(Radio Iowa) – Public health officials are urging Iowans who test positive for COVID-19 using an at-home rapid test to report those results to their local health department. The demand for at-home testing is rising as the highly-transmissible Omicron variant drives a spike in new infections. Nola Aigner-Davis is spokeswoman for the Polk County Public Health Department in Des Moines.

Aigner-Davis says, “If you have a positive test, we would love for you to report it so we kind of have more of an accurate picture on what we’re seeing in the community.” Figures released by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Monday show the number of Iowans testing positive for COVID-19 has taken a sharp upturn. More than 17-thousand positive tests were reported in the last week, that’s up 37-percent from the previous week. Aigner-Davis says it’s important for people who test positive at home to report it.

“It’s great that everyone is doing self at home tests,” she says, “but if we don’t have that data, it doesn’t accurately reflect what we’re actually seeing in the community.” Aigner-Davis says Iowans should continue to take precautions against COVID-19, like wearing masks and getting vaccinated, as the number of new infections is expected to further increase in coming weeks.

(by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest on Monday, of 47-year-old Heather Young, from Pacific Junction. She was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, the bond for which is $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican who challenged Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller in 2010 aims to run against the Democratic incumbent again.  Brenna Bird told The Cedar Rapids Gazette she’s running for attorney general this year. Bird is a former chief of staff for Congressman Steve King. She also served as legal counsel in Governor Terry Branstad’s office for four years. Bird served two years as Fremont County Attorney and is currently serving as Guthrie County Attorney.

Brenna Bird

Democrat Tom Miller was first elected in 1978 and is seeking an 11th term. He’s the country’s longest serving attorney general.

(Battle Creek, Iowa) – A man whose vehicle was being pursued by an Ida County Sheriff’s Deputy is dead, after his vehicle missed a curve, struck a tree and then rolled several times in northwest Iowa, Monday night. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened at around 11:22-p.m. in the Crawford Creek Recreation Area, south of Battle Creek, in Ida County. 47-year-old David Downing, of Oto, was driving a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero and attempting to elude the deputy, when the crash occurred.

Downing was wearing a seat belt, but died at the scene.

Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa 3rd District Democrat Congresswoman Cindy Axne will host her 73rd “Connect With Your Congresswoman” Town Hall, this Friday, Jan. 7th, in Red Oak. The event takes place at 4 p.m., at the Montgomery County Family YMCA at 101 E. Cherry St., in Red Oak.

Rep. Axne will provide attendees an update on her legislative work in Congress and hear concerns directly from her constituents. Members from the Congresswoman’s staff will also be in attendance to assist with casework concerns. This will be Rep. Axne’s first Connect With Your Congresswoman Town Hall event in 2022, and her 73rd town hall event as the Representative of Iowa’s Third Congressional District.  In addition, Axne will be hosting two roundtables this week, in Des Moines and Council Bluffs. The focus of the meetings is to discuss the priorities that Iowa localities have for the $5 billion the state is projected to receive from the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed into law last fall.

• On Wednesday, January 5, Rep. Axne will host a roundtable in Des Moines with mayors and city officials from Altoona, Clive, Des Moines, Greenfield, Griswold, Johnston, Runnells, Urbandale, and Waukee, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
• On Friday, January 7, Rep. Axne will host her roundtable in Council Bluffs with mayors and city officials from Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Stanton, Shenandoah, Sidney, Hamburg, Farragut, Pacific Junction, and more, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting beginning 9-a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 5), in their boardroom at the Adair County Courthouse in Greenfield. On their agenda are Fiscal Year 2023 requests for funding from: The Adair County Library Association; Southern Iowa Trolley; Midwest Partnership; and the Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG).

The Board will discuss and/or act on: A letter pertaining to wind turbine noise; The SICOG Housing Trust Fund; Homestead and Military Disallowances. They are also expected to act on approving a Treasurer Clerk appointment, and a resignation from the Condemnation Commission. County Auditor Mandy Berg will discuss an FY 23 Budget Amendment, with regard to ARPA Funds, and the Board will set the date for a Public Hearing on the amendment.

(Radio Iowa) – With the approach of the one-year anniversary of the January 6th attack on the U-S Capitol, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s satisfied with his safety in the building and he has no fears there will be any sort of repeat attempt to storm the capitol on Thursday. “I feel very secure,” Grassley says, “and I don’t expect anything to happen because of the increased security and particularly bills that have been passed where very quickly, National Guard can be called out.”

A U-S Attorney’s Office report says that over the past year, more than 725 people were charged with participating in the riot, several of them from Iowa. The incident left four rioters dead and more than 150 law enforcement officers hurt. One officer died of a stroke shortly after the riot while several more took their own lives in the following weeks.

Senator Grassley is applauding Biden Administration efforts to combat anti-competitive practices in the meatpacking industry. Up to 800-million dollars in loans and grants will aid small-scale beef, pork and poultry plants while setting up a new hotline for whistleblowers. Grassley, a Republican, says his response to the move is “Hallelujah.” “The big four packers control 85% of the daily slaughter,” Grassley says. “They can and, in fact, do abuse the market power while the retail price of meat has gone up, independent producers are getting less and less.”

Grassley says he fully supports administration efforts to bring fair prices to both producers and consumers, though he recognizes it will also take legislation. Grassley says he has a bi-partisan bill in the works. “It’s called the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act,” Grassley says. “It’ll create fair market conditions for independent producers and reign in some of the bad behavior of the big packers.”

If the administration wants a solution for small producers and for consumers, Grassley says the president should endorse the bill and lobby for its swift passage.

(Atlantic, Iowa) [updated] – The City Council in Atlantic will hold their regular bi-weekly meeting beginning 5:30-p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 5), in their chambers at City Hall. On the agenda, is an Order to appoint Elaine K. Otte to the vacant, At-Large Council seat created by the election of Grace Garrett as Mayor. Otte will be brought before the Council Wednesday to be confirmed, followed by administering of the Oath of Office.

In other business, the Council will hear from SWIPCO Community Development Director Alexsis Fleener, with regard to the submission of applications for the following:

• A Downtown Housing Grant application by Paul Gude for 300 Chestnut Street. The grant requires a 25% local match provided by the property owner – not the City – and is for a 24-month period.
• and, a Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program Grant for 207 Chestnut Street, from Peter Hopley.

Fleener requests the Council support the applications in writing, so that they may be submitted to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). The Council is expected to pass a Resolution approving the transfer of funds from one the City’s 65 separate funds, for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021-22, which is a routine matter, and “reconciles accurate cost-accounting, while creating transparency on what is being spent in each line item in each fund,” according to City Administrator John Lund.

The Atlantic City Council will also act on passing a Resolution “Establishing the use of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Special Fund.” Lund notes legislation expressly forbids the money to be used for debt payments or tax relief of any kind. He says one of the purposes for the funds, is for investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, which would include the Bull Creek restoration/reconstruction project to help eliminate erosion on properties nearest the creek. The cost of the project was budgeted at more than $985,331, which according to Lund, makes the $974,157 from ARPA able to finance 98.87% of the project.

The Council’s final order of business, is to approve the City’s Official Newspaper for legal publications, and the official bank for the City’s checking account.

The 8:05-a.m. broadcast News from Ric Hanson.

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