Creston Police says a resident reported Monday morning, that her fathers home located at 1105 W. Adair, in Creston, had recently been broken into and vandalized. China was reported to have been destroyed. The loss was estimated at $200

The Atlantic School Board will once again hold an electronic school board meeting, when they gather 6-p.m. Wednesday, for their regular session. The meeting will be accessible through YouTube at https://youtu.be/m1bRIXuEt-w. Persons who wish to comment during a Public Hearing on the Certified FY 20-21 Budget, will be directed to call 712-243-4252, during the hearing. If you have any questions, or, if you prefer to submit your comments in writing, please e-mail Sarah Sheeder at ssheeder@atlanticiaschools.org. The Public Hearing will be held prior to the start of the Board’s Regular Meeting. The District must submit its annual Certified Budget to the State, prior to April 15th. The Budget calls for a tax rate of $14.22 per thousand dollars of taxable assessed value, as compared to $14.72/$1,000, for the current school year (a reduction of 50-cents/$1,000).

During their regular meeting, the Atlantic School Board will discuss a Facility Project Update, the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Needs Assessment Survey, and a Continuous Learning Plan, with regard to the Governor’s April 2nd directive. Action items on the agenda include:

• A Resolution Levying a tax for FY 2020-21 for the future optional redemption of General Obligation (G.O.) School Bonds, Series 2019. The amount of $195,000 will come from the Debt Service Fund.
• The Board will act to approve the 2020-21 Certified Budget.
• They are expected to act on approving Change Orders/Proposal Requests for the Athletic  Facilities Project, including:

1. Trojan Bowl Flag Poles: Reducing the number of poles from three, to one, 30-foot tall pole & installation. ($3,212.48 – which is actually a cost savings)
2. Softball Field Grading/Storm Drainage: Resolves a run-off issues from the hill on the softball diamond by removing the underground drainage, grading, sealing the inlet and running tile to the reservoir.
3. The installation of a Water Meter (based on a recommendation & requirement from AMU)
4. And a change in the cost associated with redesigning the Trojan Bowl Concession Stand Ticket Booth ($2,718.68)

Another action item pertains to a Pandemic Pay Resolution for: 1) Hourly/Non-Exempt Employees, and 2) Contracted/Salaried Employees. Approval would mean district employees will continue to receive regular and customary pay, through April 30th.

(Radio Iowa) — Officials are advising Iowa nursing homes to take additional steps to protect residents and staff. COVID-19 outbreaks have been confirmed in nursing homes in Linn, Washington and Tama Counties. Sarah Reisetter, the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says ALL Iowa nursing homes have been encouraged to screen every resident for fever and cough or breathing problems daily.

“If residents do become ill, those residents may worsen on day 7 to 8 of their symptoms,” Reisetter says. Every Iowa nursing home is urged to have a plan for who to call and how to transfer a resident who needs hospital care. Reisetter says there are new guidelines for nursing home staff, too.

“We are asking employees to use face masks and eye protection at all times for all resident care,” Reisetter says. “…We’ve asked them to consider gown and glove use at all times for all resident care to the extent the (personal protective equipment) is available, but certainly at facilities where outbreaks are being experienced.”

No visitors have been allowed inside Iowa nursing homes since March 10th, unless it’s an ‘end of life’ circumstance for a resident that’s NOT related to COVID-19. All staff must have their temperature taken at the beginning and end of their shifts.  “We’ve asked them to identify any other health care facilities where staff work, including recommendations that staff not work in other facilities, if possible,” Reisetter says, “and, at a minimum if they do need to work, to use a face mask and eye protection for all patient care in any health care setting where they may be working.”

Reisetter says state officials are making other recommendations, like moving residents who have COVID-19 symptoms to a single room and ensuring staff who care for them are not interacting with other nursing home residents. “So that dedicated staff are working with ill residents and not with health residents,” Reisetter says. There are more than 440 long term care facilities in Iowa.

Ten percent of all the Iowans who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 are either a nursing home resident or employee and nearly half of the Iowans who have died of COVID-19 have been nursing home residents.

(Radio Iowa) — One of President Trump’s top public health advisers spoke with the governors of Iowa and Nebraska Monday. Dr. Anthony Fauci said late last week that he did not know why all states’ governors weren’t issuing shelter-in-place orders. This is what he said early Monday evening.

“When I had mentioned that, I think there was a public response that they weren’t really doing anything at all,” Fauci said, “and they really are doing a very good job — both of them.” Fauci made his comments during the president’s news conference at the White House. Reynolds tweeted about her conversation with Fauci, saying the doctor told her and Nebraska’s governor they are on the same page with federal guidelines.

Fauci offered this analysis of Iowa and Nebraska’s COVID-19 closures:  “Just because they don’t have a very strict stay-at-home order, they have in place a lot of things that are totally compatible with what everyone else is doing.” Reynolds describes Fauci as “100 percent supportive” of the proclamations, orders and decisions she’s made thus far in the pandemic.

The Reynolds Administration is using a rating system to chart the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in each of six regions of the state. On Monday, it showed a large section of southeast Iowa was within one point of reaching the level at which Reynolds would order a regional shelter-in-place order.

(A-P BusinessWire) – Officials with Casey’s General Stores, Monday, announced an expanded partnership with DoorDash to provide delivery to 579 locations, seven days a week, across the company’s 16-state footprint. The new service will immediately offer delivery for Casey’s famous, made-from-scratch pizza, select appetizers and 20 oz soda. By end of April, dozens of grocery and household items will be added as Casey’s finds new ways to serve thousands of people sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivery hours will match each Casey’s store kitchen hours from morning to night, seven days a week. Additional grocery and household items such as candy, salty snacks and ice cream will be available from Casey’s through DoorDash starting in mid-April.

Guests can see if their hometown location is offering Casey’s delivery through DoorDash by visiting DoorDash.com or downloading the app on iOS or Android. For the latest delivery deals and pizza information, visit caseys.com or download the Casey’s app.

Pottawattamie County Public Health officials said Monday, an additional positive case of COVID-19 was returned from lab tests, bringing the county’s total to nine. The individual is a Council Bluffs woman between 41-60 years old who had contact with a known case. The woman has pre-existing medical conditions.

Officials say the woman was tested on April 1st and had been self-quarantining since then. On April 5th, she was admitted to Jennie Edmundson Hospital. Pottawattamie County Public Health said there are no known exposure locations. Health officials continue to conduct contract tracing investigations.

Of the nine cases in Pottawattamie County, three have recovered, according to the health department.