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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – The two opponents in a congressional race that’s still a toss up are both in Washington, D.C., participating in orientation sessions for new House members. Marinnette Miller-Meeks, the Republican, is ahead of Democrat Rita Hart by 47 votes in the latest count. Hart has asked for a district-wide recount. University of Iowa election law professor Derek Muller says this might be the closest congressional race in 30 years in the United States. “It’s a real rollercoaster for both campaigns right now when the margins are so close, so razor thin.”
Today (Friday), election officials in Lucas County will do a hand recount of ballots from a precinct in Russell where a tabulation error was discovered earlier this week. Data plugged into the system from a pre-election test wound up being reported rather than the actual results. Preliminary results early November 4th showed Miller-Meeks leading, then a counting error in Jasper County was corrected LAST Friday, putting Hart in the lead — but as Jasper and Lucas County recounts progressed, Miller-Meeks crept ahead. “When we think about narrow elections, oftentimes they’re decided by hundreds of votes, so the notion of an election right now with 47 votes separating the candidates, that’s fewer than two votes per county which is just a remarkable margin,” he says.
There are a few other undecided races for congressional seats, in New York and California, where officials are still counting votes for the first time.
(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 10 percent of schools in the state have shifted from in-person to online classes. Iowa Department of Education director Ann Lebo says her agency approved 19 different waiver requests since Tuesday from public and private schools seeking to move partially or entirely to online classes. “Because requesting a waiver is just one option for schools and there are many adjustments schools can make without needing additional approval from the department, we continue to encourage schools to contact us to help them work through solutions,” Lebo says. “We know that sports and activities play an important role in our schools and communities. We are also working with districts on options that allow them to do what is best for the families they serve.”
The agency is hosting a webinar today (Friday) for school administrators to discuss their options. Lebo says 43 public districts and non-public schools have shifted some or all grades online. That’s what happened in Sioux City yesterday (Thursday). After several 7th graders at West Middle School in Sioux City tested positive for Covid or were showing symptoms of the virus, all 7th graders were shifted to online classes Wednesday. After parents notified local media of the situation, school officials announced late Thursday afternoon that the entire middle school would shift to emergency virtual learning this (Friday) morning. School Board Member Monique Scarlett would like to see classes shift entirely online for several weeks. “We know these holidays are going to bring even more of an increase if people are not practicing social distancing and wearing their mask appropriately,” she says. “At family gatherings, that’s going to be tough to do.”
Scarlett has been pushing for the district to shift ALL grades to a hybrid model, structured so fewer students are in buildings and they spend two days at school every week and the other three days at home. “I believe that if we are proactive, then things that are transpiring now will not continue to happen,” she says. Scarlett says the Sioux City district is in reactionary mode now, scrambling to figure out how to reassign teachers and ensure kids have access to the internet at home.
Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (as of 10-a.m.), shows 19 more deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since Thursday’s report, for a total of 1,947. The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing conditions statewide are 1,250, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 927, 12 more than yesterday. The IDPH reports one more death in each of Pottawattamie and Shelby Counties. For the 19th day in a row, Iowa has broken the record for coronavirus hospitalizations. For the seventh straight day, the state has reported more than 4,000 new positive cases.
Officials say there are 5,065 new confirmed, Positive cases of the virus, for a total since the pandemic began, of 175,423. Cass County has 14 new, Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 621. Double-digit Positive case increases were reported in Adair, Madison, Mills, Shelby and Union Counties, and 110 new cases in Pottawattamie County.
There are 100 Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks. Those care facilities report 2,930 positive cases and 1,310 recovered. In Cass County, three care facilities: Atlantic Specialty Care (78), The Heritage House (14), and the Griswold Rehabilitation and Health Care Center (54), have a combined total of 146 positive cases, with 51 recovered. Harrison County has two LTC facilities with a total of 199 cases and 147 recovered. That’s one less LTC outbreak in Harrison County than reported over the past few days.
Iowa set two more records for virus hospitalizations. There are a record 1,227 patients hospitalized with the virus, up from 1,208 the previous day. There are also a record 240 Iowans in intensive care, up from 215 the previous day. There were 213 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, up from 207 the previous day. There are six more patients on a ventilator, for a total of 107. The majority of those hospitalized are 80 years of age or older, at 26%. State data shows 23% of those hospitalized are between the ages of 60-69, and 21% are between age 70 and 79. The remaining 30% of cases are under the age of 60. State data shows 0% of patients hospitalized are under the age of 18.
In western/southwestern Iowa: there are 60 COVID patients in the hospital (2 less than yesterday); 18 are in an ICU, 11 people were admitted, and eight people remain on a ventilator.
The health department reports 1,079,242 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19. The state received 10,099 lab test results in the previous day, with 2,912 Positive results and 7,175 Negative results (total Negative to-date: 902,048). The IDPH says 106,491 Iowans have recovered from the virus. The State’s Individual Positivity rate is up from 15.9% to 16.3%, and the 14-day rolling average is up from 22.1 to 22.5%. Area Positivity rates as of today: Cass, 16.9%; Adair, 18.2%; Adams, 17.7%; Audubon, 15.1%; Guthrie, 20.6%; Harrison, 19.8%; Madison, 17.5%; Mills, 25.4%; Montgomery, 23.8%; Pottawattamie, 21.7%; Shelby, 25.2%, and Union, 23.1%. Officials say Page County continues to have the highest Positivity rate in southwest Iowa, at 42.8%, while Ringgold County has the lowest rate, at 8.7%.
In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Democrat trailing by 47 votes in the nation’s tightest congressional race says her campaign will request a full recount in the southeastern Iowa district. Rita Hart’s campaign noted Thursday that her contest against Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks has been marked by two tabulation errors that, when discovered, flipped the lead between back and forth in recent days. Hart campaign manager Zach Meunier says voters “deserve to know categorically that their ballots have been accurately counted” and the campaign will request recounts in all 24 counties in the district. The candidates are vying to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. David Loebsack.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Republican congresswoman-elect who flipped an Iowa seat in last week’s election says she has tested positive for the coronavirus. Ashley Hinson, a state representative and former television news anchor, said Thursday that she learned of her positive test Wednesday night. Her campaign says in a statement that the 37-year-old Hinson feels great and is quarantining at her home in Marion, near Cedar Rapids. It says Hinson plans to speak with reporters on a conference call Friday and will attend an orientation for incoming members of Congress virtually. Hinson unseated first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo and other cities and towns in the state’s northeast.
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — The coronavirus continues to spread broadly across Iowa and state officials say nearly 10% of the state’s schools have sought a waiver to temporarily educate students remotely instead of in classrooms. Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo says 43 districts and nonpublic schools are operating with temporary waivers from the state requirement that they be in class at least 50% of the time. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals increased to 1,208 patients Thursday. Gov. Kim Reynolds says that’s 21% of all patients hospitalized in Iowa. The department reported 30 additional deaths.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Polk County jury has convicted a Des Moines man of first-degree murder in the killing of his mother. Station WHO-TV reports that 33-year-old Christopher Thompson was convicted last week in the death of 50-year-old Paula Thompson, whose body was found March 13 in her home. Officers were called to the Des Moines home for a welfare check and found the woman dead. Police later determined she had been beaten to death with a crowbar days earlier after arguing with her son. Christopher Thompson later turned himself in to police. He is being held in the Polk County Jail until his sentencing on Dec. 18, when he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
A traffic stop Tuesday afternoon near Essex resulted in the arrest of a man from Shenandoah. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Thursday night, reported that at around 4:05-p.m. Tuesday, Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office stopped a vehicle for speeding near the intersection of 120th Street and Highway 59.
Walter Ragsdale
The driver, 29-year-old Walter Ragsdale, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated 1st Offense, and Interference with Official Acts, causing bodily injury. Ragsdale was also cited for Speeding, Open Container, and No Valid DL. Items stolen from an incident in Shenandoah, Iowa were also recovered from the vehicle.
Ragsdale also has pending charges in Shenandoah, in connection with an incident that occurred prior to the Fremont County traffic stop. His cash bond was set at $1,000.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s longtime Democratic attorney general says that he has hired Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ senior legal counsel to work as one of his assistants. Attorney General Tom Miller said that Sam Langholz, a prominent conservative attorney in the state, will be an assistant attorney general focusing on civil litigation and appeals.
Langholz is 40 and a longtime member of the Federalist Society who has advised the governor on judicial appointments and other matters. Langholz applied for an opening on the Iowa Supreme Court earlier this year but was not among the finalists forwarded to the governor for consideration by a vetting committee.
(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Board of Health has voted to recommend that Governor Kim Reynolds issue a statewide mask mandate. The vote was seven-to-two among the board members — all of whom were appointed by Reynolds. Reynolds has repeatedly said mask mandates are unenforceble, although she did issue an order Tuesday requiring masks at hair salons, barber shops and in certain group settings.
Board member Jay Hansen, a Democrat from Mason City, says with Covid cases spiking, a statewide requirement might persuade people who have resisted wearing mask.
Board member Patti Brown, a Republican from Waukee, voted against the recommendation.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control issued a memo saying face coverings DO protect the person wearing one as well as others around them.
(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa. (AP) — Morningside College in Sioux City will become Morningside University next year. The Sioux City Journal reports that the school announced the change Thursday in a news conference on the school’s campus. Morningside President John Reynders says the name change “has the potential to open new doors and new hearts within the global marketplace.”
Reynders says the main difference between a college and university is that a university generally offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. He said Morningside has offered graduate degrees since the late 1960s and now serves more graduate students than undergraduates. Officials say the new name takes effect June 1.
DES MOINES, Iowa – State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald is spreading the news about College Savings Iowa across the entire state with a year-end giveaway. College Savings Iowa is giving away a $529 plan contribution to a family in each of Iowa’s 99 counties, and one grand prize winner, from all entrants, will win a $1,529 College Savings Iowa contribution. “As the end of the year approaches, many families start to think about gifts to give their children and grandchildren,” said Fitzgerald. “A College Savings Iowa account could be the perfect gift, and our giveaway is an opportunity to help boost your family’s education savings.” From now until the end of the year, families with children and grandchildren under the age of 18 can register to win. Those interested can visit Iowa529Contest.com to read the official rules and register for their chance to win before December 31, 2020.
College Savings Iowa offers families a tax-advantaged way to save money for their children’s higher education with tax-free withdrawals for qualified expenses. “No matter how young or old the children in your family are, starting an education savings account is an important step for setting up their future,” Fitzgerald said. “With so many different options for how to use your 529 account savings, we can help our future generations achieve their education and career dreams.” Investors can withdraw their investment federally tax-free to pay for qualified higher education expenses, which includes tuition, books, supplies and certain room and board costs at any eligible college, university, community college, technical training school or apprenticeship program in the United States or abroad.* Families can find great resources and answers about College Savings Iowa by visiting CollegeSavingsIowa.com today.
Iowa taxpayers have the additional benefit of being able to deduct contributions up to $3,439 per beneficiary account from their 2020 Iowa income taxes.** Since its launch in 1998, College Savings Iowa has grown to more than $5.5 billion in assets and more than $3.2 billion has been used for qualified educational expenses. The plan has over 254,000 active accounts with an average size of $20,659.
Visit Iowa529Contest.com to complete the registration for the giveaway. To learn more about College Savings Iowa, please visit CollegeSavingsIowa.com or call (888) 672-9116. For more information about future giveaways and events, find College Savings Iowa on Facebook and Twitter.
Montgomery County conducted its fourth post-election audit on Thursday, November 12th, under a new law designed to monitor and protect election processes. Auditor Stephanie Burke says the audit was successful. Iowa law allows the Secretary of State choose, at random, one precinct in each Iowa county to be audited. County auditors must then supervise a hand count of the ballots from that precinct and compare the results to the voting machine count from election night.
Julie Rubey, Will Lester, Bonnie Miller and Jeanice Lester conduct the audit of ballots
In Montgomery County, the Secretary of State chose Precinct 4, which votes at the Elliott Community Building. 259 ballots were cast on election night and the results matched perfectly to the hand count done on Thursday.
“The hand count shows that our machines are accurately counting ballots,”said Burke. “All voters deserve to have confidence that their vote has been counted properly.”Four precinct election officials, representing the two major political parties, conducted the count under the supervision of Auditor, Stephanie Burke.
As required in the law, the Auditor’s Office notified the county chairs of both of the two major political parties. Questions about the post-election audit and other election matters may be directed to the Montgomery County Auditor’s office at 712-623-5127.