With News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, Saturday (today),said there were eight additional deaths reported over the previous 24-hours, bringing the pandemic death toll to 5,878. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,299 of the total number of deaths across the state.

There were seven additional positive test results for COVID-19 returned from the labs, for a total of 388,331. There remain three Long-Term Care facility outbreaks, with 30 positive cases among residents and staff within those facilities.

Iowa reports over two-million (2,005,757) COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, and 851,762 individuals have completed the vaccine series.

Health officials say COVID-related hospitalizations are on the rise, from 226 Friday to 233 Saturday, and there are 50 COVID patients in an ICU (unchanged from Friday). The IDPH says 57 people with COVID symptoms were admitted to a hospital across the state, compared to 43 the previous day. And, 19 patients remain on a ventilator.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show: There are 25 hospitalized with COVID, two more than on Friday; 11 COVID patients are in an ICU; six people were admitted with symptoms of COVID, and there are now three COVID patients on a ventilator.

The 14-day positivity rate in Iowa is unchanged at 4.6%. There’s also no change in the seven-day positivity rate, which stands at 4.3%.

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:

Cass, 1,422 cases; {+0}; 54 deaths
Adair, 963; {+0}; 32
Adams, 339 {+0}; 4
Audubon, 511 {+1}; 9
Guthrie, 1,258 {+0}; 29
Harrison County, 1,886; {+1}; 73
Madison County, 1,676; {+0; 19
Mills County, 1,747; {+0}; 20
Montgomery, 1,080 {+1}; 37
Pottawattamie County, 11,771; {+0}; 162
Shelby County, 1,333 {+0}; 37
Union County, 1,320; {+0}; 32

An Iowa man has been indicted on charges related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January. KCCI reports the U.S. Attorney’s Office said 37-year-old Kyle James Young, of Redfield, assaulted officer Michael Fanone and attempted to take a weapon from an officer.

Young faces charges that include obstructing official proceedings, aid and abetting, civil disorder, assaulting certain officers, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted building or grounds, impeding ingress and egress in restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence on restricted building or grounds, impending passage through the Capitol grounds or building, acts of physical violence in the Capitol building or grounds, civil disorder, assault on an officer, and robbery.

The FBI’s field office arrested Young on Wednesday. Authorities said photo evidence linked Young to the Capitol attack.

(Atlantic, IA) – You are invited to visit The Armory at 201 Poplar Street in Atlantic on Sunday, April 18th anytime between 1:30 and 4:00 pm. This is not the usual sit-down program but a come-and-go visit including the Drill Floor. Numerous military footlockers are usually on display in the Military Museum but only a limited amount of contents can be displayed. Two of the footlockers have been chosen for display on the Drill Floor where uniforms, medals, and equipment can be laid out on tables. The quantity and variety of items held by those trunks is amazing.

Family members of Ray Underwood and Ralph Fritz donated these artifacts to be preserved. Underwood was in the Army 1955 to 1953 and taught engineering to soldiers at Ft. Leonard Wood. Fritz was a WWI participant serving in Germany, France and Luxembourg. Quotes from letters to home are included.

The Military Library will be open be to show off many new shelves and to check out books. The Military Museum special feature is a display of hats. Atlantic History Center will also be available. Take a look back at the history of KJAN.

Many people have been asking about the Drill Floor. How is it being used? What are plans for the future? Currently it is not in an attractive state and is being used for storage. Go up the outside steps to the original front door of The Armory. An elevator is an available alternative. Stroll around the Drill Floor. Take a look at conditions and share ideas for future use.

It is time to open the doors with a huge space for distancing and limited attendance at any one time. Please wear a mask. For more information see ariseAtlantic.org or Facebook: Rock Island Society Enterprise or call 243-5445. Also find the YouTube link to view last month’s program A Tour of the Armory.

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department, Friday, said there were two arrests that day. 43-year-old Rebecca Phillips, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Serious Assault. Her bond was set at $1,000. And, 45-year-old Chad Clark, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. Bond was set at $2,000.

On Thursday, Glenwood Police arrested 54-year-old Lori Crump, of Glenwood, on a Mills County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. Her bond was set at $300.

DES MOINES- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Friday, announced appointments to Iowa’s boards and commissions.
The following (area) appointments are subject to Senate confirmation:

• Iowa Autism Council 
  Wendy Andersen, Treynor
• County Finance Committee
  Kourtney Irlbeck, Carroll
• Early Childhood Iowa State Board
  Mary Petersen, Harlan
• Electrical Examining Board
  Marg Stoldorf, Red Oak
• Board of Nursing 
  Amber Mahrt, Denison
• State Soil Conservation Committee
  Margaret McQuown, Red Oak

(Radio Iowa) – A large crowd gathered today (Friday) in the Independence high school gym for the funeral of an Iowa State Trooper who was shot to death a week ago during a stand-off with an armed man in Grundy Center. For more than half an hour, officers from all over the country saluted as they filed by Sergeant Jim Smith’s flag-draped casket. Paul Heppner, interim pastor at Smith’s church in Jesup, spoke of the trooper’s faith to start the service. “He’s been a blessing to us and it’s difficult for us to let him go,” Heppner said.

ISP Sgt. Jim Smith

Hepner called Smith “the real deal.” “Jim had integrated God’s word into every part of his life and Jim’s internal compass pointed directly to honesty, integrity and love,” Heppner said. “See, Jim wasn’t putting on an act. It was his inner purity that made him unique.” John Noll, the worship leader at Smith’s church, delivered a closing prayer. “Friends, family, those he service with, those who he worshipped with — we all miss Jim and our hearts and our minds struggle to understand why this happened,” Noll said. “…We thank you for his life, his example of serving and we are forever grateful and forever better people for having known him.”

Colonel Nathan Fulk, chief of the Iowa State Patrol, called Smith a selfless leader. “Jim’s priorities were faith, family and his commitment to public service and his community,” Fulk said. It’s been 85 years since an Iowa State Trooper has been shot to death while on duty.  “During a time in history when we wonder with conflict and adversity and challenge, we can doubt the support we have in society,” Fulk said. “However the outpouring of support for the city of Independence has been truly amazing. You’ve reminded us why we love working, living and serving in the State of Iowa.”

As is customary, a final radio call for Smith was played to conclude the service.

Smith, who was 51, leaves behind a wife, a daughter and a son. Smith’s family has established a memorial fund to finance a scholarship in his name.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is co-sponsor of a pay equity bill that cleared the U.S. House Thursday. Axne says it would provide women new tools to fight wage discrimination in their workplace. “More than five decades after we passed the Equal Pay Act, we’re still only making 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man,” Axne says. And she says that pay gap is even wider for Black and Latino women. Axne says data shows women, especially working moms, were pushed out of the workforce during the pandemic and the bill addresses some of the loopholes that preserve the gap between what women and men earn.

“The ability to retaliate against employees who discuss their wages — those are the types of things that would be closed with this,” Axne says. The bill would eliminate barriers to class action lawsuits over wage disparities and it would limit how much information businesses can seek about what a job prospect is earning at their current job. Half of women who work — even those who are married — say they are the primary breadwinner in their household.

“This is not just a women’s issue,” Axne says. “This is a family issue and this is an economic issue.” The bill passed the House with a bipartisan majority and awaits action in the U.S. Senate.

(Radio Iowa)  – Iowa’s unemployment rate for March was the same as it was in February — three-point-seven percent. The number of Iowans receiving unemployment benefits increased slightly in March, just as the total number of people working in Iowa grew by about 32-hundred.

According to Iowa Workforce Development, the state’s hospitality industry has hired four-thousand people since December, mostly for work in restaurants and hotels.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Shenandoah man being held in the Pott. County Jail, was served Thursday, with a warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia and eluding a police officer. 39-year-old Alfred Vernon Mutchler, Jr., was then returned to the custody of Corrections staff. A man from Carson was arrested Thursday morning, for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. 21-year-old Riley Wayne French was taken into custody at around 10:15-a.m. at a residence in the 44,000 block of Highway 92.

Wednesday morning, Pott. County deputies arrested 30-year old Alyssa La Rae Brown, following a traffic stop on I-80 eastbound, in Council Bluffs. Brown was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and was later released.

There were several prisoner transfers from other jail facilities to the Pottawattamie County Jail, these past few days. Included among them was:

• 27-year-old Joseph Andrew Riesberg, of Council Bluffs, who was transported from the Montgomery County Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant for Burglary 3^rd Degree, Criminal Mischief 4^th and Theft 4^th.
• 45-year-old Michelle Marie Vincent, was transported from the Douglas County Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant for Child Endangerment, Abandonment.
• 36-year-old Brandon Earl Amos, of Omaha, NE, was transported from the Douglas County Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant for Harassment 2^nd Degree and Operating While Intoxicated 1^st Offense.
• 46-year-old Raul Tamayer, of Lakota, was transported from the Kossuth County Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant for Harassment 1^st Degree.
• and, 38-year-old Matthew Joseph Ramirez, of Omaha, Ne, was transported from the Douglas County Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant for Violation of Probation.