[Updated] (Radio Iowa) – After blasting those who are spreading what she called misleading and inaccurate information about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for COVID-19, Governor Kim Reynolds took the shot herself on live T-V Wednesday morning. “I wouldn’t ask Iowans to do anything that I’m not willing to do,” Reynolds said. The governor’s husband, Kevin, and top public health advisor Kelly Garcia were also vaccinated during the governor’s televised news conference. “Is she done?” Reynolds asked, moments after getting the shot. “Wow, o.k.”

Earlier, Reynolds said there’s been unwarranted criticism of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the third to be approved for use nationwide. “This information is misleading and quite frankly it’s irresponsible to position any vaccine as a less desirable option when it’s undergone the same rigorous clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy.” Reynolds calls the Johnson and Johnson vaccine a “game changer,” since it is a single dose shot which doesn’t require a booster several weeks later, as the others do. Plus, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine can be stored in a standard refrigerator.

Tyson is setting up mass vaccination sites at its meatpacking plants in Iowa this week. Reynolds says within five weeks, the goal is to have employees at 456 food processing and manufacturing plants in Iowa vaccinated. All Iowans who live and work in congregate settings — like assisted living facilities — should be vaccinated by the first week of April as well. State officials say both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been given to ALL nursing home residents and employees who wanted it. The roughly 25-thousand doses of those two vaccines the state had been receiving each week for that purpose will now be made available to eligible Iowans through Walgreens and C-V-S pharmacies.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors for Iowa say a Marion man has been convicted of forging and counterfeiting postage stamps. Prosecutors say in a news release that a federal judge in Cedar Rapids found 42-year-old Bradley Jon Matheny guilty Tuesday after a one-day trial of seven counts of postage meter stamp forgery and counterfeiting and three counts of export violations. Prosecutors say Matheny used forged and counterfeited postage meter stamps to ship most of the more than 28,000 packages he mailed to his eBay business customers between November 2015 and May 2017. Matheny faces up to 65 years in federal prison and a $2.5 million fine when he’s sentenced at a later date.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Council Bluffs was arrested on numerous charges, Tuesday. 33-year old Lisa Marie Sivard was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense, Possession of Methamphetamine/1st Offense, and Possession of Adderall 1st Offense. Sivard was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $1,000 bond.

And, on February 27th, Cass County Deputies arrested 31-year old Brady J. Murphy, of Anita, for OWI/1st Offense. Murphy was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to an accident last Saturday, on Main Street, in Griswold. A collision between a 2011 Chevy Traverse owned & driven by 32-year old Jessica Lea Shoemake, of Hastings, and a 2018 Jeep Cherokee, owned & driven by 23-year old Allyson Leann Watson, of New Virginia, happened at around 1:30-p.m., as the Chevy Traverse was backing out of a parking space on Main Street.

The vehicle was struck on the driver’s side rear by the westbound Cherokee. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Chevy Traverse is estimated at $3,500; damage to the Jeep Cherokee is estimated at $4,500.

Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) report the organization has signed economic development partnership agreements with local economic development groups to provide outreach, technical services, loan assistance, and recovery planning to help businesses and local governments recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In total, SWIPCO is providing $180,000 to support these efforts. The local partners include:

• The Cass/Atlantic Development Corporation [CADCO] (in Cass County) $30,000
• Clarinda Economic Development (in Eastern Page County) $15,000
• Harrison County Development Corporation (in Harrison County) $30,000
• Montgomery County Development Corporation (in Montgomery County) $30,000
• Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in Shelby County) $30,000
• Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association (in Western Page, Fremont Counties) $45,000

CADCO Executive Director, Jennifer McEntaffer says “Cass/Atlantic Development Corp. is excited to partner with SWIPCO, offering assistance to business recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our mission to reach out to area businesses to assist in any way we can. Please feel free to contact our office at 14 West 6th Street in Atlantic, email jencadco@metc.net, or call us at (712) 243-2022.” In addition, SWIPCO has announced a COVID-19 Recovery Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), to help businesses in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Page, and Shelby counties recover from the pandemic.

The $500,000 revolving loan fund will support businesses by serving as an important tool in rebuilding the region’s overall economy, especially when commercial financing is unavailable. SWIPCO RLF funds may also be combined with other government programs. Furthermore, they may be used to leverage necessary financing from local lending institutions. Because of the pandemic, special loan terms are available, as low as 0% interest and loan payment deferrals for up to a year.

The intent of the COVID fund is to provide flexibility to meet emerging recovery trends. With loan amounts that range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $150,000, borrowers may use the money for working capital, inventory, and asset purchases such as machinery, equipment, furniture, and fixtures. Loans will be made until June 30, 2022, and loan terms shall not exceed 10 years for any loan. The economic development partnership program and the COVID RLF are funded through a CARES Act grant agreement with the US Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.

For more information about the COVID-19 loan fund, please visit SWIPCO’s website at www.swipco.org

ATKINS, Iowa (AP) — Sheriffs officials in eastern Iowa say a driver who reached speeds over 100 mph while fleeing a traffic stop died after crashing his car. The crash happened early Wednesday, after a Linn County sheriff’s deputy tried to pull over a car in Atkins, leading to a chase that reached 115 mph. Investigators say the chase ended just after 4 a.m. when the fleeing car drove off a Benton County road and crashed into a culvert. Officials say the man driving was ejected and died at the scene.

A woman also in the car was seriously injured and flown to an Iowa City hospital. The names of the man killed and woman hurt have not been released.

The Iowa Department of Public Heath at 10-a.m., Wednesday, reported an additional 688 positive COVID-19 test results returned from the labs since Tuesday, for a pandemic total of 364,876. There were also two additional deaths reported, for a total of 5,501. Long Term Care facility deaths account for 2,181 of the State’s total number of deaths.

The number of Long-Term Care facility COVID-19 Outbreaks down to a dozen, after declining to 14 the previous day. Hospitalization numbers continue to yo-yo. The latest reports shows 191 hospitalized with COVID, compared to 224 on Tuesday and 197 on Monday. COVID patients in an ICU stand at 40. There were 28 patients admitted to hospitals over the 24-hour reporting period (compared to 34 Tuesday), and 11 patients remain on a ventilator.

Hospitals in Western & Southwest Iowa report: 11 people remain hospitalized for COVID; four COVID patients are in an ICU, three patients with COVID symptoms were admitted over the past 24-hours, and one person remained on a ventilator.

Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is 4.1%, while the seven-day rate is 4.2%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

• Cass, 1,355 cases; {+13}; 51 deaths
• Adair, 921; {+2}; 28
• Adams, 327 {+2}; 4
• Audubon, 488 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,166 {+0}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,793; {+0}; 69
• Madison County, 1,548; {+1}; 18
• Mills County, 1,630; {+0}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,043; {+3}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 10,791; {+27}; 143
• Shelby County, 1,217; {+6}; 33
• Union County,  1,267; {+5}; 31

(Radio Iowa) – More than a hundred protestors of all ages came to Sioux City on Tuesday to speak out against a plan in the Sioux City Catholic Diocese to combine smaller parish churches. Two busloads of people and several more in cars came from places like Carroll, Odebolt, Arthur and Kiron. Roger Dentlinger, from Holy Name parish in Marcus, fears the policy change will harm communities whose residents would have to travel if their town loses its church. “Certainly for the older population, especially in inclement weather, they’d be forced to travel to neighboring towns,” Dentlinger says. “In some situations, that may be a matter of seven or eight miles and in other places, it may certainly be a matter of 20 or 30 miles.”

photo via Radio Iowa, courtesy KSCJ

Diocese officials say there aren’t enough priests to go around so smaller churches would be consolidated by 2025. Dentlinger says there are other options. “The Catholic mass that we attend each weekend, we’d like them to consider possibly even having a rotating schedule,” Dentlinger says. “If you can’t have a mass every weekend in our church, we would be very happy to have mass every other weekend or once a month if need be.” Deacon Mark Prosser, director of pastoral care for the Sioux City Diocese, says a priest shortage isn’t the only issue they are facing. “There’s a multifaceted impact on our diocese with less people in many of our rural communities translating to less people in the pews,” Prosser says. “There are less people practicing their faith, especially in the mainstream churches including Catholicism. And then a reduction in the sacraments, be it baptisms, marriages, confirmations, and so on.”

Prosser says lessening the frequency of services or a rotating schedule isn’t the solution. “As an example, you have three churches in a grouping and A has mass this week, and then B next week, and C and so on,” Prosser says. “What occurs for the most part is, those living in town A go that week, but they don’t go week B and they don’t go week C. It’s whenever it’s close.” Prosser says 50% of the 48 priests currently serving will reach retirement age in the coming decade, while there are only eight men currently in the seminary to fill those vacancies. Bishop R. Walker Nickless came out to speak briefly to those protesting. He blessed the gathering and said he hears them, and that the diocese was doing the best it could with the priests it has.