(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, a Democrat, says now that the campaign is over, the current congress should act before year’s end to provide another round of assistance to help individuals and businesses hit hard by the pandemic.  “It’s just a really difficult time for way too many people,” she says, “and we’ve got to get this done.” Axne says it’s been more than seven months since congress passed the so-called CARES Act and most of the money has been spent.

Axne says congress should provide more federal money for hospitals, health care workers and small businesses — as well as more assistance to low-income Americans with overdue utility bills who are at risk of losing heat and electricity during the winter. The temporary spending plan for the entire federal government is set to expire next month as well.

“We’ve got to make sure that we keep government open and pass a budget,” Axne says. “That’s just a basic that needs to get done, but we need to make sure there’s things in there.” For example, Axne says congress must ensure parents can carry over any unused money they’d put aside in flexible savings accounts for child care expenses. The money in traditional pre-tax savings plans for medical and other expenses must be used by year’s end — or individuals forfeit that money.

Axne says due to the pandemic, many parents weren’t able to find child care — and they stand to lose the money they’d saved to cover those expenses. “There’s just a lot we need to do in a budget, given the fact where we’re at with Covid,” Axne says. Axne, who represents Iowa’s third congressional district, was re-elected to a second term in the U.S. House last week.

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain has purchased another chain with stores in several states. Casey’s announced the agreement today (Monday) to acquire Buchanan Energy — the owner of Bucky’s Convenience Stores — in an all-cash transaction for 580 million dollars.

Bucky’s Convenience Stores were founded as a family-owned and operated business in 1980. It has stores mainly in Illinois and Nebraska — with others Missouri, Texas, and one in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Casey’s acquisition will include 94 retail stores and 79 dealer locations, and multiple parcels of real estate for future new store construction. The purchase will increase Casey’s store count to more than 23-hundred. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of this year.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo, Monday afternoon, issued on update on a report we first brought you early this (Monday) morning, with regard to a missing child. Londo said at approximately 4:25 am, Monday, a call was received at the Shelby County 911 Center for a child that was missing.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Harlan Police Department, Shelby County EMA, Panama Fire Department, Portsmouth Fire Department, Earling Fire Department, Westphalia Fire Department, Harlan Fire Department, and Iowa State Patrol responded to assist in locating the child.

The child was found a short distance from the family’s home in good health and returned to his parents.

GRISWOLD — Anna Kelley, a Junior at Griswold CSD of Elliott was nominated as a Delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders. The event takes place November 21st and November 22nd, 2020. The Congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. The purpose of this event is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country interested in these careers, to stay true to their dream and, after the event, to provide a path, plan and resources to help them reach their goal.

Anna Kelley

Anna’s nomination was signed by Dr. Mario Capecchi, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and the Science Director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists to represent Griswold High School based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve humanity in the field of medicine. During the two-day Congress, Anna Kelley will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science Winners talk about leading medical research; be given advice from Ivy League and top medical school deans on what to expect in medical school; witness stories told by patients who are living medical miracles; be inspired by fellow teen medical science prodigies; and
learn about cutting-edge advances and the future in medicine and medical technology.

Experts say this is a crucial time in America when we need more doctors and medical scientists who are even better prepared for a future that is changing exponentially. Focused, bright and determined students like Anna Kelley are our future and she deserves all the mentoring and guidance we can give her. The Academy offers free services and programs to students who want to become physicians or go into medical science. Some of the services and programs the Academy offers are online social networks through which future doctors and medical scientists can communicate; opportunities for students to be guided and mentored by physicians and medical students; and communications for parents and students on college acceptance and finances, skills acquisition, internships, career guidance and much more.

The National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists was founded on the belief that we must identify prospective medical talent at the earliest possible age and help these students acquire the necessary experience and skills to take them to the doorstep of this vital career. Based in Washington, D.C. and with offices in Boston, MA, the Academy was chartered as a nonpartisan, taxpaying institution to help address this crisis by working to identify, encourage and mentor students who wish to devote their lives to the service of humanity as physicians, medical scientists.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Monday (Today), said an Atlantic man was being held in the Adair County Jail on $250,000 bond, on an Adair County Class-D Felony warrant for Willful Injury-Bodily Injury. A criminal complaint states against 53-year old Rex Dean McDermott states that on Oct. 30th at around 11:07-p.m., Adair County Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from a woman residing in the 1800 block of Highway 92, Fontanelle. The call was with regard to someone beating on her door, saying “help me, help me.” A deputy arrived on the scene to discover a female on the edge of the road, flagging him down. The Deputy observed a woman from Massena was covered in blood.

The woman told the Deputy the man she was with pulled her out of a pickup truck and began to punch her and hit her with a wooden object. A further investigation determined the victim had been with McDermott, and that he had been with him and another man two nights prior, when McDermott was arrested by Cass County deputies. The woman identified McDermott as the man who allegedly struck her. The victim suffered a laceration above her right eye, bruising and swelling of the face and pain in areas where she was struck by the wooden object.

A warrant was issued Oct. 30th, and McDermott was arrested on Nov. 4th.  He made his initial appearance in court on Nov. 5th, during which the judge issued a No Contact Order. His preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 12th.   Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater says the standard Class-D Felony bond according to the Iowa Supreme Court is $5,000. The Sheriff was uncertain why the Judge chose to set McDermott’s bond as high as he did.

On Nov. 3rd, 49-year old Gary Alan Victor, of Bridgewater, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was released the next day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond. Also arrested Nov. 3rd, was 38-year old Michael Gail Steward, of Fontanelle. He was taken into custody at the Adair County Sheriff’s Office for Violating a No Contact Order at his parent’s residence. He was released the same day on a $1,000 cash/surety bond. And, as previously mentioned, 19-year old Brooklyn Leon King, of Jamestown, NY, was arrested on charges of Eluding and Interference with Official Acts. His cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has announced new restrictions requiring masks in some circumstances to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but he still rejects the idea of a statewide mask mandate. Ricketts said Monday that masks will be required at businesses where employees have close contact with customers for more than 15 minutes, such as salons and massage parlors. At bars, masks will be required when people aren’t drinking or eating. The state set another record Sunday when 794 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, a more than doubling of virus-related hospitalizations in three weeks.