Dwayne and Terri Vennerberg, life-long residents of the Stanton area, are bringing a Swedish-American coffee house named “Fika Coffee Hus” to Stanton’s downtown later this year, according to Stanton Community Development Director, Jenna Ramsey. The coffee shop, bakery and pop-up space will be located at 313 Broad Avenue in Stanton. Stanton has always been known for its Swedish traditions including the tradition of inviting people over for a cup of coffee. Ramsey says the tradition is important to continue in the Stanton Community and important to its culture.

Terri Vennerberg says “This certainly is an exciting adventure for us and something we want to make part of the fabric of the community. I’m sure many know this, but for those who don’t, Fika is a Swedish verb which means ‘to meet over coffee’ and that is what we want to bring to our area. We will offer a comfortable place to meet with friends over handcrafted coffees and teas along with tasty bakery treats. We will have Wi-Fi and items from a variety of vendors.”

The building is owned by Farmers Mutual Telephone Company (FMTC) which will rent the space to the Vennerberg’s for the coffee adventure after construction/remodeling in the building is complete in late summer or early fall. The Fika Coffee Hus will offer many opportunities including, specialty coffees including Stanton’s “own” coffee, baked goods, cooking classes, and items by area vendors. The goal is to have a variety of items for purchase but to also provide pop-up space to area vendors to promote local entrepreneurs.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says three-and-a-half MILLION dollars of the state’s federal pandemic response money will be used to support food banks and other efforts to feed needy Iowans. “Covid-19 has been one of those times when we’ve seen food insecurity skyrocket,” Reynolds says. “More Iowans than ever have required food assistance.” One MILLION dollars will be used to buy shelf-stable food like rice, oatmeal and pasta in bulk. AmeriCorps volunteers will break it down into consumer-sized packages. Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg says “That allows us to purchase the product at bulk prices in large quantifies, outside the normal supply chains, and hedge against future disruptions.”

Gregg has been leading the state’s Feeding Iowa task force. He says another one MILLION will go to directly to Iowa food banks “…to assist with the increased costs and challenges they’re facing with food acquisition during this time and also to cover increased supply costs. For example, the shift to pre-boxing the food has created significant additional costs, along with increased sanitation costs during the pandemic.” Another MILLION dollars will be used to help needy Iowans buy fresh produce. The “double up food bucks” program is for Iowans who qualify for food stamps — for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets or grocery stores. “We feel this is a particularly good investment because it both helps Iowans in need,” Gregg says, “and it also helps our specialty crop farmers who tend to sell at farmers’ markets and have experienced disruptions in their businesses as well.”

Half a million dollars is set aside to support the slaughter and processing of donated pigs and cattle that would otherwise be euthanized. The “pass the pork” program set up in early May is providing fresh meat to Iowa food banks and food pantries. Local meat lockers are processing the meat and the lieutenant governor says the Iowa State University meat lab is working on the project, too. “We’re also working on solutions to support donations from turkey, egg and dairy producers,” Gregg says.

Gregg says all of these “mini-supply chains” will boost the amount of food that’s available for hungry Iowans. According to the Feeding America organization, there’s been a 63 percent increase in demand at U.S. food banks and food pantries as millions of Americans became unemployed or were furloughed because of the pandemic.

(Radio Iowa) – Tyson Foods has decided to temporarily halt operations at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake. The company indicated the closure is due, in part, to a delay in COVID-19 testing results and team member absences related to quarantine and other factors. Tyson will idle harvesting animals and finish processing over the next two days. Additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility will be conducted before resuming operations later next week.

State officials confirmed a COVID-19 outbreak was confirmed at the Storm Lake Tyson pork plant on Thursday.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS), Thursday afternoon, reported the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the County was holding steady at 11. Of those, eight patients have recovered from the virus.

A total of 377 residents of the County have been tested to date. The result was 354 negative tests returned, and 12 tests that were pending analysis and return data. None of the aforementioned results had changed as of early this morning.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A construction worker who was electrocuted and fell from a building is suing the city of Sibley, Iowa. Victor Maldonado, of Worthington, Minnesota, and his wife contend the city knew a high-voltage power line did not meet safety codes and was a danger to those working near it. The couple is seeking more than $75,000 in damages. Worthington was working on the roof of the building in September 2018 when the power line sent a current through his body, causing him to fall 20 feet to an alley below. He suffered severe electrical burns, fractures, a brain injury, and blindness in one eye.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Health officials are confirming another coronavirus outbreak in an Iowa meatpacking plant on the same day that the number of residents who have died from the virus topped 500. Of more than 2,500 employees tested at the Tyson pork processing plant in Storm Lake, 555 have tested positive. Department of Public Health Deputy Director Sarah Reisetter said Thursday that businesses in Iowa are not required to report outbreaks, and state law only requires disclosure of a business name when it’s necessary to protect the public.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new reports shows Iowa saw a jump in the number of people filing for unemployment last week compared to the week prior as the country deals with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. A report released Thursday the by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 14,586 new claims filed between May 17 and May 23. That was an increase from the previous week, when 13,040 people filed unemployment claims in Iowa. The release says more than $661 million in benefits has been paid out since April 4. Those industries with the most claims last week included manufacturing, which saw more than 3,800 claims, health care and social assistance, with right at 1,400 claims and retail, with more than 900 claims.

WARSAW, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol says three people from Iowa died in a crash in eastern Missouri. The victims of the crash Wednesday in Benton County were all from Fort Dodge, Iowa. The patrol says 20-year-old Richard Davis lost control of his car on a curve on Missouri 7 and went off the left side of the road and hit a tree. Davis, 18-year-old Matayah McLouglin and a 14-year-old male whose name was not released all died in the crash. They were not wearing seat belts.

Pottawattamie County Public Health (PCPH) officials said Thursday, there were eight more positive cases of COVID-19 to report. Seven of the cases are residents of Council Bluffs, and one is from Crescent. One of the patients is under the age of 17. Two are 18-to 40 years of age. Four range in age from 41-to 60, and one is 81 years of age or over. Those persons were tested between May 19th and 25th.

Health officials said also, so far, 2,898 Pott. County residents have been tested for COVID-19, and a total of 260 have tested positive (as of today). Seven persons are hospitalized from the virus, 91 are self-isolating. Based on PCPH contact tracing investigations, a total of 76 Pott. County COVID-19 cases are the result of community spread.

Across the State of Iowa (as of 6:15-a.m. today, Friday):

• 145, 108 Iowans had been tested for the virus
• 18,689 tested positive for COVID-19
• 125, 989 have tested negative
• 10,563 have recovered
• 519 have died.
• 376 people were being treated for the virus in a hospital
• 117 patients were in an ICU
• 38 had been admitted over the past 24-hours
• 78 patients were on ventilators.
• The number of LTC facility outbreaks is stable, at 37; 1,480 LTC patients/staff have tested positive; 652 have recovered, and 234 have died.

In western/southwest Iowa,RMCC data show 9 hospitalized, 9 in an ICU, 2 were admitted to a hospital, and 5 people were on ventilators.  Here are the latest County COVID-19 numbers from the IDPH COVID-19 dashboard (# of cases/# of persons recovered):

• Cass County – 11/8
• Adair – 8/5
• Adams – 7/2
• Audubon – 12/8
• Guthrie – 46/29
• Montgomery – 6/5
• Pottawattamie – 234/145
• Shelby – 34/26.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A construction worker who was electrocuted and fell from a building is suing the city of Sibley, Iowa. Victor Maldonado, of Worthington, Minnesota, and his wife contend the city knew a high-voltage power line did not meet safety codes and was a danger to those working near it. The couple is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Worthington was working on the roof of the building in September 2018 when the power line sent a current through his body, causing him to fall 20 feet to an alley below. He suffered severe electrical burns, fractures, a brain injury, and blindness in one eye.

(Radio Iowa) — More Iowans are buying food directly from farmers during the pandemic, with Facebook groups and other social media connecting producers and customers. Jenna Anthofer, of Breda, started the group I-A Farm 2 Table on Facebook May 10th and now has more than two-thousand people signed on from Iowa and neighboring states. She says the group is strictly for direct-to-consumer sales of farm products and is her reaction to the challenges COVID-19 has thrown at farmers.

“I really just wanted to help offset that, if possible, by hooking up farmers and producers with consumers,” Anthofer says. “I’m actually in a larger nationwide farm-to-table group and they had suggested that each state have their own sort of offshoot branch.” Anthofer says it’s easy enough to find buyers for vegetables, eggs, honey and processed meat, while she says many people are newly-interested in buying meat directly from farmers.

“Not everybody feels confident buying a whole pig and then having to process it themselves,” she says, “although I’ve tried to put some resources in the group for people. It’s not that hard to break down a hog, here’s a video to show you how to do it.”

Across the Midwest, people are using websites, Reddit, op-ed pieces and other tools to spread the word about buying food directly from farmers. Reddit users compiled a list of “farms that are delivering” and launched a U-R-L with that name.

(By Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Agriculture has launched a program to help pork producers deal with hogs they can’t take to market after coronavirus shut downs at packing plants. Ag Secretary Mike Naig says it’s something no producer wants to deal with. “Farmers are doing everything they can to avoid having to take the step of euthanizing and disposing of animals,” Naig says.

“They are finding alternate ways to market, they are selling direct to consumers, they’re changing their feed ration to slow down the rate of gain — they are doing everything they can. This truly is an action, a decision of last resort.” The Ag Department is offering producers 40 dollars for each animal to help cover some of the disposal costs for market-ready hogs. “It won’t cover all costs, but it is a part of the cost that they’ll incur to euthanize and dispose of animals,” he says.

Naig says they are still hoping for federal help to cover the loss of revenue from the hogs. Iowa State University estimates that by mid-May there were approximately 600-thousand pigs in Iowa that were unable to go to the packing plants. Iowa producers were faced with killing thousands of chickens and turkeys during the bird flu outbreak five years ago — and Naig says they learned some things then. “One of the key learnings from that was to really empower producers to make decisions and to take control of the situation,” according to Naig. ”

They know their operations better than anyone else. And they also know the resources at their disposal better than anyone else. We learned that back in 2015.” He says they will hand out the funding in at least three rounds. “The first round closes Friday of this week, and farmers will need to reach out to our office. They can call the main number or they can go to IowaAgriculture.gov, and there is a way to apply there. And then we will subsequently roll out rounds two and three,” Naig says.

Naig says this will help producers deal with the short-term problem. In the long-term, he says they need to continue to get making the packing plants safe for workers.  He says that it will allow the employees to confidently show up and know that they can work safely. “That’s ultimately what it takes to return to full processing capacity. Today in Iowa we are running at about 75 percent of our normal processing capacity — an again that number steadily improves each day,” Naig says.

He says this could continue to be a problem throughout the summer. Each applicant who is approved will receive funding for at least one-thousand animals and up to 30-thousand each round, depending on the number of applicants. The money comes from federal coronavirus relief funding.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Iowa are looking for whoever placed nine tiny kittens in a box and set it on fire, seriously injuring two of the animals. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says in a news release Thursday that the kittens, which are believed to be 4-6 weeks old, are under the League’s care. Two of the kittens have burns on much of their bodies and will undergo surgery to remove burned tissue. They are currently being treated with pain medication and antibiotics.

The other seven kittens are healthy and suffered only singed fur. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies discovered some of the kittens May 22 while investigating a fire at a homeless camp. Other kittens were found two days later.