(Radio Iowa) – Senator Joni Ernst won’t be having the “roast” part of her yearly campaign fundraiser due to the pandemic, but she’s hosting a two day “ride” for motorcyclists next month.”We are going to do a ‘Joni’s Ride Across Iowa,” she says. That’s J-RAI (JAY-RYE) — a sort of hat tip to RAGBRAI, the Des Moines Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa. Money raised from motorcyclists’ registrations for the senator’s event will go toward a Cedar Rapids-based derecho relief fund and the Puppy Jake Foundation which trains service dogs for veterans. Ernst is running for election to a second term in the U.S. Senate this year and, according to a campaign news release, there will be a short program and she’ll speak to reporters at stop along the way.

Sen. Joni Ernst on a “Roast and Ride.” (2016 file photo from Radio Iowa)

The ride starts in Sioux City on October 10th, with stops in Carroll, Des Moines that day. Riders will start out from Des Moines on October 11th, with a stop in Cedar Rapids before it ends in Davenport. Riders will not be in a tight formation, as in the previous “Roast and Ride” events Ernst has held, but are to make their way from city to city at their own pace. In 2016, Ernst’s “Roast and Ride” featured then-candidate Donald Trump. In 2017, Vice President Mike Pence rode into Ernst’s fundraiser on a motorcycle.

Police in Creston report a woman from Nebraska was arrested early this morning, on a drug charge. 51-year old Ellen Joy Kovalsky, of Omaha, was taken into custody at around 3:50-a.m. and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance – 1st Offense. Kovalsky was taken to Union County Jail and subsequently transferred to the jail in Adams County.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Dustin Liston once served as an intern for the Iowa City Police Department. Now, he may soon lead it. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Iowa City Manager Geoff Fruin is recommending Liston, currently a lieutenant with the El Paso Police Department in Texas, to take the top job in Iowa City. Whoever is selected will lead the department through a period of change. The Iowa City Council, in the wake of racial injustice protests, has vowed to restructure the department.

Liston is originally from Eldora. He was among 18 applicants for the chief’s job following the retirement of former Chief Jody Matherly in February.

KELLOGG, Iowa – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office are continuing to investigate the September 16th discovery of a burned body in rural Jasper County. The investigation has led to the involvement of the Grinnell Police Department and the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation is on-going and is being treated as a homicide.

As reported earlier, at around 5:32-p.m., Wednesday, the Jasper County Communication Center received a report of a fire in the 8100 block of North 67th Avenue East in rural Kellogg. Responding emergency personnel found an active fire in the roadside ditch. After extinguishing the fire, a deceased body was located.

Additional information on the case is expected to be released later today (Friday).

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Friday), said there were 1,259 new (Positive) COVID-19 cases reported since 10-a.m. Thursday, and 10 additional deaths. As of 10 a.m. Friday, IDPH reported 78,227 total COVID-19 cases, 56,474 recoveries and 1,258 deaths since the pandemic began. There have been 726,050 Iowans tested for the virus. IDPH reported 6,381 lab test results received in the previous day, with 729 positive results. IDPH reports a positivity rate of 8.5% over the last 14 days. One of four Iowans have been tested for COVID-19, while 1 of 40 have tested positive.

In the KJAN listening area, there are new Positive tests results to report for nearly all of the counties in our area, except Cass and Adams. Adair and Union Counties have three new cases each. There are four more cases in Audubon County, one more each in Guthrie County and Montgomery Counties, two new cases each in Shelby and Harrison Counties, three more in Union County, seven more in Madison County, nine more cases in Mills County, and 82 new cases in Pottawattamie County,

IDPH reported 39 long-term care facilities with coronavirus outbreaks, unchanged from the previous day. There are 928 positive cases and 466 recoveries within those facilities. There have been 661 deaths in Iowa’s long-term care facilities, accounting for more than half of the statewide total. Across the State, hospitalizations are up 10 to 281. The number of patients with COVID-19 who are in an ICU is up to 91; 55 people were admitted to a hospital with symptoms of the virus, and 39 patients were on ventilators. In western/southwest Iowa, hospitals report 12 people are hospitalized with COVID-19; 8 are in an ICU; One person was admitted to an area hospital with symptoms, and one person remains on  ventilator.

Here are the latest positive case numbers for southwest/western Iowa (County; Positive Case #’s; number of persons who have (recovered); {deaths since the outbreak began}.

• Cass County: 126 cases; (113); 2 deaths
• Adair County: 62 cases; (42); 1 death
• Adams County: 27 cases; (23)
• Audubon County: 53 cases; (32); 1 death
• Guthrie County: 209 cases; (156); 5 deaths
• Montgomery County: 85 cases; (79); 5 deaths
• Pottawattamie County: 1,934 cases; (1,582); 37 deaths
• Shelby County: 240 cases; (227); 1 death.
• Madison County, 198; (151); 2 deaths
• Harrison County, 166 cases; (151); 2 deaths
• Union County: 114 cases; (85); 3 deaths.
• Mills County: 162 cases; (114); 1 death.