Officials with the Stuart Police Department said early this (Sunday) morning that they were investigating reports of shots fired at the South Summit Apartment Complex, located in the 600 block of SW 7th Street. Two male subjects were being detained, a weapon was recovered and there were no reports of injuries.

Authorities say this appears to be an isolated incident. They were asking the public to stay away from the area while the crime scene was still an active and the investigation was underway.

A head-on crash at around 10:50-p.m. Saturday in Taylor County has claimed the life of a woman from Georgia. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2001 Toyota Corolla driven by 23-year old Kellie Renee Staples, of Claxton, Georgia, was traveling north on Tennessee Avenue, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle crossed the center line into southbound traffic, and struck a southbound 2019 Ford Flex, head-on, south of Lenox.

Staples, who was not wearing a seat belt,  died at the scene. The driver of the Ford, 40-year old John H. Fraley, of Streator, Illinois, was not injured. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Taylor and Adams County Sheriff’s Offices, Lenox Fire & Rescue, and Taylor County Ambulance.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:55 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Fourteen residents at a Cedar Rapids nursing home that has been at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in Iowa have died. The facility’s owner says 60 residents at Heritage Specialty Care and 30 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. That represents roughly half the residents and a quarter of the staff at the facility. Of the 60 infected residents, the home says that 14 have recovered and another 14 had died as of Friday. A statement from the home says the “hearts, thoughts and prayers of our Heritage staff and our organization go out to the families of these special loved ones.”

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — The city of Ankeny is asking for the public’s help to help protect essential city employees by making and donating protective cloth masks for workers. The city says in a written release that it’s especially concerned for the safety of public works, utilities, park maintenance and office staff. The homemade masks would also go to fire, emergency medical staff and police officer to wear while in their stations in between calls. Those emergency responders will wear professional personal protection equipment while on calls where they come in contact with the public.

UNDATED (AP) — A gaping spread in statistical models for the coronavirus pandemic has injected a political element into the scientific endeavor. Governors in some states have cited the direst forecasts in issuing stay-at-home orders. Other elected officials have seized on more optimistic figures to justify their calls to loosen restrictions. The federal government doesn’t have a national clearinghouse for virus models. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t publicly released any coronavirus models of its own or identified a modeling consensus for states to follow. Meanwhile, some states are tapping local experts to cobble together their own models.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An infectious and fatal strain of bird flu has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in northeast South Carolina, the first case of the more serious strain of the disease in the United States since it was reported in a Tennessee chicken flock in 2017. A less severe strain of bird flu had been detected along the North Carolina and South Carolina state recently but the case in Chesterfield County, South Carolina discovered on Monday was found to be a more fatal and easily spread strain. More than 32,000 turkeys in the flock were euthanized. The USDA confirmed it Thursday.

Several area business are benefiting from Iowa’s recently launched Iowa Small Business Relief Program, while others are left waiting and wondering when they will get some help. According to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), the program is designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses that have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It offers eligible small businesses grants ranging from $5,000-$25,000 in addition to offering Iowa businesses a deferral of sales and use or withholding taxes due and waiver of penalty and interest.

The application window for funds closed on March 31st. IEDA says “At this time all available funds have been expended. If additional funding becomes available, additional awards will be made from the current pool of applicants. IEDA will not open a new round of application.”

Iowa Small Business Relief Grant award notifications were made the week of April 7th through the 10th. All applicants that were awarded a grant have received an official.  In the KJAN listening area, here are some of the small businesses that received a grant:

• Cliffs’ Lounge, LLC. in Audubon – $7,000
• Corning Winery & Vineyard, Inc. – $8,000
• Do Drop/Just one More, LLC. (In Guthrie County) – $5,000.
• Menlo Cafe’ – $15,000.
• Westside Diner, LLC (Atlantic) –  $15,000.
• Brymon’s Home Furnishings (Atlantic) – $22,599.
• Downtowner Cafe & Catering (Atlantic) – $22,000.
• JM Double B, LLC (Cass County) – $20,000.

Lists of other grant recipients can be found here https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/aspx/general/dynamicpage.aspx?id=205

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — The city of Ankeny is asking for the public’s help to help protect essential city employees by making and donating protective cloth masks for workers. The city says in a written release that it’s especially concerned for the safety of public works, utilities, park maintenance and office staff.

The homemade masks would also go to fire, emergency medical staff and police officer to wear while in their stations in between calls. Those emergency responders will wear professional personal protection equipment while on calls where they come in contact with the public.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An investigator says the death toll tied to the coronavirus outbreak at a Cedar Rapids nursing home has risen to 14. Alisha Weber of the Linn County Medical Examiner’s Office says those who have died after contracting COVID-19 at Heritage Specialty Care “were all residents, as far as I know.”

State officials have said that at least 76 residents and employees at the long-term care facility have become infected _ about one-third of those who live and work there. But until now, state and local public health officials and the company that manages the facility had refused to say how many had died.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been notified of 122 additional positive cases (as of April 11th), for a total of 1,510 positive cases. There have been an additional 1,057 negative tests for a total of 15,622 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.

According to IDPH, an additional 3 deaths were also reported.

• Crawford County, older adult (61-80 years)
• Johnson County, elderly adult (81+)
• Madison County, older adult (61-80 years)

According to IDPH, the locations and age ranges of the 122 individuals (NEW CASES) include:

• Allamakee County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Benton County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Black Hawk County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 3 older adults (61-80 years)
• Bremer County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Buena Vista County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Clayton County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Clinton County, 4 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Dallas County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Delaware County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Henry County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Jefferson County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Johnson County, 7 adults (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
• Linn County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 4 older adults (61-80 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Louisa County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 9 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Madison County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Marion County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Marshall County, 7 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Muscatine County, 8 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Polk County, 9 adults (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 5 older adults (61-80 years)
• Scott County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 5 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 6 older adults (61-80 years)
• Tama County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Wapello County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Washington County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Woodbury County, 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years)

A status report of monitoring and testing of COVID19 in Iowa is provided by IDPH and can be found here. In addition, a public hotline has been established for Iowans with questions about COVID-19. The line is available 24/7 by calling 2-1-1 or 1-800-244-7431. The state of Iowa has started sharing the number of negative tests conducted at outside labs, and is providing additional information on the conditions of those infected with COVID-19.

An airplane made a crash landing into a pasture early Friday afternoon in Fremont County, but there were no injuries reported. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, authorities were notified about the accident at around 12:40-p.m.  The aircraft sustained substantial front-end and wing damage when it crashed about four-miles north of Sidney.

Photo’s courtesy the Fremont County (IA) Sheriff’s Office.

Officials say the couple that were on-board the plane are from the St. Louis area. The pilot reported that there was a mechanical problem before the plane crash landed. The FAA is handling the accident investigation.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office was assisted at the scene by Sidney Fire and Rescue.