A man from Osceola was arrested Monday night, in Creston. Authorities say 25-year-old Adrian Ramos Maciel was taken into custody at around 8:45-p.m., in the 300 block of N. Pine Street in Creston, for OWI/1st offense. He was later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data on Monday. The health department said 11,138 additional positive virus tests in the last 7 days, down from 11,439 the previous seven-day period. That brings the total positive tests to 472,681 since the start of the pandemic. Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is up from 9.2% to 9.4%. Those 18 and under account for 29% of positive cases, by far the largest group. However, that age group accounts for only 7% of those hospitalized with COVID-19.

The state reports 579 patients hospitalized with the virus, down from 581 from the last report. IDPH reports 78% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are not fully vaccinated, while 90% of those in ICU for COVID-19 are not vaccinated. There are now COVID-19 outbreaks reported in 29 long-term care facilities.

The number of Iowans vaccinated against the virus continues to tick upward. The health department reports 3,395,253 vaccine doses administered in the state, with 65.2% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated and 67.8% of those 12 and older with at least one dose.

(Radio Iowa) – Staff and students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the Decorah school district will have to mask up starting next Monday after the school board voted for a universal mask mandate at a special meeting last (Monday) night. Superintendent Mark Lane says the mandate will be in effect until four week after a vaccine for five to eleven year olds is readily available locally. The board made the decision in light of the news that Fizer will seek FDA approval to provide COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 5-11.

A federal judge recently halted enforcement of a state law which was passed in May which prohibited school districts from enacting mask mandates. Governor Reynolds has said the state will appeal that ruling. Decorah becomes the 11th school district in the state to enact some sort of mask mandate since the federal court ruling. Decorah and Linn-Mar have enacted PK through sixth grade mask mandates. Ames, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Iowa City, Urbandale, West Burlington and West Des Moines all enacted PK-12th grade mask mandates.

(Radio Iowa) – The unemployment rate for August held steady at four-point-one percent and a spokesperson for Iowa Workforce Development says they anticipate the rate falling in the next couple of months. I-W-D Deputy Director, Ryan West, says things usually pick up in October and November as companies try to get things done before winter. “Iowa’s tied for 17th with Indiana as far as the unemployment rate — but we are seeing a lot of good things. The rate staying the same is obviously better than it going up, and we are excited where we are going to be in the next few months,” West says.

The number of people entering the workforce again had been steadily increasing — but made a slight drop in August. West says that can be attributed to one group in particular. “We had 13-hundred people who left the workforce this last month. A large group of those folks appeared to be male — and a lot of them look to have retired over the age of 65,” according to West. He says a lot of them are Baby Boomers who have retired — and there are still questions about why they’ve left the workforce now. “We weren’t really sure if a lot of them decided to retire, perhaps could have retired pre-COVID, but after COVID hit decided to say “You know what, I’m done for now,” West says. “Again, we still need a few more months to see where that ends up.”

He says there is a chance some of them may reconsider. “That Baby Boomer group makes up such a big part of the workforce, a lot of experience. Hopefully we can attract some of those individuals back into the workforce at some point,” West says. The labor force participation rate declined from by a tenth of a percent to 66-point-eight percent in August.

(Radio Iowa) – The non-profit that provides blood and blood products to 120 hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota is urging people to schedule appointments to give blood as soon as possible. Claire DeRoin, spokeswoman for LifeServe Blood Center, says supplies took a heavy hit in recent days after multiple hospitals in central Iowa performed transfusions on several patients. “Those people can receive 30 to 60 units of blood,” DeRoin says. “To put that in perspective, the average blood drive collects about 30 units, so to have one single patient receiving two entire blood drives worth of blood, that’s the reality and it puts us in a pretty scary place.”

A five-day supply of any given blood type is considered ideal, but DeRoin says it’s uncommon to have that much in stock. Supplies are now dangerously low. “A couple of our blood types are less than a two-day supply and that means it’s critical and sometimes it can even dip down to a one-day supply,” DeRoin says. “That’s when we reach out to the community and say, ‘This is an emergency, we are asking for your help, this is a critical appeal,’ so please, donate if you can.”

Blood of all types is welcome. “Really, any donor can help us out right now,” DeRoin says. “We are particularly low on O-negative and O-positive blood as well as platelets, in case there are any platelets donors. Platelets are just another component of the blood, in addition to red blood cells.”

Under a new program called “Thank The Donor,” some blood donors may later receive notes from the patients whose lives they helped to save. LifeServe has donor centers in Ames, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Marshalltown, Sioux City, and Urbandale. Call 800-287-4903 or visit www.lifeservebloodcenter.org.

(Radio Iowa)  – Republican Senator Joni Ernst says the proposed Global War on Terrorism Memorial in Washington, D.C. should be built in a place of prominence, near the iconic memorials on the National Mall honoring soldiers from Vietnam, Korea and World War II.  “How could we put the memorial for our nation’s longest war anywhere else?” she asks. Ernst is urging senators to override a 2003 federal law that prevents new memorials from being built in an area of the National Mall known as The Reserve.

“While nothing will ever restore the lives we’ve lost, this memorial would serve as a tribute to those brave men and women and their loves ones who have sacrificed in defense of our freedom,” Ernst says. “…This national memorial will provide all Americans a permanent place of reflection in the heart of our nation’s capitol.” In 2017, congress passed bipartisan legislation creating a Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation to begin planning for construction. Last (Monday) night, Senate Democrats blocked a vote on Ernst’s proposal to require construction on the National Mall.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, says erecting a memorial in D-C to honor soldiers who’ve served since 9/11 is a high priority, but Manchin says a law passed in 2003 prevents it from being located in “The Reserve” where 17 other memorials, monuments and museums are located. “I believe this precedent would reopen the fight to locate other memorials on the National Mall and create more controversy that will ultimately delay the construction of this memorial, which is much needed,” Manchin said.

Manchin says the Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial to honor soldiers who fought in the first Gulf War will be built in a high profile area near the Lincoln Memorial, but not in the area of the mall that’s been designated as The Reserve.