A Creston man was arrested Tuesday afternoon, on a sexual abuse charge. Creston Police says 21-year old Matthew Davis was taken into custody at 900 S. Birch Street on a charge of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. Davis was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

(7-a.m. News) A semi tractor-trailer rollover accident in Adair County Tuesday night has claimed the life of a man from California. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2019 Freightliner semi driven by 52-year old Jaspal Singh, of Sacramento, CA, was traveling east on Interstate 80 near mile marker 74 (two-miles west of Adair), when for reasons unknown, the semi swerved off the road and entered the south ditch, where it rolled over. The accident happened at around 11:23-p.m.

A passenger in the semi, 26-year old Jagjit Singh, of Madera, CA, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The accident remains under investigation. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, and Adair Fire/Rescue.

(Radio Iowa) – Three inmates at the Woodbury County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19. Sheriff Dave Drew says the inmates were asymptomatic and were discovered in a routine test.
He says they were doing tests for inmates that were being sent back to the state prison system and found the three positives. They then decided to test everyone in the jail. The jail has around 145 inmates. Drew praised the jail staff for the work they have done to try and prevent the coronavirus from spreading. He says staff are constantly cleaning, as are the inmates to try and prevent the virus from getting into the jail.

Chief Deputy Tony Wingert says they also screen new inmates when they come to the jail. “As new inmates come in, we have a protocol that they are isolated, the nurses are giving them questionnaires. They are having their temperature taken and if they show no signs after a couple of days they are moved into the general population,” he says. Wingert says two jail staff members have also tested positive for COVID-19. One was two weeks ago and one ten days ago and both were also asymptomatic.

The three inmates are in an isolation wing of the jail.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Transportation Commission has approved the latest version of the five-year road improvement plant. The pandemic has created some uncertainty about the state funding sources — but D-O-T planner Stuart Anderson says the commission adjusted. “The forecasts that commission used were all done pre COVID-19, and in discussions with the commission they decided continue using those forecasts for the development of this program,” according to Anderson.

This is a five-year program and hopefully those impacts of COVID-19 don’t extend a real long period in that five-year program.” Anderson says the Transportation Commission has for the last several years used a stewardship approach in setting projects. “Which really means putting more money into rebuilding and repairing existing roads and bridges. Doing more modernization improvements along existing infrastructure,” Anderson says.

New additions to the program this year include six-lane improvements on I-35 in Polk and Story Counties, I-74 Mississippi River Bridge replacement in Bettendorf, I-80/380 Interchange reconstruction near Iowa City, six-lane improvements on I-80 in Dallas and Johnson Counties, I-80 Mississippi River Bridge replacement in Scott County, I-380/Tower Terrace interchange construction in Hiawatha, and the interstate system reconstruction in Council Bluffs. He says they also added work to increase the resiliency of Iowa Highway 2 in southwest Iowa along the Missouri River to increase the elevation for the area that has seen a lot of flooding.

Anderson says the amount of money spent on the road plan has stayed pretty stable. He says it was three-point-five billion last year and this year it is three-point-six billion. “The state funding is relatively flat. We of course have the fuel tax increase in 2015, which provided a big bump in funding.” You can see the complete plan on the Iowa D-O-T’s website (https://iowadot.gov/program_management/Five-Year-Program)

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard today (Wednesday), shows seven people have died from the virus over the past 24-hours, for a total of 629. Of the 202, 594 tests that have been completed, 22, 454 Iowans tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 253 since Tuesday. Those who have tested Negative number 178,698.. The number of Iowans who have recovered from the virus continues to improve, at 13,532, as compared to 13,277 on Tuesday. 245 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID-19, 73 are in an ICU, 20 were admitted over the past 24-hours, and 49 were on ventilators. With the exception of new hospital admissions, the rest of the numbers are all down from yesterday.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are down to 38. The number of LTC staff/patient testing positive for COVID-19 is down 107 to 1,457. Those who have recovered amount to 796, and 312 have died at LTC facilities, which is an increase of 3 since Tuesday.

In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA): 6 people are hospitalized, 2 are in an ICU, none were admitted to the hospital Tuesday, and 2 are on ventilators. Those stats are also down from Tuesday. Here’s the latest county-by-county breakdown, with the number of positive cases, and (The number recovered):

• Cass: 13 (12)
• Adair: 10 (9)
• Adams: 7 (4)
• Audubon: 13 (10)
• Guthrie: 55 (38)
• Montgomery: 9 (6)
• Pottawattamie: 394 (225)
• Shelby: 43 (34).