There has been a major component failure to the Clarinda Police Department & Clarinda City Hall administrative phone lines. Police: 712-542-2194. City Hall: 712-542-2136. The auto attendant & voice mail systems are not working. If you call you will get a ring tone. The IT provider is working on the problem. It is unknown how long it will take before the system will be restored.
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — Some workers at a large corn processing plant in eastern Iowa have been told to stay home after four of their colleagues have tested positive for coronavirus. Archer Daniels Midland spokeswoman Jackie Anderson said Wednesday that operations at the plant in Clinton are continuing but with staffing changes.
The company said that the four workers who have tested positive are in quarantine and recovering at home. In addition, ADM said that it has asked all colleagues who worked “in close proximity” to the infected individuals to self-quarantine at home. Anderson would not say how many workers are currently at home due to their exposure.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports that at around 4:50-a.m. April 3rd, deputies responded to a report of a single-vehicle accident on I-80 eastbound. Officials say a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer driven by 27-year old Robin Elizabeth Santee, of Audubon, was eastbound on I-80 when the vehicle lost control on icy roadway and spun into the cable barrier. No injuries were reported. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $5,000; damage to the cable barrier is estimated at $500.
(as previously reported on KJAN) A couple of hours later, deputies responded to a single-vehicle accident on Lansing Road. A 2005 Chevy Colorado owned and driven by 44-year old Jennifer Lea Brisky, of Cumberland, was westbound on Lansing Road when the vehicle lost control on the icy road, entering the north ditch and rolling onto its top. Brisky was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital via Medivac. Vehicle is estimated to have $5,000 damage. No citations were issued.
(Edited by Cass County S/O, 4/9/20) On March 30, 2020, at 4:45 p.m., the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an accident involving two ATV’s on Golden Road. Chase Alan Vogl, 14, of Atlantic, was northbound on Golden Road on a 2000 Honda Rancher ATV when he made an abrupt U-turn southward, striking the front of a northbound 2002 Honda Foreman ATV ridden by Jacob Matthew Haupert, 15, of Atlantic, which was following close behind. A passenger on one of the ATV’s, Kyra Pearl Chase, 15, was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital via Medivac. Damage to the Honda Foreman is estimated at $1,000; damage to the Honda Rancher is estimated at $500. No citations were issued.
And, on April 2nd, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 30-year old Kevin Boyd Canter, of Atlantic, on charges of OWI 3rd Offense (a Class-D Felony) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (a Simple Misdemeanor). Canter was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.
The Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency reports today (Wednesday, April 8th) Pottawattamie County Public Health indicated another positive COVID-19 cases in Pottawattamie County. The total number of COVID-19 cases for Pottawattamie County is now twelve, three of which have recovered.
Pottawattamie County’s twelfth case is a female between 41-60 years old and a rural resident of Neola. She was tested on April 5 and is currently self-isolating. Pottawattamie County Public Health is conducting a contact tracing investigation and is in contact with the Iowa Department of Public Health.
The Health Department is emphasizing the importance of social distancing. Stay home as often as possible. The best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 is to stay home as much as possible. Only leave home for essential reasons. Do not visit big box stores except for essential grocery and pharmaceutical needs. If you must leave home, practice social distancing and stay at least six feet away from others. Implement excellent hygiene and disinfectant practices. Wash hands and disinfect frequently touched surfaces multiple times per day. Isolate if you are sick.
If you have COVID-19 symptoms or develop symptoms, (fever, cough, shortness of breath) contact your healthcare provider before going to the doctor’s office or an emergency room.
“As you know we are facing a global crisis, the likes of which most of us have not seen in our lifetime – COVID-19. I never imagined even a worst-case scenario in which I would be coming before a community to plead for you to take the actions I am going to ask of you now.
While we hope for the best, we need to prepare for the hard reality of what may lie ahead. It would be easy to say we are not a large city like New York who has experienced overwhelming devastation and loss of life. We are fortunate that we have a small population. We have a stronger ability to pull together to prevent the devastation simply due to our size. Although Iowa has not experienced the level of loss other states have, it’s just a matter of time. Make no mistake about it, this virus does not discriminate on the size of your community. This is the calm before the storm.
While I have no power to make you do anything, I am pleading with you to do the right thing and do it fast. If you think it won’t infect you, you are wrong. If you think that if you don’t have symptoms you could not be spreading it, you are wrong. If you think your family and friends won’t die from it, you might be wrong. Do you want to take that chance?
Compared to our Iowa neighbors it may appear that we’re doing fine, and we’ll probably escape the fate of others. We’ve tested over a dozen people and only one positive so far. This is misleading and may give a false sense of security that it is not in our county. There are Audubon County citizens who have called with symptoms of possible COVID-19 who did not meet the strict criteria for testing that have been instructed to go home and self-isolate with specific instructions from our healthcare team. We check on them frequently and most have gotten better.
We are all being called upon as Audubon County citizens to do our part to keep each other safe. Keep you and your family home or in the yard whenever possible. If you want to take a walk around the community, do so by keeping your distance from those outside your immediate family circle. If your friend or family member doesn’t live with you (in your house), you should not be within 6 feet of them. This means you don’t go to each other’s house. Your kids don’t meet up somewhere to hang out. And you don’t go to the store for every little thing you need. When you absolutely can’t go another day because you are out of something then one person in the family goes but follows the rules that I will share with you below. Social distancing is the only method we have right now to help reduce the spread of this terrible virus. Maybe you get the virus and you barely have symptoms, but you give it to someone who dies. You don’t have to have underlying medical conditions to die from this.
The good news is that as your community hospital we do have a lot in place already. Along with our community partners we have been preparing non-stop. We have surge plans ready to take care of more patients with more serious illness should it be needed. We have 5 ventilators and staff have been training to care for patients we would normally transfer to larger hospitals. Those hospitals will most likely not be able to take our added volume. Our strength is that the hospital and our community partners are now working as one team. We continue to work closely with the County’s Emergency Management to get more protective equipment for our healthcare workers and first responders. We are humbled by the donations from many community members that care enough to keep our frontline workers safe. We have pulled our resources together to prepare for an intense medical crisis, the likes of which we have never seen. We are working as quickly as we can but we need you to do your part so we can do ours.
I am calling on you, as an Audubon County citizen to help change the course of what lies ahead. We must support the frontline first. This includes all healthcare workers, first responders, and law enforcement. The protection of our nursing facilities is critical to protect some of our most vulnerable. Our essential businesses that keep our basic infrastructure going such as grocery stores, gas stations, trucking, mail carriers, banks, farm services, vet clinics, and pharmacies are all necessary and on the frontline. They must be protected as well. Businesses in our community that are taking this seriously are to be supported and thanked. What they are doing will make the difference between an overwhelmed hospital and one that can sufficiently take care of all of those who need care.
Based on what is currently understood about the virus:
You can protect yourself and your family by following four simple rules:
If you have the following symptoms, seek medical attention but call first (Hospital 24/7 Call Center is 712-563-5236).
This list is not all inclusive. Please call your healthcare provider for any symptoms that are severe or concerning. Follow the healthcare provider’s instructions.
We are learning more and more each day about this virus. Please refer to the CDC guidelines on their website for the most up-to-date information. Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics will continue to post updated information on its website at www.acmhhosp.org and our Facebook page.
We don’t know when life will get back to some sense of normalcy. What we do know is that if we don’t take this extreme action now it will take much longer. Our businesses are all suffering. We must act quickly as a community or the consequences could be devastating to all of us.”
(Radio Iowa) — State officials report there now are nearly 200 cases of COVID-19 in Linn County and the latest death in the state is of an elderly Linn County resident over the age of 81. By Tuesday night, 122 patients were being treated at an Iowa hospital for COVID-19. That’s been a recent double-digit increase in the number of reported hospitalizations, but Sarah Reisetter of the Iowa Department of Public Health says that’s partly because of new reporting guidelines.
“Previously we had been asking public health agencies to follow up with patients to determine hospitalization status,” Reisetter says. “Over the course of the last weekend, we put out a mandatory reporting order and we’re asking hospitals to report that information to us directly.” Reisetter says that means the information is more up-to-date. Testing has identified a total of 11-hundred-45 positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa.
STORM LAKE, Iowa (Sioux City Journal) — A 32-year-old Storm Lake man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a young child. The Sioux City Journal reports that Nee Htoo was sentenced Wednesday in Beuna Vista County District Court after he entered an Alford plea last month to second-degree sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.
An Alford plea is one in which the defendant does not admit guilty, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to secure a conviction. Prosecutors say Htoo sexually abused a girl at least four times in 2016 and 2017, when she was 6 or 7 years old.
Montgomery County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Stephanie Burke is encouraging those wishing to vote in the June 2 Primary Election to vote absentee by mail due to the recent concerns with coronavirus and COVID-19.
“Iowa’s June 2 Primary Election will go forward as planned, but I am encouraging citizens to vote by mail. It is our continued effort to keep our Montgomery County community safe and healthy. One way we are doing that, is by mailing every registered voter in Montgomery County an absentee ballot request form.” Auditor Burke said. “The Auditor’s office is currently working on the mailing and registered voters in Montgomery County should be receiving them in the near future if they haven’t received them already.”
After the Auditor’s office receives the completed absentee request form, a ballot will be mailed when they are ready. “Once you receive your ballot, vote it, sign the postage paid return envelope, and stick it in the mail – you’re done. It really is that simple.” Burke explained. Voters are reminded that for the Primary Election, they must choose a political party on the request form in order to receive the correct ballot.
The Iowa Secretary of State recently announced that their office will also be mailing absentee request forms at the end of April. “Our office already made the decision to do a mass mailing and started the process before the Secretary of State made the announcement, so we are going to continue with the mailing as planned. Those of you that already returned a request form to the Auditor’s office for the Primary Election, you do not need to submit another.” Burke said. Absentee requests to vote by mail must be received in the Auditor’s Office by 5 p.m. on May 22.
“We want to bring the polls to you, please vote from the comfort of your own home. Be heard, but be safe.” For more information about the 2020 Primary Election or absentee voting, please call the Auditor’s office at 623-5127. You can also follow Montgomery County Auditor & Elections Facebook page and at www.montgomerycountyiowa.com.
There is a national shortage of commercially-produced PPE including gowns. Public and private officials are working to address national and global supply challenges. Due to the current limitations on supplies of disposable and cloth gowns, there may come a time during this response when commercially manufactured gowns are no longer readily available. Iowans who would like to support healthcare providers can use this guidance document to construct homemade washable cloth gowns that can be worn by Iowa healthcare providers during patient care. Homemade washable cloth gowns are typically made of polyester or polyester-cotton fabrics. Gowns made of these fabrics can be safely laundered using routine procedures and reused.
Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon says residents who would like to donate homemade gowns need to call Cass County Public Health at 243-7552 or Cass County EMA at 243-1500. You will be provided guidance on where to drop off donations. There are many different patterns available on the internet, please choose one that meets the specifications from the links below.
Sample patterns can be found at: https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/sites/default/files/isolation-gown.pdf https://www.fashiongirlsforhumanity.org/products/gown-pattern-package
(12-p.m. News) The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two incidents of theft. At around 9:30-a.m. today (Wednesday), a man from Lorimor reported that sometime after 10-p.m. Monday, someone took a car trailer, new axle, winch, and tool box owned by Scott McKibbin, of Peru, while it was parked in Lorimor. The items were valued at $5,000 altogether.
And, a Creston man reported Tuesday evening, that his credit card statement had a charge he didn’t make, amounting to $505.95.
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