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

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The Atlantic School Board will once again hold an electronic school board meeting, when they gather 6-p.m. Wednesday, for their regular session. The meeting will be accessible through YouTube at https://youtu.be/m1bRIXuEt-w. Persons who wish to comment during a Public Hearing on the Certified FY 20-21 Budget, will be directed to call 712-243-4252, during the hearing. If you have any questions, or, if you prefer to submit your comments in writing, please e-mail Sarah Sheeder at ssheeder@atlanticiaschools.org. The Public Hearing will be held prior to the start of the Board’s Regular Meeting. The District must submit its annual Certified Budget to the State, prior to April 15th. The Budget calls for a tax rate of $14.22 per thousand dollars of taxable assessed value, as compared to $14.72/$1,000, for the current school year (a reduction of 50-cents/$1,000).

During their regular meeting, the Atlantic School Board will discuss a Facility Project Update, the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Needs Assessment Survey, and a Continuous Learning Plan, with regard to the Governor’s April 2nd directive. Action items on the agenda include:

• A Resolution Levying a tax for FY 2020-21 for the future optional redemption of General Obligation (G.O.) School Bonds, Series 2019. The amount of $195,000 will come from the Debt Service Fund.
• The Board will act to approve the 2020-21 Certified Budget.
• They are expected to act on approving Change Orders/Proposal Requests for the Athletic  Facilities Project, including:

1. Trojan Bowl Flag Poles: Reducing the number of poles from three, to one, 30-foot tall pole & installation. ($3,212.48 – which is actually a cost savings)
2. Softball Field Grading/Storm Drainage: Resolves a run-off issues from the hill on the softball diamond by removing the underground drainage, grading, sealing the inlet and running tile to the reservoir.
3. The installation of a Water Meter (based on a recommendation & requirement from AMU)
4. And a change in the cost associated with redesigning the Trojan Bowl Concession Stand Ticket Booth ($2,718.68)

Another action item pertains to a Pandemic Pay Resolution for: 1) Hourly/Non-Exempt Employees, and 2) Contracted/Salaried Employees. Approval would mean district employees will continue to receive regular and customary pay, through April 30th.

(Radio Iowa) — Officials are advising Iowa nursing homes to take additional steps to protect residents and staff. COVID-19 outbreaks have been confirmed in nursing homes in Linn, Washington and Tama Counties. Sarah Reisetter, the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says ALL Iowa nursing homes have been encouraged to screen every resident for fever and cough or breathing problems daily.

“If residents do become ill, those residents may worsen on day 7 to 8 of their symptoms,” Reisetter says. Every Iowa nursing home is urged to have a plan for who to call and how to transfer a resident who needs hospital care. Reisetter says there are new guidelines for nursing home staff, too.

“We are asking employees to use face masks and eye protection at all times for all resident care,” Reisetter says. “…We’ve asked them to consider gown and glove use at all times for all resident care to the extent the (personal protective equipment) is available, but certainly at facilities where outbreaks are being experienced.”

No visitors have been allowed inside Iowa nursing homes since March 10th, unless it’s an ‘end of life’ circumstance for a resident that’s NOT related to COVID-19. All staff must have their temperature taken at the beginning and end of their shifts.  “We’ve asked them to identify any other health care facilities where staff work, including recommendations that staff not work in other facilities, if possible,” Reisetter says, “and, at a minimum if they do need to work, to use a face mask and eye protection for all patient care in any health care setting where they may be working.”

Reisetter says state officials are making other recommendations, like moving residents who have COVID-19 symptoms to a single room and ensuring staff who care for them are not interacting with other nursing home residents. “So that dedicated staff are working with ill residents and not with health residents,” Reisetter says. There are more than 440 long term care facilities in Iowa.

Ten percent of all the Iowans who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 are either a nursing home resident or employee and nearly half of the Iowans who have died of COVID-19 have been nursing home residents.

(Radio Iowa) — One of President Trump’s top public health advisers spoke with the governors of Iowa and Nebraska Monday. Dr. Anthony Fauci said late last week that he did not know why all states’ governors weren’t issuing shelter-in-place orders. This is what he said early Monday evening.

“When I had mentioned that, I think there was a public response that they weren’t really doing anything at all,” Fauci said, “and they really are doing a very good job — both of them.” Fauci made his comments during the president’s news conference at the White House. Reynolds tweeted about her conversation with Fauci, saying the doctor told her and Nebraska’s governor they are on the same page with federal guidelines.

Fauci offered this analysis of Iowa and Nebraska’s COVID-19 closures:  “Just because they don’t have a very strict stay-at-home order, they have in place a lot of things that are totally compatible with what everyone else is doing.” Reynolds describes Fauci as “100 percent supportive” of the proclamations, orders and decisions she’s made thus far in the pandemic.

The Reynolds Administration is using a rating system to chart the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in each of six regions of the state. On Monday, it showed a large section of southeast Iowa was within one point of reaching the level at which Reynolds would order a regional shelter-in-place order.

(A-P BusinessWire) – Officials with Casey’s General Stores, Monday, announced an expanded partnership with DoorDash to provide delivery to 579 locations, seven days a week, across the company’s 16-state footprint. The new service will immediately offer delivery for Casey’s famous, made-from-scratch pizza, select appetizers and 20 oz soda. By end of April, dozens of grocery and household items will be added as Casey’s finds new ways to serve thousands of people sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivery hours will match each Casey’s store kitchen hours from morning to night, seven days a week. Additional grocery and household items such as candy, salty snacks and ice cream will be available from Casey’s through DoorDash starting in mid-April.

Guests can see if their hometown location is offering Casey’s delivery through DoorDash by visiting DoorDash.com or downloading the app on iOS or Android. For the latest delivery deals and pizza information, visit caseys.com or download the Casey’s app.

Pottawattamie County Public Health officials said Monday, an additional positive case of COVID-19 was returned from lab tests, bringing the county’s total to nine. The individual is a Council Bluffs woman between 41-60 years old who had contact with a known case. The woman has pre-existing medical conditions.

Officials say the woman was tested on April 1st and had been self-quarantining since then. On April 5th, she was admitted to Jennie Edmundson Hospital. Pottawattamie County Public Health said there are no known exposure locations. Health officials continue to conduct contract tracing investigations.

Of the nine cases in Pottawattamie County, three have recovered, according to the health department.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods said Monday that it has suspended operations at a major pork processing plant in southeastern Iowa where more than two dozen workers have tested positive for the coronavirus.Spokesman Gary Mickelson said the suspension went into effect on Monday at the plant in Columbus Junction. He said it will last for the duration of this week and be revisited at that point. Mickelson said the plant’s 1,400 workers would continue to be paid this week despite the furlough. He said the company was diverting livestock shipments that were scheduled to be delivered to Columbus Junction to other plants in the region, such as Waterloo and Perry.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering the closure of malls and playgrounds and urging Iowans to stay home during what she called a critical week for containing the coronavirus pandemic. Reynolds said at a news conference that local police would begin enforcing her order to bar gatherings of 10 people and that violators could be warned or cited. The more aggressive moves come after Reynolds faced intense criticism in recent days for refusing to issue a statewide stay-at-home order as the number of cases increases. Reynolds on Monday confirmed two more nursing homes have outbreaks involving at least three residents who have tested positive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a woman who investigators believe was intentionally run down by a driver and killed as she walked her dog in Des Moines neighborhood. Police say 38-year-old Lauren Rice and her dog, Holiday, were killed in the Sunday morning incident. Officers found Rice and the dog dead at the scene. Police say a pickup truck driven by 49-year-old Jason Robert Sassman jumped a curb, crashed through a utility pole and drove through several yards before hitting Rice and the dog. Police say Sassman continued on in the truck until it became disabled, then fled on foot before he was arrested. He’s charged with first-degree murder and animal neglect.

ATLANTIC, IA – Third District Democrat Representative Cindy Axne, Monday, launched a Virtual District Tour of the District, to survey and further assist response to the ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iowa. The tour, which launched with a conference call with leadership of the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) in Atlantic, will cover all 16 counties of Southwest Iowa that Rep. Axne represents.

Rep. Cindy Axne (D-03 District)

Over the coming weeks, Rep. Axne will hold virtual meetings with county emergency managers, health system leadership, local business owners, and other community stakeholders to survey the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on Iowa’s families and economy.

The launch of the Virtual District Tour follows two coronavirus telephone town halls held by Rep. Axne that allowed experts from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Human Services, and the U.S. Small Business Administration to connect directly with thousands of residents of Iowa’s Third Congressional District.

Members of the Audubon School District’s Board of Education held a Special electronic meeting by Zoom, Monday night. During their session, Superintendent Eric Trager said an error on the budget meant that a hearing on the budget would have to be postponed until their regular meeting on April 20th.

Trager said the error showed the FY 2020 Tax Levy was $11.69/$1,000 valuation. What was published in the local paper for the Monday meeting, showed a Tax Levy of $11.67/$1,000, which includes the bond payment on the $7.5-million. Trager said he missed including the Dropout Prevention Levy, which he said “Is a pretty significant levy. Without that our tax levy actually went down.” The corrected budget, which was submitted to the paper, includes: the DOP (Dropout Prevention Levy); Debt Service for Building Project (the $7.5-million bond) and the refinancing of the 2013 Bond.

Trager said “The levy is still well below the 73-cent increase we promised to stay below, with the new building project.” The levy will come in 21-cents over last year’s mark, which was keeping in-line with what was promised.  In other business, The Audubon School Board approved a Pre-Levy Issuance Resolution authorizing the issuance of $9.11-million in General Obligation School – and Refunding- Bonds, and the levy of tax for payment thereof.

The Resolution allows the district to sell Refunding Bonds to pay-off the existing debt from the 2013 Bond. It includes the $7.5-million in new G.O. issue plus $1.61-million in Refunding Bonds.

The Board also approved contracts for DeAnn Leiting as School Social Worker for the 2020-21 School Year. Her services will be shared 50/50 with the Coon Rapids-Bayard School District. And, they approved a contract for Elena “Lanie” Pelzer as 5th Grade Teacher.

And, the Audubon School Board approved a recommendation from Superintendent Eric Trager, for a 3.25% raises for those employees not represented by a Collective Bargaining Unit, with the exception of: Natalie Lange, Office Business Manager (5%); Sam Graeve. K-4 Principal/Curriculum Director (a flat dollar amount of $27.50 for each year (this is the second year of his agreement), and Cass Muzney – Head Custodian (3.25% plus $1,000).

The Griswold School Board, Monday evening, approved the hiring of a man from Oklahoma City, OK., as the new Middle School/High School Principal. Billy Hiatt is currently serving as the Middle School principal at Western Heights School District in Oklahoma City. His tenure with the Griswold Schools will begin with the 2020-21 School Year. In 2011, he was hired as the Boy’s Varsity Basketball Coach in Creston. He resigned from that district in 2014.

Hiatt and his wife Keri (A native of Glenwood), are the parents of four children: 14 year old daughter Victoria, 10 year old son Cade, 8 year old daughter Ruthann, and 1 year old son Easton. Keri Hiatt is a 3rd grade teacher in Oklahoma City.

Billy Hiatt graduated high school from Noble, Oklahoma. He attended Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska where he graduated with his Bachelors in 2000. Mr Hiatt played basketball at Peru State. He received his Masters in Education Administration from University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Hiatt is in his 18th year of education and 3rd year in administration.

In his free time, he enjoys watching college football on Saturday’s with his family and going hunting/fishing when he gets a chance. Hiatt says he is excited for the new opportunity at Griswold, and about being closer to family and friends. “I feel like Griswold is a great opportunity to further along my career and make a difference with students and the community.”