(Update 12:50-p.m.) — Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a 2018 Chevy pickup was reported stolen this morning from a residence in the 200 block of north 6th Street. Authorities believe the vehicle was taken by two Clarinda Academy students, who have since fled the area.

The vehicle was recovered near Lyman at around 8:40 a.m., but the two white, male students were still missing. Another vehicle, a 2011 Lexus SUV was reported missing from Lyman. License plate EJT 020.

The students escaped from the Clarinda Academy at around 9:20-p.m. Saturday. One is 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes, while the other is 5-foot-10 and 142 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information on the missing Clarinda Academy students should contact Clarinda Police at 712-542-2194.

It was less than a week ago two males escaped from the Academy. They allegedly stole a car from Clarinda and caused $5,000 damage to the vehicle, which located last Monday in a rural Grundy County field. In Mid-March, five students escaped from the Clarinda Academy, two on one day, three on another day.

The Clarinda Academy has had a number of incidents where students escaped, or “Absconded” from the center for at-risk youth, this year. On Jan. 20th, two white 16-year old males escaped but were caught after the stolen vehicle they were in crashed, during a high-speed chase. Four male students also absconded from the facility on Feb. 24th. They were apprehended the same day.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa prison system has had its first case of an inmate testing positive for the novel coronavirus. State officials confirmed the case Saturday as the number of cases statewide and COVID-19-death continues to rise. The inmate had been transferred Thursday from Henry County to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville. KWQC-TV reports that the inmate is in stable condition and in isolation while staff traces the inmate’s contacts. The state Department of Public Health reported another 10 COVID-19-related deaths Saturday, increasing the total to 74, and up 15.6% since Friday. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose 7.8%, to 2,513.

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) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will not call schools back into session this year. Reynolds says the state has not reached its peak of positive coronavirus cases yet, and data doesn’t indicate it’s safe to reopen schools.. The announcement also cancels spring sports activities. State education officials say they will release information on June 1 about summer sports. Reynolds reported 191 new positive cases for a state total of 2,332 cases. Four more people died, bringing the state total to 64 deaths.

CORALVILLE – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections was notified overnight that the COVID-19 test results for an inmate at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (IMCC) were returned positive.  The inmate was a new admission to IMCC, and arrived from Henry County on Thursday, April 16th. As part of IMCC’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, all new admissions are kept in an intake quarantine cohort for 14-day observation.

While in this quarantine observation, the inmate began displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Medical staff then conducted a test on the inmate, which was returned as positive. The inmate is currently in medical isolation, and a thorough contact tracing is taking place to identify any inmates or staff that may have had exposure since his arrival.

The inmate is described as an adult (age 18-40), and was sentenced to prison for drug crimes. Due to privacy laws, no further information can be provided on the inmate. Their family has been notified. The inmate is in stable condition but being monitored by IMCC medical staff around the clock.

The department has been preparing for the eventuality of COVID-19 in the prison system for more than a month. An outline of the steps that have been taken can be found at doc.iowa.gov/department-corrections-steps, and more information related to COVID-19 in the DOC can be found at doc.iowa.gov/COVID19.

For members of the public with questions about COVID-19 in the prison system, a hotline is available during business hours Monday-Friday by calling (515) 373-5457.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has reported another 10 COVID-19-related deaths* and saw its total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rise 7.8% to more than 2,500. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported Saturday that it had been notified of an additional 181 cases since Friday. The number of COVID-19-related deaths jumped to 74, up 15.6% since Friday.

The department said the deaths included one adult from 41 to 60 years old and two adults 81 years old or older in Linn County in eastern Iowa. The county, is home to Cedar Rapids and the state’s second most-populous county and has the most confirmed coronavirus cases, with 332.

*The additional 10 deaths were reported in the following counties:

• Appanoose County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Linn County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 elderly adults (81+),
• Louisa County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Muscatine County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Polk County, 1 elderly adult (81+), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Tama County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years),

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Officials with Tyson Foods Inc., in Perry, confirmed Friday night that some of the company’s labor force in Perry have tested positive for COVID-19. According to media reports, Tyson’s communications manager confirmed multiple individuals at the plant have tested positive, but specific information would not be shared out of concerns over privacy issues. Unconfirmed reports received Friday from employees at the Perry plant claim some 27 suspected or confirmed cases have been identified.

An officials with the Dallas County Public Health Department said Friday her department could neither confirm nor deny that there are any positive COVID-19 cases Tyson plant in Perry plant, because it would fall under the HIPPA guidelines.

HIPPA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 – restricts the disclosure of “individually identifiable health information” but does not restrict the disclosure of “de-identified health information” that “neither identifies nor provides a reasonable basis to identify an individual.”

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Clarinda) — Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health have confirmed another positive COVID-19 case in Page County. The case was a patient between 61-and 80-years of age, who contracted the virus through travel. The individual was recovering at home in isolation. The latest case of COVID-19 brings the total number in Page County, to four.

OSSIAN – The Iowa DNR is looking into a fertilizer leak that occurred Thursday in the city of Ossian, in Winneshiek County. The Farmers Union Coop reported Friday morning that a tank had leaked over the winter, into it’s secondary containment structure. The company pumped the containment to an area that discharged into a storm water intake leading to an unnamed tributary. The unnamed tributary flows into Nutting Creek. The release was discovered when people noticed white water in the creek.

The coop estimates between 1,000 – 2,000 gallons were released and is working to recover fertilizer from the storm sewer that goes into the creek. DNR staff were working with the coop on options to recover product in the creek. The DNR has collected water samples for testing, check for environmental impacts in the stream and consider appropriate enforcement action. No dead fish were observed.

Officials in Pottawattamie County, late Friday, reported that as of Friday, April 17th, Pottawattamie County Public Health said there continues to be a total of eighteen COVID-19 cases, eleven of which have recovered, four are self-isolating at home, two are hospitalized, and there has been one death.

On Friday, April 17th, the Douglas County (Nebraska) Health Department confirmed that two employees of Tyson Foods in Council Bluffs tested positive for COVID-19 on April 14. Both of these individuals reside in Douglas County, Nebraska; therefore, the cases are not reflected in Pottawattamie County’s COVID-19 numbers. Both individuals are self-isolating at home.

Pottawattamie County Public Health is in contact with Tyson Foods and Iowa Department of Public Health. Because a large number of Tyson Foods employees live in Omaha, Pottawattamie County Public Health will continue to work closely with Douglas County and the Nebraska health systems to navigate the situation as it evolves. Pottawattamie County will provide updates as they become available.