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2 Shenandoah women arrested Saturday on assault charges

News

October 4th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies, Saturday, arrested two people on assault charges. 25-year old Jaymie Ilene Rowe and 38-year old Barbara Lea Johnson, both of Shenandoah, were arrested for an assault that occurred near the intersection of 200th Street and Fernwood Avenue. The women were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with Serious Assault. Their bonds were set at $1,000 each.

Ernst and Greenfield clash in second debate

News

October 4th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Joni Ernst and Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield sparred Saturday in a televised debate in W-H-O T-V studios, each accusing the other of being dishonest. The debate was taped 24 hours after President Trump entered the hospital and it began with an announcement that both candidates had recently tested negative for Covid. The first words from Greenfield were: “Thank goodness.”

“It is a solemn time right now with our president in the hospital, with a number of senators, with Americans sick with this virus,” she said. Ernst says congress must provide another round of loans to small businesses and economic assistance to the child care industry as well as more money for testing. “We’ve been successful with the packages that we’ve moved before and we continue to work on the next relief package,” Ernst said.

Greenfield twice criticized Ernst for saying in September that she’s skeptical of Covid tests because she’d heard conversations about health care providers being reimbursed at a higher rate for Covid patient care. “She did push a conspiracy theory that suggested our doctors and our nurses are liars and cheats and that’s just appropriate and wrong,” Greenfield said. “Senator Ernst, if you don’t believe in our doctors and nurses, why should they believe in you?”

Ernst said she was sorry if her words “may have offended” health care workers. “It was the culmination of a number of conversations we have had, whether we were getting false positives, false negatives. It’s a matter of reporting,” Ernst said. “…Certainly, we want to make sure that testing is accurate. We want to make sure it’s being reported accurately.” At the end of the debate, Ernst asked Greenfield — who works in real estate — to apologize for moving businesses out of a central Iowa strip mall to make way for an Aldi grocery store.

“You booted the mom-and-pop shops out of a development area to make way for a foreign corporation,” Ernst said. Greenfield says it was an economic development project. “We gave every single tenant more notice than was required and we helped many of them move on to a new location,” Greenfield says. Iowa’s senate race is among the most competitive in the country.

A recent Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” found Greenfield with a narrow lead over Ernst. Last (Saturday) night’s debate was also broadcast on K-C-A-U in Sioux City and W-H-B-F in the Quad Cities.

Work release escape of Andrew Nielsen

News

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

FORT DODGE – The Iowa Department of Corrections, Saturday, said 43-year old Andrew James Nielsen, convicted of Burglary 1st Degree and other crimes in Webster County, failed to report back to the Fort Dodge Residential Center as required Friday night.

Andrew James Nielsen

Nielsen is a white male, 5-feet 9-inches tall, and weighs 230 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on October 1, 2020.  Persons with information on Nielsen’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Gov. Reynolds orders flags at half-staff for Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service

News

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered all flags in Iowa at half-staff in honor of the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service on Sunday, October 4, 2020. Flags should be lowered from sunrise to sunset on October 4, 2020. All firefighters who have died in the line of duty are honored every year during the first weekend in October.

Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex. Flags will also be half-staff on all public buildings, grounds and facilities  throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties, and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flags at half-staff for the same length of time.

(Podcast) KJAN 8-a.m. News, 10/3/20

News, Podcasts

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 10/3/20

News, Podcasts

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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IA COVID-19 update for Saturday, Oct. 3 2020: 10 more deaths; over 91k positive cases to date

News

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The State of Iowa’s COVID-19 dashboard today (Saturday), indicates that since 10-a.m. Friday, there were 10 more deaths attributed to the virus, for a total of 1,377, and (as of 10-a.m.), 1,107 more Positive cases, for a total of 91,861. Deaths attributed to a pre-existing medical condition number 938. There have been 5,741 lab results returned since Friday, with 5,096 coming back Negative for the virus, and 638 positive. The total number of tests administered to-date, amount to 816,710, with 723,312 Negative. The 14-day rolling average remains 8.8%. Health officials say 71,301 Iowans have recovered from the effects of COVID-19.

In the KJAN listening area, Cass County has four new Positive cases of COVID-19, for a total of 192. Other new, Positive test results include: 27 in Pottawattamie County; 13 more in Harrison County; 12 more cases in Guthrie County; six new positive cases were reported in Madison County; five more in Audubon County; three more each in Montgomery and Union Counties; there are two new cases in Shelby County, and one more case in Adams County. There was also one more death that took place in Pottawattamie County, for a total of 41.

Hospitalization data due to COVID-19 show: 402 are hospitalized as of today (compared to 393 yesterday); 100 patients are in an ICU (compared to 95 yesterday); 58 people have been admitted to a hospital (there were 66 yesterday), and 38 COVID patients are on a ventilator (2 more than on Friday). In western/southwest Iowa, 23 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, nine are in an ICU, two were admitted since yesterday, and no one is on a ventilator.

There are currently 52 long-term care facilities with coronavirus outbreaks, in Iowa. IDPH reports 1,132 positive cases and 684 recoveries within those facilities. There have been 709 deaths in Iowa’s long-term care facilities, five more than yesterday.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began:

  • Cass, 192 cases; 163 recovered; 2 deaths
  • Adair, 76; 50; 1
  • Adams, 39; 28; 0
  • Audubon, 103; 39; 1
  • Guthrie, 287; 179; 10
  • Harrison County, 310; 180; 5
  • Madison County, 261; 186; 2
  • Mills County, 214; 143; 1
  • Montgomery, 108; 93; 5
  • Pottawattamie County, 2,314; 1,803; 41
  • Shelby County, 282; 254; 1
  • Union County,  152; 102; 3

Iowa early News Headlines: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020

News

October 3rd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is allowing bars in Iowa’s two largest college towns to reopen next week after a five-week closure helped stop coronavirus outbreaks among young adults. Reynolds signed an order allowing bars to reopen Monday in Johnson and Story counties as long as they follow social-distancing rules. Breweries, wineries and distilleries are allowed to reopen almost immediately, on Friday at 5 p.m. The venues are often packed with University of Iowa and Iowa State University students. The order says all customers must consume their food and drinks while seated at a bar, booth or table, and must be at least 6 feet apart.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor has found that a police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who was holding a machete to the body of a 4-year-old girl. Scott County Attorney Michael Walton said Friday in a news release that Officer Patrick Mesick fired at Timothy Clevenger last month to “prevent injury or death of that little girl and others in the residence.” Clevenger, who was 53, died at the scene. The release said police heard screaming when they responded to a 911 call at a home in Bettendorf and eventually forced their way inside. Several people were found in the basement after the shooting.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An aide says U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley isn’t believed to have been exposed to anyone testing positive for the coronavirus and is continuing to take normal precautions. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, serves as Senate president pro tempore and is third in the line of succession, following Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Grassley’s largely ceremonial role has taken on new significance since President Donald Trump announced that he and the first lady have tested positive for the coronavirus. Asked about whether Grassley was taking any new precautions, Grassley aide Michael Zona said Friday the senator was continuing to follow guidance from the Senate doctor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court is being urged by Democrats and a Latino civil rights group to block a new Republican-backed law that could leave thousands of requesters without absentee ballots. Majority Forward, a group aligned with Senate Democrats, and the League of Latino United Citizens have asked the high court to put the new law on hold immediately. They’re appealing a ruling released Monday in Johnson County, where Judge Lars Anderson declined to block the new law. Anderson found the law would likely survive judicial review, claiming that requests for absentee ballots do not implicate the fundamental right to vote.

New effort aims to halt spike in evictions during pandemic

News

October 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – There’s a spike in eviction filings in Iowa linked to the pandemic, even though the C-D-C has halted some evictions since the extra 600-dollar unemployment payments expired. Iowa Legal Aid and Polk County housing officials have been at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines to provide legal and rental assistance to people facing eviction. Nick Smithberg is executive director of Iowa Legal Aid.

“It is of vital importance that tenants engage in this process, deliver the CDC notices to their landlords, and show up for their court cases,” Smithberg says. “They will not win if they don’t show up.” The new eviction prevention program has allowed about 250 Polk County residents to stay in their homes. That number includes about 130 children. Smithberg says they connect tenants to rental assistance, because the moratorium doesn’t suspend rent payments.

He says, “The landlords get income that they would have lost and don’t have vacancies, the tenants keep a roof over their house, and the public gets the benefit of avoiding the adverse health crisis of having people become homeless during the middle of a pandemic.” Smithberg says they’ve been able to stop almost all evictions of renters who showed up for their hearings. He says he hopes to expand the program to other parts of the state.

(reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

Governor reacts to Trump’s Covid diagnosis

News

October 2nd, 2020 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s praying for a quick, healthy recovery for President Trump. “You know, there’s various ways that the virus impacts individuals,” Reynolds says, “so we’ll wait and see what kind of symptoms that the president and the first lady and those that have tested positive have.” Reynolds says it’s unclear when Trump may return to the campaign trail.

President Donald Trump arrives at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, on Marine One helicopter after he tested positive for COVID-19. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is at left. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

“He’s isolated for 10 days. He has to test, I think, two negative tests prior to being able to go back out,” Reynolds says, ” so we’ll just kind of wait to see what his symptoms are.” Reynolds says there are plenty of surrogates, like her, who can carry the Trump campaign message to voters. “We had one of the strongest economies in our lifetime and then Covid hit,” Reynolds says. “…The president is the guy that can get that economy back up and going.”

After a visit to the White House IN MAY, Reynolds went into quarantine after an aide to Vice President Pence tested positive for Covid.  “I was in the Situation Room and there was actually someone (there) who tested positive,” Reynolds says. “So, with essential workers, you just wear the mask. I social distanced. I limited my exposure to anybody and I tested for nine days straight and it was the PCR testing — which is the ‘gold standard’ — and tested negative I’ve been tested multiple times since then.” Reynolds says she had a cold early in the pandemic.

“And, just to be sure it was a cold, we got the testing done and it was negative, so we’ll continue to be responsible and do the right thing,” Reynolds says. “If I can’t social distance, I will have a mask on and just continue moving our economy forward.” Governor Reynolds made her comments after visiting with a doctor in Le Mars who has posted videos on Facebook about the latest Covid-19 developments. Vice President Mike Pence, who was on Iowa yesterday (Thursday), has announced he and his wife have tested NEGATIVE for the coronavirus.

Pence discussed his work leading the White House Coronavirus Task Force during appearances in Carter Lake and Des Moines. “With American innovation, our dedicated researchers we believe are just literally weeks away from the first coronavirus vaccine for the American people and we’ll have tens of millions of doses available the moment it’s approved,” Pence said. Pence spoke to about 270 people in Carter Lake and 600 people in Des Moines yesterday (Thursday), mentioning two treatments the F-D-A has approved for Covid patients.

“We’ve demonstrated as a nation that we can slow the spread,” Pence said. “We’re going to continue to protect the vulnerable, continue to save lives and we’re opening up America again.” According to the vice president’s office, the last time Pence and Trump were in close proximity was Tuesday, at the White House.