(Radio Iowa) — Changes members of Congress made to the Paycheck Protection Program could mean bigger payments to Iowa farmers who’ve seen their operations hurt by the pandemic. Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman says those tweaks to the program were much-needed.

Lehman says, “Our folks out in the field have really struggled just to tighten their belts and make ends meet and the pandemic caused all sorts of trouble, up and down the line, for farmers and for people involved in all aspects of our food system.” Under recent P-P-P provisions, Lehman says that money won’t be taxed as income and won’t affect any deductions farmers may take.

Lehman says federal aid is critical for agriculture, especially since farmers and ranchers have a long road to economic recovery following the pandemic.

Farmers and small businesses can apply for P-P-P loans through their traditional lenders such as banks and farm credit institutions.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — More than 20 years after it was installed, the University of Northern Iowa plans to replace the UNI-Dome’s fabric roof. The Courier reports that the estimated $7 million to $8 million project was advanced by the Iowa Board of Regents’ property and facilities committee earlier this week. Regents are expected to approve the plan at a meeting Wednesday.

Michael Hager with UNI told the committee that the project would replace only the fabric center portion of the roof. The rest of the roof is a plastic polymer that was installed in 2010 and is under warranty until 2040. The fabric portion, which was last replaced in 1999, was found to be deteriorating in 2019.

Cass County Master Gardener, Todd Turner, was honored by the Iowa Master Gardener Program as an Outstanding Master Gardener for the 2020 Year.  Todd was one of 15 honorees statewide this year.  The award is given to Master Gardeners who have invested more than 400 hours of volunteer time in a year.

Todd Turner and his wife pose in their garden in summer of 2020 (Photo submitted)

The Cass County Master Gardener group has members in many surrounding counties and Todd spent the majority of his volunteer hours working on food donation gardening and local food distribution events. He helped expand the LiveWell Montgomery County Giving Garden, and facilitated donations to 4 food pantries in Red Oak and 1 food pantry in Elliott. In addition to his home garden which is 7500 sq. ft., and the Giving Garden, he also helps with a produce garden at the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital.  Excess produce from Todd’s garden was also donated to the Grow Another Row project and other pantries in Cass County. These donations amounted to 2500 lbs. of fresh produce in 2020. In addition to growing many varieties of vegetables, Todd also enjoys growing unusual varieties, often bringing them to meetings to quiz the members on what he has brought.

Todd is not the only Cass County Master Gardener to be honored by the state program in recent years. In 2016 LaVon Eblen was also recognized as an Outstanding Master Gardener for investing over 400 volunteer hours in the Master Gardener program for the year. In 2019 LaVon was also recognized for over 1000 total hours volunteered as a Master Gardener in Cass County with the Lifetime Service Award.

LaVon Eblen is awarded the Lifetime Master Gardener Award by Extension Director Kate Olson

In total, during the 2020 growing year, Cass County Master Gardeners volunteered over 1,000 hours of service. The Master Gardener Program, offered statewide by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, trains volunteers to develop their knowledge and skills in horticulture. These volunteers then give back to their communities through gardening service and education. The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service.  Local Master Gardeners provide many hours of volunteer service and gardening education within their local communities, including demonstration gardens, horticultural education, community grants and scholarship programs, and resources for problem solving in the garden.  Education courses are available throughout Iowa on a regular basis. Applications for the Fall 2021 Program will open on March 1. For more information on the program, contact Cass County Extension Director Kate Olson, at 712-243-1132 or keolson@iastate.edu.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police say a suspect has been injured but is expected to recover following a shootout with a Davenport police officer. The Quad-City Times reports the incident began Thursday morning with a report of an armed robbery. Police developed a suspect in that crime, and just before 6 p.m., a Davenport officer reported that he had spotted a car being driven by the suspect in the earlier robbery. Several police cars converged on the suspect’s car, and police say the suspect rammed one of the police cars before becoming stuck in a snowbank.

Police said that’s when the suspect and an officer exchanged gunfire, although police have not said who fired first in the shootout. Police identified the injured suspect as 30-year-old Clarence Washington of Davenport.

Cass County Public Health officials, Friday, reports CCHS continues to make progress administering the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible residents. At this time, Phase 1A and Tier 1 of Phase 1B are still the only eligible populations.

The Iowa Department of Public Health announced this week that they expect a delay in next week’s shipments due to adverse weather conditions across the country. At this time, Cass County Public Health does not expect these delays to have an impact on their currently scheduled appointments; should that change, they will immediately notify the patients impacted.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (today, 10-a.m. Friday), reports there are 558 new positive cases in COVID-19 test results returned from the labs over the past 24-hours, for a pandemic total of 331,622 positive cases.  There were also 15 additional deaths, for a pandemic total to-date of 5,336. Statewide, 4,803 COVID deaths are attributed to Underlying causes. COVID was a contributing factor to 533 deaths. Deaths at Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities account for 2,139 of the total number of deaths.

Long-Term Care facility outbreaks declined to 27 Thursday to 24 on Friday. Officials say 675 LTC patients have tested positive for the virus, and 444 have recovered.

The State data show hospitalizations have gone from 252 Thursday to 241 today (Friday). COVID patients in an ICU increased from 59 to 60. The State says 43 people with COVID symptoms were admitted to hospitals over the previous 24-hours, and 26 patients were on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa), 14 are hospitalized with COVID symptoms, five people are in an ICU, two people were admitted over the past 24-hours, and two people are on a ventilator.

Iowa’s statewide positivity rate continues to decline, from 7.2% Thursday to 7.1% Friday, and the 7-day average is down to 5.1%, as compared to 5.4% Thursday.

A total of 307,596 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

• Cass, 1,241 cases; {+2}; 48 deaths
• Adair, 787; {+5}; 26
• Adams, 317 {+0}; 3
• Audubon, 465 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,074 {+1}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,651; {+1}; 68
• Madison County, 1,379; {+1}; 17
• Mills County, 1,461; {+1}; 20
• Montgomery, 958; {+4}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 9,663; {+14}; 140
• Shelby County, 1,136; {+2}; 32
• Union County,  1,177; {+3}; 31

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man who police say intentionally ran over and killed a local college instructor has been convicted of second-degree murder in the case. The Des Moines Register reports that a jury found 50-year-old Jason Sassman guilty on Tuesday. Sassman had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 5 death of 38-year-old Lauren Rice.

Police have said Sassman was using meth when he intentionally ran over Rice as she walked her dog, which also died. Rice was an instructor at Des Moines Area Community. Police say Sassman told investigators he ran down Rice because he believed she was a criminal about to kill someone.

DES MOINES, IA (Feb. 19, 2021) — Officials with the Healthiest State Initiative have announced the winners of the 2021 Healthiest State Annual Awards. The winners were recognized for their efforts to improve the physical, social and emotional well-being of their students, employees and fellow Iowans.

Healthy Cass County logo

The winners in the 10 categories are:

The winners were announced during virtual award ceremonies recorded Feb. 15-18 and aired on the Healthiest State Initiative’s Facebook page. Each winner was awarded a monetary prize to continue their work focused on improving the health and wellness at their site. Jami Haberl, Healthiest State Initiative executive director said “Even though we were not able to have an in-person ceremony this year, these finalists and winners still deserved to be recognized by the Healthiest State Initiative as well as their fellow Iowans.  We look forward to seeing how they use their award funds to further their already impressive efforts.”

The Healthiest State Annual Awards were sponsored by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Nemours and HealthPartners UnityPoint Health. To see more from the 2021 Healthiest State Annual Virtual Awards and to re-watch the ceremonies, visit IowaHealthiestState.com/Awards.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Sheriff’s officials in southeast Iowa’s Wapello County report a man allegedly attempting to break into a home was shot by the homeowner, and later died. Authorities received a 911 call at around 9:19-p.m. Thursday. The caller explained a man was attempting to gain into their residence, located between Ottumwa and Agency, on 97th Avenue. A preliminary investigation determined the suspect – whose name was not immediately released – did forcibly enter the home before being shot by the home owner.

The man was transported by helicopter to the University of Iowa Hospital, where he died. The incident remains under investigation by the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Iowa DCI, Iowa State Patrol, Wapello County EMA and Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement.