Below is a summary of Enhanced Public Health Measures announced Dec. 16th by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. The measures went into effect at 12:01-a.m. Thursday (12/17), and continue through Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 11:59 p.m.

Mask Use : Indoor spaces open to the public & State executive branch buildings
● No change

Gathering Restrictions : Social, community, business, or leisure gatherings
● Ensure 6-feet distance between groups or individuals attending alone

Sporting and Recreational Events :
● Only two spectators for each youth or adult athlete, cheerleader, pep band member, or organizer staff,
unless all spectators are from the same household , must wear a mask and maintain 6 feet distance
from other spectators
● Youth and adult participants can be closer than 6-feet and are not required to wear masks

High School Sports & Extracurriculars : Sporting, recreational, and extracurricular events
● Only two spectators for each high school athlete, performer, competitor, cheerleader, pep band
member, or staff member, unless all spectators are from the same household , must wear a mask
and maintain 6 feet distance from other spectators
● Students participating can be closer than 6-feet and are not required to wear masks

Restaurants and Bars : Restaurant or bar, including a wedding reception venue, winery, brewery,
distillery, country club, or other social or fraternal club
● Masks required when not seated at a table, booth, or bar (while playing games, dancing, etc.)
● Six feet distancing between groups
● Groups limited to 8 people unless larger group is all same household
● Seated when eating or drinking and limit congregating

Fitness Centers : Fitness centers, health clubs, health spas, gyms
● Group fitness activities are allowed if a 6-foot distance is maintained

Casinos & Gaming Facilities :
● Masks required except when seated to eat or drink.

Closer/Prolonged Contact Establishments : Bowling alleys, pool halls, bingo halls, arcades, indoor
playgrounds, children’s play centers
● Mask required when not seated to eat or drink
● Ensure that groups and individuals are six feet apart at establishment
● Groups limited to eight people unless larger group is all same household

Nonessential/elective surgeries : A hospital must reserve at least 10% of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and
10% of medical/surgical beds for COVID-19 patients.

The Creston Police Department says no injuries were reported after a vehicle struck a garage during a domestic situation, the afternoon of Dec. 11th. Authorities say 39-year old Scott William Lemon, of Creston, told Police Wednesday (12/16) a 2001 Cadillac Deville Driven by 37-year old Keri Letisha Lemon, of Creston, allegedly intentionally rammed his 2012 Chevy Silverado pickup, causing the pickup to hit and damage a garage the residence on N. Maple Street. Scott Lemon then said Keri chased him in the yard and tried to block him from leaving.

Authorities say there was damage to the rear quarter panel of the vehicle, and the driver’s side door was sprung. Keri Lemon told Police her foot slipped off the accelerator, causing her car to hit the pickup. The incident happened at around 4:50-p.m.  Police say the Cadillac sustained front end damage. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $4,500 altogether, with the garage sustaining approximately $3,000 damage.

Creston Police say no citations were issued due the incident occurring on private property, and no charged were filed due to the victim declining to prosecute.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Lottery will propose some updates in state law to clear up what constitutes a winning ticket — and to increase the penalty for those who try to hide their winnings to avoid state debt. Lottery Vice President, Mary Neubauer, says they want to clarify the language about winners.”The new subsection that we are adding to the code in that area says that we will pay prizes only for those tickets that have been legally purchase, legally possessed, and legally presented,” Neubauer explained. She says that’s always been the case — but you had to look in several sections of the code to find the answer. “Some prosecutors and local law enforcement who have worked on criminal cases involving lottery tickets have said it would be helpful if the code were more clear and concise in that area. And so, we believe that this new subsection will achieve that. Let’s just make it as clear and concise as possible,” Neubauer says.

Another proposed change involves the state’s offset program which uses lottery winnings to offset the winner’s state debt. “At the lottery, if you win a prize, there is an automatic check of the income offset database of the income offset database when you come in to collect the prize,” according to Neubauer. “And that debt is automatically taken out before we issue a check to the winner.” Neubauer says winners who know about the program may try to get around it.  “For example, they might give the ticket to a friend and have the friend come in to claim a prize rather than the original person being the one to claim a prize. And section three of the bill would have the penalties involved for that apply to both the person who would be passing the ticket to a friend — as well as the friend,” Neubauer says.

She says both people are lying about who won the ticket and both should be penalized. Neubauer says there are thousands of dollars collected each year from lottery winnings to cover state debts.”Over the last five years that total has ranged anywhere from 312-thousand dollars all the way up to 500-thousand dollars in a given year that is recouped,” Neubauer says. She says the best-laid plans of winners trying to keep all the cash have sometimes backfired. “In a couple of instances people who owed offsets gave a ticket to a friend to claim the prize — not know that the friend had an even bigger offset than they did,” Neubauer says. “And in the end, the friend claimed the prize and their offset took the entire prize — so that person who had initially given them the ticket received no money and the friend’s offset was wiped out.”

Neubauer says they will propose the changes in the upcoming legislative session in January.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods says it has fired seven top managers at its largest pork plant after an independent investigation into allegations that they bet on how many workers would test positive for the coronavirus. The company said the investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed troubling behavior that resulted in the firings at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa. Tyson Foods President and CEO Dean Banks says the “behavior exhibited by these individuals does not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate and appropriate action.” Banks traveled to the Waterloo plant on Wednesday to discuss the actions with employees.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court is considering whether to allow citizens rights and environmental groups to proceed to trial with their lawsuit that claims Iowa has allowed crop and hog farmers to pollute the Raccoon River, denying citizens safe water for drinking and recreation. Justices heard arguments Wednesday in the case filed in March 2019 by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch. The state claims the case should be dismissed because the Iowa Constitution places the responsibility of balancing the interests of farmers and water quality in the hands of the legislature and executives and the courts shouldn’t intervene in those policy considerations.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A panel of experts that will help decide which groups get the coronavirus vaccine first in Iowa has been holding closed meetings, circumventing the state open meetings law. The Iowa Department of Public Health convened the Infectious Disease Advisory Council to develop recommendations on how to use the vaccine when supplies are limited in the coming weeks. The panel will recommend which groups of health care workers, essential workers and people at risk for severe COVID-19 illness should be considered higher priorities than others. Department interim director Kelly Garcia says she does not believe the council is bound by the open meetings law. She says she wants the group to have a “free flow of conversation” outside public scrutiny.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds says restaurants and bars in Iowa may return to normal business hours but patrons must still wear masks when not seated for eating or drinking, and groups sitting together must be at least six feet from one another under a new state proclamation effective on Thursday. The restriction on the number of people who may gather at one time is lifted but groups or individuals must distance themselves from one another. Reynolds’ revised coronavirus pandemic emergency proclamation comes as the state has seen the spread of the virus and hospitalizations slow in the past month. Still, Iowa reported an additional 14 deaths on Wednesday and 1,986 new confirmed cases in past 24 hours.