DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a teen motorcyclist who led police on a high speed chase in Polk County died after crashing the bike. The Iowa State Patrol says the crash happened Thursday afternoon, killing 18-year-old Matthew James Harris, of Mitchellville. Investigators say he sped off when Pleasant Hill police tried to stop him. The patrol says Harris lost control of the bike near an intersection and was thrown from bike, sustaining fatal injuries. Police say was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

DES MOINES – Iowans will begin receiving absentee ballot request forms from the Secretary of State’s Office this weekend. Secretary Paul Pate is sending the forms statewide to active registered voters ahead of the November general election to encourage social distancing at polling places during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Pate, “Iowans have options about how they choose to cast their vote. You can vote from home, you can vote in-person at your county auditor’s office, or at the polls on Election Day. The key is we want every eligible Iowan to participate and to be safe while voting.”

The forms include pre-paid, first class mail postage and an envelope to return the request form to the voter’s county auditor. Secretary Pate’s statewide mailing of absentee ballot request forms in the June primary resulted in record-high voter participation of more than 530,000 Iowans.

Many voters have already received absentee request forms for the November general election from county auditors, political parties and other groups. You only need to send in one form, unless you returned a mailing sent by your county auditor in Linn and Woodbury counties. Judicial rulings have invalidated forms that were pre-filled by those auditors. A hearing on a similar mailing sent by the Johnson County auditor is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9.

The mailing from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office includes information about how to vote absentee or on Election Day. County auditors will begin mailing ballots on October 5. Ballot request forms must be received no later than Saturday, October 24 at 5 p.m. Iowans can track that status of their absentee ballot at this link.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police have found that the June shooting death of an Illinois man by an eastern Iowa officer during civil unrest in Davenport was justified. The Quad-City Times reports that Scott County Attorney Mike Walton announced the finding Thursday in the June 1 shooting death of 23-year-old Marquis Tousant, of Rock Island, Illinois. Walton says an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation found that Tousant was among those who opened fire on an unmarked Davenport police pickup truck that was patrolling the area, seriously injuring an officer driving the truck.

Walton says another officer in the truck, Lt. Greg Behning, returned fire, killing Tousant.

Brian Harris, President of the Atlantic Rotary Club, today (Friday) announced that the Annual Rotary Auction, originally scheduled for Saturday, November 21st, 2020, has been canceled for this year. According to Harris, “This decision was made at the monthly club Board of Directors meeting, amid continued uncertainty surrounding COVID – 19. We anticipate guidelines for gatherings will change often over the next several months, and the preparations and financial commitments for the auction take place for many months prior to the event. Another consideration was the fact that so many area businesses and individuals who have given generous donations in the past have been financially impacted by COVID – 19, and the club did not feel it was appropriate to ask these people for donations this year.”

Harris said also, “The health and well-being of our community is a priority for our club and we do not want to take an unnecessary risk by holding the event, nor do we want to have to limit attendance, thus reducing the effectiveness of the event as a fundraiser and celebration of our community’s giving spirit.”

Brian Harris closed with: “The Atlantic Rotary Club is grateful for the generosity the members of Atlantic and surrounding communities have shown us over the years through their time and donations to the Rotary Auction. For over 35 years, the Rotary Auction has been a signature event for our club, raising more than a million dollars that have been invested back into our local communities. Our hope is that in 2021 we will be able resume this annual event and continue to use those proceeds to support community projects in the Rotary spirit of Service.”

Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf today, reports “All of Adair and Guthrie Counties will be under a Burn Ban effective at Noon today 09-04-2020.” Previously, a Burn Ban was put in place for the City of Stuart, Cass, Audubon and Pottawattamie Counties. The Adair-Guthrie County ban means there should be no burning of yard waste, piled tree debris, grass/agricultural ground and set-asides or other items during the ban. Also, do not toss cigarettes out the window of a moving vehicle!

Small recreational patio or camp fires are permitted only if they are conducted in a fire place of brick, metal or heavy one-inch wire mesh. Any camp fire not in an outdoor fire place is prohibited.

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

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa has received a federal grant of nearly 18 million dollars to address deaths from opioids and methamphetamine. The Opioid Initiatives Director at the state health department, Kevin Gabbert, says opioid deaths are still a concern here. “We did see a decline in 2018 — however in 2019, those numbers have increased again. And for 2020 — it looks like those numbers are going to pass what we had in 2019,” Gabbert says. The number of opioid deaths in Iowa increased from 137 in 2018 to 157 in 2019. Gabbert says they have a variety of ways to address the issue. “We are going to be adding a prevention staff person in every one of our 19 service areas across the state. Our service areas represent all 99 counties,” Gabbert says. “We will continue to fund medication assisted treatment services for individuals. In addition, we’re going to be providing recovery support services — things like transportation, dental services, housing.”

Methamphatamines are what’s know as psychostimulants, and Gabbert says they continue to remain a problem. “For the first time, psychostimulant-related deaths have passed opioid-related deaths. It’s Not by much, but none the less it has passed it,” Gabbert says. “And when you start to look at the number of individuals who have experienced an overdose death and had both psychostimulants and opioids in their system — that number has quadrupled in the last decade.” Gabbert says the coroanvirus pandemic has had some impact on the use of these drugs. “We don’t know the full impact as of this time — but some of the things that we know are issues in regards to COVID-19 are things like isolation. There could be many reasons for this, we’ve got many people who are practicing social distancing,” Gabbert says.

He says there is key health link they do know about between the use of these drugs and COVID-19. “COVID-19 can have a significant impact on an individual’s normal ability to breathe. For those individuals who experience an opioid overdose, respiratory depression is the primary cause of death,” according to Gabbert. “So if you have an individual who has COVID-19 and uses opioids — there’s a possibility that the two issues combined could cause an increased risk of experiencing a respiratory issue.”

Gabbert says the two year grant is from the federal department of Health and Human Services.

(Radio Iowa) – Fewer than one-percent of Iowans live in nursing homes, but the state director of A-A-R-P Iowa says 50-percent of all coronavirus-related deaths in the state are in residents of long-term care facilities. Brad Anderson says Iowans living in nursing homes are in “grave danger” with more than 540 dead from the virus statewide this year, and he says many measures to protect those residents are still not in place. “We have Iowans dying in nursing homes at an unacceptable rate, that needs to be addressed,” Anderson says. “Secondly, we’ve got residents and families that are suffering greatly from social isolation. You can’t deal with that second crisis until you deal with the first crisis.”

The organization is calling on the governor to enact new rules like requiring regular testing for COVID-19 and providing easier access to personal protective gear. Also: “We need to insure adequate staffing levels,” Anderson says. “Nursing homes weren’t really adequately staffed prior to the pandemic and the situation has only gotten worse.” In addition, AARP wants regulations that would require virtual visitation in long-term care facilities, to put a bandaid on the challenges of social isolation. “What that means is training residents and family members on how to use things like FaceTime and iPads and Skype to allow them to connect virtually until we can get back to safe, regular, in-person visitation,” Anderson says, “which is what everyone wants but we’re still very far from achieving that.”

The nonprofit, nonpartisan AARP is also calling for the creation of a state task force to address the crisis in nursing homes. Anderson notes, there’s all kinds of discussion about Iowa schools during the pandemic, and rightly so. “How do we deal with virtual learning and how do we get to a path for in-person learning? These conversations are happening at all levels related to schools,” Anderson says, “yet we have had 50% of the deaths related to COVID in Iowa nursing homes and there seems to be next-to-no public conversation about this crisis.” Anderson says the enacting of common-sense policies will save lives.

The Creston Police Department reports 33-year old Christina Marie McDonald, of Creston, was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for Theft in the 5th Degree. McDonald was cited and released on a Summons to Appear. And, a Creston man reported to Police Wednesday morning, that someone had forcibly entered his garage in the 500 block of S. Oak Street.

The man saidvarious tools, a cordless drill, a tool belt, a multi-meter and a Smith &Wesson M&P m2.0 TS .9mm pistol had been stolen. The loss was estimated at $1000.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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