Riverside School District Superintendent Dr. Tim. Michell reports, the Riverside Community School District administration was notified of a potential COVID-19 exposure on Sunday August 2, 2020.  Mitchell says Tuesday morning, August 4th, Pottawattamie County Public Health confirmed that a Riverside student has tested positive for COVID-19.  The Riverside facilities utilized by the student were closed on Monday August 3, 2020 for deep cleaning and disinfecting per Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidance. Riverside notified public health, identified potential close contact students and staff, requested quarantine of potentially exposed students and staff and provided Pottawattamie Public Health potential close contacts for followup.

Following the guidance from the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Public Health released last week, Mitchell says the student will not be allowed to return to school until after 24 hours with no fever and symptoms improving and 10 days since symptoms started.  Any potential student or staff member that is determined to have been in close contact (within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes) can not return to school for 14 days from the last contact with the student. Riverside facilities have now reopened and programming has continued.

Any questions can be directed to Tim Mitchell, Superintendent, 712-484-2212 or tmitchell@riverside.k12.ia.us.

WEST LAKE OKOBOJI, Iowa – The DNR Law Enforcement Bureau is seeking the public’s help in locating a boat involved in a hit and run on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 at approximately 10:35pm, near Manhattan Point on West Lake Okoboji. A boat, traveling northbound hit another boat from behind just off Manhattan Point, injuring Vaughn Wickman, 52, of Spirit Lake, who was operating the boat that was hit. The boat that caused the crash then fled the scene.

Wickman was transported to a local hospital by ambulance where he was treated for injuries sustained in the crash. DNR Conservation Officers and local law enforcement attempted to locate the boat involved, and also utilized the Dickinson County thermal imaging drone, but were not able to locate the boat. Conservation Officers continue to investigate the incident.

Anyone with information related to this hit and run investigation, including witnesses or anyone who sees a boat with new front end damage or scrape marks, is asked to contact DNR Conservation Officer Steve Reighard immediately at (712) 260-1018 or Steve.Reighard@dnr.iowa.gov. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should state that when sharing pertinent information related to this case.

(Updated) (Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds signed an executive order this (Wednesday) morning to automatically restore voting rights to most paroled felons.

The order restores voting rights to about 40-thousand people statewide, though it won’t apply to those convicted of murder, manslaughter or serious sex crimes. Reynolds had advocated for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to make the change — but indicated she would sign the executive order after that process stalled in the Iowa Legislature.

Reynolds says lawmakers still needs to approve the amendment so it can be voted on by Iowans.

Betty Andrews, who heads the N-double-A-C-P of Iowa and Nebraska, thanked the governor for keeping her promise to sign the order.

The order technically restores citizenship rights and does NOT require repayment of victim restitution before a felon can vote. State Legislator Ako Abdul-Samad has pushed for the executive order as well and was on hand for the signing.

The order, which technically restores citizenship rights, does NOT require repayment of victim restitution before a felon may vote. That was a sticking point for many Republican legislators who balked at the idea of automatically restoring felon voting rights, and Reynolds says she wanted to let that discussion continue while the legislation was in the works.

The governor says she has talked with the groups which pushed for the change and they plan to have a bigger celebration in the future.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Tuesday, arrested 23-year old Jacob Aaron Leon John Esque, of Clarinda. He was taken into custody on a Page County warrant for Failure to appear for a Revocation of Probation hearing, for Violation of Probation. Esque was arrested at the Page County Jail. He was being held on a $2,000 cash-only bond, pending further court proceedings.

And, 41-year old Lorenzo Louis Lawson, of Shenandoah, was arrested Tuesday, on a Page County Warrant for Violation of No contact / protective order –
contempt and Violation of probation. Lawson was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail and transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $2,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) has launched two new programs to help businesses and non-profits during COVID-19. Officials say the Small Business Utility Disruption Prevention Program will assist small businesses and non-profits economically impacted by COVID-19. The program will cover utility bills for service provided during the months of disruption to their business.

Eligibility:

• Iowa-based for profit and nonprofit businesses with 50 or fewer employees
• Must have a physical location (non-residential) in Iowa
• Must be registered with the Iowa Secretary of State to do business in the State of Iowa (or with the County Recorder for sole proprietors)
• Must not be an ineligible business type:
  Adult Entertainment; Construction, Internet Sales, without corresponding storefront; Medical; Private Clubs, Professional Services; Professional Sports; Religious Institutions, with the exception of those offering social services including daycare, food bank, preschool, shelter, etc.
• Have not received funds provided by the State of Iowa’s Small Business Relief Grant (SBRG) funding
• Have not received any funds provided by the State of Iowa’s Nonprofit Recovery Fund
• Must have experienced a COVID-19 loss of revenue on or after March 17, 2020, that resulted in unpaid bills for electric or natural gas utility service provided between March 17, 2020, and June 30, 2020
• Applicants’ average monthly electric usage must not exceed 25,000 kWh for electricity or 2,500 therms for natural gas (review with your utility bill and/or contact your utility provider to confirm)
• Businesses must be open

To learn more or to apply, visit https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/Business/energy-recovery. The deadline to apply is August 21, or till funds are exhausted.

The Iowa Non-Profit Recovery Fund will provide short-term relief to non-profit organizations that have seen reduced revenue and/or increased costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible non-profits may be awarded a grant of up to $25,000 based on income, expenses, outstanding obligations and other state and federal assistance received.

To be eligible:

• Must be a 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6) or 501(c)(19) based in Iowa
• Experienced a documented, involuntary loss of revenue and/or increase in expenses that occurred after March 1, 2020 due to COVID-19.
• Annual operating budget of more than $25,000
• Twenty-five or fewer full-time equivalent employees
• A primary mission to serve the program’s priority service populations

For more information or to apply, visit www.iowabusinessrecover.com. The application deadline is August 14 at 5 PM and is a first come, first serve basis grant.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Missouri was arrested today (Wednesday), on a Page County warrant. 31-year old Brandy Rochelle Baker, of James Port, MO., was taken into custody on a Warrant for Failure to appear for sentencing on original charges of Theft in the 2nd Degree, and 4 counts of Forgery.

Baker was arrested at the Atchison County Missouri Jail and transported to the Page County Jail where she is being held on $10,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

UPDATE 10:08-a.m. – FOUND SAFE!

Police in Omaha police have issued an Endangered/Missing Advisory a Nebraska woman. Jan Lemaster is an 86-year-old white female. She is 5’4″ 135 with grey hair. LeMaster may be driving a light blue 2005 Buick Lesabre, with a Nebraska license plate UWY170. Authorities say the woman suffers from dementia, and should not be driving. If you see Jan Lemaster or the vehicle, please call 911 or the Omaha Police Department at 402-444-5636.

Jan Lemaster

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report the arrest Tuesday evening, of a Glenwood woman. 35-year-old Robyn Leigh Salmon was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Her bond was set at $25,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The public works director in Spencer says it appears the fire at the city-owned landfill near Graettinger has been extinguished. Fire departments were first dispatched to the scene a month ago. Spencer Public Works Director Mark White says fire crews were called out two other times when smoke was seen rising from the landfill. “The first one was on the 7th of July and the second one was on the 14th of July,” he says. “…It is a little different to fight a landfill fire. A lot of material has to be dug out, extinguished and we were fortunate during all of the events to have a contractor on site with an excavator.”

White says Spencer city staff has spent quite a bit of time at the site, digging material out of the burn zone and hauling in clay that’s been spread on top. “It’s all been in the same spot, so most likely it’s something deep within that’s been smouldering for quite some time,” White says.

A report about landfill fires prepared for the State of Missouri indicates more than eight-thousand fires are reported at landfills in the United States each year and the vast majority are contained before the landfill is compromised.

(Radio Iowa) – Leaders in Iowa City and surrounding Johnson County are taking more steps to try and slow the spread of coronavirus. The County Board of Health has approved an ordinance mandating the use of face coverings in public, which the county attorney says -will- be enforceable. Kim Bergen-Jackson, administrator of Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City, says the order will help save the lives of her residents. “This is not a political problem for me. It is not a hoax or a joke,” Bergen-Jackson says. “We’re not gambling with your life, but the lives of my friends, my 70-, 80-, 90- and 100-year-old friends, who want to be here to live another year older.”

The ordinance now goes to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors for final approval. State officials say local governments don’t have the authority to issue such mandates. Meanwhile, nearly 300 faculty members and graduate student instructors at the University of Iowa signed a petition calling for a priority to be placed on online classes this fall. The U-I is moving many large classes online, but says face-to-face instruction will still be prioritized for classes with fewer than 50 students. Megan Knight is an associate professor in the U-I Department of Rhetoric. “A lot of my colleagues feel sort of caught between a rock and a hard place,” Knight says. “They’re really frightened about job insecurity and they’re frightened of the risk of face-to-face classroom teaching during a global pandemic.”

Johnson County Supervisor Royceann Porter says she’s concerned because the university says it will not require students to be tested for COVID-19 before returning this fall. “That’s thousands and thousands of people coming into our city that’s not even being tested or won’t have to quarantine,” Porter says. “We don’t know what they have when they get here.”

Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are also holding some in-person classes this fall.
(By Kate Payne and Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)