The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund recently donated $500 to Janice Dickerson with the Atlantic Community Schools, to purchase books for the Washington and Schuler libraries.  Fund spokesperson Melanie Petty says the Atlantic School Foundation will match donations up to $2,000, for non-fiction books.  Petty says Trevor was an avid reader, and the fund has enjoyed being able to help the school libraries get new books each year since his death in 2009.

Janice Dickerson receives a check from the Trevor Frederickson Fund’s Grant Petty. (Photo submitted)

The annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament raises money each year to give back to the things Trevor loved.  Petty says “We are blessed with a very giving community.  Each year we are able to do amazing things in Trevors name and we look forward to continuing on for years to come.”  Watch/listen to local media or checkout the Fund’s Facebook page to keep up on what they are accomplishing.

The Cass County Auditor (Local Commissioner of Elections) has chosen to combine for this General Election, the regular 13 Cass County voting precincts into 9 combined precincts and has chosen voting locations which he believes will best serve the voters of Cass County.  Those combined precincts and voting locations are:

COMBINED PRECINCTS 1,2,3…Cass County Community Center (805 W 10th), for: Atlantic Ward’s 1 through 5 (Wards 4&5 please use the south entrance);,Brighton Township, Grove Township, Pymosa Township, Washington

COMBINED PRECINCT 4…Lewis Public Library (412 W Main St, Lewis), for: Bear Grove Township, Cass Township / City of Lewis.

COMBINED PRECINCT 5…Griswold Community Building (601 2nd St), for: Noble Township, Pleasant Township / City of Griswold.

COMBINED PRECINCTS 6 & 9…Cumberland Community Building (200 W 2nd), for: Edna Township, Victoria Township; Union Township / City of Cumberland.

COMBINED PRECINCT 7…Anita Community Center (805 Main St), for: Benton Township, Franklin Township / City of Wiota; & Grant Township, Lincoln Township / City of Anita.

COMBINED PRECINCT 8…Massena Public Library (122 Main St, Massena), for: Massena Township / City of Massena.

Voters in other counties can check with their county Auditor’s Office or look for the “Find my Precinct/Polling Place,” on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard today (10-a.m. Tuesday), show that since 10-a.m. Monday, there have been 1,516 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, for a pandemic total of 133,229, and 22 additional deaths, for a total of 1,755. Pre-existing conditions account for 1,147 of the total deaths, while Long-Term Care facility deaths are up eight to 855. Cass County has one more death (for a total of 5), and 11 more Positive cases, for a total of 506. Harrison County’s death toll is now at 18, following one additional death reported since Monday.

The number of outbreaks at LTC’s are up to 84 from yesterday’s 80. In Cass County, two facilities: Atlantic Specialty Care and the Griswold Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, have a combined total of 125 positive cases, with 23 recovered. Harrison County still has 251 cases among three facilities, and 150 recovered.  (For more data not seen here, go to https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/)

Hospitalizations total a record 730 today (compared to 718 Monday). And , there are a record 170 COVID patients in an ICU (compared to 156 Monday), 92 have been admitted since Monday, when there was 108 admissions, and 59 are on a ventilator. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are four less people hospitalized with COVID, at 42; two more are in an ICU, for a total of 12, and three people were admitted. There are also two persons on a ventilator, one less than reported Monday.

The IDPH reports a total of 988,210 Iowans have been tested for the virus, with 853,282 testing Negative. The Individual Positivity rate is 13.5%, and the 14-day rolling average is 14.8%. There are 11 counties with a Positivity rate of 20% or greater, including: Cass County  has a Positivity rate of 20.3% (that’s down from 21.9% Monday). The only other county with a PR at 20% or above, is Taylor, with 20%.  Officials say 95,422 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

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, 506 cases {+11}; 325 recovered; 5 deaths
• Adair, 239 {+8}; 84; 1
• Adams, 90 {+2}; 54; 1
• Audubon, 204 {+11}; 106; 1
• Guthrie, 448 {+8); 295; 15
• Harrison County, 748 {+3}; 384; 18
• Madison County, 402 {+1}; 284; 3
• Mills County, 489; 237; 3
• Montgomery, 215 {+1}; 174; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,594 {+9]; 2,603; 45
• Shelby County, 436 {+6}; 368; 2
• Union County,  293 {+2}; 236; 5

(Radio Iowa) – A new report finds a much higher percentage of people are dying from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia during this year’s pandemic than during the past several years. The figures are “alarming,” according to Robyn Mills, public policy director for the Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and she says researchers are struggling to figure out why. “The CDC reports that there’s 31,000 more deaths due to Alzheimer’s and other dementia nationwide than would be expected normally,” Mills says. “In Iowa, there are 304 more deaths from Alzheimer’s and dementia, or a 13.9% increase over the five-year average.”

People with Alzheimer’s, especially those living in long-term care settings, are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. They’re older, they live in communal settings and they often have underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk. “We know that the COVID has hit our population severely, not only in deaths but also in isolation and feelings of abandonment,” Mills says. “Our people just really don’t understand what’s going on, which makes it doubly sad.”

The rising trend of Alzheimer’s deaths is very concerning and the association is calling on state lawmakers to implement rapid testing and other safety protocols to better protect these people. “There are currently 80 COVID outbreaks in long-term care facilities and the total number of deaths is 847 which is 49% of the total deaths from COVID-19 in Iowa,” Mills says. “This is 10% more than the average of 40% of COVID deaths in nursing homes across the United States.”

More than five-million Americans have Alzheimer’s, which is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. In Iowa alone, there are more than 66,000 people living with the disease. Meanwhile, new research finds getting at least one flu shot could bring up to a 17% reduction in the risk of getting Alzheimer’s, while more frequent flu vaccination was associated with another 13% reduction in Alzheimer’s incidence.

(Radio Iowa) – Time will tell, as they say, as Election Day dawns and Iowans have a total of 14 more hours to cast their votes. There were campaign rallies and there were parades. And, over the past four weeks, about a million Iowans voted early at their county auditor’s office or by mailing in an absentee ballot. The latest report shows more than 90 percent of eligible Iowans are registered to vote, which is a record. Iowans can still register to vote at the polls today, which would push what that record higher. Polls open at 7-a.m.

County auditors in Iowa were allowed, by law, to start tabulating absentee ballots yesterday, but the first results in Iowa won’t be released until AFTER the polls close at 9 p.m.

Red Oak Police conducted a search warrant at around 11:45-p.m. Monday on a residence in the 700 block of Hammond Street. Upon investigation, officers arrested 29-year-old Shawn Michael Anderson, of Red Oak, on two, Class-D Felony counts of Administering a harmful substance. Anderson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond. Police were assisted at the scene by Montgomery and Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies.

At around 5-p.m. Monday, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 36-year-old Dale Demont, of Emerson, at 106 W. Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak, following an incident in March that had been under investigation at G Avenue and Highway 34. Demont was charged with OWI/1st offense, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.