Atlantic firefighters responded this (Friday) morning to reported vehicle fire northeast of town. The page about a vehicle on fire in a ditch just west of Highway 71 on Troublesome Creek Road, went out at around 9:39-a.m. The driver of the vehicle got out safely before fire crews and law enforcement arrived. Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren says 19-year old Dylan Litty, of Atlantic, was traveling westbound on Troublesome Creek, when his brakes apparently failed as he was about to enter a curve in the road.

Ric Hanson/photo

The Chevy pickup traveled down a farm drive before entering the northeast ditch where it became engulfed in flames. The vehicle was a total loss. The accident remains under investigation.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered a lower court judge to review the murder conviction in which jurors were accused of making racially charged comments during the trial. The appeals court ruling Wednesday came in the case of Doncorrion Spates, who was 18 when he was convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for a 2016 shooting death.

A juror in Spates’ trial testified that two other jurors made the comments, including that most young Black men are in gangs and are desensitized to killing. Now, the trial court must determine whether the defense proved that racial hostility was a significant factor in the verdict. If so, Spates will be given a new trial. If not, his conviction will stand.

(Radio Iowa) – A new digital element has been added inside the tiny childhood home of the Everly Brothers in Shenandoah. Don and Phil Everly recorded their first hit — Bye Bye Love — in 1957, but they got their start in the 1940s performing in “The Everly Family” with their parents. A six-foot tall touchscreen is now inside the family home in Shenandoah, so visitors can see what else is in the museum collection. Bill Hillman, head of the Everly Brothers Foundation, says the small home just isn’t big enough to hold all the materials. “We’ve always wanted to get some kind of interactive cpmputers or something that people could look at all the stuff we have,” Hillman says.

The Everly’s home was moved to a spot in downtown Shenandoah years ago. Shelley Warner of the Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association says they plan to keep adding material to the touch screen terminal. “Right now we’ve got our movie that we’ve made,” Warner says, “lots of photos and archived items and displays that we don’t have room for in the house.” Warner says fundraisers for the new digital display were held across the street from the home, at the Depot Deli.  “Every concern we had for the last three years, I think — maybe four, proceeds have also helped go into this,” she says.

Other donations came from the Ed May Family and WalMart. The home is open by appointment only, except for special events when it’s open to the public. Phil Everly died in 2014. Don Everly is 83 and lives in Nashville.

Atlantic, IA—Cass County Health System CEO Brett Altman and Chief Nursing Officer Amanda Bireline are raising red flags about an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Cass County. The warnings come as the Cass County positivity rate for COVID-19 cases ranked second highest in the state at over 21% on Wednesday, October 21. Bireline says “Positive cases are rapidly accelerating and one of our greatest concerns is our future ability to adequately staff our hospital and clinics. Whether a staff member is forced to care for a family member or themselves after a positive COVID test, quarantine effectively removes a staff member from our workforce for up to two weeks at a time. While we have incorporated plans to mitigate workforce shortages during the pandemic, obviously the last place you want to have staffing shortages is in a hospital.”

Altman said CCHS belongs to a network of twelve independent western Iowa rural hospitals and all of them are sharing in that same struggle. “We are actually in better shape than most rural hospitals, however with the recent increase of cases in Cass County that could change quickly,” he said. Bireline noted that CCHS is beginning to see a rise in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. “The number of COVID patients hospitalized at CCHS is at an all-time high this week, and the cases we are seeing today reflect community activity from the last several weeks,” she said.

Altman added, “The surge is here and it’s real. We don’t know when it will peak, but too many cases at once should concern all of us. Our staff has been doing tremendous work, but we need everyone’s help in preventing the spread of COVID so we can maintain our workforce. Unless we are willing to make some commitments to reduce the spread, then there is reason to believe this current wave will continue to worsen.”

With the weather beginning to cool and people spending more time indoors, it is likely that cases will continue to increase. Public health messages such as frequent handwashing, practicing physical distancing, wearing a mask, and staying home when ill are more important than ever. “It is critical that entire communities recognize that there is a downstream impact from not social distancing, not wearing a mask, gathering in large crowds, and taking unnecessary chances. All of these actions can impact our local workforce including schools, businesses, as well as the hospitals,” said Altman.

Altman also commented on mask wearing and the recent change in quarantine guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Like many, I personally don’t enjoy wearing a mask, but it is required in the hospital and is highly recommended in other public places based on individual circumstances. Remember, if everyone is wearing a mask, then exposure to someone with COVID who was also wearing a mask does not require a quarantine. Everyone masking supports the desire many of us share – keep kids in school and keep our employees working.”

Bireline and Altman both spoke to the importance of public health messages, and the difficult work done by Cass County Public Health. “Beth Olsen and her team have done an incredible job. They have been working seven days a week for many months now, with no end in sight, and taken it in stride. Like all of us, they didn’t sign up for this pandemic, but have simply been amazing. We want to thank and them for their efforts on behalf of all Cass County residents,” said Altman.

Bireline agreed. “It’s been a tremendously difficult year. We need to stay positive and keep planning for what’s ahead, and we must keep working together. I know that when I’m going through a tough time, it’s the support of those around me – both my family and my work family – that help pull me up out of it. That’s where we’re all at now. We need to rally and do what we can to lift each other up. That solidarity of ‘we are all in this together’ can have a positive impact on our entire well-being and our communities.”

Creston Police arrested two women on separate Violation of Protection Order charges, Thursday, 20-year old Tia-Lee Jeanette Ferguson, of Creston, was arrested at around 10:20-a.m. at a residence in the 300 block of N. Pine Street. 32-year old Ashleigh Nicole Shinn, of Creston, was arrested at the same residence five-hours later. Both women were transported to the Adams County Jail and held without bond until seen by the Magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission recently approved the 2021 racing season for the Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque. Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko says the bulk of the financing for the track comes from the fund created to allow the industry to consolidate. “These payments are made shortly after the first of the year. Half of that money can go to the Iowa Greyhound Association (IGA) to be used at Iowa Greyhound park for purses, operating costs, and any capital expenditures that need to be made to keep the facility up. In other words, to keep the racing surface safe, to keep the starting boxes and rails in working order,” Ohorilko says.

The fund created in 2015 allowed the greyhound tracks in Council Bluffs and Dubuque to phase out will the I-G-A took over as the only live race facility. That fund was roughly 72 million dollars but is starting to run out. “There will be adequate money — at least for the next two years for that industry,” he says. But Ohorilko says the final payment will be made in January of 2022. “So at that point in time, unless something changes, the Iowa Greyhound Association would have to support greyhound racing with revenues they receive from simulcast racing,” according to Ohorilko.

Ohorilko says the operators will have to make a decision when simulcast revenue is their only income source. “That revenue that they receive is significantly less than the amount of money that they receive from the cessation payments — so it really would make it difficult unless the demand really increases from the simulcast outlets,” Ohorilko says. The I-G-A was approved for 112 race dates for 2021, which Ohorilko says is eight more than last year.