The Mills County Public Health Department reports 3 new COVID-19 cases in the county for a total now of 29 confirmed positive cases to date. 22 of those individuals have recovered from the virus.

All three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported today are adults, 41-60 years old. All cases were contracted through community spread.

We want to remind all county residents that even though the Governor has eased restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, COVID-19 continues to spread in our county. It is now more important than ever to practice social distancing, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow/upper arm and stay at home when you are ill.

SHELBY, IA  – The Board of Directors of Carstens 1880 Farmstead has decided to postpone Farm Days this year until September 11 & 12, 2021.  This is due to COVID-19 safety considerations.  “We looked at a lot of things before we decided to postpone the show,” said Carstens Board President, Mel Hursey of Shelby.  “We know that the Farm Days Show brings folks from all over and we decided to keep things as safe as we could by postponing.”

The Board met last week and considered what the two-day event’s postponement means to the community.  The difficult decision about postponing Kids Day was also made.  “We want to keep the health and safety of our youngest and oldest visitors and volunteers to the farm a priority.”

“One part of Farm Days that people like will happen this year,” added Hursey.  The Staley’s Chicken Dinner will still be held at the farm on Saturday, September 12, 2020.  It will begin at 5:30 pm.  Public Health guidance will be followed to assure social distancing is available.  “Tables will be added so there will be more room for the crowd,” Hursey said.  This dinner typically draws over 300 as they enjoy the meal and community spirit of the Farm Days Show.

“Be sure to check for COVID-19 updates and the farm on our web site,” Hursey said.  As Public Health information is updated Carstens Board members will adjust plans as needed. “As we look forward in these times, we thank the community, the exhibitors and volunteers for the continuing support of Carstens 1880 Farmstead.”

(Radio Iowa) — Starting September 1st, Iowans in their 70s may be able to renew their drivers license for up to eight years rather than just every two. Under current law, Iowans who reach the age of 72 must renew their licenses every two years. The new law Governor Kim Reynolds has just approved raises that every-two-years requirement to the age of 78. The bill passed the House unanimously in February, without debate. It easily cleared the Senate last weekend, but not before 69-year-old Senator Herman Quirmbach, of Ames, raised objections.

Quirmach says many Iowans in their 70s are capable drivers, but everyone knows friends or relatives who should not be driving. According to the federal government, 86 percent of Americans who are 65 or older continue to drive and are more likely than all other age groups to be involved in fatal accidents. Iowa D-O-T records indicate nearly 480-thousand Iowans who were 65 or older were licensed to drive in 2018.

As of this (Friday) morning, positive cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in Shelby County and now stands at 56 positive cases, 40 people have recovered, there have been 3 positive serology test, 333 negative tests and 5 tests are pending. 83% of the positives are under the age of 60 which is consistent with the overall state numbers.

Throughout the state, this morning the state site is reporting 197 individuals are hospitalized with 7 of those individuals being from our RMCC area. One week ago Shelby County had 41 cases of COVID-19 with 5 individuals being monitored. This is a 27% increase in one week.

Health officials ask you to “Please as group settings become larger and more individuals venture out into public keep in mind the efforts that have helped us keep the positive case counts down in Shelby County – social distancing, wearing a face covering and washing your hands.”

(KNOD)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate was 10% in May, down from April but still remarkably high as many businesses and organizations curtailed operations due to the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the May unemployment rate was down from 11% in April but was more than triple the 2.7% rate in May 2019. Beth Townsend, the director of the agency, noted the number of unemployment claims has declined, indicating more people are returning to work. The number of unemployed Iowa residents dropped from 188,000 in April to 168,100 in May. The U.S. unemployment rate for May was 13.3%.

The Adair County Fair Board is excited to announce that the 2020 county fair will occur from Thursday, July 16 – Sunday, July 19, with changes due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Adair County Fair Board and Adair County ISU Extension and Outreach have been working together to navigate through all the guidance provided by Iowa 4-H, Governor Reynold’s Proclamations, CDC, Emergency Management and the Department of Public Health.

This year’s Friday night Grandstand event will be the Demolition Derby. Saturday’s Grandstand event will be the Mid America Truck and Tractor Pullers. The Wright Rodeo Company will be on Sunday. There will be food vendors on the fairgrounds and camping allowed. Unfortunately, there will not be open class or vendors allowed in the Varied Industries Buildings. The 4H/FFA Center will not be open to the public.

In coordination with Adair County ISU Extension, the primary focus will be on our youth, and to provide a safe and healthy experience for them to showcase their hard work and projects in a ‘show and go’ format. Adair County ISU Extension will be sharing additional details on 4H and FFA events soon.

Although fair plans are moving forward, the fair board is taking extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of all fairgoers. Plans are in place to increase sanitation, including increasing hand sanitizer throughout the grounds. Additionally, the fair board plans to disinfect main seating areas, including the show ring, grandstand and bleachers daily and provide signage to remind people to social distance and to use good hygiene practices. Following the State of Iowa’s lead, personal responsibility is requested for people to determine if they feel comfortable attending the fair during this time and implement social distancing if they choose to attend. We encourage high risk, vulnerable individuals or anyone not feeling well to stay home.

The Adair County Fair Board and Adair County ISU Extension wants to thank our local communities, sponsors, volunteers, families, and other partners for continuing to support the Adair County Fair as we navigate through this challenging time. An updated schedule will be released as soon as events are confirmed. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Please stay tuned to www.adaircountyfair.org, www.extension.iastate.edu/adair or our Facebook pages Adair County Fair-Iowa or Adair County ISU Extension & Outreach for additional details.

(Radio Iowa) — There’s still no word from the U-S-D-A on requests from Iowa leaders to help the state’s turkey producers recover from serious production problems caused by COVID-19. Iowa Turkey Federation executive director Gretta Irwin says the pandemic brought a sharp drop in sales and created a backlog of turkeys to be processed. “Iowa’s turkey farmers were impacted by the COVID virus by decreased sales in restaurants,” Irwin says. “As people locked down for those three-plus months and did not go out and eat at a lot of quick-serve restaurants that serve a lot of turkey deli meats, we saw those sales go down.”

Many Iowa restaurants closed or saw a significant drop-off in customers as they shifted to carry-out or delivery only during the height of the pandemic. “That has obviously created an excess inventory in the processors’ warehouses,” Irwin says, “and then that is going to now adversely affect the turkey farmers as they look to cut back production to try to work through that excessive inventory.” Irwin says federal funding is critically needed for the state’s turkey producers as well as for the processors that were hit hard by the pandemic.

“We’re asking for some support for those farmers who are going to be asked to not produce turkeys because of this excess inventory,” Irwin says. “For the processing plants, we are taking advantage of a lot of the other food assistance programs that the government is providing to food banks and to school food service programs.”

Both of Iowa’s U-S senators and the state’s agricultural leaders have asked the U-S-D-A for assistance for turkey producers. In their letter, they asked that agency economists work to devise a formula that allows this niche sector of the nation’s poultry industry to get the help it needs. Iowa is the nation’s seventh-largest turkey producer and ranks fifth in turkey processing.

(Radio Iowa) — Quad Cities-based John Deere is restructuring and implementing a new operating model. Spokeswoman Jen Hartmann says it’s been eleven years since the last “global” restructuring. The new model is called the Deere Smart Industrial strategy.  “The new org model is making sure — and this is really at that corporate-level– looking at how we can structure ourselves to be much quicker to market, much more responsive to what customer needs are, and to deliver on those needs very efficiently and quickly,” Hartmann explains.

For the Agriculture and Turf Division, Hartmann says Deere teams will use different approaches to serving customers with large-scale farms in North and South America, plus Australia, compared to mid-size and small growers and producers around the world.  “Whether we are talking about the equipment or technology — what do those corn and soy farmers need most, because that is going to be very different than what a dairy or livestock producer might need,” according to Hartmann, “And certainly very different from what a guy who’s producing oranges in an orchard. So this is going to be looking at that entire lifecycle of the needs of that farmer or producer or rancher.”

The restructuring includes expanding the role of the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, since, Hartmann says, technology is the key to improving customer service before, during, and after the sale. They have a chief technology officer Jamie Hindman who she says will be overseeing the intelligent solutions group and the entire technical staff.

She says the intelligent solutions group had been focused on precision agriculture, but all of the tech and support will now be focused on the entire lifecycle of the product lines from construction and forestry to ag and turf. Deere plans to invest in research and development of new technologies. Hartmann says the company’s “smart, connected” machines will help customers save money, increase productivity, and ultimately make more money.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines City Council is set to consider a resolution supporting the decriminalization of marijuana in the city. The resolution is on the council’s agenda for its meeting Monday and would be the first step toward decriminalizing marijuana in Iowa’s capital city. If approved, the move would create a six-person task force to study the issue and provide recommendations to the council by Oct. 1.

The resolution is sponsored by City Council members Josh Mandelbaum, Connie Boesen, Carl Voss and Joe Gatto. Decriminalizing marijuana in Iowa is among the priorities listed by Black Lives Matter, which is seeking passage of a ban on racial profiling by Des Moines police.

w/ Chris Parks

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