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House fire in Atlantic Sunday night

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic Fire and Rescue were called to a house fire at around 8:30-p.m. Sunday in the area of 5th and Birch. Smoke and flames were visible upon arrival of law enforcement and fire department personnel.

Crews got a quick knock down of the flames. It was not clear if anyone was inside the home at the onset.

Additional details are currently not available.

 

 

Mutual of Omaha insurance firm removing longtime Indian logo

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Insurance company Mutual of Omaha has announced it will replace its longtime corporate logo, which features a depiction of a Native American chief. The move comes as corporations and sports teams face increasing pressure to dump nicknames and depictions that reference American Indians amid a nationwide movement calling for racial justice. The company is in the process of creating a new logo.

Chairman and CEO James Blackledge said in a news release Friday that Mutual of Omaha is committing an additional $1 million to the $2 million it donates annually to community-based initiatives to address racial equality and social justice.

IndyCar’s next wave proving kids are more than all right

Sports

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — There is a wave of 20-somethings in IndyCar that are giving the elder statesmen of open-wheel racing everything they can handle this season. Rinus VeeKay, Colton Herta and Santino Ferrucci along with Pato O’Ward, Alex Palou and Oliver Askew represent a quarter of the field, and all of them have been running near the front.

That included the doubleheader at Iowa this weekend, where Askew and O’Ward battled for the podium on Friday night and Askew was in the mix again Saturday. They come from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life, too. O’Ward is from Mexico, Palou is Spanish and VeeKay is Dutch.

IDPH reports backlog of COVID-19 tests results

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The IDPH reports a significant number of COVID-19 test results were not reported over the weekend due to a backlog that occurred in IDPH’s electronic reporting system.  The reporting backlog is processing now and case counts will continue to update throughout the day as usual. The delay in reporting will result in adjustments to some daily case counts reported last week.

The reporting backlog does not impact the notification of test results to individuals tested either through Test Iowa or other providers.

Red Oak man arrested for Assault w/injury Sunday morning

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak arrested a man for Assault causing bodily injury, early this (Sunday) morning. Authorities say 20-year old Tyler Blaine Baucom, of Red Oak, was also charged with Interference with Official Acts. He taken into custody in the 1100 block of N. 5th Street at around 3:40-a.m, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $1,000.

Iowa COVID-19 update (7/19/20)

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Iowa health officials report 661 new positive coronavirus cases and three additional deaths. The new cases as of 10 a.m. today (Sunday) brought the number of positive cases to 38,564 since the pandemic began. The State’s COVID-19 dashboard shows seven more deaths, for a total 792. A total of 414,497 individuals have been tested for COVID-19, to date. Of those, 375, 618 have tested negative for the virus, and 27,875 have recovered.

Iowa’s coronavirus hospitalization numbers have been on the rise since the beginning of July. IDPH report 214 patients hospitalized as of today (Sunday). There are 75 patients listed in intensive care, 20 more patients were admitted to a hospital and 31 are on a ventilator. Region 4 data shows seven people are hospitalized for COVID-19 in western/southwestern Iowa, five are in an ICU, one was admitted to a hospital since Saturday, and one person remains on a ventilator.

There are currently coronavirus outbreaks in 16 of Iowa’s long-term care facilities. IDPH reported 414 positive cases and 90 recoveries within those facilities. There have been 419 deaths in Iowa’s care facilities.

County-by-County COVID-19 cases, and the number of person who have recovered (   ). (Changed numbers from the last report are highlighted)

  • Cass: 29 (25 recovered)
  • Adair: 20 (16 recovered)
  • Adams: 12 (recovered data not available)
  • Audubon: 20 (recovered data not available)
  • Guthrie: 98 (62 recovered)
  • Montgomery: 19 (13)
  • Pottawattamie: 916 (696 recovered)
  • Shelby: 125 (120 recovered]

Sports Headlines: 7/19/20

Sports

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Josef Newgarden led nearly wire-to-wire Saturday night to win the IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the double-header and his fourth victory across three series this weekend. Will Power finished second after wrecking out of the doubleheader opener. Graham Rahal finished third for his first podium in more than a year, while Pagenaud again came from the back to finish fourth and series leader Scott Dixon was fifth.

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government has turned down the Blue Jays’ request for an exemption that would have allowed them to play regular-season games in Toronto amid the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball needed an exemption to a requirement that anyone entering Canada for nonessential reasons must self-isolate for 14 days. The team had previously been given clearance by city and provincial governments to play regular-season games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre but needed approval from Canada’s federal government.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman doesn’t know if he has time to be ready for their season opener following a scary journey in his battle with COVID-19. The four-time All-Star revealed Saturday that he had a high temperature of 104.5 degrees early in his battle with the disease and prayed for his life. He said Saturday was his ninth consecutive day without symptoms, which also included body aches, chills and a temporary loss of his senses of taste and smell.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán says he is not retiring from baseball and apologized for suggesting as much in an Instagram post on Friday. Germán is serving an 81-game ban for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy last summer. He posted Friday night words in Spanish that translated to, “I’ve left baseball. Thanks everyone.” But he wrote Saturday in Spanish and English that he was “very sorry for the unsettling post.”

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Jon Rahm is the leader through three rounds of the Memorial, four shots ahead of Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau. Rahm carded four birdies on the back nine in a 68 that leaves him 12 under for the tournament. Danny Willett is alone in fourth place, six shots back and one ahead of Jason Day and Henrik Norlander.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL has informed teams their training camps will open on time. League executive Troy Vincent sent a memo to general managers and head coaches on Saturday informing them rookies are to report by Tuesday, quarterbacks and injured players by Thursday and all other players should arrive by July 28. The league and the NFL Players Association are still discussing testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols.

Iowa early News Headlines: Sunday, July 19, 2020

News

July 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:10 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is reporting 287 new positive coronavirus cases and three additional deaths. KCCI reports that the new cases reported as of 10 a.m. Saturday brought the number of positive cases to 37,903 since the pandemic began. Iowa’s coronavirus hospitalization numbers have been on the rise since the beginning of July. IDPH reported 210 patients hospitalized, unchanged from the previous day. There are 70 patients listed in intensive care, unchanged from the previous day.

UNDATED (AP) — A legislative panel has approved a plan by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate to send absentee ballot request forms to all registered voters as he did before the June primary to help voters concerned about going to polls in person amid a coronavirus pandemic. In a proposed emergency election directive, Pate sought Friday to use federal funds to mail absentee ballot requests to active registered voters for the Nov. 3 election. Pate says a public health disaster persists. He says he’s consulted with all 99 county auditors and some say they cannot send absentee ballot request forms to voters.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 8% in June as the state’s economy continued to recover after being hit hard by efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the 8% unemployment rate was down from 10.2% in May. The number of unemployed residents dropped from 173,000 in May to 131,200 in June. Iowa’s unemployment rate remains far higher than before the coronavirus pandemic, as the jobless rate was 2.7% in June 2019. The national unemployment rate in June was 11.1%.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged an 81-year-old man with first-degree murder in a deadly Iowa shooting. A complaint and affidavit filed Thursday in Plymouth County District Court said Thomas Knapp, of Merrill, confessed to shooting 51-year-old Kevin Juzek in May during a disturbance at their home. The Sioux City Journal reports that Knapp previously pleaded not guilty to domestic abuse charge in the case. Authorities responded after his wife called 911 to report that her husband was assaulting her and her son with a stick and also pointed the shotgun at her. She also said Juzek, who also lived in the home, had just been shot.

Red Oak man arrested for Driving While Barred

News

July 18th, 2020 by admin

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Saturday afternoon of a Red Oak man following a traffic stop in the 1700 block of N Broadway Street in Red Oak. At 3:35 p.m. Officers arrested 29-year-old Benjamin Wyatt Barnes of Red Oak for Driving While Barred. Barnes was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

Regional Softball Scoreboard 07/18/2020

Sports

July 18th, 2020 by admin

Playoff softball was on tap for Class 4A and 5A schools on Saturday with Regional Semifinals. Here is a look at the area scores.

CLASS 4A

Region 1

LeMars 4, Spencer 1
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 10, Carroll 5

Region 3

Norwalk 2, ADM 0
Winterset 8, Newton 0

Region 4

Carlisle 11, Knoxville 2
Harlan 6, Lewis Central 1

CLASS 5A

Region 2

Johnston 12, CB Abraham Lincoln 0
Bettendorf 11, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 8