(Des Moines) – The Iowa Department of Public Health, Tuesday (Today), reported there were 348 additional positive COVID-19 cases, for a pandemic total of 392,911, and for the second day in a row, no additional deaths. That leaves the statewide total at 5,927 since the start of the pandemic. Deaths at long-term care facilities in Iowa account for 2,313 of the total number of deaths statewide.

Iowa’s positivity rates are down slightly. The 14-day average is 4.1%, and the 7-day average is 3.9%. Virus hospitalizations amount to 184, up from 179 a day earlier. There are 35 patients in ICU (compared to 42 the previous day), and 23 patients on ventilators. There were 18 persons with COVID symptoms admitted to hospitals in Iowa over the previous 24-hours.

In RMCC Regional 4 (hospitals in western/southwest Iowa): 14 COVID patients are hospitalized; seven are in an ICU; two people were admitted with symptoms of the virus, and there remain five people on a ventilator.

Vaccinations administered as of Monday amount to over 2.23-million, with more than 991,430 of those vaccinated having their series completed.

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:

Cass, 1,446 cases; {+1}; 54 deaths
Adair, 973; {+2}; 32
Adams, 343 {+0}; 4
Audubon, 515 {+1}; 9
Guthrie, 1,273 {+1}; 29
Harrison County, 1,909; {+1}; 73
Madison County, 1,701; {+0; 19
Mills County, 1,768; {+4}; 21
Montgomery, 1,097{+0}; 37
Pottawattamie County, 11,987; {+14}; 164
Shelby County, 1,351 {+0}; 37
Union County, 1,317; {+0}; 32

Our News broadcast at 8:05-a.m., w/Ric Hanson.

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The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest has been made in connection with a death that took place last June. Sheriff Lyle Palmer says on Monday, April 26th at 4:00 p.m. officers arrested 51-year-old Melissa Renee Pedersen, of Clarinda, on a Page County warrant for felony dependent adult abuse. Pedersen was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Page County Jail where she is being held on $11,000 cash only bail.

Melissa Renee Pedersen

Sheriff Palmer says the arrest of Melissa Pedersen stems from an investigation conducted by the Clarinda Police Department and the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office into the death of Thomas Joseph Pedersen, who was found dead in his home at 600 West Lincoln Street on June 2, 2020. Melissa Pedersen and Thomas Pedersen were married and resided together at the time of Thomas Pedersen’s death.

Reports have been forwarded to Page County Attorney’s Office for decisions concerning the filing of formal charges.

Police in Creston say a man residing in the 700 block of Hickory Street reported on April 24th, that someone broke into his vehicle and stole his backpack and a silver Apple Mac Book Pro laptop computer. The loss was estimated at $1,800.

Our 7:07-a.m. News broadcast from News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Snow and cold didn’t keep all farmers from pulling out the planter last week. The weekly U-S-D-A crop report shows despite the weather delays 20 percent of Iowa’s corn crop has been planted — that’s one day behind the five-year average. Last week’s report showed just four percent of the corn in the ground.

Some farmers did plant soybeans this past week and six percent of that crop is now planted — that’s three days ahead of normal. There were only scattered reports of beans planted in the previous report.

Red Oak Police report a woman from Elliott was arrested at around 12:50-a.m. today (Tuesday). Authorities say 30-year-old Michelle Lynn Kasha was taken into custody following a traffic stop. She faces charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kasha was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, the Montgomery County K9 Unit, and the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Safety says four officers who fired on the man accused of killing a State Trooper on April 9th have been cleared by the Iowa Attorney General’s office. DPS says a Hardin County Sheriff’s Department deputy fired and missed Michael Lang after Trooper Jim Smith was shot and killed by Lang as officers entered his Grundy Center home trying to arrest him.

Troopers later used an armored personnel carrier to enter Lang’s home and he was hit three times by officers after they say he fired on them. The 41-year-old Lang was hospitalized until April 21st when he was released and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and assault on a peace officer.

All of the officers who fired at Lang were on administrative leave while the Attorney General investigated the shooting. The report says the officer’s actions were “justified and reasonable.”

The names of the officers who returned fire at Lang are: Hardin County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Kappel, a 13-year veteran of the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office; Trooper Josh Guhl, a 13-year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol, Trooper Matt Costello, a 17-year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol, and Trooper Spencer Baltes, a four-year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has approved legislation to forbid Iowa businesses, schools and government facilities from denying entry to people who haven’t had the Covid vaccine. In addition, all government entities in Iowa would be barred from issuing I-D cards with a person’s vaccination history. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says employment, travel and normal participation in society shouldn’t be decided by whether someone has been vaccinated.

“I think vaccine passports are unAmerican,” Holt said. “I think they’re unconstitutional and I think they’re unacceptable.” During a public hearing on the bill, Nicole Hasso of Johnston told lawmakers she wants to return to B-C — Before Covid — and she opposes any kind of a vaccine mandate.

“This is a personal choice,” Hosse says. “This is an individual choice and we should not be told how to live our lives or what we’re going to put in our bodies or what we can’t put in our bodies.” A number of other speakers urged lawmakers to go farther and prohibit hospitals and health care facilities from requiring that patients or visitors be vaccinated against Covid-19. Courtney Collier of Waukee says it’s about body autonomy.

“Let’s not muddy the waters any more than we already have this last year with more inhumane and tyrannical dictates,” she said. Holt says he’s spent several weeks negotiating over the details — and is sympathetic to critics who say the bill doesn’t go far enough.

“I started out exactly where many of you talked about today and basically went backwards based upon getting to the point where I felt we could get something actually signed into law,” Holt says, “as opposed to academic discussions that don’t result in action.” A spokeswoman for the Iowa Hospital Association says hospitals need to have a patient’s medical history, including information about vaccinations, in order to provide the best care and the association opposes changes in the bill.

A pursuit that apparently started with a traffic stop on Interstate 80 late Monday night, ended with the suspect driver leading authorities into Exira via Highway 71 and County Road F-58. According to dispatch reports, the vehicle was abandoned in Exira and the suspect took off on foot.The man was said to have been wearing a white t-shirt, but no other description was available. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center told KJAN News (at 3:30-a.m.), that as of their last report, the subject had not been located.

During the chase, which began at around 11:30-p.m., speeds approached and/or exceeded 120 mph. A law enforcement vehicle said to have been taken out of commission near the Brayton curves, when its transmission failed.

Additional details are currently not available.