A Public Hearing on the Exira-EHK School District 2020-21 Budget will take place 6-p.m. Monday in the Conference Room at the Elk Horn Building, and with public comments being accepted by phone, with advance notice. Members of the public who have questions or comments should contact Mr. Miller on Monday, prior to the meeting, at 712-764-4616, if you wish to call in to the meeting.

Following the hearing, the Exira-EHK Board will enter into their regular session, with Discussion/and-or action on the following:

• Approval of an IASB Resolution for Classified Staff, Board Polices, etc., as related to COVID-19.
• Approval of the 2020-21 School Budget.
• Approval Certified Teacher, Support and Administration Salaries.
• Approval of: an AEA Purchasing Contract for Food Service Items; METC as the Telephone/Internet Provider; the 2020 Graduating Class (Pending meeting graduation requirement).
• Approval of a School-Based Interventionist.
• And, action on approving Personnel – hires, transfers, resignations, etc.

Police in Red Oak, late Saturday night, arrested 65-year old Jay Mitchell Gage, of Emerson, for OWI/1st offense. Gage was taken into custody at around 11:20-p.m., and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $1,000.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man following a pursuit that began with a traffic stop in Montgomery County and ended in Pottawattamie County. Authorities say the incident began at around 7-p.m., Saturday, when a Montgomery County Deputy tried to stop a vehicle for traveling at a high rate of speed, near Highway 48 and 160th Street. The driver of the vehicle led law enforcement on a pursuit through Montgomery, Mills and finally Pottawattamie County, before authorities lost sight of the vehicle.

Joshua Mohn

A witness notified Montgomery County a vehicle matching the chased vehicle, was located near Macedonia, in a bean field near 425th and Applewood. The driver of the vehicle was seen walking back to his car when Deputies arrived and conducted an arrest. The man was identified as 41-year old Joshua Mohn. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on charges that include Eluding (Speed in excess of 25 mph over the legal limit), Driving While Barred, and Reckless Driving.

Montgomery County Deputies were assisted by deputies with the Mills, Pottawattamie, Cass and Fremont County Sheriff’s Offices, and Red Oak Police.

Officials with the Stuart Police Department said early this (Sunday) morning that they were investigating reports of shots fired at the South Summit Apartment Complex, located in the 600 block of SW 7th Street. Two male subjects were being detained, a weapon was recovered and there were no reports of injuries.

Authorities say this appears to be an isolated incident. They were asking the public to stay away from the area while the crime scene was still an active and the investigation was underway.

A head-on crash at around 10:50-p.m. Saturday in Taylor County has claimed the life of a woman from Georgia. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2001 Toyota Corolla driven by 23-year old Kellie Renee Staples, of Claxton, Georgia, was traveling north on Tennessee Avenue, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle crossed the center line into southbound traffic, and struck a southbound 2019 Ford Flex, head-on, south of Lenox.

Staples, who was not wearing a seat belt,  died at the scene. The driver of the Ford, 40-year old John H. Fraley, of Streator, Illinois, was not injured. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Taylor and Adams County Sheriff’s Offices, Lenox Fire & Rescue, and Taylor County Ambulance.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:55 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Fourteen residents at a Cedar Rapids nursing home that has been at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in Iowa have died. The facility’s owner says 60 residents at Heritage Specialty Care and 30 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. That represents roughly half the residents and a quarter of the staff at the facility. Of the 60 infected residents, the home says that 14 have recovered and another 14 had died as of Friday. A statement from the home says the “hearts, thoughts and prayers of our Heritage staff and our organization go out to the families of these special loved ones.”

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — The city of Ankeny is asking for the public’s help to help protect essential city employees by making and donating protective cloth masks for workers. The city says in a written release that it’s especially concerned for the safety of public works, utilities, park maintenance and office staff. The homemade masks would also go to fire, emergency medical staff and police officer to wear while in their stations in between calls. Those emergency responders will wear professional personal protection equipment while on calls where they come in contact with the public.

UNDATED (AP) — A gaping spread in statistical models for the coronavirus pandemic has injected a political element into the scientific endeavor. Governors in some states have cited the direst forecasts in issuing stay-at-home orders. Other elected officials have seized on more optimistic figures to justify their calls to loosen restrictions. The federal government doesn’t have a national clearinghouse for virus models. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t publicly released any coronavirus models of its own or identified a modeling consensus for states to follow. Meanwhile, some states are tapping local experts to cobble together their own models.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An infectious and fatal strain of bird flu has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in northeast South Carolina, the first case of the more serious strain of the disease in the United States since it was reported in a Tennessee chicken flock in 2017. A less severe strain of bird flu had been detected along the North Carolina and South Carolina state recently but the case in Chesterfield County, South Carolina discovered on Monday was found to be a more fatal and easily spread strain. More than 32,000 turkeys in the flock were euthanized. The USDA confirmed it Thursday.

Several area business are benefiting from Iowa’s recently launched Iowa Small Business Relief Program, while others are left waiting and wondering when they will get some help. According to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), the program is designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses that have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It offers eligible small businesses grants ranging from $5,000-$25,000 in addition to offering Iowa businesses a deferral of sales and use or withholding taxes due and waiver of penalty and interest.

The application window for funds closed on March 31st. IEDA says “At this time all available funds have been expended. If additional funding becomes available, additional awards will be made from the current pool of applicants. IEDA will not open a new round of application.”

Iowa Small Business Relief Grant award notifications were made the week of April 7th through the 10th. All applicants that were awarded a grant have received an official.  In the KJAN listening area, here are some of the small businesses that received a grant:

• Cliffs’ Lounge, LLC. in Audubon – $7,000
• Corning Winery & Vineyard, Inc. – $8,000
• Do Drop/Just one More, LLC. (In Guthrie County) – $5,000.
• Menlo Cafe’ – $15,000.
• Westside Diner, LLC (Atlantic) –  $15,000.
• Brymon’s Home Furnishings (Atlantic) – $22,599.
• Downtowner Cafe & Catering (Atlantic) – $22,000.
• JM Double B, LLC (Cass County) – $20,000.

Lists of other grant recipients can be found here https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/aspx/general/dynamicpage.aspx?id=205