DES MOINES, Iowa – Parenting is not an easy task, and parenting teenagers comes with its own unique set of challenges. During National Teen Driver Safety Week, October 18-24, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is teaming up with law enforcement across the state to help empower parents to discuss the importance of safe driving habits with their young drivers. This week and every week, parents should have conversations with their teens about the important rules they need to follow to stay safe behind the wheel. This week, or any time, is a perfect time to begin and continue the conversation, and to remind parents not to hand over the car keys until their teen knows the rules of the road.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens (15 to 18 years old) in the United States – ahead of all other types of injury, disease, or violence. In 2018, there were 2,121 people killed in crashes involving a teen driver (15 to 18 years old), of which 719 deaths were the teen driver.

•    Alcohol and Drugs: All teens are too young to legally buy, possess, or consume alcohol.  However, nationally in 2018, 16% of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes had alcohol in their system.  But alcohol isn’t the only substance that can keep teens from driving safely.  Like other drugs, marijuana affects a driver’s ability to react to their surroundings.  Remind teens that driving under the influence of any impairing substance could have deadly consequences.

•    Seat Belts: Wearing a seat belt is one of the simplest ways for teens to stay safe in a vehicle. Yet too many teens aren’t buckling up.  In 2018, almost half (45%) of the teen passenger vehicle drives who died were unbuckled.  Even more troubling, when the teen driver involved in the fatal crash was unbuckled, nine out of ten of the passengers who died were also unbuckled.

•    Distracted Driving: Distractions while driving are more than just risky—they can be deadly. In 2018, among teen drivers involved in fatal crashes, almost 10% were reported as distracted at the time of the crash.  The use of mobile devices while driving is a big problem, but there are other causes of teen distracted driving which pose dangers as well.  They include adjusting the radio, applying makeup, eating or drinking, or distractions from other passengers in the vehicle.

•    Speeding: In 2018, almost one-quarter (28%) of all teen passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash, and males were more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than females.

•    Passengers: Teen drivers transporting passengers can lead to disastrous results.  Research shows the risk of a fatal crash goes up in direct relation to the number of passengers in a car. The likelihood of teen drivers engaging in risky behavior triples when traveling with multiple passengers.

•    Drowsy Driving: Teens are busier than ever: studying, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and spending time with friends are among the long list of things they do to fill their time. However, with all of these activities, teens tend to compromise something very important—sleep. This is a dangerous habit that can lead to drowsy driving or falling asleep at the wheel.

In 2019, Iowa lost 39 young drivers between the ages of 14 – 20 in motor vehicle crashes. Seven of those drivers had a blood alcohol over the legal limit. The Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau encourages you to talk to your teen drivers about safe driving practices. Losing even one is one too many, don’t you think?

(Statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports, as of this (Sunday) morning (6-a.m.), there are 605 more positive test results for COVID-19 statewide, for a total of 106, 752 since the beginning of the pandemic. Cass County reports NINE new cases since Saturday, for a total of 293. The number of deaths across the state that have been attributed to the virus, is up two this morning, to 1,528, with one more death being reported in Harrison County, where the total is 8 since the start of the pandemic. Of the deaths statewide, officials say 1,026 of those individuals had a pre-existing health condition.

New, Positive COVID-19 cases in our area, include: 31 in Pottawattamie County; five in Shelby County; four in Harrison County; 3 each in Adams, Mills and Union Counties; 2 each in Adair and Guthrie Counties, and one more case in both Madison and Audubon Counties.

There have been 897,543 Iowans tested for the virus, to date. The IDPH says 4,884 test results have been returned since 10-a.m. Saturday, with 4,234 coming back Negative, and 629 Positive. The total number of Negatives results to date, is 789,168. The Individual positivity rate is 11.9%, while the 14-day rolling average is 9.6%.  Hospitalizations are up again, after having fallen in yesterday’s report. The number of Iowans hospitalized with the virus, is 475, compared to 461 on Saturday. ICU stats are up, too, from 104 Saturday, to 108 today. There have been 84 Iowans with COVID-19 symptoms admitted to hospitals around the state since the last report, and 45 patients on a ventilator, compared to 46 yesterday.

The IDPH says there are: 34 people are in hospital across western/southwest Iowa, compared to 28 yesterday; eight people are being treated for COVID-19 in an ICU, compared to nine previously; five people have been admitted to a hospital (Compared to three Saturday), and one person remains on a ventilator. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are up slightly, from 63 yesterday, to 64 today. Officials say: there are 1,564 positive cases among staff and patients at those facilities; 631 staff/patients have recovered from the virus, and there have been 768 deaths since the pandemic began.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 293 cases {+9}; 222 recovered; 2 deaths
• Adair, 122 {+2}; 64; 1
• Adams, 66 {+3}; 35; 0
• Audubon, 128 {+1}; 59; 1
• Guthrie, 360 {+2); 223; 14
• Harrison County, 551 {+4}; 192; 8
• Madison County, 336 {+1}; 206; 2
• Mills County, 326 {+3}; 173; 1
• Montgomery, 150; 119; 5
• Pottawattamie County, 2,931 {+31}; 2,129; 43
• Shelby County, 340 {+5}; 298; 1
• Union County,  208 {+3}; 175; 3

(Radio Iowa) – An Ames native and Iowa State University graduate will host a virtual lecture this coming week, focusing on the various epidemics that hit that campus — and the country — more than a century ago. History Professor Doug Biggs says over the span of several years, there were multiple critical health emergencies, including a typhoid fever outbreak in 1906 and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.  “These epidemics were a great scourge in the minds of the administration and the faculty and they worked as best as they could to alleviate and avoid them,” Biggs says. “Sometimes they were successful and sometimes they were not.”

Professor Doug Biggs

The Spanish Flu killed 675-thousand Americans, but at that time, just as now, there were many critics who refused to wear masks, quoting their constitutional rights. Despite our advances in medicine, Biggs says human nature hasn’t changed much in a hundred years, even though we’d like to think we’re smarter than our ancestors. “But, just as in 1918-1919, there were people who disbelieved what was in front of them, that this couldn’t happen,” Biggs says, “and there were those who were on the other end where they would lock themselves in their homes and they would never go outside.”

Given his extensive research on the topic of past epidemics, Biggs was asked if he had an educated guess about how long the current coronavirus pandemic may last. “To quote one of my personal heroes, Dr. McCoy from Star Trek,” Biggs says, laughing, “‘Well, Jim, I’m a historian, not a doctor.'”

Biggs was born in Ames and earned his B-A and master’s degrees in history at I-S-U. He’s now a professor of history at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (CAR-nee). His virtual lecture is scheduled for 7 PM Tuesday, October 20th. It’s free and open to anyone through this link:
www.lectures.iastate.edu/lectures/early-epidemics-iowa-state-1877-1918

Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), were contacted by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, Saturday morning, after jailers discovered an unresponsive male inmate in his cell. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, jail staff attempted to provide life-saving measures, Algona EMS responded, but the man was pronounced dead. The inmate’s name was not immediately released, pending notification of family.

An autopsy will be scheduled with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, in Ankeny.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board has awarded state tax breaks to three Iowa-based companies that promise to expand and hire three dozen more people. Sukup Manufacturing, a family-owned company with headquarters in Sheffield, makes grain handling equipment. The company plans to spend four-point-seven MILLION dollars to expand its facility in Manly and promises to hire 10 more employees once it’s done. The Frontier Co-op in Norway sells organic herbs and spices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The Co-op plans to spend more than seven MILLION dollars expanding its warehouse and hire two dozen people once the project is completed. The third company to be awarded state tax breaks Electrical Power Products in Des Moines. The company promises to add two more people to its payroll once a five-and-a-half MILLION dollar expansion is completed.