- KJAN, Atlantic .32″
- 7 miles NNE of Atlantic .22″
- Massena .35″
- Anita .43″
- Avoca .3″
- Oakland .2″
- Audubon .18″
- Guthrie Center .25″
- Bridgewater .5″
- Corning .26″
- Manning .27″
- Red Oak .34″
- Clarinda .3″
AMES, Iowa – Sept. 11, 2020 – The Iowa Department of Transportation has recently released an update to the Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan to reflect today’s operating environment and current needs of Iowa’s public transportation system. The Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan update has been under development over the last 18 months, including researching the historical trends in demographics and passenger transportation usage, forecasting future projected needs within the public transit system, and devising strategies to address any challenges.
Some of the key findings identified within the Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan include the following.
With the completion of this Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan, the planning process transitions into implementation. During this phase, the Iowa DOT will expand on the partnerships it has formed with key stakeholders in order to help guide investments among all of Iowa’s 35 public transit systems and support Iowa’s vision of rightsizing the system.
As this Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan is implemented through various projects and activities outlined in the strategies section, the impact of these efforts will be measured and used to refine our approach to public transit and inform future Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan updates. If you are interested in learning more about Iowa’s Public Transit Long Range Plan and related information, please visit https://iowadot.gov/iowainmotion/Modal-Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan.
News reports say new information is expected to be released this (Friday) morning regarding a missing Page County man. According to a Missing Persons Case Network Facebook post, a silver alert has been canceled for 80-year-old Donald Eugene “Gene” Ripley, as he was found dead. Ripley had been missing since early last Thursday morning, when he left Uvalde, Texas, and had not been seen since.
Ripley was last seen driving a red Chrysler Town and Country Minivan. The license plate was last read in Denton County, Texas, approximately 28 hours after he left Uvalde. Texas authorities issued a silver alert following the initial report of his disappearance.
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) today (Friday) says over the past 24-hours (10-a.m. Thursday-10-a.m. Friday), three more deaths were attributed to COVID-19, and there were 798 new positive cases of the virus, including one more in Cass County (total here of 119). IDPH reports 72,754 total positive cases, 52,291 recoveries and 1,208 deaths since the pandemic began. Pre-existing conditions accounted for 842 of the reported deaths, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities number 646.
New, positive cases in this area include: 1 more each in Adair, Adams, and Shelby Counties; 4 more cases in Guthrie County, three new cases in Madison County, and two new cases in Harrison County. There have been 689,227 Iowans tested for COVID-19. IDPH reported 5,522 lab test results received in the previous day, with 572 positive results and 4,937 negative results, for a positivity rate of 9.2% over the last 14 days. The total number of negative test results to date is 614,962.
IDPH data show statewide, hospitalizations are down to 281 from 302 yesterday. Health officials say: 83 people are in an ICU (compared to 85 yesterday), 27 were admitted (48 reported yesterday); and 36 people were on ventilators (up 2 from Thursday). The numbers in western/southwest Iowa show: 10 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 (13 yesterday); 6 in an ICU (down 2 from Thursday); 1 person was admitted (there were 2 yesterday), and 2 people were on a ventilator (one less than on Thursday).
There are now 34 long-term care facilities reporting a coronavirus outbreak in Iowa, up from 4 the previous day. IDPH reports 872 current positive cases and 387 recoveries within those facilities.
Here are the latest positive case numbers for southwest/western Iowa (County; Positive Case #’s; number of persons who have (recovered); {deaths since the outbreak began}.
(Radio Iowa) – A season of uncertainty and high expectations begins tomorrow (Saturday) for Iowa State, as the Cyclones host Louisiana in their only non conference game of the season. The Cyclone defense will be challenged by a Louisiana offense that averaged nearly 38 points per game last season. Ragin’ Cajun quarterback Levi Lewis passed for more than three thousand yards and 26 touchdowns a year ago.
That’s ISU coach Matt Campbell, who says Lewis has the mobility and the arm strength of the quarterbacks they face in the Big-12.
Lewis is complimented by a ground game that averaged just over 257 yards per game last season.
Campbell says an Iowa State offense with some new starters in the line and receiving corps faces a tough challenge.
Louisiana coach Bill Napier does not think the lack of a crowd in Jack Trice Stadium will have much of an impact.
Napier says the Cyclones offer a big enough challenge even without a crowd.
Kickoff in Jack Trice Stadium is 11:00AM. The game will be carried by ESPN.
(Radio Iowa) – Shenandoah residents will pause at midday today (Friday) to mark a significant moment in our nation’s history. “A Day to Remember” is the theme of the city’s annual Patriot’s Day commemoration, honoring those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11th of 2001. As in previous years, the event will start with a familiar sound.
That’s the Shenandoah Fire Department’s sounding of the “Four-Fives,” honoring firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives responding to emergencies that day. Distinguished local residents have provided keynote addresses in past ceremonies — including one directly touched by the 9/11 attacks. In 2018, Kim Leininger of Essex was the speaker. Leininger was the aunt of Douglas Ketcham, a New York stockbroker with Cantor Fitzgerald, who was working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower when a hijacked plane crashed into it. Leininger relayed the story of Douglas’ final moments. “When he called that morning, he said he didn’t know what had happened, but his room was filled with smoke and he was under his desk, calling on his cell phone. He said the door to the fire escape was locked, and no one could get out,” Leininger says. “He said he loved us, but he didn’t know what might happen. That was the last we ever heard from him.”
In 2019, Page County Veterans Affairs executive director Janet Olsen recalled how victims awoke on that warm, sunny day in 2001, not knowing of their fates. “Most of us got up this morning and didn’t have a whole lot of things to worry about,” said Olsen. “Me, personally, it was what flavor of Pop Tart am I going to eat? So, a gorgeous beautiful day. But, let me tell you something, the day that this happened on 9/11, there were 2,752 people just like us, American citizens, who had the same dilemma, whether they wanted blueberry or strawberry. They woke up, they took care of their families, and they went to work — and we lost them.”
Shenandoah Mayor Dick Hunt is this year’s keynote speaker. Shenandoah High School’s Marching Mustangs will play the National Anthem. The Shenandoah American Legion’s Color Guard will also participate in the 12:10 p.m. ceremony at Bogart Park.
Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln at Urbandale
Sioux City, North at Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson
Carroll at Denison-Schleswig
Creston O-M at Lewis Central
Glenwood at Harlan
Atlantic at Greene County
Red Oak at Clarinda
Shenandoah at Des Moines Christian
Van Meter at Panorama
West Central Valley at Kuemper Catholic
Woodward-Granger at ACGC
MVAOCOU at Underwood
Missouri Valley at OABCIG
Treynor at East Sac County
Madrid at Nodaway Valley
Ogden at Earlham (ND)
AHSTW at Southwest Valley
St. Albert at Riverside – ON KJAN and KJANTV
Tri-Center at Sidney
Logan-Magnolia at Westwood, Sloan
Ridge View at West Monona – Whiting
Woodbury Central, Moville at IKM-Manning
East Union at CAM –ON CAM COUGAR CHANNEL
Fremont-Mills at East Mills
Lenox at Griswold –ON GRIZTIGERVISION
Stanton/Essex Vikings at Bedford (ND)
Audubon at West Harrison/Whiting Hawkeyes
Boyer Valley at Coon Rapids-Bayard
Glidden-Ralston at Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton- ON SPARTAN MEDIA
Woodbine at Ar-We-Va
(Radio Iowa) – With 53 days left until Election Day, a handful of prominent Republicans are traveling the state in a red bus, rallying with Iowans who support President Trump. Matt Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union. “They tell us in the swamp that we support a liar. Have you ever met a politician that has told more truth?” Schlapp said and the crowd responded: “No.”
Schlapp spoke to about 100 people gathered in a Trump campaign office in Des Moines late Thursday afternoon. Eric Branstad, senior advisor to Trump’s campaign in Iowa, urged the crowd to volunteer to make phone calls — and vote early so they can drive voters to the polls on Election Day. “I need everyone to do everything they can for the next several weeks to get there,” Branstad said.
Matt Whitaker, an Ankeny native, served three months as Trump’s Attorney General. He touted Trump’s law and order message and criticized N-F-L players who kneel during the National Anthem. “I’m not watching this. Are you watching this?” Whitaker asked and the crowd yelled: “No!” Whitaker continued: “I will not give a dollar to my money to any organization that supports a radical, socialist agenda.”
By the end of today (Friday), Whitaker and others on the Trump bus will have made stops in a dozen Iowa cities this week. Those stops include: Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Newton, Des Moines, Ottumwa, Washington, Coralville and Davenport.
(Radio Iowa) – Students in Des Moines Public Schools will continue with virtual classes as the school board wrestles with its response to a judge’s ruling AND the state’s refusal to waive a requirement that students spend at least half their time in a classroom. Des Moines School Board members held a two-and-a-half-hour work meeting last (Thursday) night.
Board member Kalyn Cody says Covid case counts in Polk County haven’t declined enough and he wants the district to continue classes online for at least nine weeks — until the first quarter ends. “Our conditions are not favorable for opening our doors,” he said. “Everywhere else in the world has figured this out.” Board member Kimberly Martorano says the board simply cannot hope the governor is bluffing about forcing students to make up time spent online rather in the classroom — and extending the school year would cost the district at least a million dollars per day. “I think we owe it to our students and our families to get into compliance and to do it safely,” she said. “…It’s very scary to know that the lives of our students and our staff are in our hands right now.”
Terre Caldwell-Johnson is among the board members who met with officials from the Iowa Departments of Education and Public Health earlier in the day. “I think we have a state and governor that has extended an olive branch…We need to maximize that opportunity to our benefit,” Caldwell Johnson said. “…So instead of putting up road blocks, I’m willing to build bridges and I’m willing to move mountains to bring our kids back.”
Other board members say the state’s largest school district may not have enough teachers if students return to classrooms, since some teachers may decline to be inside school buildings for health reasons. Superintendent Thomas Ahart says in addition to finding teachers, transporting kids to schools is a challenge in the district. “What we’re finding is we have bus drivers who are literally afraid for the health and their life,” Ahart said, “and we’re losing bus drivers faster than we can hire and train new drivers.”
Twenty percent of ALL the school bus drivers in Iowa are over the age of 70 and well over half of all Iowa school bus drivers are over 60.
Here is the latest sports news from The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns, Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran through the rain for 138 yards and another score, and the Kansas City Chiefs began defense of their first championship in 50 years by beating the Houston Texans 34-20 on Thursday night. The first game of the NFL season was played before a socially distanced crowd of about 17,000 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also came after a series of videos and demonstrations by both teams designed to raise awareness of social justice initiatives.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jeimer Candelario capped off a two-homer day with a two-run, bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to help the Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 for a doubleheader split, Thursday. The Cardinals won the opener 12-2 behind a five-homer attack. In the first game, Yadier Molina, wearing uniform No. 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente, hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the second inning for the Cardinals. Candelario hit a two-run homer in the first game and added a solo shot in the nightcap.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Kansas City rookie Brady Singer allowed just one hit _ a two-out single through an infield shift in the eighth inning _ and flirted with baseball history while leading the Royals to a 11-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Making just his ninth career start, the 24-year-old Singer (2-4) was four outs from becoming the 36th rookie to throw a no-hitter when Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges, who came in batting .148, bounced a single through a wide-open right side. The hit came on a full-count and Singer’s 116th pitch. Maikel Franco and Adalberto Mondesi each hit three-run homers for the Royals.
UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State will open against an opponent from the Football Bowl Subdivision for the first time since 2012. The Cyclones originally were set to ease into the season against South Dakota from the Championship Subdivision. The coronavirus pandemic caused postponements and cancellations across college football, and the Cyclones had to scramble to line up Louisiana-Lafayette for Saturday. ISU coach Matt Campbell hopes the Cyclones don’t get more than they bargained for in a game that will net the Ragin’ Cajuns $350,000. Lafayette is coming off an 11-win season that ranks as its best in program history.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Davis had 29 points and 12 rebounds while dominating the paint in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 110-100 win over the Houston Rockets. Davis also helped Los Angeles compile a 52-26 rebounding edge in taking a three-games-to-one lead in the NBA’s Western Conference semifinal series. Houston also had trouble stopping LeBron James, who finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists.