Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer, Thursday, said three people were arrested, three juveniles charged with theft and Minor in Possession of Alcohol, and five persons were cited, over the past nearly four weeks. Most recently, on Nov. 7th, 36-year-old Jeremiah Micah Jobe of Audubon, was arrested for Theft in the 3^rd degree, and Interference With Official Acts.  Jobe was transported to the Audubon County Jail and appeared before a magistrate the following day.  The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

On Oct. 20th, three juveniles: two 14-year-old’s and a 13-year-old, all of Audubon, were charged with Theft -5^th degree and Minor in Possession of Alcohol.  All were charged and released to a parent. On the 19th, a 16-year-old juvenile from Audubon was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 1st Degree. The individual was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center near Council Bluffs, and held. And, on Oct. 16th, Audubon Police arrested 33-year-old Jeremy John Holzwart, of Audubon.  Holzwart was charged with Domestic Abuse Causing Injury.  He was transported to the Audubon County Jail later appeared before a magistrate, posted bond and was released. He was also presented with a No Contact Order.  The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

Chief Starmer said also, five individuals were charged, and subsequently released on promise to appear, for Allowing Dogs to Run At Large.  Four of the five were repeat offenders.

Des Moines, Iowa — The advocacy group Progress Iowa is calling for Governor Kim Reynolds to issue a statewide mask mandate to combat the rampant spread of COVID-19 in our state. The call for additional action by the governor comes as hospitalizations are at crisis levels, some schools are reporting that they are “holding on by a thread,” more than one hundred Iowa nursing homes are reporting outbreaks, and as the White House calls on Iowa to issue a mask mandate.

Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa, says “Iowans are pleading for their lives — we need the governor to put politics aside and take clear, decisive action to halt this pandemic. Hospitals are begging for help. Some schools are saying they’re holding on by a thread. And we’re rapidly approaching two thousand deaths in our state.” Sinovic says President Trump’s White House is calling for a mask mandate. Research proves it will work. Polling, he says, shows Iowans will listen.

Sinovic says Research conducted by the University of Kansas demonstrated that in their state, “counties with mask mandates thwarted significant escalation in transmission of COVID-19 and counties operating without a requirement people wear a face covering suffered steady infection rate increases.”  He said also, new polling conducted by Public Policy Polling shows that 74% of Iowans who voted in this year’s election would follow a statewide mandate to wear a mask in public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and a majority of Iowa voters believe that the governor has not gone far enough with restrictions to stop the spread of the pandemic. Progress Iowa will hold a poll briefing today at 2 PM to discuss these results.

The White House coronavirus task force has also called for increased COVID-19 restrictions in Iowa, including a statewide mask mandate in their latest report. Sinovic says “Because of Governor Reynolds’ failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Iowa is rapidly approaching 2,000 deaths and more than 170,000 confirmed cases. We also have the third worst increase in cases among all states during the past two weeks, a more than two hundred percent increase. Hospitals are in critical condition, and not able to keep up with demand in Des Moines. Cedar Rapids schools are “holding on by a thread.” There are at least 100 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.”

(Radio Iowa) – Democratic candidate Rita Hart is seeking a complete recount in all 24 counties of Iowa’s second congressional district, where the current tally shows Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks ahead by just 47 votes. Hart’s campaign manager cites what he calls “consequential errors” that were discovered in Jasper and Lucas Counties in making the request — adding Iowans deserve to know that their ballots have been accurately counted. Secretary of State Pate Pate says he does not certify the election until November 30th, so there are two weeks for the recount, although the second week includes the Thanksgiving holiday.

Election officials are recounting all ballots cast in Lucas County today (Thursday). Tomorrow, there will be a hand recount of ballots from the precinct in the Lucas County town of Russell where results were not reported until this week. Miller-Meeks, the Republican candidate in the race, has already claimed victory and was a guest on Fox News this (Thursday) morning discussing prescription drug pricing.

Marion, IA – Wednesday night, Iowa Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson learned that she tested positive for COVID-19. Campaign officials say she feels great and is quarantining at her home in Marion until advised to do otherwise by her physician.

Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson.

For planning purposes, her staff says Hinson will be participating in new member orientation for the 117^th Congress virtually and is ready to get to work for the taxpayers of Iowa’s First Congressional District.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State researchers are among a group developing technologies that use plant-based inks to print low-cost, biodegradable, and recyclable electronics for sensors and batteries. I-S-U’s, Jonathan Claussen, is working on the printing process for the inks. “We can actually make a material called graphene out of it. It’s a carbon-based material that is highly conductive and has other great properties such as high thermal conductivity and we make these inks and print them.” Claussen is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and says sensors can be used in a variety of ways. “We use them to sense fertilizers in the soil, pesticides in plants or in the soil, to food-borne pathogens in food, to even using them to try and detect cancer for cancer diagnostics,” Claussen says.

He says here’s another use for them as well. Claussen says it also deals with creating energy harvesters that could be used to store energy and charge up an electronic device. He says there’s a lot of potential uses.”We will help in printing them and then developing them into sensors,” he says. And he says they will particularly focus on ion sensors for use in hydroponics and plants. Claussen says using these plant-based inks is a safer way to make these items. “This uses printing technology that is a lot easier to scale. It’s a lot more friendly to the environment — the materials themselves are more friendly — they are just carbon-based. But also, we don’t need to do expensive cleanroom processing which has a lot of chemicals that are harmful to the environment,” Claussen says.

He says these sensors won’t replace all the existing sensors. “They wouldn’t replace silicon chips in your computer,” Claussen says, “but they could be used for sensors that may be integrated into clothing or senors that may be going into farm fields that integrate with some conventional electronics as well.” The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year grant of nine million dollars to support the project and its team of researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Iowa State University.

A single-vehicle accident early this (Thursday) morning in eastern Iowa has claimed the life of an SUV driver. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident north of Ladora on 212th Boulevard, happened at around 5:15-a.m.  Authorities say a 1991 Jeep Cherokee driven by 21-year old Dylan Storm Weaver, of Belle Plaine, was eastbound near FF Avenue, when the vehicle went out of control and entered the south ditch. Weaver, who was wearing his seat belt, died at the scene.

The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted by Victor QRS, and Iowa County Ambulance.

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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(Radio Iowa) – The latest count in Iowa’s second congressional district race shows Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the Republican, now leads Democrat Rita Hart by 47 votes. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says there could be more adjustments.  “We’re all pretty good at observing what’s going on and how the counts are moving and I’m sure that the media will report who’s in the lead,” Pate says,”but as for certifying and declaring, it’ll not until November 30.”

Pate has ordered Lucas County to run all their ballots through a machine and do a hand count of a precinct in Russell. That’s the precinct where results were not included in last week’s Lucas County vote count. Pate says any new adjustments from the Lucas County recounts today (Thursday) and Friday will be reflected in the final report. “We don’t declare a winner until we’ve finished and do our certification on the 30th,” Pate says.

With about four dozen votes separating the two candidates in the second district race, it’s likely one or both campaigns will seek more recounts by Friday’s deadline. And if votes are recounted, counties will have to cover the cost. That’s because the margin between the two candidates is less than one percent. Taxpayers cover the costs of recounts in Iowa when a race is that close.