(Radio Iowa) – State officials have changed the method for publicly reporting the number of Covid-related deaths in Iowa, using the same system as the National Center for Health Statistics. The change initially added at least 177 deaths to the state count overnight. Iowa Department of Human Services director Kelly Garcia says the state is now using a special code number on death certificates indicating Covid was the underlying cause or a contributing factor to the death of an Iowan. “It is a more fulsome picture of exactly what happened surrounding that death,” she said, “rather than a case investigation which has bits and pieces and is accurate, to the best of our knowledge, but this is really relying on the full medical record.”

Until yesterday (Monday), state officials not only required Covid to be cited on a death certificate, but required proof the person had tested positive for the virus using a test that detects the genetic material of Covid. Garcia says there are new types of tests available now, plus the state relies on the judgment of doctors in reporting all other causes of death — using the coding system that now includes a code NUMBER for Covid. “This information will be helpful for national comparison and I believe it will also be helpful when we compare causes of death over the course of the entire 2020 calendar year…In years to come — one year out, five years out, 10 years out — this change will allow us to see an apples to apples comparison,” Garcia said.

She added, “…Nothing is changing around the way a clinician would do their work, rather we are changing the way we record that information at the state level.” The state website tracking coronavirus data will be updated every morning with an updated count on Covid-related deaths, according to Garcia. “This is a change that Iowans can rely on,” Garcia says. “Academics, those who do research in other capacities, from other states, at a national level can also rely on it and that is incredibly important.”

Also last (Monday) night, the Iowa Department of Human Services announced the Covid-related death of a resident at one of the six facilities the agency oversees. A department spokesman said the location or day of the death will not be released to protect the identity of the client who died.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Tabor Police Department are seeking information concerning a burglary that occurred at the Glenwood State Bank, located in Tabor, the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6th and early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 7th.

Authorities say a man entered the bank lobby at approximately 8:47 PM and then left the area. Two men returned at approximately 12:30 AM and removed the ATM from the lobby. The white males were said to be wearing camouflage jackets.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) _ Casey’s General Stores Inc. (CASY) on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $112 million. The Ankeny, Iowa-based company said it had profit of $3 per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.66 per share.

The convenience store chain posted revenue of $2.22 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.2 billion. Casey’s shares have increased 18% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $187.82, a rise of 8% in the last 12 months.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The remains of Nebraska and Iowa sailors who were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor 79 years ago will get to return home soon thanks to the work of experts at Offutt Air Force Base. It’s part of a five-year effort to identify Navy sailors and Marines who went missing while serving on the USS Oklahoma, a battleship that capsized during the attacks.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is working to identify remains with DNA technology and other modern methods. The agency’s historians and forensic anthropologists had hoped to identify 315, or 80%, of the missing men by the end of 2020. With weeks to go, they have identified 281 of them.

(Radio Iowa) – A 25-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder for a shooting that happened after hundreds of Trump supporters rallied outside the Iowa Capitol Sunday.  According to a news release from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, there was a confrontation in a public parking lot east of the Capitol. Michael McKinney of St. Charles is accused in court documents of intentionally firing a handgun” at a 15-year-old girl.

Michael McKinney

The teenager, identified only by her initials in court documents, was riding in a vehicle traveling through the parking when she was shot in the leg. She was taken to a Des Moines hospital for treatment. State officials on Sunday said the wound was not life-threatening.