Algona, Iowa – Authorities in Iowa say an investigation into an April 9th shooting incident in Algona has resulted in the arrest of a man from Missouri. At around 10:25-a.m., Saturday (4/9/22), the Algona Police Department received a report of shots fired and a vehicle leaving the area of North Park Drive in Algona, at a high rate of speed.  Officers responded and located a male victim who had been shot at, but not hit, and identified other witnesses to the altercation.  Officers determined that the two men involved in the altercation knew each other.

An attempt to locate was broadcasted to area law enforcement agencies and the suspect vehicle was stopped by the Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement on Interstate 35 near Williams, Iowa.

Officers identified 20-year-old Michael Street, of Fredericktown, MO, as the subject who allegedly fired shots.  Street was arrested, charged with Attempted Murder, and is currently in custody at the Kossuth County jail.

The Algona Police Department was assisted by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement, the Clear Lake Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday afternoon, approved the sale of $5-million worth of General Obligation Urban Renewal Bonds, Series 2022, to 1st National Capital Markets (FNCM), of Omaha. Maggie Burger, Senior Vice President with Speer Financial, Inc., of Waterloo, said there were seven bids for the purchase of the bonds. FNCM, Burger said, offered a true interest rate of 2.5575%.

Burger said the 2.55% interest rate was slightly lower than what they were running projections on when they were were talking about the final Debt Service schedule. She said the County’s rating is a Aa3.

A-/A3 are medium investment grade credit ratings offered by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Both ratings signify that the issuer has financial backing and some cash reserves with a low risk of default. A-/A3 is the seventh-highest rating a debt issuer can receive and is four rankings above the cutoff for junk bonds. The investor/bidders were pleased with the way the County’s taxable valuation has grown over the past five-years.

Other factors, such as unemployment data that is below the State and National level, and all of the County’s Debt is fixed, attributed to the favorable interest rate. The bonds are callable after June 1st, 2029.  In other business, the Adair County Supervisors passed a Resolution with regard to a stop light and stop signs on a Farm to Market Road, in the City of Orient.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says based on the federal investigation of problems at the state-run facility in Glenwood that provides residential care for Iowans with intellectual and developmental disabilities — closure was really the only choice left to state officials.”This was a really, really tough decision, but after two years of COVID and after the DOJ’s findings and what their recommendations are, after continually trying to look for ways to make that work, we can’t,” Reynolds says.

The Department of Justice released a report in December that concludes the majority of residents at the Glenwood Resource Center could be cared for in private, community-based facilities instead and the state would spend less money on that care compared to the institutional setting at Glenwood. “Honestly, their objective is to go to community based living,” Reynolds says. “That’s where they believe the residents should be and so when you take all of that into account, we didn’t have a choice,”

Last Thursday, Reynolds announced the Glenwood Resource Center would close in two years after some residents are transferred to a similar state facility in Woodward, but the majority go into private care settings. Staff who stay during the transition will be paid retention bonuses and other employees are being offered job search assistance. “That really gives the respect and dignity to the residents and to the people that work there and have served these residents for years,” Reynolds says.

The governor says it was growing more difficult to find staff, plus she says there had been legitimate questions raised in 2019 about the care and safety of residents — leaving closure as the final option. “We have to move forward and so I appreciate all of the efforts that’s been put into doing that in a respectful manner because I’m telling you no one wants to make that decision and it’s hard,” Reynolds says. “Really hard.”

Iowa Department of Human Services director Kelly Garcia met with the family members and guardians of Glenwood residents this weekend and other state officials have been in Glenwood to talk about what’s next.

Reynolds made her remarks to reporters after attending an event on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

IOWA — Officials with tech giant Google today (Wednesday), announced plans to invest more than $50 million in Iowa in 2022. Nationally, Google plans to invest approximately $9.5 billion in offices and data centers and create at least 12,000 new full-time Google jobs across the U.S. this year. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet says “Google’s offices and data centers provide vital anchors to our local communities and help us contribute to their economies. As we embrace more flexibility in how we work, we believe it’s more important than ever to invest in our campuses and that doing so will make for better products, a greater quality of life for our employees, and stronger communities. That’s why we’re planning to invest approximately $9.5 billion in U.S. offices and data centers this year, creating more than 12,000 Google jobs in communities across the country.”

Google has called Iowa home for more than a decade with a data center in Council Bluffs that has created jobs for over 900 people in a variety of full-time and external supplier roles, including computer technicians, engineers and various food services, maintenance and security roles. Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh says “Google’s new $50 million investment announced today underscores their commitment to our Council Bluffs community. Building upon the $5 billion already invested in the Council Bluffs data center facilities, this new investment will continue to provide a ripple of economic impact throughout the state.” Google’s data center in Council Bluffs came online in 2009.

Google also released their 2021 Economic Impact Report today, sharing how Google helped provide $1.45 billion of economic activity for thousands of Iowa businesses, nonprofits, publishers, creators and developers last year. More than 187,000 Iowa businesses received requests for directions, phone calls, bookings, reviews, and other direct connections to their customers from Google in 2021. The company has awarded more than $3 million to local schools and nonprofits in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The city of Cedar Rapids is holding a vigil tonight after the shooting at the nightclub this past weekend that left two people dead and ten injured. Cedar Rapids Mayor, Tiffany O’Donnell told K-C-R-G- T-V local government officials felt compelled to organize a vigil as it became very clear that people needed to talk about this. “We have a community that is not used to this tragedy,” she says. O’Donnell says this is an opportunity for them to provide a space to heal.

“One of them called me in tears and just said, you know, I’m a really active person in this community, I like to go out and do stuff. I was almost at the club Saturday night. Is this, how it’s gonna be? And it broke my heart to hear him say that because this is an engaged, positive, lifelong member of our community who’s questioning his safety,” O’Donnell says.

Kara Grafft works at Harambee House in the Wellington Heights community. She describes it as a one-stop-shop for people in the area who have experienced trauma. Grafft tells K-C-R-G T-V that this is something that will stay with the 150 people who were in the club. “Other stories will come along so that will take our attention, but for the people that were there and experienced this….when that gets quiet it doesn’t get quiet for them you know that might be when things really settle in for them or they really start to struggle with the after effects of it,” according to Grafft.

Grafft has this advice for those dealing with the aftermath of the shooting. “Surround yourself with a positive network as much as you can kind of stick to a routine get good sleep take care of yourself,” she says. Mayor O’Donnell says supplying the positive network is part of their job. “As a city, we have a role to play in helping to heal and move our city forward, whatever that looks like,” O’Donnell says.

The Cedar Rapids “Vigil for Community Healing” is tonight (Wednesday) at 7:00 inside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Mays Island.

(Des Moines, IA) Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are increasingly impacting Iowans. Preliminary data from the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) for 2021 show significant increases in some STDs.

Most notably, syphilis has reached its highest numbers in the state in a generation. There were 554 diagnoses of infectious syphilis reported to IDPH in 2021. This is a 55% increase from the preceding year. Shifts are also occurring among our populations in Iowa who are most affected. Although the majority of diagnoses continues to be among men, the number of diagnoses among women nearly tripled in a single year. The increased number of women affected has led to historic increases in congenital syphilis (which occurs when the infection is passed from a pregnant person to the fetus or newborn). In 2021, there were 11 cases of congenital syphilis in Iowa – more than the last 20 years combined. Additionally, rates of syphilis among our Black and Indigenous populations, and populations of color overall, are increasingly disproportionate. 

Get Yourself Tested is a campaign encouraging young people to get tested and treated for STDs and HIV to protect their health and that of their partners. STDs affect people of all ages, yet these diseases take a particularly heavy toll on young people.

Disease Intervention Specialists at IDPH and Polk, Linn, Scott, and Black Hawk county health departments work with people affected by HIV and other STDs, like syphilis, every day. Through  these services, Iowans receive medical care and referrals to other supportive services. Iowans looking for STD testing can access two testing locator options here or here.

IDPH continues to work with its partner organizations, the medical community, and the public to raise awareness, make risk reduction easier (including increased testing and early diagnosis and treatment), and reduce stigma.