(KETV/Omaha; COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Less than 24 hours after a federal judge temporarily halted the Iowa law banning mask mandates in schools, the Council Bluffs Community School District is issuing new mask guidance. KETV in Omaha reports Superintendent Vicky Murillo wrote an email to parents today (Tuesday), stating “Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15, we will expect all students, staff and visitors to wear masks at school during school hours when physical distancing is not possible. Students will not have to wear a mask when seated to eat breakfast, lunch or while participating in recess or outdoor classroom activities.”

Murillo acknowledged that this new mask policy could change pending legal action. “We do recognize that members of our school community have varying opinions on the wearing of masks. As a school district, we have the responsibility to make decisions based on state and federal law and are doing so with the implementation of this change in expectations based on yesterday’s order,” Murillo said.

Council Bluffs said it will continue to track and monitor case totals and trends in each school, notify parents of cases, and work with the Pottawattamie County Health Department to adjust practices as needed.

(Radio Iowa) – Travel levels for planes and automobiles have all bounced back this summer as things opened back up from pandemic shutdowns. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson gave an update to the Transportation Commission today (Tuesday) — including air traffic.

That holds true as well for the number of passengers flying.

Anderson says the car and truck counts on state and local roadways continues to hold steady.

Traffic on roadways had dropped by 44 percent back in May of 2020 during the height of shutdowns. Anderson says the travel on city roadways is the one are that has been behind due to companies allowing employees to continue to work from home.

(Council Bluffs/ISP District 3) – The Iowa State Patrol, in Partnership with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, the Iowa Department of Transportation and local law enforcement agencies will be watching for speeders this Thursday, Sept. 16th. ISP District 3 Trooper/Public Information Officer Ryan Devault says the effort is an attempt to reduce fatalities, more than anything.

Of particular concern, is reducing the number of triple-digit speeders. Trooper Devault said he thinks speeds have come down from where they were when COVID was at its peak, but there are still egregious violations where drivers are in excess of 100 miles per hour.

The push to reduce speeding is intended to try and keep the number of speed-related fatalities below 300 for the year. Devault recommends drivers use their cruise control to break the lead-foot habit.

He acknowledges vehicles are much safer these days. They can brake for you when you are too close to another car on the highway, they can tell you when it’s safe to change lanes, and there may come a day when most vehicles are totally autonomous, (or, without human input).

The main thing to take away from this Speed enforcement effort on Thursday, is how speed affects the chances you will die in a crash.

He reminds you also: Don’t drive distracted. Don’t drive impaired. And buckle your seat belt.

(Updated/Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds has signed a proclamation to convene a special legislative session on October 5th to consider newly drawn maps for Iowa congressional and legislative districts. The Legislative Services Agency will release the maps with redrawn district boundaries this Thursday. The Temporary Redistricting Commission has scheduled three public hearings next week, to give Iowans a chance to comment on the new maps, then the commission has to submit a report to lawmakers before the legislature convenes in three weeks. Under Iowa law, members of the House and Senate must vote yes or no on this set of maps. No amendments are allowed to make changes.

If the legislature rejects the first set of maps, the Legislative Services Agency must draw up a new set. If the second set is rejected, there’s a third round, when lawmakers are able to propose their own changes to district lines. The reapportionment process — which happens every 10 years — is usually completed in the spring, but the Census Bureau didn’t give states the population data for redrawing district lines until August.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday (Today), held a public hearing with regard to adopting an amendment to the FY2022 Cass County Budget. Following the hearing,during which there were no comments, the Board passed the amendment, and the changes take effect immediately. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman explains the purpose of the amendment….

The change is necessary to appropriate the a portion of the American Recovery Act funds. The Board heard from a representative with Cott Systems, with regard to online file security. They also discussed the job description for an IT (Information Technology) position, and agreed to have Scott Bennett with Nishna Net, draft the job description for publication in the local newspaper, and online portals such as Indeed.com.

Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken provided an update on Secondary Roads Department activity and maintenance. He said they hope to open the bridges on both Boston Road and Olive Street, sometime early next week, as work is close to being finished.

Both bridges were closed in late Spring. The Olive Street project involves replacing the existing 56 ft. long x 24 ft. wide bridge with a 110 ft. long x 30 ft. wide bridge. Wolken said they will have another pour this week on the box culvert on Indian Creek Road. And, as far as Victoria Road at the Adair/Cass line, grading contractors have come in to start work and they have a couple more pours left on the box culvert down there. Wolken also put together a presentation for the Supervisors regarding the condition of secondary road facilities and what their needs are.

(Radio Iowa) – Amazon is announcing plans to hire more than one-thousand workers across its Iowa locations, part of a national hiring blitz to fill 125-thousand new positions. Dave Bozeman, Amazon’s vice president of operations, says immediate openings are being posted today in communities including Des Moines and Iowa City. While Iowa employers in an array of industries express difficulty finding qualified workers to fill open positions, Bozeman predicts the online retailer’s salary and benefits will be a strong lure. “Average pay is going to be $18 an hour, up to $22.50 in certain areas,” Bozeman says. “They’re going to come with fantastic benefits on day one, health benefits, vision, dental, 401-K.”

In December, Amazon opened its fulfillment center near Des Moines in Bondurant, which employs several hundred. The facility boasts being able to process up to 950-thousand packages a day. The company also has delivery stations in Iowa City, Des Moines and Grimes, with a warehouse in Ankeny and another warehouse under construction in Council Bluffs. Bozeman says there are a host of full- and part-time openings. “It’s going to be across the entire network, so it’s going to be within our fulfillment center warehouses, it’s going to be in our sortation centers in which they’re sorting the product,” Bozeman says. “It’s also going to be within our delivery stations as well.”

The company is already offering same-day delivery on some products in parts of Iowa. “We’re going to continue to grow our same-day delivery as well as our normal network and these jobs will only staff and fuel that,” Bozeman says. “We feel good about our same-day delivery. It’s an awesome thing for customers and that’s what we do.” In July, Amazon announced it’s building a 640,000 square foot fulfillment center in Davenport that will employ one-thousand people full-time when it opens. The company is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000 in some locations, but it’s unclear if any are in Iowa.
www.amzn.to/iowajobs

Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, arrested a man at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Zane Edward Szeliga. He was arrested on a valid Page County Warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. His cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.

Zane Szeliga