COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Oct. 28, 2020 – Construction crews will be conducting emergency repairs on eastbound I-80 express lanes in Council Bluffs this week. Motorists should plan accordingly as multiple areas will be temporarily closed during repairs. Tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 28), southbound I-29/eastbound I-80, motorists traveling in the immediate area will be required to exit at the South Expressway beginning at 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29th. Eastbound I-80 express lane drivers will be required to use the local lanes and exit at the South Expressway beginning at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. Please follow detours to U.S. 275/Iowa 92 to get to the interstate.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, I-29 southbound/I-80 eastbound local traffic will continue to exit at South Expressway until 2 p.m., weather permitting. I-29 southbound/I-80 eastbound on ramps at 24th Street and South Expressway will also remain closed. Plan ahead and follow detours to U.S. 275/Iowa 92 to get to the interstate.

On Thursday, October 29, southbound I-29/eastbound I-80 local drivers will be required to exit at South Expressway beginning at 7 p.m. until 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, weather permitting. Eastbound I-80 Express will be reduced to one lane beginning at 7 p.m. until 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30th. Please follow the detour to U.S. 275/Iowa 92 to get to the interstate.

The latest traveler information is available anytime through the State’s 511 system.

Another benefit meal is planned for the McLaren family, whose son Steele was critically injured during an accident Sunday afternoon. Ryan Askeland, with Dusty’s Place in Griswold, has announced Griswold athletes and parents will host a free-will donation meal Thursday, from 5:30-until 7-p.m., in the parking lot of the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic. The menu includes pulled pork, chips and coleslaw, and will be set-up in a drive-thru style. All proceeds benefit Steele in his efforts to recover from a traumatic head injury.

The Food is being donated by Dusty’s Place and C & J Ag. On Tuesday, it was announced Udderly Delicious in Atlantic will be grilling hamburgers and serving chips this Saturday, from 11-am to 1-pm, with your free-will donation benefiting the McLaren family. All donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to another family that has stepped forward to help out.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Republican Senator Joni Ernst from Red Oak will bring her “Continue Fighting for Iowa” RV tour to Atlantic, Red Oak and Council Bluffs, today (Wednesday). The first stop at 11-a.m. takes place at the Firehouse Restaurant, in Red Oak. From there she travels to Council Bluffs, for a 1-p.m. stop at the Council Bluffs GOP Office. Ernst will be in Atlantic at around 3:20-p.m., for a stop at the Cass County GOP Office (506 Chestnut Street).

Ernst served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Officials with the Creston Police Department Wednesday (today), said 68-year-old Mark Bagley, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Bagley was taken into custody at the Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County Warrant for Failure to Serve a Jail Sentence on the original charge of OWI/2nd offense. He was being held in the Union County Jail until the balance of court ordered time is served.

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 Iowa Department of Public Health Wednesday (today, as of 10-a.m.), reports 22 additional deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, for a total of 1,680, and, there have been 1,814 additional, positive test results for the virus processed through the labs, since 10-a.m. Tuesday, for a pandemic total to-date, of 119,444.  Officials say 1,104 deaths involved persons with pre-existing medical conditions, and 828 have occurred at Long-Term Care facilities across the State, with eight reported since 10-a.m. Tuesday. In our area, Madison County has one additional death, for a total of three. The IDPH says 90,422 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

There was a substantial jump in new positive COVID-19 cases since 10-a.m. Tuesday, for counties in the KJAN listening area, including: 14 new cases in Cass County (for a total of 405); 17 cases in Harrison County (total 677); 40 more cases in Pottawattamie County (total 3,292); 15 more cases in Shelby County; and 27 additional cases in Union County. (See the totals below)

The number of Iowans who are hospitalized with coronavirus is just shy of 600 (556), which is another record for the pandemic. That’s up from 564 on Tuesday. There were 113 patients admitted in the last 24 hours (compared to 78 the previous day). There are 136 patients in intensive care, up from 128 the previous day. And there are 51 patients on ventilators, which is up from 46 on Tuesday. Western/southwest Iowa hospitals report 45 patients hospitalized with COVID (compared to 39 Tuesday), 13 in an ICU, eight have been admitted, and there are now two persons on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care facility data show: 71 outbreaks (1 more than on Tuesday); 2,078 LTC patients/staff tested positive; and 885 have recovered. The statewide 14-day positivity rate is 11.2%, which is up from 10.6% Tuesday. The Individual positivity rate is 12.6%, or 1 out of every 26 Iowans.

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,

• Cass, 405 cases {+14}; 285 recovered; 3 deaths
• Adair, 181 {+10}; 74; 1
• Adams, 83 {+2}; 45; 0
• Audubon, 154 {+5}; 90; 1
• Guthrie, 408 {+12); 262; 15
• Harrison County, 677 {+17}; 316; 15
• Madison County, 368 {+4}; 260; 3
• Mills County, 408 {+4}; 207; 3
• Montgomery, 184 {+6}; 152; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,292 {+40]; 2,416; 44
• Shelby County, 389 {+15}; 334; 2
• Union County,  260 {+27}; 210; 4

(Radio Iowa) – A building in Mount Pleasant’s business district must be repaired after it and several vehicles were damaged late Monday in a chain-reaction traffic accident. Authorities say 37-year-old Douglas Adams of Mount Pleasant had a medical issue and ran into the back of another vehicle that was stopped at a stop sign. The impact pushed the vehicle in front into two parked cars. The vehicle Adams was in sped on, hitting three other parked cars on the other side of the street before coming to a halt at an intersection a block away.

Adams said he was in pain, but declined medical treatment at the scene. Emergency crews had to cut into the other vehicle to get Dale Beckman, a Mount Pleasant business owner, out of HIS vehicle and to the hospital. Adams, the driver who rear-ended the other vehicle, is being charged with failure to maintain control and failure to obey a stop sign.

(Atlantic) Friends and family of injured Atlantic Trojan football player Steele McLaren came out for a vigil Tuesday night on the field at the Trojan Bowl, and arranged themselves to display his number in lights. Cameras, glow sticks and other devices were held high above those standing on the FieldTurf and were captured by a drone.

Drone photo by Jay Robinson

The 17-year-old Steele, who is a senior this year, fell off the back of a pickup truck Sunday afternoon and hit his head. He is in a Nebraska hospital in critical condition, with swelling of the brain. The event that was held Tuesday night was organized by Mallory Kirchhoff, with drone help from Jay Robinson.

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 30-thousand public sector workers in Iowa have voted this month to have a union represent them in contract talks. A state law passed in 2017 requires unions for state workers, teachers and other public sector employees to win re-certification votes every two years. Mike Beranek is president of the Iowa State Education Association, the union for Iowa educators.

“We’re very excited that we once again achieved very good numbers with our recertification vote,” he says. “This year we had 100% of the local association that were up for recertification to vote to maintain their contracts.” In the past two weeks, members in 64 of the I-S-E-A local unions voted to maintain their bargaining unit. Beranek says these overwhelming votes show teachers want his union’s representation, despite the obstacle opponents of the labor movement created by requiring these yearly votes.

“When we have folks who are working in our buildings way past the contract day, working on weekends to ensure that not only are their schools safe and healthy environments for their students, but they’re also learning and growing, we felt like this is just one more thing that has been added to their plate that need not be there,” Beranek says.

The Iowa Public Employment Relations Board’s website shows 266 bargaining units voted to recertify with a variety of unions. Fifteen units voted against retaining union representation in contract talks. According to the Iowa Federation of Labor, nearly 99 percent of all those who participated in this month’s recertification elections voted yes for union representation.

Terry Branstad, who was governor in 2017, said Iowa’s collective bargaining law had tilted too far in unions’ favor and he approved limiting contract talks to base wages as well as these annual recertification votes.