More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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Jim Field visits with ISU Extension Farm Management Specialist Patrick Hatting about the “Annie’s Project” program being offered January 14-February 18 in Adair County.
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The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.
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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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Officials with the Creston Police Department report 23-year-old James Riddle, Jr., of Creston, was arrested a little after 6-a.m. today (Wednesday), for Driving While Suspended. Riddle was cited and released from the scene, on a Summons to Appear.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Tourism Office has created a checklist for traveling along Iowa’s 12 scenic byways and the so-called “digital passport” provides some discounts along the way. “As you travel the byways, you can check in at various locations along the way,” says Jessica O’Riley, communications manager for the Iowa Tourism Office. “There’s about 100 different locations along the 12 participating byways. Each check-in gets you entered to win a monthly prize package. Some of the participating locations also offer deals and discounts. Each time you redeem a deal or discounts, that also counts as an entry into the monthly prize package.”
The promotion will last through December 31, 2021, so each month somebody with one of these Scenic Byways Passports will win a prize package worth about two-hundred dollars, including an overnight, stay along one of the byways. The 12 scenic bylaws take travelers to national landmarks, historic sites and local attractions. The best way to see Iowa is to get off the interstates and explore the backroads and uncover those hidden gems in the small towns,” O’Riley says. “The Scenic Byways are a great way to do that.”
O’Riley says the byways also showcase the state’s topography. “A lot of people tend to stay in one corner of the state…If you’re in western Iowa and you can appreciate the Loess Hill, maybe you’ve never seen the Driftless area in northeast Iowa,” O’Riley says. “It’s a great opportunity to get out and really explore our own backyard.” This summer, the state launched a similar digital for the 100th anniversary of the state park system and O’Riley says it was so popular all the prizes were redeemed within the first two weeks. O’Riley’s theory? People like a check-list. “If you show them: ‘Here’s a list of things to do,’ people love checking things off and completing a task,” O’Riley says.
Download the Iowa Scenic Byways Passport here. January’s prize package is from the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway. It includes a one-night stay at the Hotel Millwright in Amana and gift certificates at Amana shops.
The Iowa Department of Public Health today (as of 10-a.m., Wednesday), reports there have been 2,785 new, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in test results received since 10-a.m. Tuesday, for a pandemic total to-date, of 289,464, and 61 additional deaths, for a total to date of 4,060.There was one death reported in each of Cass, Adams, Audubon, Madison, Montgomery and Shelby Counties. Of Iowa’s pandemic-related deaths, COVID-19 is reported as the underlying cause for 3,722 deaths, and a contributing factor to 338 deaths.
The Iowa DPH today (Tuesday) reports 91 COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities in the state (9 less than previously reported). Those outbreaks account for 3,560 of Iowa’s current positive cases. COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities account for 1,139 of the state’s total deaths. Health officials say 2,296 LTC patients/staff have recovered from the virus.
Iowa DPH reports hospitalizations are up from 582 Tuesday, to 604 today. There are: 116 patients in an ICU; 125 were admitted to hospitals (compared to 69 Tuesday), and 54 patients are on ventilators. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa (RMCC Region 4) report: 38 hospitalized (3 less than Tues.); 12 are in an ICU (down 2 from Tues.); 5 people were admitted to a hospital (up 2 from previous), and 7 people are on a ventilator (unchanged from previous report).
According to the state’s website, 1,375,681 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19, to-date. Iowa’s average reported positivity rate for the last 14-days jumped from 13.4% Tuesday to 14.1%, today. The health department says 249,867 Iowans have recovered from COVID-19.
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:
URBANA, Iowa – In an update to their previous report, the Iowa DCI, Tuesday, released an update on a Benton County death investigation. On January 1st, 2021, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted the Urbana Police Department in the investigation of a possible murder/suicide. The Urbana Police Department received a 911 call from 59-year-old Garry Jensen, stating he had shot and killed his 54-year-old wife, Margaret. Law enforcement responded to the Jensen residence, located at 300 East Main Street in Urbana, and found Margaret Jensen deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. Garry Jensen was also located inside the residence deceased, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner conducted autopsies on Margaret and Garry Jensen, and confirmed Margaret Jensen’s cause of death was the result of a gunshot wound and manner of death was homicide. Additionally, Garry Jensen’s death was ruled a suicide.
Assisting in the investigation was the Urbana Police Department, Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner Office, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Benton County Attorney’s Office.
(Radio Iowa) – While select groups of Iowans are now getting COVID-19 vaccines developed by either Pfizer or Moderna, a third company’s vaccine is now going into the third phase of testing in Omaha/Council Bluffs. Dr. Diana Florescu, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, says they’re grateful and excited to be chosen as a site for this important work. Dr. Florescu says, “Our hope is that this vaccine will prevent people from developing severe disease and decrease the chances of being hospitalized or dying.”
A healthcare worker, left, is administered a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Veghel, Netherlands, Wednesday Jan. 6, 2021. Nearly two weeks after most other European Union nations, the Netherlands on Wednesday began its COVID-19 vaccination program, with care home staff and frontline workers in hospitals first in line for the shot. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool via AP)
The investigational vaccine was developed by Novavax, a biotechnology company headquartered in Maryland. The Omaha-based hospital plans to enroll up to one-thousand study participants from Nebraska and Iowa. “We encourage individuals who won’t be receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in the next three to six months to consider enrolling in the clinical trial,” Florescu says. “Participants in the Novavax vaccine clinical trial can still receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines when it is available to them and still remain in the trial.”
The Novavax vaccine is protein-based and an added component is designed to boost a person’s immune response to stimulate higher levels of antibodies. “Like everyone else, we want to beat this pandemic. To do so, we need multiple, safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines,” Florescu says. “We also want to involve the most vulnerable communities: minorities, people over the age of 65, and those with other health conditions.”
The vaccine does not contain live or inactivated virus, she says, so it does not cause infection. It requires two shots to be given three weeks apart. For more information, visit: unmc.edu/covidvaccinetrial