CRESTON – First National Bank in Creston has completed its merger of Century Bank in Shenandoah, Iowa, and with all the necessary regulatory approvals met, the bank will now be known as First National Bank and will continue to serve Shenandoah and the surrounding communities. Randy Huewe, president of First National Bank, reminds customers and the community that the same staff that has always given great customer service in Shenandoah in the past have all been retained during this merger.

Randy Huewe, FNB President

“We’re beyond excited about completing this merger,” Huewe said. “The staff there, which we’ve gotten to know personally now, share our core values of commitment to you, our customers, and to exceeding your expectations. To our new customers, we want you to know we’re committed to making this continued transition as smooth as possible for you in the coming months. We feel privileged to have you as our customers and in expanding our presence to Shenandoah. We look forward to being a strong supporter in Shenandoah and the surrounding community.” With this merger completed, the bank’s longtime president in Shenandoah, Greg Ritchey, will retire after 17 years with Century Bank. Greg will join the Board of Directors at First National Bank. Mike Bauer, the bank’s longtime senior vice president, will fill the role as president of the Shenandoah location.

First National Bank in Creston was chartered in 1871 and is a family-owned, full service community bank that specializes in commercial, ag and personal banking. First National Bank is part of Northwest Financial Corporation, a two bank, privately-owned financial services holding company.   The banks include Northwest Bank of Spencer, Iowa and First National Bank in Creston. The two banks collectively hold close to $2.0 billion in assets and have 23 offices throughout western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.  Other entities within Northwest Financial Corp. include Northwest Wealth Management, LLC and Northwest Insurance Services. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

A KJAN listener in Griswold wants to warn area residents about a re-occurring phone scam. The woman said she received a call Friday afternoon on her land-line, from “Publishers Clearing House” (PCH), saying she was the “2nd  Place Winner of $155 million dollars,” along with a “Set for Life” payment of $5,500 each month for rest of her life, as well as a new pickup truck with 18 months of free insurance, free gasoline and service and a tire card, all for 18 months.

The caller – who identified himself as “James Miller,” from Afton, TX. – gave the woman Price Code and Check Cash numbers. Fortunately, the woman was suspicious. She asked him why the people with the balloons weren’t the ones to tell me. He told her they were in the area they were planning on coming in one hour and 35 minutes. He then asked her to purchase a gift card at Wal-Mart.  The woman, knowing by then the call was a scam, hung-up the phone.

PCH and other legitimate businesses, will never ask you to purchase a gift card, submit any personal information, or account information, over the phone, by text or e-mail. If you get unsolicited calls that seem too good to be true, hang-up and notify your local authorities. If the person contacting you shows a caller-ID, take that number down and provide to law enforcement. The number was probably spoofed, but it couldn’t hurt to have police check it out.

(Radio Iowa) — Many Iowans are joining the recent trend of posting their high school senior pictures on social media, but it might not be such a good idea. While it’s billed as being in support of the graduating class of 2020 during the pandemic, Bao Vang with the Better Busines Bureau says by posting those old photos, you may be inadvertently sharing valuable personal information with scammers. “Your high school name, graduation year, the city that you grew up in,” Vang says, “and if they sound familiar, the problem is, that same information is commonly used as passwords or the answers to online security questions.”

Once scammers have that information, Vang says it’s very easy for them to rip you off.  “Their ultimate goal is to steal your identity, your banking information and to part you with your hard-earned money,” Vang says. “Don’t allow them any chance.”

She says it’s a good idea to check your security settings on all social media platforms to see what you are sharing and with whom you are sharing it.

The Creston Police Department reports three recent arrests. Two people: 21-year old Tommie O’Neall, of Greenfield, and 19-year old Joel Blazek, of Creston, were arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. They were taken into custody at 403 N. Vine Street in Creston at around 12:20-a.m. today (Monday), cited and released from the scene on a Summons to Appear in court.

Friday afternoon, 37-year old Travis Woollums, of Creston, was arrested at his residence for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was released from the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Summons to Appear in court.

Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies dispatched to a reported assault Sunday night, arrested man on a felony Burglary charge, two counts of Criminal Mischief (4th & 5th Degrees), and Simple Assault. 34-year old Nicholas Andrew Colburn was arrested in Nodaway at around 8:30-p.m.  Colburn was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $6,600 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — New data from the hospitality industry indicates total revenue for Iowa bar and restaurant owners has declined 80 percent since the governor ordered their businesses to close March 17th to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Iowa Restaurant Association president and C-E-O Jessica Dunker says the industry is absolutely in crisis.

“If we reopen on May 1st, as we expect, 10 percent won’t open. If that moves to June 1st, we’re expecting 18 percent not to open,” Dunker says. “And if that’s pushed out to July 1st, we expect 25 percent will not reopen.” The governor’s CURRENT proclamation on bar and restaurant closures is set to expire April 30th and Reynolds has not yet indicated if that may be extended. Carry-out and drive thru food and beverage service has been allowed — including carry-out sales of alcoholic beverages, but Dunker says 70 percent of the state’s bars are completely closed.

“If we were to reopen today, only 45 percent of our restaurants and bars would be able to rehire everyone that they have furloughed,” Dunker says. “Over 90 percent of our bars and restaurants have furloughed people and the unemployment claims in our sector are tremendous.” About 40-thousand of the Iowans who’ve filed for unemployment had jobs in Iowa resturants and bars. Dunker says part-timers aren’t counted in that tally — so the total number of laid off workers from the industry is approaching 75-thousand.

“We’re just continuing to be hopeful with social distancing, we might be able to have some level of openings May 1st,” Dunker says. Dunker’s organization is lobbying FEDERAL officials for changes in the “Paycheck Protection Program” which turns the LOAN into a GRANT if the business uses the money on payroll. Dunker says that’s just unrealistic for bars and restaurants that were ordered to close.

“And so while restaurants and bars will have the ability to apply for those PPP loans, we won’t get them forgiven,” Dunker says. “We are going to be taking on debt as an industry in a time when we are least able to repay it.” Dunker made her comments during a weekend appearance on the “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S. According to the Restaurant Association’s website, there were nearly 63-hundred restaurants and drinking establishments operating in Iowa before the closures ordered on St. Patrick’s Day.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State health officials say the number of cases of coronavirus in Iowa increased more than 15% on Sunday to 2,902. The Iowa Department of Public Health said Sunday that 389 additional cases of COVID-19 and one additional death related to the virus had been confirmed. The state has now reported 75 deaths linked to the virus. The person who died was an adult between the ages of 61 and 80 from Muscatine County. For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some people, the virus can cause more severe illness and death.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Across an arc of vital swing states, the coronavirus has put politics on an uneasy pause. Political fights are raging among state leaders from Iowa to Pennsylvania over the handling of the pandemic’s impact. Protecting public health versus restarting the economy, along with arguments about the limits of executive authority, have taken the place of the national political debate that’s typical of presidential campaigns at this point. Meanwhile, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has built little campaign structure across the region. President Donald Trump is relying on state GOP headquarters for his operations, though they too have been largely empty.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than a dozen Iowa elected officials implored Tyson Fresh Meats to close their Waterloo pork processing plant, saying the coronavirus is spreading among workers and is endangering not only employees of the plant but the entire community. Mayors, county officials and state legislators signed the letter that was sent to Tyson on Thursday. The 19 officials said at a Friday news conference they had only received confirmation from the company that it had received the letter but no other action .The officials also accused Gov. Kim Reynolds of misleading Iowans on the seriousness of the outbreak and for failure to take action to close the plant.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa sheriff is urging Tyson Foods to temporarily shut down its plant in Waterloo as coronavirus cases spike in Black Hawk County. The Des Moines Register reports Sheriff Tony Thompson says he’s concerned that COVID-19 will overrun his community even more if the Tyson Foods plant doesn’t take proper precautions. He says they need to deep clean that facility and restart it on a clean slate. His comments came shortly before Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that 138 people had tested positive for the virus and one person has died with the virus in Black Hawk County.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State health officials say the number of cases of coronavirus in Iowa increased more than 15% on Sunday to 2,902. The Iowa Department of Public Health said Sunday that 389 additional cases of COVID-19 and one additional death related to the virus had been confirmed. The person who died was an adult in the 61-to 80 age bracket, from Muscatine County. The state has now reported 75 deaths linked to the virus.

Officials say 261 or 67% of today’s 389 additional positive cases can be attributed to surveillance testing of meat processing facilities. That includes over 500 completed surveillance tests of Tyson employees and over 500 completed surveillance tests of National Beef employees, for a total of 84 positive and 177 positive respectively.

The IDPH says 198 patients are currently hospitalized, and 1,171 Iowans have recovered. There have been an additional 1,214 negative tests for a total of 21,648 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.

For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some people, the virus can cause more severe illness and death. The state of Iowa has released an updated dashboard on coronavirus.iowa.gov that will be updated daily to include comprehensive tracking of COVID-19 in Iowa.

The new dashboard includes cases, deaths, and tests conducted in each county. The state is now providing demographic information that was not previously provided as well as Iowa’s epidemiological curve.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A cluster of coronavirus cases at a South Dakota pork plant has highlighted the susceptibility of meat processing workers, who stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded spaces. The Smithfield Foods plant has reported 518 infections in employees and another 126 in people connected to them.

In this April 13, 2020, photo, Kulule Amosa steps out of the apartment she shares with her husband who works at the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D. He tested positive for the coronavirus this week after an outbreak at the plant. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves)

Because the workers who slaughter and pack the nation’s meat are vulnerable, so, too, is the supply of that meat. Union leaders wish more had been done sooner at the Smithfield plant. The company says difficulty in getting masks and thermal scanners led to delays in implementing safety measures. But it added hand-sanitizing stations and was scanning employee temperatures before the plant closed.

The Griswold School Board plans to meet 5:30-p.m. Monday in the Elementary School Library. Old Business on their agenda will cover the second reading of 200-Series Board Policies, Book Fees for 2020-21, and an update on COVID-19 response.

New Business for their meeting includes:

• Consider approval of Open Enrollment Requests
• Discussion on SAVE Bond Refinancing
• Approval of Master Contracts for: a School-Based Interventionist; and Technology Coordinator
• Approve the Master Contract for Non-Certified Staff
• Approve contract renewals for: Certified Staff, Coaches/Sponsors, Administration, Quasi-Administrators, and Support Staff, and….
• Setting contract issuance and return dates.