A stolen vehicle report led to the arrest of a Red Oak woman, Saturday. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says that at around 11:55-a.m., they received a report a vehicle had been stolen from a residence in the 1300 block of Orange Avenue, near Prescott. The damaged vehicle was later recovered northwest of the residence, on the same property. Inside the vehicle, authorities found 30-year old Mildred Douglas, of Red Oak. She was unresponsive in the driver’s seat.

Douglas was taken into custody and transported to CHI Corning for evaluation. Once released, Douglas was transported to the Adams County Jail and charged with Theft of a Motor Vehicle (a Class-D felony), Criminal Mischief causing more than $1,000 damage (also a Class-D Felony), and Burglary (an aggravated misdemeanor).

There will no classes Monday for the AHSTW School District. On Friday, school officials announced on social media, as they continue to assess the health status of the district, it was determined classes would not be held Monday, Sept. 28th. In a letter to parents, students and staff following an Emergency School Board meeting on Saturday, the District announced also, that they will temporarily move to virtual learning beginning this week.

The Board, Saturday, said in a letter posted on social media, that due to the absentee percentages from the number of positive cases and primary exposures they will move to their continuous learning model and classes will be held virtually Tuesday through Friday and all activities have been canceled; including Homecoming events. Board President Bernadette Hatch said they will find a way to make Homecoming happen in some way at a different time.

The Board approved giving Superintendent Darin Jones the authorization to submit an application to the Iowa Department of Education for the authority to extend the Continuous Learning if needed.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff have rapidly become two of the Democrat ticket’s most prolific surrogates. They’ve engaged in in-person campaign events and virtual fundraisers at a pace that often outmatches their spouses at the top of the ticket. In their first joint interview, they say they’ve begun to build a partnership that will help Joe Biden’s campaign on the trail and potentially beyond, if he wins in November.

Jill Biden said as she campaigned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: “Don’t you think the American people love seeing people in government who respect one another and are friends with one another?”

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — A Manchester man who hit a pedestrian and then led authorities on a chase through several Iowa counties has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Thirty-year-old Kevin Krapfl Jr. was sentenced recently after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including causing a serious injury with a vehicle. Krapfl was accused of hitting a pedestrian in Oelwein on April 18 and leading authorities on a chase.

The pursuit ended when Krapfl’s car hit a patrol car driven by Buchanan County Sheriff’s deputy Dan Walter, who was seriously injured.

ANAMOSA – The Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) said Sunday, an officer was assaulted by an inmate at the Anamosa State Penitentiary at around 6:45 p.m., Saturday.  The officer was conducting an investigation interview with an inmate when the inmate unexpectedly struck the officer with a closed-fist strike to the face. Additional staff arrived to assist in restraining the inmate.

The officer that was struck in the face was found to have not suffered serious injury, but another officer that responded to the incident was taken by department vehicle to the local hospital for a possible foot injury. The inmate did not suffer any injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

The Cass County Conservation Board is holding their 6th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground on Oct. 24th. The until then, the Board is looking for people, groups, or organizations to sign-up for a site in the campground to decorate (non-Scary) with Halloween decorations.

Prizes will be for the top three voted sites, and for some special categories. Deadline for decorating a site sign up is October 16th, and the groups will have Saturday (Oct. 24th) from Noon-on, to decorate. You do get Saturday night camping for FREE. (if you choose to camp- not required) You DO NOT have to have a camper (Naturalist Lora Kanning says they’ve seen some great sites done with tents and easy-ups, etc.) Message, call, or email CCCB with your Name, email and Phone number.

The event will take place from 7-until 9-p.m. Oct. 24th, at Cold Springs State Park, in Lewis. It’ll be a great non-scary, Family Friendly, FREE drive into the night!  Call the Cass County Conservation Office to get involved @712-769-2372! The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather.

For more information, follow Lighted Halloween Campground on Facebook.

Iowa health officials say the state confirmed another 804 positive COVID-19 cases and four more deaths as of Sunday morning. Iowa currently has confirmed 1,315 COVID-19 deaths and 86,229 cases.  There were 5,437 new (negative) test results, for a total of 690,911. The Iowa Department of Public Health said it is adding the results of nearly 27,000 antigen tests to the state’s coronavirus website this weekend. The tests were conducted at long-term care facilities in September. Of the nearly 27,000 antigen test results included in the update, about 300 are positive for the virus.

The state on Sunday was reporting a 11.1% positivity rate in cases. Officials say 65,782 Iowans have recovered from the effects of the virus.  6,068 test results were received Saturday. Data from state health and education departments indicate the virus is circulating in schools and nursing homes. Multiple school districts are reporting hundreds of students in quarantine after positive cases were identified in a school.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began:

• Cass, 169 cases; 123 recovered; 2 deaths
• Adair, 72; 48; 1
• Adams, 33; 27; 0
• Audubon, 82; 37; 1
• Guthrie, 245; 170; 6
• Harrison County, 230; 157; 3
• Madison County, 220; 173; 3
• Mills County, 180; 125; 1
• Montgomery, 97; 82; 5
• Pottawattamie County, 2,140; 1,732; 39
• Shelby County, 267; 240; 1
• Union County,  137; 88; 3

Pottawattamie County also reports a total of 39 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. There are no additional deaths for the area counties, other than what has previously been reported. Hospital data statewide show: 343 in a hospital; 89 persons in an ICU, 57 people were admitted since Saturday, and 34 patients are on a ventilator. In western/southwest Iowa, 13 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, five are in an ICU, one was admitted Saturday, and no one was reported to be on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care Facility Outbreaks stand at 50, there are 1,051 positive cases of the virus among patients/staff at LTC’s, and 643 persons have recovered. A total of 685 people have died from COVID-19 at those facilities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New coronavirus cases in Iowa have jumped by 1,086 in the last 24 hours marking the second consecutive day of new cases exceeding 1,000. Four more people died pushing the state’s death toll from the virus to 1,303. Data from state health and education departments indicate the virus is circulating in schools and nursing homes. Multiple school districts are reporting hundreds of students in quarantine after positive cases were identified in a school.

The state also reports 50 nursing homes have a virus outbreak with more than 1,000 residents testing positive currently. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is continuing for another week bar closures in Johnson and Story counties, where major state universities are located.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report finds Iowa has lost about half its licensed child care centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report by the non-profit Child Care Aware of America found the state’s licensed child care centers dropped from nearly 16-hundred in January to just over 800 in July. Spokeswoman Kristina Haynie says some closures may be temporary, while larger centers may be struggling with additional costs associated with new cleaning and child-staff ratio requirements.

“So, like group sizes, that used to be maybe nine children per classroom has gone down to half that,” she says, “but they can’t let go staff and so they’re paying the same number of staff, but serving fewer children.” The report found in-home providers are faring much better during the pandemic. Their numbers stayed about the same from January to July, actually adding four programs during the time period. Haynie says larger licensed centers may be struggling because they have more children and staff to manage.

“So many parents might be working from home or they’re unemployed, they might not be sending their children to child care at this point,” she says. “And so, centers if they don’t have that many children, it’s really not feasible for them to stay in business.” The report recommends investing more government support in child care and providing more resources and support for families and providers.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Joni Ernst says confirming President Trump’s third U.S. Supreme Court justice is a way to prevent what she calls the “radicalization” of the court. In 2016, Ernst said she wouldn’t support confirming a justice in an election year. Ernst says Iowans see the situation is different in 2020, with Republicans now in control of the White House and the U.S. Senate.

“What they’re hearing from Democrats is that they will pack the court,” Ernst says. “They’ll get rid of the Senate filibuster and you cannot tell me that Democrats wouldn’t be doing the same thing right now.” Ernst is seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate. She says Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield has also changed her views on the Supreme Court.

“My opponent already, she said she wouldn’t support packing the court earlier this year and now she hasn’t formed an opinion,” Ernst said. “…She’s not even elected yet and she’s shifting her position there.” After Greenfield said she had no opinion on adding justices to the Supreme Court, Greenfield’s spokesman issued a written statement saying Greenfield believes campaign finance reform is the best way to improve our democracy. Ernst filled up a campaign R-V with ethanol at a gas station in Grimes early Friday morning.

Ernst told a group of reporters gathered around the bus that she’s willing to push back if President Trump sows doubt about the outcome of this year’s election. “Absolutely and I can do that with authority and I have been speaking out about this because I served as a commissioner of elections here in the state of Iowa,” Ernst said, “but I do believe that our election system here in Iowa is very, very safe and if people want to vote by mail — an absentee ballot by mail — please, please go ahead and do that.”

Ernst served as the Montgomery County Auditor for six years before she was elected to the state senate in 2010.