A Nebraska man was arrested in Pottawattamie County early this (Friday) morning, following a pursuit. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says two Pott. County Deputies were dispatched at around 5:10-a.m. to a vehicle pursuit crossing the I-680 Bridge into Iowa. A short time later, both Deputies arrived in the area and attempted to stop the suspect vehicle, a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup. The driver, 25-year old Jeffrey Michael Hotz, of Omaha, was taken into custody for Theft in the 1st Degree – motor vehicle, and Willful failure to stop for law enforcement. Hotz was being held in the Pott. County Jail on $11,000 bond.

Thursday afternoon, a woman was arrested on drug charges in Pottawattamie County, following an incident at the Hitchcock Nature Center. The woman, 24-year old Stephanie Nicole Riser, was said to have been uncooperative. She was arrested for Interference with officials acts, Possession of drug paraphernalia, and Possession of methamphetamine, 1st offense. And, a Colorado man being held in the Pott. County Jail, was served with a warrant Thursday afternoon, for being a Fugitive from Justice. 41-year old Jacqueay Derrick Roberson, of Colorado Springs, was being held in the jail on $14,141 associated with other charges.

MARQUETTE, Iowa (The Des Moines Register) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resource says it’s investigating a fish kill that left hundreds of trout dead in a northeastern Iowa creek. The Des Moines Register reports the kill, affecting nearly 1,000 fish, was reported Saturday night on Bloody Run Creek near Marquette in Clayton County. The department says a pollutant in the water likely caused the fish kill, but investigators have not been able to determine the cause. DNR environmental specialist Brett Meyers says the state spends a lot of money to stock waters like Bloody Creek with expensive game fish like trout.

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 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston says a man was arrested on Burglary and other charges, Thursday. Austin Jones, of Creston, was arrested for Burglary in the 1st Degree, Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, and Willful Injury. His bond at the Union County Jail was set at $31,000. And, a Creston man reported to Police Thursday, that sometime between Tuesday and Thursday, someone entered his vehicle that was parked in the 300 block of W. Adams Street. Nothing was reported missing, and the amount of damage to the vehicle was unknown.

A traffic stop at around 2:30 this (Friday) morning in Red Oak, resulted in an OWI arrest. Police say 26-year old Benjamin Lee Adams, of Red Oak, was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense in the 1800 block of N. 6th Street. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — T-P-I Composites is temporarily halting production at its wind blade manufacturing plant in Newton as employees are tested for COVID-19. Plant General Manager Josh Syhlman says TPI proactively reached out to the Governor’s Office to discuss an enhanced COVID-19 testing plan after 28 confirmed new cases were reported among the plant’s workforce during the last week. TPI expects the voluntary pause in production to last until the middle of next week. This will allow for another deep clean of the facility and to implement a more rigorous testing plan for all Newton associates. The Newton Plant workers will be paid during the production pause and TPI also plans to provide protective masks to its associates’ family members for use at home.

(Radio Iowa) — Even Iowa mushroom hunters need to mind their social distancing if they’re hunting in a group, according to one of the experts at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Lina Rodriguez Salamanca, an I-S-U plant pathology diagnostician, will be teaching her annual Safe Mushroom Foraging workshop next month — though this time, it will all be online using Zoom. “We have done some workshops in the past and they’ve been very successful where people would just come to the county office to watch me from campus,” she says, “but this time, people will be in their own homes watching me, as opposed to going to the county office.”

The much-coveted morel mushrooms are starting to appear in wooded areas, especially in southern and southeastern Iowa. Rodriguez Salamanca says foraging awareness is vital, and there are always risks associated with eating wild mushrooms. “A lot of people do want to become mushroom hunters,” she says. “That is a good thing that they’re being proactive about learning the best hunting practices and what are the potential poisons and look-alike mushrooms they need to be aware of and avoid as much as possible.”

The virtual workshop will cover things like identification traits, foraging safety, and distinguishing between edible and non-edible varieties of mushrooms. Rodriguez Salamanca says coronavirus also plays a role in how you hunt. “We need to be very cautious and practice the CDC recommendations, practice our social distancing,” she says. “As you hunt, if you are going in a group, make sure that you’re keeping six feet in between people, make sure you’re washing your hands and that you are wearing a mask when needed.”

The first hour-long spring workshop will be held on May 5th at 6 p.m. It’s free but you need to register in advance. It’ll be limited to 300 participants. If you register for both the spring and fall online workshops, you’ll get a free copy of the soon-to-be-released “Safe Mushroom Foraging Guide” from I-S-U. Learn more and find a link to register here:
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/online-workshops-planned-safe-mushroom-foraging

(Radio Iowa) — All four Iowans serving in the U.S. House have voted for a plan to plug more money into the small business loan program that ran out of money last week. Democratic Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque says 60 BILLION dollars in the bill is reserved for community-based banks and credit unions.

“These are the ones that are out there lending to our ‘small’ small businesses, the ones who need not just a $1 million, or might need $10,000 or $15,000 to keep maybe it’s five employees employed in and on the payroll,” Finkenauer says. “And, to be frank, those were the ones that were being left out in the last package.” The “Paycheck Protection Program” was designed to help small businesses with fewer than 500 employees keep making payroll, but a loophole let large hotel and restaurant chains get loans.

Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the 60 BILLION reserved for community banks will provide loans to the kind of “mom-and-pop” businesses that are crucial in rural Iowa. “Our one and two person owned shops on Main Streets in our communities, our restaurants, individual contractors,” Axne says, “those types of people need the funding.” The bill also provides 75 BILLION for hospitals. Axne says this is a difficult time for hospitals.

“They’re laying people off,” Axne says. “They don’t know how they’re going to cover their operating expenses because there aren’t elective surgeries and things like that happening, so we’ve got to shore those up so they can keep their doors open.” Republican Congressman Steve King of Kiron says the 25 BILLION dollars for expanded COVID-19 testing is important part of the package, because testing will help determine the best methods for reopening the economy. The total price tag for the package is 484 BILLLION dollars.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested it may be time to quit adding to the federal deficit. Congresswoman Finkenauer says while the debt is obviously a concern, shoring up the economy is a higher priority right now. “We are in a horrible situation where our working families and Americans all across the country and locally are scared and need assistance,” she says, “and this is the time when the federal government should be stepping up.” Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Iowa City, says he’s pleased the House and Senate came together in a bipartisan way to send the bill to President Trump.

Iowa Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted for the package when it passed the U.S. Senate earlier this week.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state’s $26 million contract with Utah companies to increase coronavirus testing was developed after she acted on a tip from actor Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher says he was simply using his tech connections to offer a creative solution that could help his native state. Kutcher pitched the governor on a Utah program launched this month to increase testing, saying it looked promising. Kutcher said that one of his good friends is a tech executive who was involved in TestUtah, and he put him in touch with the governor. Aides to Reynolds soon followed up with Utah government officials and TestIowa was launched on Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ethanol producer ADM says it is idling production at its corn ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Columbus, Nebraska, furloughing 90 employees in each facility for at least four months. The company says low consumer demand for gasoline also has dramatically cut demand for corn-based ethanol which is blended into gasoline. The company said it is focusing on cash flow and diverting some of its resources to other products that are in higher demand, such as alcohol for hand sanitizer. The plants each have a capacity of about 300 million gallons a year, among the largest plants of their type in the nation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 28,000 more people filed initial unemployment claims last week in Iowa as the state’s economy continued to take a hit from efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Deveopment reported Thursday that another 27,912 people filed unemployment claims during the week ending April 18. That’s down from claims filed in previous weeks but still far above typical numbers before many businesses closed to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. There were 151,846 continuing unemployment claims. Nationally, more than 4.4 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, In the last five weeks, about 26 million people have now filed for jobless aid.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dozens of U.S. meat-processing plants have been forced to close temporarily as the industry struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus among employees who often stand side-by-side while cutting and packaging beef, pork and poultry. Giant slaughterhouses that employ thousands of people are designed to have workers close together, making it difficult to adhere to social distancing guidelines that advise people to stay 6 feet apart. Even as companies take steps to protect workers, industry experts say it’s nearly impossible to eliminate all risk of catching the virus and they note safety measures have been adopted unevenly.