virus number 147,152, while 1,229,582 have been tested, to-date. There were 7,190 lab results returned yesterday, with 5,609 negative results and 1,524 positive. The individual positivity rate is 19.3%, and the 14-day rolling average is down to 16.8%. Cass County’s positivity rate is up slightly, from 16.8% Wednesday to 16.9% today. A total of 990, 579 negative results have been returned since the pandemic began.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 840 cases {+15}; 535 recovered; 24 deaths
• Adair, 449 {+4}; 261; 9
• Adams, 181 {+4}; 95; 2
• Audubon, 306 {+4}; 217; 2
• Guthrie, 772 {+4); 479; 15
• Harrison County, 1,112 {+6}; 770; 32
• Madison County, 717 {+4}; 437; 4
• Mills County, 1,091 {+13}; 584; 8
• Montgomery, 499 {+8}; 249; 11
• Pottawattamie County, 6,709 {+136]; 3,934; 71
• Shelby County, 798 {+12}; 480; 11
• Union County,  836 {+28}; 333; 6

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Democratic congressional candidate in Iowa who trailed by six votes after a recount says she will forgo further legal challenges in the state and appeal directly to the U.S. House of Representatives for further review. Rita Hart’s campaign had until Wednesday to contest the election under Iowa law following Monday’s certification of results in which Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks was declared the winner of the closest House race in decades. Hart’s campaign said the quick timeline for a contest in Iowa would not allow enough time to review the ballots, including thousands of unexamined undervotes and overvotes. Instead, the campaign says Hart will file a challenge with the House under the Federal Contested Elections Act in coming weeks.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A prominent law enforcement training group is promoting a lengthy research document riddled with falsehoods and conspiracies that urges local police to treat Black Lives Matter activists as terrorists plotting a violent revolution. Critics say the document distributed by the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association contains misinformation and harmful rhetoric that could incite officers against protesters and people of color. Yale University professor Phillip Atiba Goff, an expert on racial bias in policing, called the document dangerous, noting that the association is an important source of training materials for many small and midsize departments across the country.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa posted 22 additional deaths from the coronavirus, the third consecutive day of more than 20 deaths and raising the state’s death toll to 2,449. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from nearly 22 deaths per day on Nov. 17 to 29 deaths per day on Dec. 1. Johns Hopkins University data shows Iowa’s death count was the 21st highest per capita at 77.6 deaths per 100,000 people. More than 2,900 additional confirmed coronavirus cases were posted on Wednesday and hospitalizations remained high with 1,162 people in Iowa hospitals with COVID-19. State data shows 181 patients were admitted in the previous 24 hours, an increase from recent days.

UNDATED (AP) — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley says he supports a federal funding package for coronavirus relief but clearly stated he doesn’t support large amounts of money to shore up state and local government budgets. The influential chair of the Senate Finance Committee talked to reporters Wednesday as negotiations picked up speed in Washington. Grassley said Congress must pass long overdue relief to help families, businesses, schools and communities. He says he could support a bill with items that have bipartisan support at around $500 billion and that he’d consider something less than $1 trillion. He resisted spending a massive amount of money for state and local government budget relief but said it likely wouldn’t cause him to reject a package including it.