DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Human Services say about one-third of the workers at three state-run care facilities are refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The latest  DHS report shows as of Nov. 5, 197 employees at Glenwood Resource Center remain unvaccinated. The report shows 149 of them are considered direct-care or clinical workers.

At the Boys State Training School in Eldora, 61 of the school’s 181 employees have declined the vaccine. The vaccine refusal rate among workers at the state’s Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders is at 32%. All 44 unvaccinated employees there are considered direct-care or clinical workers.

The 7:08-a.m. broadcast News from Ric Hanson.

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(Shenandoah, Iowa) – A man from Shenandoah was arrested late Tuesday evening on drug charges, following a traffic stop.  Shenandoah Police say 50-year-old Neal Jay Williams was pulled over at around 10:50-p.m. in the 200 block of South Fremont Street, for an equipment violation.

During an investigation, the K9 “Remmi” was deployed, and alerted to the odor of narcotics. An additional investigation resulted in Williams’ arrest for possession of a controlled substance–methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance–marijuana, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He posted a $2,600 bond and was released with a date to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – The I-R-S has dubbed this “National Tax Security Awareness Week” in an effort to remind you to keep your personal information safe. Spokesman, Christopher Miller, says the end of the year is a problem time. “We normally see scams spike during the holiday season — but we’re expecting it will be worse this year — because the crooks are finding new ways and new buzz words to attract new victims,” Miller says.

He says there are two new scam buzzwords in particular that should send you a warning. “COVID and stimulus payments. Which we know are unique words for these unique times,” according to Miller. “So we want people to watch out for criminals using new tactics. In fact — we know in Iowa alone just this year the Federal Trade Commission received more than two-thousand cases of fraud and I-D theft related to just those two unique terms,” he says. Miller says those types of fraud cost Iowans one-point-eight million dollars. “And more than 300 of those cases were related to online shopping. So, we know this continues to be a significant problem that isn’t going away — and we want people to be on the lookout,” Miller says.

Miller says scammers will try to send you files and links to open up that will infect your computer or try to get you to give up personal information. He says there is one thing you can know for certain. “The I-R-S will not send unsolicited emails or text or social media posts asking for personal or financial information — that’s not the way the I-R-S does business. In fact, most legitimate companies will not ask for personal or financial information over email, text or social media posts.”

He says you can get more information on what to look for and what to avoid at their website: IRS.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa farmers who attended the “COP 26” climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland say agriculture is finally being welcomed to the discussions. Ray Gaesser of Ankeny represented the group, “Solutions from the Land,” as one of the nearly 40-thousand official participants. Gaesser says after years of fighting to get into the meetings, farmers are being given a seat at the table.  “We’re having a presence finally of agriculture at the UN meetings,” Gaesser says. “The climate discussion started out ten or 15 years ago with no agriculture involved and it’s really important that we share our story and how we will make a difference for the climate and still feed people.”

U-S-D-A officials contacted the group prior to the 26th annual COP, or Conference of the Parties, asking members to meet with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Gaesser says they provided input on how agriculture can help to slow climate change. “The message that USDA is sharing has been the message that we’ve had from Solutions from the Land for several years, about farmers being a part of the solution,” he says, “that one-size-fits-all regulations are inadequate, that we are very diverse in agriculture, not only within our state but within our nation.”

Gaesser says agriculture is utilizing nature’s energy sources in solar and wind as well as biofuels. He hopes those elements will be integrated into U-S-D-A’s climate change mitigation and a possible climate bank.  “We have made an impact because their message is very similar to what ours is,” he says. “It’s about agriculture being part of the solution. It’s about farmers making a difference and providing opportunities, and it’s about all the innovations that we’re doing in agriculture in the United States.”

Still, he says farmers at COP 26 faced more aggressive anti-meat rhetoric about how methane emissions from livestock globally have grown over time and production should be eliminated. Gaesser says much of the animal agriculture message was just not accurate.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Unofficial results from Tuesday’s run-off election for Mayor in the City of Atlantic show the winner to be Grace Garrett. This was the reaction at her residence, when she was informed (By KJAN) of the victory…

Garrett had advanced to the run-off election when neither she nor her competitor, Tim Teig garnered the required 50.1% of the total votes during the Nov. 2nd City/School elections. In the earlier election, Teig received 523 votes (42.45%), while Garrett garnered 463 votes (37.58%). This time around, the race was still close, with Garrett winning by just four votes!  The final total was 588 for Garrett and 584 for Teig.  The results of the vote are expected to be canvassed and made official by the Board of Supervisors, this Thursday (Dec. 2nd).

The Cass County Auditor’s Office shows out of the 4,819 registered voters, the total number of ballots cast was 1,174, or 24.36%, including two write-in votes.

Garrett – who will become the first woman Mayor in Atlantic – said of her soon-to-be new title….

With her victory seemingly in-hand, Garrett was asked what the future under her administration, will be like.

She said she looks forward to working with the Council, and the community.

With her win, Garrett will assume the center seat during the City Council meetings, beginning in January. Her At-Large seat on the Council will either be filled by appointment or by special election, depending on the wishes of the Council.

With the Absentee ballots having been counted, Tuesday evening, the results show Grace Garrett with a commanding lead of Tim Teig in the run-off race for Mayor. With two precincts still left to count, Garrett had 209 votes (55.29%), to Teig’s 169 (44.71%).  Again, these are the Absentee ballots ONLY.  The winner will succeed Dave Jones as Mayor, in January. Updates are forthcoming…..

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says a six-year effort to clear a backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits throughout the state has wrapped up. Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens worked with the A-G on the project. “We thank the Attorney General’s Office for joining us in tackling this problem. And more importantly, we want to thank the victim advocates, the investigators, and the prosecutors who dedicate their lives to seeking justice for the victims of sexual assault,” Bayen says. There were more than 42-hundred unsubmitted sexual assault kits across that state, and the project used three million dollars federal grant money to test 16-hundred-six kits.

“The D-C-I Crime Lab is the only accredited forensic laboratory in the state that can process these kits. But the backlog had run so large over time that we would not process all of them,” according to Bayens. “Through this grant, we were able to work out an agreement with a private company to assist us in clearing that backlog.” Bayens says they were able to create a tracking system so victims know where their evidence is — and also improved the speed of the system to allow them to process more kits. “In 2018 the crime lab processed 439 sexual assault kits. In 2019, that number was 433. While in 2020, with the assistance of additional analysts — the lab processed one-thousand-298 sexual assault kits,” he says.

And this year they have already tested 734. The grant protocol excluded many kits from testing for several reasons, including the lack of police reports or victim information, or being too recent. Only kits collected before April 28, 2015, could be tested under the grant. Bayens says the process is now keeping new kits from sitting in evidence rooms. “Since the inception of this project with the Attorney General’s Office, the lab has seen an 87 percent increase in sexual assault kit submissions. Now, almost every law enforcement agency in the state are sending their kits to the lab,” Bayens says. Attorney General Tom Miller says with the backlog of kits cleared up — he doesn’t believe it will become a problem again. “D-P-S has very successfully addressed the ongoing kits that are coming in. So, I think this will all work very well — at least we hope so,” Miller says.

Miller says many of these sexual assault incidents took place 10 or more years ago — and in most cases, victims opted not to re-engage with law enforcement. They have thus far filed criminal charges in four cases related to the backlog kits — with two convictions.

Two women were arrested Tuesday on separate charges in Red Oak. Authorities say 51-year-old Shelby Joann Olivares, of Red Oak, was arrested for Public Intoxication. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond. And, 29-year-old Brandi Jessica Harding, of Omaha, NE., was arrested for Interference with Official Acts. Her bond was also set at $300.