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Griswold Officials warn of e-mail scam

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

City officials in Griswold are warning of an e-mail scam. On a social media post, the City asked residents to ignore an e-mail purportedly from Mayor Brad Rhine. The fake message asks the receiver to purchase gift cards from the Mayor.

Griswold officials say “The City has been made aware of an email scam that hackers are using a fraudulent email for Mayor Rhine asking you to purchase gift cards. This is not from Mayor Rhine or the City of Griswold. If you have questions, please feel free to call City Hall at (712)778-2615.”

Iowa COVID-19 update, 3/25/21: 6 additional deaths (2 in western IA); 641 additional case positives

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (as of 10-a.m, Thursday) shows 641 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 375,855, and six additional deaths, for a pandemic total of 5,689. In southwest Iowa, there was one additional death in Harrison County, for a total of 71, and one in Pottawattamie County, where the pandemic total number of deaths stands at 150. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,226 of the total number of deaths across the state.

There remains just one COVID-19 outbreak at a Long-Term Care facility. Health officials say 207 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID (compared to 190 previously); 46 people are in an ICU (compared to 40 previously); 46 people were admitted to a hospital across the state (compared to 36 previously), and 17 patients are on a ventilator, two less than previously reported.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show: There are 15 hospitalized with COVID; nine COVID patients are in an ICU; there were two persons admitted w/symptoms of COVID, and there are five people with COVID on a ventilator.

The 14-day positivity rate increased from 4.1% Wednesday to 4.2% Thursday, while the seven day rate went from 4.4% to 4.7%. State data shows 1,321,859 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa, with 511,174 individuals completing the series. There have been 4,375,038 COVID-19 tests administered in Iowa.

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, 1,396 cases; {+4}; 52 deaths
  • Adair, 954; {+2}; 31
  • Adams, 327 {+0}; 4
  • Audubon, 499 {+2}; 9
  • Guthrie, 1,211 {+5}; 28
  • Harrison County, 1,833; {+1}; 71
  • Madison County, 1,629; {+3}; 19
  • Mills County, 1,690; {+0}; 20
  • Montgomery, 1,050 {+2}; 36
  • Pottawattamie County, 11,182; {+34}; 150
  • Shelby County, 1,276 {+10}; 34
  • Union County,  1,287; {+0}; 31

(Podcast) KJAN News, 3/25/21

News, Podcasts

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The 8:05-a.m. newscast, w/Ric Hanson.

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(Podcast) KJAN news, 3/25/21

News, Podcasts

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The News at 7:05-a.m. w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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CCCB accepting Native Plant pre-orders

Ag/Outdoor, News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic) – The Cass County Conservation Board is now taking Pre-orders for their Native Plant Sale! The order form and payment will be DUE April 30th 2021 at 4PM. Forms can be found online https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/conservation-office/

Native Local Eco-type live Plants will be sold. Live plants from nursery will come as small plugs; cells are 5” deep x 2” wide at top or 4.5”deep x 2” Cone. 1 Specie of Native grass, and 10 Native Forbs including many that benefit Pollinators! All orders must be picked up during designated times at our offices in Lewis unless prior arrangements made. Designated pick up times will be: Thursday May 27th 8 AM-6 PM OR Friday May 28th 8AM-7PM. Plants not picked up will be donated with NO REFUND.

“A new view of an old home”: Atlantic Library Program on Zoom today (3/25)

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown has come a long way from the first resident in 1887 to the campus of over 150 acres now. It is one of the largest veterans’ facilities in the nation. You can learn more about it today (Thursday, March 25) at 1 pm, via Zoom. Carolyn DeLay will present the history of the Iowa Veterans Home from its inception to the present day. Born and raised in Marshalltown, she has a special connection to the place. As a retired veteran’s former spouse and an RN who has worked at Veterans Hospitals, she is familiar with Veterans and. their needs.

Along with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Bible, Psychology, Nursing and music, Carolyn DeLay has long had a passion for history and genealogy. She has given many programs to various genealogy societies and chapters of Iowa Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. on genealogy research, women’s suffrage, American Revolution and Civil War.

Get the Zoom link on Atlantic Public Library web. Go to Calendar and click on March 25. Cass County Genealogical Society offers the program to all interested persons.

$195 million in overdue rent, utility assistance available for low income Iowans

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Low-income Iowans could qualify for federal assistance to cover back rent or overdue utility bills that have accumulated during the pandemic. Debi Durham is director of the Iowa Finance Authority, which has received 195 MILLION dollars in federal money from the pandemic relief package congress passed in December. The money can help low income Iowans who in the past year lost a job, saw their income cut or suffered some other financial calamity due to Covid.

“The household must also be able to demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability which may include a past-due utility or rent notice or even, unfortunately, an eviction notice,” Durham says.

Federal officials estimate as many as 86-thousand Iowans are behind on their rent and assistance may be available for up to 12 months. A separate program is making up to 36-hundred dollars available to low income Iowans who are behind on their mortgages.

Applications for both programs will be available online, starting at 2 p.m. Monday, at IowaHousingRecovery.com.

Reynolds reviewing bill that makes permits to buy, carry handguns voluntary

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is reviewing legislation that would make state permits to buy handguns or carry a concealed weapon an option rather than a requirement.  “I’m waiting for that to come to my desk,” Reynolds says. “We’ll do a thorough evaluation as I always have.”

In 2010, Reynolds voted as a state senator to establish Iowa’s “shall issue” permit system and she’s called it good policy, but the governor is also expressing an openness to doing away with it. “I said I thought the policies were good that were in place, but I will continue to take a look at new legislation that is presented and I think that’s the appropriate approach and that’s what we’re doing right now,” Reynolds says. “and I’ve been very consistent on my messaging on that.”

Republicans in the Iowa House passed the bill to make gun permits voluntary last week. Senate Republicans gave it final approval Monday, before Colorado officials that evening confirmed a gunman had killed 10 at a Boulder grocery store. In 2018, a G-O-P lawmaker said Reynolds had asked senators to table a similar bill that had been scheduled for debate 24 hours after a mass shooting at a Florida high school.

“I’ve been pretty clear that when we are talking about gun violence, we need to take a holistic approach,” Reynolds says. “There’s not a single answer. We need to be following the laws that are on the books. We need to make sure that coordination is in place between the agencies. We need to do everything we can to address mental health and behavioral health issues.”

The bill does not do away with the permit process, as some gun owners will be able to show their Iowa permit and be able to carry a concealed weapon in some other states.

Senate GOP proposes ending property tax financing of mental health system

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa Senate are proposing a major change in property tax policy. County property taxes would no longer be used to finance Iowa’s mental health system by July 1st, 2022. Republican Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs says the plan would shift to financing the system entirely with state revenue, like sales and income taxes.  “And make sure that all Iowans, wherever you’re at, you actually have the same per capita distribution for mental health funding,” Dawson says.

Shelly Chandler is C-E-O of the Iowa Association of Community Providers that represents organizations that provide mental health services throughout the state. She says the bill could help refocus the conversation about how to improve Iowa’s mental health system. “We all hate property taxes. I hate property taxes,” she said. “We don’t want having conversations about the mental health system to be about property taxes.”

Leslie Wood, a lobbyist for Iowa Mental Health Advocacy, says she’s prefer a combination of state taxes and local property taxes being used to finance mental health services. “When a state has a bad economic year, one of the first things that usually gets cut is mental health funding,” she says.

Matt Steinfeldt, a lobbyist for the Iowa Farm Bureau, says paying for mental health care with property taxes creates inequities. “Our members believe the state should make mental health a priority in their budget and assume the cost of the system,” Steinfeldt says, “removing this from the backs of property taxpayers.”

The bill addresses a wide variety of other tax issues. For instance, it would phase out 152 million in state payments to cities, counties and schools that were set up when state lawmakers reduced commercial property tax rates.

Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, March 25, 2021

News

March 25th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say inmates used hammers to attack prison staff members during a failed attempt to escape an Iowa prison, killing a nurse and correctional officer and severely injuring an inmate who intervened. The victims of the attack at the Anamosa State Penitentiary were identified as staff nurse Lorena Schulte, 50, of Cedar Rapids, and officer Robert McFarland, 46, of Ely. Both had worked at the prison in the city of Anamosa in eastern Iowa for more than a decade. An investigator says each died of blunt force trauma to the back of the head when they were attacked with hammers during Tuesday’s attack. Inmates Michael Dutcher, 28, and Thomas Woodard, 39, face murder and kidnapping charges.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state expects to allow any adult get a coronavirus vaccine as of April 5. Reynolds said Wednesday that Iowa expects to receive enough of vaccine to open eligibility to anyone in the state age 18 or older. Even though all adults will be eligible, it could be weeks before many people can book an appointment to get vaccinated. Iowa has no centralized vaccine registration or appointment system. Instead, people must must go online and attempt to find open appointments through providers’ websites. Reynolds urged people to have patience.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Illinois man out on bail for a murder charge was arrested by police in Iowa on charges related to a fatal crash on a freeway in Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids police issued warrants Wednesday afternoon for 34-year-old Tyler Lee, of Rockton, Illinois. He turned himself into authorities at the Linn County Jail less than two hours later. Lee was charged with homicide by vehicle-operating while intoxicated and homicide by vehicle-reckless driving as well as two counts of serious injury by motor vehicle. Lee was driving a pickup truck that crashed into a sport utility vehicle early on the morning of March 7 while he was out on $1 million bail for first-degree murder and 11 other counts. Those charges stemmed from a May 2017 shooting in Loves Park, Illinois.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Iowa Democrat wants Congress to overturn her state-certified defeat for a House seat. But Rita Hart’s effort is prompting awkward divisions within her party. Democrats reacted with uniform fury at Donald Trump’s unfounded drive to reverse his own presidential election loss by throwing out state-certified returns he didn’t like. Hart says she’s found 22 uncounted ballots, which she says would make her the victor over Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Miller-Meeks defeated Hart by just six votes and took office in January. The dispute is being considered by the House Administration Committee. With both sides lawyered up, the dispute could smolder into summer.