Hamburg, IA  – Officials with Golden Hills RC&D report the second year of the Waubonsie State Park Artist in Residence program again proved to be fruitful for the artists as well as the park. The program engages artists and visitors with the natural resources of the park through a visual arts lens. Time spent at Waubonsie allows the artists to immerse themselves in the landscape as a source of inspiration and opportunity to intensely focus on their work without other distractions. In exchange for the artists’ accommodations, they agree to leave a permanent work of art for the park and also conduct a public engagement session.

Terri Parish McGaffin, the final artist of the 2019-2020 program, completed her stay in mid-March, just as Iowa began to feel the effects from the Covid-19 pandemic. Her public program, “Painting from your Nature Photos”, was postponed until a later date (to be determined) when it is again safe to gather in groups. However, that didn’t stop the Friends of Waubonsie State Park from enlisting some public participation for the selection of the painting that will make its permanent home at Waubonsie. Terri gave the program administrators the choice of four paintings she completed during her residency, and in turn they decided to let the ‘friends’ of Waubonsie decide which painting should stay at the park. After three rounds of Facebook Polls, “Sunset Ridge Trail in October”, a 24”x20” oil on canvas highlighting the beautiful diversity of the park in Autumn, was chosen as the winner.

Shelly Eisenhauer, a photographer who completed her residency at the park in December, has moved her public workshop “10 Secrets for Stunning Nature Photos” (originally scheduled for April 23rd) from an in-person session to a virtual workshop. She will post 10 short weekly videos to the Facebook event page, beginning on Sunday, April 26th. To receive notifications, please “Like” Friends of Waubonsie State Park on Facebook (@waubonsiefriends) and RSVP to the event. The public engagement session by Kathy Fiscus, who completed her residence at the park in February, will be rescheduled at a later date. This first-in-the-state Artist in Residency program at one of Iowa’s State Parks is held at one of the region’s ecological and recreational treasures.

Located in the Loess Hills of Southwest Iowa, Waubonsie State Park’s 2,000 plus acres feature prairies, savannas, and woodlands which are home to diverse flora and fauna, not to mention breathtaking vistas. Park Manager Matt Moles, Golden Hills RC&D Project Coordinator Lance Brisbois and Loess Hills National Scenic Byway Coordinator Rebecca Castle worked together to develop and launch the project. While there have been other artist residency programs offered through the National Parks System and select parks in other states, this was the first such program in one of Iowa’s State Parks.

The program is loosely modeled after similar regional programs such as the Residency Program at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. The artists receive lodging in a studio cabin and a primitive studio space in the park at no cost for the duration of the residency. In return, artists deliver at least one public program per month of their residency and donate one piece of art to the park at the conclusion of their stay. The 2019-2020 Waubonsie State Park Artists in Residence included photographer Sheila Newenham (www.exploringnaturephotos.com) , photographer Shelly Eisenhauer (www.buroakphoto.com), painter Kathy Fiscus and painter Terri Parish McGaffin (www.tparish.carbonmade.com).

Waubonsie State Park is only about an hour’s drive from Omaha or Lincoln, NE; two hours from Kansas City; and 2.5 hours from Des Moines. It is located near the southern end of the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. To learn more about the Artist in Residence program and the artists, visit www.goldenhillsrcd.org/artist-in-residence.

Pottawattamie County Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant, Sunday, issued a statement concerning COVID-19 contact tracing. Wyant said “Pottawattamie County Public Health is and will continue to contact trace all cases as COVID-19 makes a larger impact into our community. A part of contact tracing is assessing risk to the general public. If and when a risk to the public is identified, that location is publicized along with steps to take. With the recent increase in our cases, all risks have been assessed and contacts notified. The State of Iowa and Iowa Department of Public Health, along with several health departments, have identified community spread of COVID-19.

“With the identification of community spread came the Governor’s proclamations and restrictions on local businesses and workplaces. We are still in community spread and continue to identify cases that we can not trace back to a source, but it can be traced as to risk to the pubic and people around them.”

Wyant says all precautions should still be taken, such as social distancing, proper hygiene, limiting trips to the store and out in public to only the necessary. “This has been a long road, he said, “and I want to personally thank everyone in Pottawattamie County for their strength and perseverance in these unprecedented times. Pottawattamie County has been running about two to three weeks behind modeling data.” Wyant says ” We will see a increase in numbers in the next few weeks as testing increases in our area. We are as prepared as we can be, and we have great health systems in our area. The whole community is behind this effort to minimize the impact on our area and be as transparent as we can with the public.”

Members of the City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee will meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, April 29th, during an in-person session, as opposed to via Zoom meeting. The meeting will take place in the Council Chambers, but attendance is limited to 10 people, and the six-foot separation policy will be adhered to. City Administrator John Lund says the City has acquired face masks available for those in attendance, if desired.

During the session, the Committee will hold an open discussion and take recommendations on, Human and Financial Resource changes resulting from Covid-19, along with any other business to come before them. Lund says “A lot has happened in the last 40 days. Things are rapidly changing in human resources and public finance. The City is staying on top of everything [it] can, but Council oversight of these two critical functions is essential [and] we need to have an opportunity for a question and answer period so the Council’s questions can be addressed directly and also make sure its priorities are being responded to by staff.”

(Radio Iowa) — The Republicans competing in the fourth district congressional primary say it’s time to begin rolling back the restrictions on businesses and gatherings that have been imposed during the pandemic. Steve King of Kiron is the incumbent congressman facing four challengers in June. King says he’s been most concerned about limiting the freedom to assemble.

“But I saw the emergency we were in,” King says, “and I personally decided I’m not going to throw that wrench into the gears because there’s a national crisis at work and I don’t want to undercut the people that are leading on this.” State Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull says this is a difficult situation for policymakers like Governor Reynolds.

“It’s a tough time,” Feenstra says, “and she is balancing all that needs to be done when it comes to our rights, our economy, our safety.” Bret Richards, a businessman who was the mayor of Irwin, says it’s time to rethink the emergency powers given to governors.

“A benevolent governor’s great now,” Richards says, “but what about a Chet Culver or someone else in the future?” Former Woodbury County Supervisor Jeremy Taylor says he’s concerned about restrictions on religious liberty in other states.

“We have to be very careful lest we go the way of the socialist left,” Taylor says. Steven Reeder, a real estate broker from Arnolds Park, says this situation shows why it’s important to elect people who follow the constitution. The five congressional candidates participated in an online forum Sunday evening that was hosted by Crawford County Republicans and broadcast by K-D-S-N Radio.

The operator of a motorcycle was transported by Crescent Rescue to the UNMC in Omaha, Sunday evening, after the cycle left I-29 northbound at Exit 61-A, and for reasons unknown, went out of control. The Iowa State Patrol reports 50-year old Billy Hannan, of Council Bluffs, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered critical injuries.

The accident happened at around 6:50-p.m.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:33 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s three major public universities are planning to resume in-person classes in the fall, but they are still working out the details of what that will look like during the coronavirus outbreak. Iowa Board of Regents President Mike Richards said the schools will follow state and federal guidelines to protect health as they develop plans for thousands of students to return to the campuses of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and Northern Iowa University. The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the state. Health officials said Saturday the number of confirmed cases in Iowa had increased by 648, to 5,092, though the actual number of sick is thought to be much higher because of many people haven’t been tested.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa firefighter whose family has been devastated by the coronavirus says he wants people to know how easily the virus can spread. Twenty-nine-year-old Omar Martinez said Friday that his mother first tested positive for the virus on April 3. Then his 22-year-old sister Evelyn, who is the mother of a toddler, contracted the virus and has been in the hospital since April 10. On April 15, Omar says his 58-year-old father, Jose Gabriel Martinez, was hospitalized. He died on Tuesday. The family shares a home in West Liberty, Iowa, where they settled after immigrating from Mexico in the 1990s. Omar Martinez says, “I don’t wish this upon anybody.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The medical director at a state-run institution for people with intellectual disabilities has resigned amid questions about the care residents received at the Glenwood Resource Center in southwest Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that documents from the Iowa Department of Human Services show that Dr. Mohammamd Rehman resigned Friday from the Glenwood facility. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that the former Glenwood superintendent was planning to conduct human sexual arousal experiments and had begun questionable hydration therapy on patients. The department also is looking into a death rate that concerned employees.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — One person is dead after fire broke out at a home in northeastern Iowa. The Charles City Fire Department said the blaze was reported about 2:20 a.m. Saturday. Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and determined the fire was confined to the kitchen area. The victim was found during a search of the home. Fire officials say the victim was alone in the home. An investigation determined that the fire was likely caused by cooking materials overheating.

A semi that failed to yield at a four-way stop in northwest Iowa, struck pickup truck late Sunday morning, killing a teenage passenger in the semi. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened in Moville at around 10:15-a.m., at the intersection of U-S Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 140.

A 2015 International semi driven by 37-year old Leuchann A. Johnson, of Williamsburg, VA, was traveling west on Highway 20 when it collided with a northbound 2000 Ford Ranger, driven by 62-year old Roger J. Clark, of Moville. Following the collision, the semi came to rest on its side, in the median.

15-year old Leuchann Johnson, Jr., of Williamsburg, VA. died from his injuries at the scene. Clark was transported to the hospital by Moville Ambulance.

Neither of the accident victims were wearing a seat belt. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, Moville Fire Department & Ambulance, and the Lawton Fire Dept/Ambulance.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The medical director at a state-run institution for people with intellectual disabilities has resigned amid questions about the care residents received at the Glenwood Resource Center in southwest Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that documents from the Iowa Department of Human Services show that Dr. Mohammamd Rehman resigned Friday from the Glenwood facility.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that the former Glenwood superintendent was planning to conduct human sexual arousal experiments and had begun questionable hydration therapy on patients. The department also is looking into a death rate that concerned employees.

Police and firefighters from Council Bluffs were dispatched at around 9:13-a.m. Sunday (today), to the area of the Indian Creek at Creek Top Street for a vehicle in the creek. A passing Union Pacific train crew had spotted the vehicle in the culvert. Upon arrival, emergency responders found a Red Ford Explorer had driven through the metal guard rail and concrete barrier. The vehicle had fallen approximately 12 feet down into the culvert, landing on its wheels. The vehicle was in approximately 1-2 feet of water.

The driver of the vehicle, 74-year old Kieth Cunningham, of Omaha, was extricated by the Council Bluffs Fire Department and transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Cunningham had been reported as missing in Omaha and may have been suffering from a medical condition.

The incident was being investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Special Operations Traffic Unit. Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call the CBPD Traffic Unit at (712) 328-4948.

Pottawattamie County Public Health, Sunday (today) reported four new COVID-19 cases. The total of COVID-19 cases in Pottawattamie County is now twenty-nine. Seventeen individuals have recovered, eleven are self-isolating at home, zero are hospitalized, and there has been one death.

The four new cases all reside in Council Bluffs and include two males and two females ranging in age from 18 to 80 years old. Two of them have pre-existing conditions. One of the individuals had contact with an existing COVID-19 case, and three were the result of community spread. These individuals were tested between April 23 and April 24. All four of them are self-isolating at home.

Pottawattamie County Public Health is conducting the contact tracing investigations and is in communication with the Iowa Department of Public Health. As testing capacity increases, the number of positives reported will also increase. The total number of Iowans tested for COVID-19, along with positive and negative results, can be found at www.coronavirus.iowa.gov.