(Radio Iowa) — If online orders for seeds and plants are any indication, there will likely be many more backyard gardens around the state this year. Since mid-March, interest in garden seeds and plants has quadrupled at the Midwest headquarters of Earl May in Shenandoah. Spokeswoman Deanna Anderson says online orders came in at an astonishing pace. “It was an interesting time for us,” Anderson says. “It was kind of fun, back to the catalog days for us. We really liked that and we love sharing our knowledge with our customers and hope that they continue throughout the next several years.”

Anderson says onion sets and seed potatoes flew off the shelves. Now that the weather is more springlike, she says tomato plants are growing more popular.  “As we’re getting into this warmer weather, especially this last ten days of really nice weather and it looks like we’re going to have great weather for the next few days, you can definitely see that itch for people to get out,” Anderson says. “They’re wanting to put stuff into their yard and their garden so they can do stuff with their kids.”

She says many customers say they‘re planting a garden for the first time or haven’t had one for several years. Earl May has 29 garden centers the Midwest including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a Ringgold County man was arrested Wednesday morning on a Union County warrant for Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree. 20-year old Kaden Lee Witt, of Redding, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, and later released on a  $10,000 bond.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Thursday press conference on COVID-19. We plan on providing live audio of the presser on KJAN as well. The press conference is set to begin at approximately 11:00 a.m.

(Radio Iowa) — A giant food processing company that was recently forced to shut down its  plants in Columbus Junction, Perry and Waterloo due to coronavirus outbreaks now plans to double employee bonuses. Tyson Foods, Inc., announced in a press release Wednesday that the company will be paying an extra $120 million in bonuses to frontline workers and truckers. Earlier this month, Tyson said the amount would be $60 million. Under the program, 116,000 Tyson workers are eligible to receive two $500 payments – one in May and one in July.

According the press release, Tyson Foods is also increasing short-term disability benefits through the end of June for team members who are unable to work due to illness. The company says its also increasing employee screening and implementing other safety measures designed to protect production workers from the virus.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha says it has shut down an off-base child care center after a child care provider there tested position for COVID-19. The base says in a news release Wednesday that infected person had been in contact with staff and children at the Child Development Center 1 before self-quarantining. Officials say contact tracing is currently being conducted by the Offutt Public Health section, which will contact those who may have been exposed. Offutt says the Child Development Center will be professionally sanitized before reopening. No date has been set to reopen the center.

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

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

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Officials with the Creston Police Department report a man from Missouri was arrested just before 1-a.m. today (Thursday), in the 300 block of N. Birch Street. 31-year old Lance Wood, of Lexington, MO., was arrested for Public Intoxication. Wood was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh reports earlier this spring, a local trucking company, Sindt Transportation, was delivering frozen chicken to a customer when the driver realized he had accidentally been given one too many pallets of frozen chicken. The meat supplier told the trucking company to just go ahead and donate the chicken. But, getting rid of a pallet of frozen chicken is no small task when the pallet is 1400 pounds—700 boxes of 20 pounds of chicken. And, the refrigerated truck trailer was needed for business the next day.

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According to Hoegh, “This is one of those times when it is just so much fun to see how people in Cass County jump into action.” The trucking company made contact with the Lord’s Cupboard, a food pantry in Griswold, who then called Hoegh to see if anyone else could take chicken. Soon enough, Cumberland Care and Share, a food pantry in Cumberland, and the Anita Food Pantry, were on their way to Lyman to pick up chicken. Carol Seddon, a member of the Atlantic Kiwanis, drove down to get chicken to share with families who have children in Head Start.

Hoegh said “That chicken was gone in a matter of hours. It was fantastic. Huge thanks to Dan Mueller and Sindt Transportation for the chicken and to the people across the county who dropped what they were doing to make sure good food didn’t go to waste.”

Healthy Cass County is a community-focused network to promote the health and well-being of Cass County residents. Follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty. Reach out to Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870 more information.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Audubon County Public Health have identified an additional case of COVID-19 in the county. Officials have not yet disclosed the age bracket of the person affected, or other details. The data had not been updated on the IDPH website as of this (Thursday) morning. The previous COVID-19 case was reported near the end of March, was in a person age 61-to 80 who was self-isolating at home.

Audubon County Public Health Director Bob Nelson, Wednesday, issued some tips on how to help prevent the spread of the virus. It’s important, he said, for everyone to stay home as much as possible and to practice social distancing – this simply means to stay away from groups of people, and to keep a 6-foot distance from other individuals.”

Nelson said symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever (with a temperature of 100.4-degrees or greater), and shortness of breath. If you experience those symptoms, call your health care provider before going into their office.

All residents should continue to practice:

• Staying home when even mildly ill (the kind of illness that normally wouldn’t prevent you from your everyday activities)
• Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow/upper arm.
• Washing hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

In addition, leave your home only for essential errands like getting groceries or getting medication. And when you run those types of errands, send only one person from the household, if possible.