Des Moines, Iowa —The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data Wednesday. The health department reports 117 additional virus deaths, bringing the total to 6,965 since the start of the pandemic. IDPH said the most recent deaths were reported between Sept. 9 and Oct. 20. Health department data show positive tests continue to decline in Iowa. There were 6,340 positive tests in the last seven days, down from 6,542 at the last report on Monday. The state’s 14-day positivity rate remains at 8%.

The number of patients hospitalized in Iowa with COVID-19 ticked up slightly. There are currently 531 patients, up from 521 on Monday. IPDH reports 65.5% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, while 81.4% of those listed in intensive care with the virus are unvaccinated. There are COVID-19 outbreaks in 30 long-term care facilities, down from 31 on Monday.

The health department reports 3,657,561 vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa, with 67.6% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated and 70% of those 12 and older with at least one dose. IDPH releases new COVID-19 data each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

(Radio Iowa) – County election officials are urging Iowa voters to return their absentee ballots for next Tuesday’s election quickly. Adams County Auditor, Becky Bissell says changes by the Iowa Legislature now require your ballot to be received by your county auditor on Election Day to be counted.  “So now we have what we refer to as like a drop-dead date. So it has to be in the auditor’s office by 8 p-m on Election Day,” Bissell says.

She says depending on where you live, it might be too late to put your ballot in the mail.  “In southwest Iowa, I would not recommend putting it in the mail, because our mail goes to Des Moines and then back to us. And so I do fear that it’s not going to get back to me in time if my voters were to be putting it into the mail now,” according to Bissell.

Adams County (IA) Auditor Rebecca Bissell

Bissell says you should instead bring your completed ballot to your county auditor’s office or use the ballot dropbox in counties where those are available.

(reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning reports the Conservation Department’s final, “Building Better Birders” program will be in the form of a two day workshop format. You’re invited to join Kelly McKay from ‘Building Better Birders,’ as he shares about Sparrow, and Waterfowl Bird Identification. The event takes place November 19th, at Outdoor Educational Classroom near Massena.

It will start with Waterfowl ID at 5pm (you can bring your dinner with you), and includes an Owl Prowl, starting at 7-p.m. Friday, Nov. 19th. Kanning says participants will hike and try to call in various species of Owls that may be in the park that night. Saturday, November 20th at 8am, is at the Outdoor Educational Classroom near Massena, and features a Sparrow ID, with a birding hike to follow at 10-a.m.

At 11-a.m. that day, Iowa Bluebird Conservationists will do a presentation on bluebird basics and their efforts. There will be a break for a catered lunch for $10, in support of our Friends of the Outdoor Classroom. At 1pm the final program on a Christmas Bird Count Marathon will conclude the workshop. Funding for the program is provided by the Resource Enhancement and Protection – Conservation Education Program (REAP – CEP). The workshop will be conducted by Kelly McKay (BioEco Research and Monitoring Center), with assistance from Mark Roberts (Clinton County Conservation) and Brian Ritter (Nahant Marsh Education Center).

Pre-Register by November 15th . Call  769-2372 or email to sign up lkanning@casscoia.us Take Hwy 148 south of Massena, Turn Left on Tucson Rd, Follow it East for about two miles, and then a right hand turn into the parking lot. Kanning says you’re welcome to attend one or all of the programs, but they are asking for your preregistration for Saturday, Nov. 20th, so they know how many to expect for Lunch. She says “We look forward to seeing everyone for the final weekend.”

(Radio Iowa) – All of the Iowa State Education Association’s local unions representing teachers and staff in an Iowa school district have voted to recertify with the union, while more than a dozen union locals representing county and city employees in Iowa have been decertified. A state law passed in 2017 requires a majority of public sector employees to vote “yes” to retain their local union every year. Iowa State Education Association president Mike Beranek says thousands of Iowa educators are loudly and firmly telling Republican lawmakers that public employees want collective bargaining rights and have overcome the obstacle of having any person who doesn’t vote counted as a no.

Results for all public sector union votes are posted on the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board website. It shows unions will no longer represent 15 bargaining units for city and county employees, while more than 150 other union locals were recertified for the next round of contract negotiations.

The recertification votes failed in the following bargaining units: City of Algona AFSCAME Council 61 (police), Calhoun County CWA Local 7173, Cerro Gordo County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Cerro Gordo County Board of Health PPME Local 2003, Dallas County EMS Professionals, Henry County PPME Local 2003, Ida County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Independence Municipal Utility IBEW Local 55, Jackson County Detention Center Employees Association, Jackson County Employees Association, Lee County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Pocahontas County CWA Local 7173 (Roads), Pottawattamie County Teamsters Local 554 (Detention Officers), Ringgold County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Scott County Library System Teamsters Local 238.

(Greenfield) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors met Wednesday morning in their Board Room at the Courthouse, in Greenfield. During their session, Auditor Mandy Berg discussed some recent webinars she attended, with regard to the S.3011 Bill – re: The State, Local, Tribal & Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure & Disaster Relief Act (COVID relief). The bill was passed in the Senate and was sent to the House for review and later action.

The funds can be used just as if the County had lost revenue, for such things as building repairs, roads and infrastructure and public safety, for example. The Board discussed, but made no concrete plans for the money, once it’s received. Board Chair Steve Shelley said if the funds could be used “100-percent to relieve taxpayer’s costs, it would be what we’re here for.”

The Board will take the information home and study it. The Board thanked Berg for attending those informational sessions. Afterward, Berg presented the FY21 Annual Urban Report with regard to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the Debt Service Fund.

The report showed each TIF taxing district, showing the values for each district and the TIF revenue received for each district. The number of Taxing Districts next year, she said, will increase from eight to 21. Adair County Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen presented his Annual Report. He said it wasn’t too bad of a year overall, but he did have to send a couple of notices out to property owners, asking them to get their noxious weeds under control. The problem areas are basically the same as last year, he said. And, County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented the front page of plans for the W20 Jackson 16×10 Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert (RCB) Project on a Farm-To-Market road. After the Board Chair signed the page, which allows the County to solicit bids, Kauffman said the scheduled bid letting will be held March 15, 2022.

Kauffman also provided a report on the Secondary Roads Dept. activities. He said some things that were planned for this week, had been rained-out.

(Radio Iowa) – The telehealth company Twenty-eight is expanding into Iowa, offering a new option for reproductive health. Co-founder Amy Fan wants to focus on traditionally underserved women, like those who are lower-income, live in rural areas and women of color. More than half of Iowa’s counties are labeled “contraceptive deserts” and Fan says reducing that number can help address other health disparities. “Black and Latinx women, unfortunately, have a much higher maternal mortality rate than white women in the U.S.,” Fan says, “and I think it’s really stemming from access and providing culturally competent access as well.” Twenty-eight says it aims to help the estimated 170-thousand Iowa women in need of some sort of birth control.

Although there are active groups in Iowa to provide birth control to this population, Fan says another option can only help. “I really hope that the more telehealth players there are, the more options women have,” Fan says, “and at the end of the day, the better access will be.” She says there are still additional steps Iowa needs to take in increasing affordability.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

The 8:07-a.m. Newscast from Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police report two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Tuesday, and one person was arrested this (Wednesday) morning, for assault with a dangerous weapon. At around 10-a.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Stiller Niles Melton-Clardy, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Melton-Clardy was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana/1st offense. He was later released on bond.

At around 11:20-p.m. Tuesday, 19-year-old Amber Danielle Lacina, of Shannon City, was arrested at the Summit Boat Ramp, and charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was cited at the scene, and released.

At around 1-a.m. today (Wednesday), 24-year-old Adam Edward Lee Austin, of Creston, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts and Assault with a dangerous weapon. Austin was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,300 cash/surety bond.  Creston Police said also, Brett Street Power Washing Services on Elm Street in Creston, reported a padlock was cut on one of their trailers, and a brand new red and black Predictor Generator was stolen, along with two gas cans. The loss was estimated at $590.

(Radio Iowa) – The Wright County community of Clarion is in the process of becoming a sister city to a community in the southeastern European nation of Kosovo. Clarion Mayor Duane Asbe (AS-be) says the agreement was passed last week by the city council. “We did sign a resolution to pursue a sister city relationship,” Asbe says, “so that would indicate to Kosovo that we are willing and supportive of creating a sister city relationship from our side.” While Clarion is the county seat, it’s a rural community of only 28-hundred. Asbe is hoping officials in Kosovo will match them up with a similar-sized town.

“There are four or five different sister cities within the state of Iowa, namely, Johnston, Sioux City, Cedar Falls and actually nearby, Fort Dodge, but we would be the first smaller rural community to pursue this process (in Kosovo).” This past summer, Kosovo’s minister of agriculture visited Clarion and rural areas nearby. The name of the sister city will be announced at a later date. A delegation of Iowans plans to visit Kosovo next spring.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s “pleaded” with ranking officials at General Electric to reconsider plans to buy wind turbine blades from a company in Denmark instead of its long-time partner in Iowa. G-E’s plan to shift production overseas has resulted in T-P-I Composites of Newton announcing the plant’s shutdown in December, eliminating more than 700 jobs. Grassley says G-E listened to his case. “It was a conversation that went well. They said they would look into it but no certainty from it,” Grassley says. “They did say they were going to get back to us but so far, they haven’t gotten back to us on that.”

G-E bought a Denmark-based wind turbine blade maker in 2017 and has placed no orders with T-P-I for 2022. G-E was T-P-I’s biggest customer, and T-P-I is Newton’s largest employer since the pullout of appliance giant Maytag’s headquarters and factory in 2007. Grassley is hoping some of the “green energy” jobs in Newton can still be salvaged. “It’s one thing to shut down a plant and lay off 700 people,” Grassley says, “as opposed to cutting back production and maybe laying off half of it.” Grassley also sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to consider using T-P-I for the manufacturing of blades for a massive offshore wind farm project.

The administration announced earlier this month a plan to build large-scale wind farms all along the East and West Coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. As yet, Grassley says he’s had no response from the White House about using the Iowa factory for that proposal.