Sheriff’s Deputies in Cass County arrested a central Iowa man Wednesday. 30-year old William Lloyd Sandstrom, of Runnells, was arrested on charges of Trespassing and Public Intoxication. Sandstrom was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was being held pending a hearing in front of the Magistrate.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report 35-year old Steven Jerrame Meyer, of Council Bluffs, was arrested today (Thursday), at around 3:15-a.m . Meyer was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.

(Radio Iowa) — The University of Iowa Athletics Department reports a dozen coronavirus cases, as student athletes return to campus. Contact tracers have been tracking down who else may have been exposed and directing them to self-isolate, too. At an event Wednesday hosted by the Corridor Business Journal, U-I President Bruce Harreld said even one positive player can sideline many more.  “One positive test turns into eight, to ten, or sometimes even more, in isolation,” Harreld says. “So the math of this is getting very interesting and it’s getting difficult.”

The university says it’s working with local public health officials to provide testing and contact tracing as thousands of students return to campus in August. Cases in Johnson County are rising. The pandemic and ensuing economic crisis took a significant financial toll on U-I Hospitals and Clinics. According to an estimate earlier this month, U-I Health Care lost more than a 100-million dollars since March. Harreld says halting elective surgeries was a major blow.  He says, “The bad news is when we went from 800 patients in the hospital to 500 patients in the hospital on a daily basis, we basically, probably not a very good term, but it’s true, we trashed our financials.”

While the hospital has resumed elective surgeries, Harreld says operations are still not back up to full capacity.

(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County arrested a Council Bluffs man on drug charges, Wednesday afternoon. 40-year old Joshua Allen Aldredge was taken into custody for Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested while a “check location” for a wanted person investigation was conducted. Aldredges’ total bond was set at $2,300. He remained in the Pott. County Jail this (Thursday) morning.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have made an arrest in the fatal shooting of a man in a Des Moines city park. Police say they arrested 20-year-old Lee Targblor, of Des Moines, on Wednesday in the Tuesday night death of 31-year-old Paye Blawou, of Des Moines. Targblor was being held in the Polk County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, although that charge could be upgraded. Police say officers were called to Prospect Park around 8 p.m. Tuesday for reports of a shooting and found Blawou critically injured with a gunshot wound. He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

Police in Creston report three people were arrested on separate charges, Wednesday, with one person arrested twice:

• 31-year old T-J O’Neil Swan, of Promise City, was arrested for Simple Assault. Swan was cited and then released on a Promise to Appear.
• 50-year old Danny Ray Bird, Jr., of Creston, was arrested at his residence, also on a charge of Simple Assault. Bird was taken into custody and later released on a Promise to Appear.
• 55-year old Craig Allen Hauser, a homeless person, was arrested at around 2:23-p.m., for Trespassing. Hauser was cited and released on a Promise to Appear. Houser was arrested again at around 3:10-p.m., for Public Intoxication. He was being held on $300 bond in the Union County Jail.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) — Police in east-central Iowa have arrested a man after an hourslong standoff in which the man was accused of shooting at officers and setting his farmstead on fire. Television station KCCI reports that the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office was called around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday to a home about four miles southeast of Grinnell. Sheriff’s officials say they made contact with 49-year-old Dwaine Anthony Bauman, who became aggressive and fired a gun several times.

Authorities say he set fire to his home, two vehicles, a barn and almost 100 bales of hay. All were destroyed. Bauman was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. and charged him with three counts of second-degree arson and intimidation with a dangerous weapon.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Updated 10-a.m.) The Iowa Department of Public Health today (Thursday) reports 461 Iowans have tested positive for COVID-19 since Wednesday, for a total of 27,062 (9.8% of all persons tested). Of the total number of cases, 6,898 patients had a pre-existing condition. Authorities said also, four more people have died from the virus, for a total of 694. Officials say 487 of those who have died also had a pre-existing medical condition.

The number of Iowans who have tested negative is 247,994. The number who have recovered is 16,926. A total of 275,442 tests have been completed. COVID-19 outbreaks at Long-Term Care facilities (LTC’s) continues to decline, and as of today, is down to 28. Health officials say 830 staff/residents of those facilities have tested positive for the virus, 521 have recovered and there is no change in the number of LTC deaths (356).

In southwest/western Iowa RMCC Region 4, six patients are hospitalized (1 less than Wed., two are in an ICU, there were no new admissions, and one person remains on a ventilator. Statewide the numbers continue to decline, with 137 hospitalized, 42 in an ICU, and 26 on ventilators. Thirteen people were admitted to a hospital over the past 24-hours, as compared to 22 yesterday (Wednesday).

Overall, the number of Iowans tested is on the rise, the number of COVID-19 positive cases remains nearly steady, the number of those who have recovered is on the decline, and the number of deaths are also down.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, the positive COVID-19 cases and (/) the number of persons who have recovered, are as follows: *(reflects a change since Wed.)

• Cass: 16/16
• Adair: 14/11*
• Adams: 7/5
• Audubon: 15/11
• Guthrie: 63/48
• Montgomery: 10/7
• Pottawattamie: 648/440
• Shelby: 97 (an increase of 10 positive cases) 54 have recovered.