COUNCIL BLUFFS – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 34-year-old Michael William Wickman, convicted of Assault with Weapon-Peace Officers/Others in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required, Wednesday.
Michael W. Wickman
Wickman is a white male, height 6’1″, and weighs 176 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on March 10, 2021. Persons with information on Wickman’s whereabouts should contact local police.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s still on track to start ramping up COVID-19 vaccines on Monday for anyone who wants them, as Governor Kim Reynolds says the state will be seeing a “significant increase” in federal allocations of the vaccine in the coming days.
College students and staff at select Iowa campuses will soon be able to get the shot, too, according to the governor.
The governor says 1.52-million doses have been administered to Iowans so far and at least 40-percent of Iowans 18-and-older have gotten at least one dose, which she says ranks Iowa 17th in the U-S. On a related note, on Friday and Saturday, April 9th and 10th, Myrtue Medical Center’s Public Health will host a mass COVID-19, Pfizer vaccination clinic with 1,170 doses available. Lori Hoch, Myrtue’s Public Health Director says “Distribution will be for everyone who is 16 years of age and older.”
The Prime (first) doses will be given on Friday, April 9th, or Saturday, April 10th, with the Boost (second) dose scheduled for Friday, April 30th, or Saturday, May 1. By mid-May, mass vaccination clinic recipients will be fully vaccinated and ready for summer. Vaccination clinics will be located at the Veteran’s Auditorium, 1104 Morningview Drive, Harlan. The time on Friday, April 9th, will be 1:30 – 6:00 PM. The time on Saturday, April 10th, will be 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Vaccine appointments for this event will be scheduled by going to: Myrtue Medical Center’s website: www.myrtuemedical.org; Click on the red banner at the top of the site “Schedule Your COVID-19 Vaccination”; “Click here to schedule your COVID-19 vaccination appointment”; Find “1-COVID Vaccine: Open to everyone 16 years of age and older Vaccination Clinic”—click on this and follow the directions. The link will become active on Tuesday, March 30th at 8 am to schedule your appointment. You may also visit the Myrtue Medical Center’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) for the same appointment link.
Please bring your insurance card and your identification to your appointment. COVID-19 vaccinations are free of charge but you’ll be asked if you have health insurance with a private provider, Medicare or Medicaid because your insurance can be billed for the cost of administering the shot. However, you will not receive a bill. In addition, print out the Pfizer consent form and review the Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Fact Sheet on https://www.myrtuemedical.org/covid-19-vaccination-updates/
If you are over age 65 and need scheduling assistance, please call 712-755-4422. Your patience is appreciated as appointments fill quickly.
(Greenfield) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held an electronic meeting Wednesday morning, during which they approved a bid of $25 from Mike Mangels for Grove Township mowing. The Board received four bids, ranging from $25 on the low side, to $35 on the high side. They also approved a Child Abuse Prevention Grant Draw Down in the amount of $545.85.
The Adair County Supervisors approved a recommendation from County Engineer Nick Kauffman, to hire Luke Meisenheimer as a General Equipment Operator, at a rate of $17.54/hour. He’ll begin his job April 12th. The Board approved wage rate progressions for Secondary Roads’ Employees Brad Cooper and Dustin Ford. , and a Right-of-Way Contract for a Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Culvert Farm-to-Market Project on W20/Jackson Township.
Conservation Director Dominic Johnson provided the Board with updates on camping rates.
Johnson said also, they have awarded a bid for the Morman Trail Shower House building, the ground work for which will begin soon, contingent with the signing of the contract. The total price is $217,319, which includes the building and work. A new meter from SIRWA is an additional expense. He said work will begin soon on the shower house project – weather permitting – with the building delivered from the manufacturer in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, sometime in June. An information kiosk is also being installed at Lake Orient, Johnson said. It should be ready by the end of the week.
The Adair County Supervisors heard from County Attorney Melissa Larson, with regard to a Solar Panel Ordinance, and whether or not County Supervisor Steve Shelley, who has a wind turbine contract with MidAmerican Energy, has a conflict of interest with matters pertaining to approval of Solar Farms.
Her conclusion after reviewing the Code of Iowa, was his contract did not present a conflict of interest.
That is particularly true with respect to the fact a solar ordinance is general, not specific to MidAmerican, she said. Larson said also, her research has shown the Board has the authority to enact an Ordinance with regard to Solar Farms, without having to turn matters over to the Zoning Commission. The Board discussed separation distances and setbacks, with a Madison County Ordinance for Solar Farms, as a guideline.
A draft of the ordinance – which will include a road use provision – will be published specifying the distances as proposed by Supervisor Matt Wedemeyer. Supervisor Shelley recaps some of the specifications.
The Ordinance is by no means official. It will first be drawn-up with the legal language by County Attorney Larson, publication, and public hearings. The first draft reading tentatively set for April 14th.
The Cass County Board of Supervisors held their regular meeting Wednesday morning at the courthouse boardroom. Much of the discussion was in regards to vacancies on some local boards. There is currently 1 vacancy on the Magistrate Appointment Board, 1 vacancy on the County Board of Health, and 3 vacancies on the County Zoning Board.
The Magistrate Appointment Board consists of two attorneys, one representative from the judicial commission, and three appointed citizens. Those citizen spots are served in 6 year terms and only meet when a Magistrate Appointment is necessary. The Board decided that they will try to recruit for the open spot and hopefully be able to appoint someone at their next meeting on the 6th since a Magistrate appointment will be coming up soon and they need the board filled for that process.
They said for the Board of Health position, Public Health Director Beth Olsen would be searching for a suitable candidate to fill that spot and then the Board could act on that vacancy. They do not currently have someone lined up for that spot.
Board Chair Steve Baier said they have one person lined up to fill one of the openings for the Zoning Board but two spots still need filled. The Board will actively recruit for that spot, keeping in mind gender equity and county wide representation as factors.
Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren was there at the beginning of the meeting to explain a contract buyout for one of their new hire Deputies. The new Deputy came from the City of Audubon and they will paying 75% of his buyout for leaving that contract early. He will now be under contract in the same scenario for 3 years for Cass County. The Board discussed that this is pretty standard procedure and essentially covers the cost of training.
Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken reported that work continues to progress well on replacement of a bridge on M56 and should be completed in a couple more weeks. He also reported that bids for culvert sections have come back 42% higher than last year at this time so they are going to assess and prioritize those projects for the summer and perhaps put some off due to the high costs. A new road grader is expected to be coming in June.
Wolken also said they are working to fill three positions for secondary roads right now. He said they have had a strong number of quality applicants and have interviewed 13 individuals for the maintenance positions and 5 people for a technician position. He said they will likely be doing some second interviews and filling spots in the next couple of weeks.
Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon said they are working to allocate some COVID grant money and he has been working with public health to create a stockpile of PPE for the County. He also is looking to upgrade three different spaces for video conferencing including his office, the courthouse basement conference room, and the main boardroom. He said the upgrades would involve tv’s that could not only be used for video conferencing but also video presentations and so forth.
The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, Wednesday reported 555 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 379,215. There were no additional deaths reported, leaving a pandemic total of 5,729. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,235 of the total number of deaths across the state.
There was no change in the number of Long-Term Care facility outbreaks. The two previously reported facilities have 16 positive cases among residents and staff within those facilities. Health officials say 191 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID (5 more than reported previously); 38 people are in an ICU (7 less than last report); 39 people were admitted to a hospital across the state (compared to 29 on Tuesday), and 11 patients are on a ventilator, an increase of two from Monday.
RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show: There are 11 hospitalized with COVID; eight COVID patients are in an ICU; One person was admitted with symptoms of COVID, and there remains one COVID patient on a ventilator.
The 14-day positivity rate is down, from 4.7% Tue., to 4.6% today. The seven-day rate fell from 5% to 4.4%.
In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:
Members of the CAM School Board and the CAM School District’s Facilities Committee will hold a special meeting available by ZOOM, on Monday, April 5th. The meeting begins at 6:30-p.m. On the agenda, is discussion with regard to:
(Radio Iowa) – President Biden is unveiling a two-trillion dollar infrastructure proposal which the administration says will create jobs as it builds new roads and bridges, and improves broadband, water quality, schools and more. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s traveling in Iowa during the Easter Recess, says he’s only read about some of the basics of what’s being called the American Jobs Plan. “I only have a broad outline of it,” Grassley says. “It’s going to, according to the Post, it’s going to take until July to finally pass the legislation so there’s a lot of details that I’m going to have to see through.”
Early reports show the proposal includes 115-billion dollars to repair and rebuild roads and bridges, 100-billion to improve and build new schools, 100-billion for expanding high-speed internet connections, and another 100-billion to improve our power infrastructure. Grassley, a Republican, wants to know where the two-trillion dollars will come from in the budget. “Paying for it is very, very important,” Grassley says. “The tax policy probably isn’t as important to me as the spending policy.”
The Biden administration says the massive measure includes a series of elements for infrastructure overhauls which are desirable to both Democrats and Republicans. “It really needs to be bipartisan,” Grassley says. “I think that we’ll see how seriously they take bipartisanship. They sure didn’t take it very seriously in regard to the 1.9 (trillion dollar) COVID package that they put together.”
Democrats control the U-S Senate only thanks to the tie-breaking vote of the vice president, while that same party holds a narrow majority in the House.
(Radio Iowa) – The grass is starting to turn green and a turfgrass specialist with the Iowa State University Extension says it’s time to begin working on our lawns. I-S-U horticulture professor Adam Thoms says the first thing he does is to pick up all of those twigs, sticks and other debris that gathered during the winter so it won’t get stuck in the mower or dull its blade. “Now’s a great time to go ahead and fertilize your yard and start to get that grass up and growing for the year,” Thoms says. “We typically say to put out three-quarters of a pound of nitrogen per a thousand square feet for a rate.”
The stores are full of heavy fertilizer bags and they can be pricey. What ingredients should we be looking for in a fertilizer for the yard? “Really, the big thing is to try to find a slow-release nitrogen source,” Thoms says, “something that’s going to release over time so you don’t have a quick flush of growth, so that you’re not mowing-mowing-mowing like crazy in the spring because it all grew out at once.” Some Iowans may be finding large grey spots in their yards, which he says can be fixed without too much trouble. “Grey snow mold is a pretty common thing over Iowa this past winter,” Thoms says. “It’s from extended periods of snow cover which we had in the state. The best thing right now is to get out some fertilizer to recover out of it. Rake your yard to stand the grass up and let’s hope for warm weather to help it grow out of it.”
Now is also the time to hit those pesky weeds that seem to creep back every year. “One of the most common problem weeds is crabgrass,” Thoms says. “That’s going to be controlled with a pre-emergent herbicide. As long as you get that on April15th through May 1st throughout the state, that will prevent the crabgrass from coming up.” If you’re planting grass this spring, he warns do -not- use any crabgrass prevention products as they’ll keep your grass seeds from germinating.
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