CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Black man who was shot by police outside an Iowa nightclub five years ago has agreed to a nearly $400,000 settlement. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that 33-year-old Jovan Darnell Webb alleged in his suit that he was singled out because of his race in April 2015 when he was wounded while attempting to pull out of the parking lot of the New World nightclub in Waterloo during a disturbance.

His suit also alleged excessive force, equal protection violations and battery on the part of the police officers. The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial this month. The decision to settle for $399,999 was made by the city’s liability insurance carrier. The city’s attorney, David Baker, declined to comment.

(Atlantic) – The annual fall Book Sale was held at the Atlantic Public Library last Wednesday through Friday (yesterday). Special additional hours will be available 9 am to 7 pm on Monday, October 26 and 9 am to noon on Tuesday, October 27. The price will also be special. Bring your own grocery bag and pay one fee of $5 for as many books as will fit in the bag.

The Friends of the Library usually sponsor two sales per year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The spring event was cancelled this year due to the pandemic causing many more books to be available. Also there is an increase in large print books, books on tape and music CDs. A large variety of children’s books and adult hard bound and paper backs are ready for your purchase.

All proceeds are given to the Library to support activities and programs. Friends of the Library is a volunteer group with the purpose of supporting work done for the community by the Library.

w/ Chris Parks

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Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Saturday), reports (as of 10-a.m.), 12 additional deaths are attributed to the virus, and 1,908 new, Positive cases of COVID-19, as confirmed by State Labs. The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic amount to 1,629. Officials say 1,078 deaths have been attributed to pre-existing medical/health conditions. Harrison and Montgomery Counties each have one more COVID-related death.

Health officials say 4,992 test results were returned over the past 24-hours since 10-a.m. Friday, with 4,213 coming back Negative, and 767 returned as Positive. The total number of tests completed thus far is 931,801, with 815,702 total Negative results and 114, 463 total Positive results. The individual positivity rate is 12.3%, and the statewide 14-day rolling average is up to 10.3%. Harrison County has the highest 14 day positive average, at nearly 24% (23.9). In Cass County, the 14-day rate is 21.2%.

The IDPH says 87,449 Iowans have recovered from COVID-19. In the KJAN listening area, there are: 19 more positive cases of the virus in Cass County, for a total of 379; 75 more cases in Pottawattamie County, 20 more cases in Mills County; there are 14 additional cases in Harrison County; seven new cases in Adams and Guthrie Counties, and six more in Shelby County. Other counties have five or less cases added to their totals. (See the chart below). Health department data shows 17 counties report a positivity rate greater than 15% over the last 14 days, up from 13 the previous day.

Iowa has set two records for hospitalizations. There are 545 hospitalized with the virus, up from a record 536 the previous day. There were 101 patients hospitalized in the last 24 hours, up from 78 the previous day. The previous record was 97, set on Oct. 6th. There is four less people in an ICU, at 130. There are still 49 persons on a ventilator. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report: 36 hospitalized (compared to 42 yesterday); 14 are in an ICU (compared to 15 previously); one person was admitted, and one person remains on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care facility (LTC) stats show: 67 facilities have outbreaks (two-less than on Friday); 1,913 patients/staff at those facilities tested positive for COVID-19 (compared to 1,853 previousy); Patients/staff who have recovered at LTC’s amount to 767, and those who have died number 805. That’s six more than reported on Friday

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 379 cases {+19}; 259 recovered; 2 deaths
• Adair, 155 {+3};70; 1
• Adams, 79 {+7}; 38; 0
• Audubon, 141 {+1}; 83; 1
• Guthrie, 383 {+7); 245; 15
• Harrison County, 643 {+14}; 247; 11
• Madison County, 355 {+2}; 236; 2
• Mills County, 381 {+205}; 188; 1
• Montgomery, 165 {+3}; 140; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,193 {+75]; 2,289; 44
• Shelby County, 366 {+6}; 318; 1
• Union County,  228 {+5}; 201; 4

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials are rolling out a new system to test sexual assault evidence collection kits more quickly as they work to clear a backlog that once numbered in the thousands. The system, called Track-Kit, was rolled out in phases this year. It helps law enforcement, health care providers and labs keep track of kits moving through the system. The Des Moines Register reports that about 75% of Iowa law enforcement agencies are now connected, with the remainder expected to join soon. Each person examined for sexual assault evidence also will be given a login to track the progress of their kit.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 53-year-old Jeffery Allen Westlake of Red Oak on Friday night for Public Intoxication. Westlake was arrested at 9:42 p.m. in the 300 block of E Reed Street. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Don’t plan on putting away the heavy coat anytime soon. National Weather Service Meteorologist Brad Small says the cold temperatures are going to get worse. “There’ll be some snow first. The weekend will start off dry — but snow will move into much of Iowa sometime on Sunday from northwest to southeast, Sunday to Sunday evening,” Small says.

He says they are predicting accumulations of one inch from central Iowa to the south — and then larger amounts moving to the north. “We could see amounts of three to four inches — something of that nature from Fort Doge north and west,” Small says. “A good chunk of the state will see some snow. It won’t be a heavy snow at any particular time — it’ll be light to moderate for an extended period. Still enough to get some snow on the ground — especially on the grass.

There could be some melting during the day, Sunday, however by Sunday night we’ll see snow in most locations.” The cold temperatures will follow. “After the snow ends we’re expecting near-record cold and even some records possible in some spots Monday and Tuesday,” Small says. “The coldest morning is Tuesday morning when we’ll see lows in the teens and single digits from Des Moines north and west, and low 20s towards Ottumwa.”

Small says it’s just a matter of the cold weather pattern being stuck over the state.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials have approved a loan to a southwest Iowa county to cover debris removal costs from last year’s Missouri River flooding. More than 450 homes in Hamburg and other areas of Fremont County were flooded in early 2019. FEMA officials initially agreed to pay about 146-thousand dollars for debris removal, then notified the county FEMA would only provide about a tenth of that to settle the contract. The 131-thousand dollar state loan was approved by the state Executive Council this week.

Fremont County will have 20 years to pay off the loan — the annual installments will be about 65-hundred dollars. There were about seven-thousand residents living in Fremont County in 2018 according to the U.S. Census and only eight other counties had smaller populations.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa voters are casting ballots early in person or by mail at a record pace for the Nov. 3 election with several days of early voting still remaining. The Iowa secretary of state’s office reported that 685,234 absentee ballots have been returned to county auditors statewide by Friday morning. Those include people who voted by mail or early in person at auditor’s offices or satellite voting locations.

While Democrats typically lead in early voting in Iowa, their advantage this year is significantly bigger than 2016 or 2012. About 51% of the ballots returned have come from registered Democrats compared to 31% from Republicans and 18% from those that do not belong to either party.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that on Saturday, Oct. 24th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m,. the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will provide the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to 2814 200th St, Sidney, Iowa 51652 (Sites cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

This October’s event is DEA’s 19th nationwide event since its inception 10 years ago. Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 883,000 pounds of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,350 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.

To keep everyone safe, collection sites will follow local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations.  This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.

In addition to DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, there are many other ways to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs every day, including the 11,000 authorized collectors that are available all year long. For more information, visit DEA’s year-round collection site locator. The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs. More information is available here: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-and-how-dispose-unused-medicines.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 24 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com.