The Cass County Auditor’s Office reported at the close of their business day, Wednesday, they had received papers filed from a candidate to fill the vacancy position of Mayor, in Anita. John Knutson is running for the top position in Anita.

No other candidates had filed for various City seats in Cass County, on Wednesday. As previously reported, three Atlantic City Councilpersons are running for Mayor, and one person is running for the Parks and Rec Board, in Atlantic.

The deadline to file nomination papers with the Cass County Auditor’s Office is 5-p.m., September 16.

(Des Moines, IA) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health say, like most of the country, Iowa has experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks. In their statement issued Wed. evening, the IDPH says “Because of the success of our vaccine campaign, current numbers are a fraction of what they were in November 2020, when the state experienced its highest level of virus activity.”

Health officials say the majority of current COVID-19 hospitalizations are among unvaccinated Iowans. On August 25, 79% of individuals hospitalized with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis were not vaccinated and 86% of patients in the ICU were not vaccinated before becoming infected. The hospitalization rate is currently highest among middle age to older adults. 87% of those hospitalized are age 40 and older. Children under the age of 18 account for just 2% of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Iowa Department of Public Health interim director Kelly Garcia says “We have many tools we need to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and the single most important tool we have is the vaccine, which is highly effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death. For anyone who was waiting for the assurance of full FDA authorization, I urge you to schedule your appointment today.”

Preventing avoidable COVID-19 hospitalizations also helps preserve health care resources for other needs, including illnesses, injuries and emergencies. Some Iowa hospitals have recently reported an increase in hospitalizations among children with RSV, limiting their bed capacity for other patients.  As of Wednesday, IDPH was reporting 42 additional deaths due to COVID-19. These deaths occurred over a four-week period from July 24-August 22, 2021.

There are a number of things Iowans can do to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 and prevent spreading the virus in their communities:

Get vaccinated

According to the CDC, over 60% of Iowans 12 and older are fully vaccinated and there have been recent increases daily vaccine administration rates. All Iowans over the age of 12 are eligible to get the COVID-29 vaccine. Vaccines are free, safe and available statewide. Find a vaccine provider at vacccinateiowa.gov. Iowans with questions about the vaccine should contact their healthcare provider. Click here for information on who is currently eligible for an additional dose of the  COVID-19 vaccine.

Get Tested

If you or a loved one are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, get tested as soon as possible. Symptoms may include coughing, shortness of breath, fever, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell. Testing is widely available with many convenient options.

Iowans can access testing at the following locations:

• Primary Care Providers
• Urgent Care
• Local and national pharmacies
• Private labs in local communities

Test Iowa At Home:

IDPH and the State Hygienic Lab are partnering to provide Iowans free at-home test kits. These test kits are ideal for a proactive diagnosis. Examples of proactive testing:

• Before upcoming travel, or returning from travel.
• Ensuring negative status before attending events.
• Recent COVID-19 positive and want to ensure a negative result before returning to normal activities.
• To have on hand for family members in case of exposure.

Go to testiowa.com for more information, to order a test kit or find a pick-up site near you.

Iowans are urged not to visit a Hospital Emergency Room for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, unless experiencing severe symptoms. An ER visit may expose others in a medically fragile state to the virus as well as place additional strain on hospital resources.

Seek Treatment

If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, you may be able to reduce the severity of your symptoms and prevent bad outcomes by receiving Monoclonal Antibodies. These antibodies can reduce the amount of virus in your body. Monoclonal Antibodies do not contain the virus that causes COVID-19. It’s important to do this before your symptoms progress to ensure the best possible outcome. Talk with your healthcare provider about whether this is the right option for you. Find options near you by visiting here.

While there are multiple tools available to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the vaccine remains the strongest and Iowans should get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 37-year-old Kaleb L. Wagaman of Bedford on a valid Montgomery County warrant for an original charge of Criminal Mischief 5th degree. Wagaman was arrested at 10:40 a.m. on Wednesday and later released after posting $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa)  – Practically every business in Iowa has a “HELP WANTED” sign in the window as so many industries scramble to find workers in an effort to survive the long-running pandemic. In north-central Iowa, a job fair is planned Thursday afternoon in the Webster City area. Rick Young, a Hamilton County supervisor from Jewell, says there is an unprecedented number of jobs to be filled.  “We have 17 employers who are going to participate,” Young says. “Our expectations are that within a 30-mile radius of Webster City, there are going to be 500 job offerings that day.”

The job openings are in multiple fields, including: banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, public safety and agriculture. Young says, “Our job now is to expand on childcare and housing to find someplace so these people can work and send their kids to and have a place to live.” The job fair will run from 3 to 7 P-M Thursday at the Briggs Woods Conference Center just south of Webster City.

Learn more at the Hamilton County Economic Development Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Hamilton-County-Development-101584591678586

(Radio Iowa) – A lawsuit has been filed against the governor for ending the extra federal unemployment payments early. Attorney Jeff Carter represents four people who are suing — saying Iowa’s unemployment law prevented the governor from taking the action. “The whole purpose of the statute is to help people who are unable to help themselves. And then when you combine that with the fact that the language is shall — which is a mandate — that the state of Iowa is to do everything it can to the fullest extent to put that goal into practicality,” Carter says.

The benefits were to extend into September, but the governor ended them in June, saying Iowans were not seeking work because unemployment paid them more than what they would make at their jobs. “What has happened in fact the opposite of what she promised would happen,” according to Carter,” “Iowa’s unemployment rate has gone up. Only the benefits to these people who can’t find work have gone down. And it’s not in a vacuum, it’s not just in Iowa where that happened.”

The unemployment rate has inched up slightly — but Iowa Workforce Development says the number of people seeking work has also increased.”They can say that, but the fact is that only 67 percent of the jobs that were lost due to the pandemic have come back. So that means a third of those jobs haven’t come back. So you have all of these people looking for work — while the jobs have decreased by a third. And that’s as of now,” he says.

Carter is seeking class-action for the lawsuit as he believes there could be as many as 50-thousand Iowans who were impacted.  “Some of them are looking for homes now, because remember at the same time the moratoriums ended, and there are all of these people getting tossed out of their homes…some people have left the state to find work. We have talked to a couple of people like that,” Carter says. There are people who are worried about putting food on the table for their children. It’s a big deal, these people are getting significantly harmed. These are not people living on the top end.”

Iowa joins nearly a dozen other states in seeking temporary restraining orders to restore unemployment benefits. Carter says Iowa’s law is one of the strongest. “The mandate is clear, the purpose is clear and we feel ours is one of the strongest cases without having gotten into detail about the other state’s cases,” he says. The governor’s spokesperson, Pat Garrett, issued a statement in response to the lawsuit. “

The governor believes that we cannot continue to pay able-bodied people to stay home. Since the decision was made and announced in May, we have seen a 175 percent increase in people seeking employment at IowaWORKs offices and Iowa’s labor force participation rate has continued to rise. This was not only the right decision, but also in accordance with the law and this lawsuit has no merit.”

(Radio Iowa) – One man is dead after a Tuesday afternoon shooting outside a downtown Waterloo convenience store. The victim collapsed on a highway median.
Police officers and Waterloo Fire Rescue personnel were called to the 1100 block of Washington Street around 4:30 PM. When they arrived, officials found a male suffering from a gunshot wound lying in the median across from the convenience store. Police say the victim, who has yet to be identified, died from the injury. The shooting happened right after a severe thunderstorm rolled through Waterloo, toppling trees and power lines across the city.

The incident forced officials to close down streets in the area while they gathered evidence. At the height of rush hour, southbound lanes of the U.S. Highway 218 overpass were closed for about three hours. Police are looking for a suspect and asking for the public’s help in the case. Anyone with information should contact Waterloo police.

(Radio Iowa) – A trucker from Eldridge, Iowa has been charged in Indiana with the death of his girlfriend’s four-year-old. Thirty-five-year-old Dylan Diericx (dirks) is charged with a felony count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. The “News Sun” in Indiana reports Diericx called police in Shipshewana, Indiana on August 19th to report the child was unresponsive in the cab of his semi. The child was taken to the hospital and died. The report says Diericx told police the child was hurt while playing in the cab — but doctors say the child had multiple injuries that were not consistent with what Diericx told them.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released a report on arrests and incidents from the past week. On Wednesday (Aug. 25), 45-year-old Sabrina C. Bobzien, of Ashland, NE., was arrested at around 1:25-a.m., after a Deputy came upon her vehicle, which was stopped in the travel lane on Highway 92 westbound, in Council Bluffs. Upon further investigation, Bobzien was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Her bond was set at $1,000.

At around 1:40-a.m. Tuesday (8/24), 22-year-old David George Mitchell was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance/marijuana – 1st offense, following a traffic stop Kanesville Blvd., in Council Bluffs. Sunday morning, a call to check the welfare of an individual at the Loves Travel Stop in Shelby, resulted in the arrested of a suspicious male, 30-year-old James Gordon Hatella, of Spring Lake Park, MN. He was arrested for being a Fugitive from Justice, and held for another agency.

At around 1:35-a.m. Sunday, 22-year-old Logan Nathaniel Schulze was arrested on a hold for another agency, following a traffic stop on an SUV in Council Bluffs. Saturday night, 26-year-old Alexander Zacchaeus Hillers was arrested in Council Bluffs, following a traffic stop on Old Lincoln Highway. Hillers was charged with OWI/1st offense. Friday night, 32-year old Nikki Mae Brown was arrested following a traffic stop in Carson. She was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, after a Deputy noticed her several times, her vehicle crossed the center line and fog line of Highway 59, near Dogwood Lane.

Friday afternoon, 32-year-old Benjamin Paul Jones was arrested in Honey Creek for OWI/1st offense, after authorities investigated a reported suspicious vehicle.

(Radio Iowa) – A group has formed with the intent of removing the name Columbus from Waterloo Columbus High School. Group member John McCoy says they are concerned about the history of the explorer Christopher Columbus. “I first became aware of it in the summer of 2020. John Farley, a sociologist, professor, had started a group that was investigating the history of Christopher Columbus. The concern was that the history as taught to us in grade school and high school was not accurate,” McCoy says.

Mccoy says that as they began to research the voyages of Columbus troubling information began surfacing. “This group was concerned that what was not disclosed was the inhuman treatment of Native Americans,” McCoy. The group presented its case to the Cedar Valley Catholic School Board and the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

Waterloo Columbus logo

“The board denied the name change, also said our faith has never been identified holiness with perfection of behavior,” McCoy says. “And we are saying we are not criticizing Christopher Columbus because he wasn’t perfect — it was because he was involved in human slavery. sexual abuse, mutilation, and killing of Native Americans. McCoy says since their request has been denied, the group is looking to raise awareness of the issue.

(Radio Iowa) – A single-vehicle rollover accident Monday morning in rural Emmet County has claimed the life of a Graettinger woman. According to Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens says a 2011 Toyota Tundra was traveling southbound on a county road when it entered the east ditch then struck a field approach before flipping onto its top. The driver, 66-year-old Kim Driftmier of rural Graettinger, was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by personnel on the scene.

Driftmier was transported to Avera Holy Family Hospital where she later died from her injuries. The Emmet County Medical Examiner’s Office has ordered an autopsy as part of the investigation.