Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson reports the arrest on April 8th of 23-year old Andrew Allen Malloy, of Audubon. Malloy was charged with Burglary in the 3rd degree, following an investigation into the break-in at the Exira Car Wash in January. Malloy was currently being held in the Audubon County Jail on a $16,000 bond for the Burglary charge, as well as other unrelated charges.

And, 29-year old Cole Jacob Benton, of Hamlin, was arrested March 12th for Tampering with a Witness. The charge stems from an investigation into an incident that occurred while he was being held in the Audubon County Jail. He appeared before the Magistrate and was released.

(Radio Iowa) — The COVID-19 pandemic is leaving sports fans everywhere hungry for something — anything — to watch and millions are turning to the sport of marble racing, with an Iowan calling all the action. The fast-moving and faster-growing international phenomenon of marble racing has Dutch roots. In one style of competition, the colored glass globes roll down a long, twisting trench dug in the sand by two brothers in the Netherlands. Greg Woods, of Fort Dodge, is the play-by-play man for the quirky sport that suddenly has a worldwide following thanks to a series of — pardon the V-word — viral videos.

Greg Woods

“It’s literally a sand hill over in the Netherlands and they’ve carved out this serpentine trench going down it and then they release marbles at the top and follow them to the bottom,” Woods says, “but the marbles have names and it turns into this sense of competition over the course of it, that they are racing to get to the bottom.” The marbles can also be seen being pulled by gravity around an elaborate Formula One-style plastic track — or in a host of “Marble-lympics” events, complete with cheering, color-coordinated marble crowds in tiny grandstands. Woods says he’s stunned by how popular the YouTube videos have become in the few weeks since coronavirus closed down virtually all other sports around the planet.

“One of the earliest that I saw was a tweet showing one of our videos from two or three years ago on Twitter,” Woods says. “Within a week, it gained something like 35-million views. Celebrities were tweeting about it. Actual athletes were tweeting about it. It was unbelievable to see that growth.” Woods is a fan of the real Formula One racing and has experience calling high school and college sporting events on the radio in central Iowa. While marble racing could be mistaken for child’s play, Woods says he endeavors to call the races as professionally as possible, which adds to the authenticity and excitement for viewers.

“It’s a testament to the world that Jelle and his brother, Dion, have created in these videos,” Woods says. “It makes it really easy to suspend that disbelief and to fall into this world. It still has the same sort of challenge that any live sport does, so you get into it pretty quickly.” Woods, a Newton native, has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Iowa and works as a program specialist for the Iowa chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. The marble racing events provide a welcome, comforting respite for Woods and for the growing, global audience of fans.

“I have gotten a lot of notes from people all around the world. Some of those are just very thankful that we are providing a little bit of levity in the situation that we’re all in right now,” Woods says. “Others have seen their kids want to build marble runs and they’re getting outside and rolling marbles down the hills and running along with them. Somebody did a marble-themed birthday party the other day.” Just how did an Iowa guy end up being the English-speaking voice on this Dutch sport? Woods happened across one of the videos and was captured by the novelty of marble racing, but thought the broadcasts could be spiced up by some true-world commentary. He recorded his version of the competition like a horse race, spliced it into the video and sent a link to the brothers in the Netherlands. They loved the idea and Woods was hired.

For Iowans who have a good internet connection and some time on their hands, there’s a wealth of dozens of marble racing videos online, all free, dating back to 2016 — with more routinely being “rolled” out.

The latest “Marbula One” race — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTVYLdKqxcI

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is urging residents to focus on what they can do individually to stop the spread of the coronavirus and less about whether she will have to order further restrictions to fight the outbreak. Reynolds told reporters that “sometimes everyone is getting so hung up on the metrics” guiding the state’s response, including whether local stay-at-home orders may become necessary.

Reynolds said Iowans should focus “first and foremost” on increasing compliance with the social distancing guidelines she has emphasized, including staying home whenever possible. She said if Iowans do that, the conversation will eventually shift to “how we can start to open things back up.”

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds provided an update late this (Thursday) morning, on the COVID-19 statistics for the 24-hour period covering Wednesday through this morning. She said there were 125 NEW positive cases, for a total of 1,270. There were no new counties added, so the total with positive COVID-19 cases remains 79 out of 99. There were 882 negative tests for a total of 13,703. The State Hygienic Lab has the capacity to conduct 2,530 tests.”

115 people are in the hospital, 476 have recovered (38%). There were also two more deaths in Linn County. Both were older/elderly adults. The death toll in Iowa now stands at 29. The Governor said also, officials spent time this week analyzing data from the RMCC’s (Regional Medical Coordination Centers) established by the Iowa National Guard, to support the IDPH and Healthcare Coalition. Today (Thursday) she highlighted the regions in western Iowa. RMCC Region 4 covers southwest Iowa.

She said there were four Covid-19 patients hospitalized. No new patients were admitted in the previous 24 hours. Three patients were in ICU’s, one person was on a ventilator. Reynolds said there are 262 in-patient beds available, 39 ICU beds and 58 ventilators still available for patient care.

Late Wednesday evening, Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reported there had been a major component failure to the Clarinda Police Department & Clarinda City Hall administrative phone lines, and that the auto attendant & voice mail systems were not working.As of 11:05-a.m. today (Thursday), Brothers reported those lines are once again up and working.

(Radio Iowa) — A special investigation by the state auditor’s office has concluded an employee in the Iowa Department of Human Services filed more than 10-thousand dollars worth of improper or unsupported travel claims. Social worker Bobi Miller worked out of the agency’s office in Dallas County. Auditors reviewed the travel claims and work records she submitted over a nearly three year period. The auditor’s report concludes Miller claimed excess mileage for some destinations, didn’t have supporting records for other trips and had claimed reimbursement for work-related travel on days she was out sick or on vacation.

Last April, Miller asked the agency’s director to pay her more than was allowed annually for travel. That sparked an internal review of her travel claims. Miller was placed on administrative leave last May. She resigned from her job last summer. Copies of the state auditor’s report have been filed with Des Moines Police and the Polk County attorney as well as the state attorney general and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.