The State of Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard today (10-a.m., Thursday), showed 3,120 deaths, which is an increase of 99 from yesterday (Wednesday).The IDPH says 2,865 deaths are the result of “Underlying causes,” while a “contributing factor”  accounts for 255 deaths, The county-by-county information shows additional deaths reported in each of Cass, Harrison, Madison, Mills and Pottawattamie Counties.

Positive cases increased by 2,246, to 251,028. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks  are 142. LTC deaths amount to 1,129.  Hospitalizations are at 863, with 189 COVID patients in an ICU; 124 were admitted to a hospital with COVID symptoms, and 114 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 53 COVID patients, 16 are in an ICU, eight people were admitted, and nine are on a ventilator.

State data shows 1,268,077 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus, with a total of 177,800 recovered. Iowa reports a 14-day positivity rate of 15.6% and a 7-day rate of 11.6%. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, 63 report 14-day positivity rates above 15%. Three Iowa counties report a 14-day positivity rate below 10%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases; The # of new cases since yesterday {+}; and the total number of deaths in each county (Configured by the new reporting formula):

• Cass, 901 cases; {+7}; 35 deaths
• Adair, 500; {+9}; 15
• Adams, 201; {+3}; 2
• Audubon, 321; {+3}; 6
• Guthrie, 830; {+8}; 22
• Harrison County, 1,199; {+20}; 48
• Madison County, 804; {+13}; 8
• Mills County, 1,153; {+13}; 10
• Montgomery, 575; {+8}; 12
• Pottawattamie County, 7,233; {+112}; 70
• Shelby County, 840; {+4}; 16
• Union County,  924; {+7}; 9

A traffic stop at around 5:45-p.m. Wednesday in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man from Council Bluffs. 48-year old Joel John Pogge was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked. Pogge was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

In an update to our story earlier this week, whereby we told you the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Tabor Police Department are seeking information concerning a burglary that occurred at the Glenwood State Bank, located in Tabor, the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6th and early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 7th, the Sheriff’s Office Thursday (Today), released still frame surveillance images of the suspects.

Authorities say a man entered the bank lobby at approximately 8:47 PM and then left the area. Two men returned at approximately 12:30 AM and removed the ATM from the lobby. The white males were said to be wearing camouflage jackets.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Trump administration is poised to carry out five more executions before Joe Biden’s inauguration, starting with a former Texas street-gang member for the June, 1999 slaying of a young religious couple from Iowa. President Donald Trump has overseen the resumption of federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.

Forty-year-old Brandon Bernard would become the ninth federal inmate executed this year. He was 18 when he and five other teenagers abducted and robbed Christian youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley, who were on their way from a Sunday service in Killeen, Texas. Before moving to Iowa, Todd had been stationed at Fort Hood, where the couple attended Grace Christian Church and worked with the youth group. The couple had visited Killen to be with friends and were abducted at gunpoint while outside a convenience store, using a payphone.

If it goes ahead, Bernard would be a rare execution of a person in his teens when the crime occurred. It also would be a rare federal execution during a presidential transition. Another person involved in the murder, Christopher Vialva was executed for killing the Bagley’s this past September. His execution by lethal injections followed the announcement by US attorney general William Barr in 2019, that federal executions would be allowed to resume.