Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Tuesday), indicates the are 1,906 new, Positive cases of COVID-19, and 24 additional deaths. The total number of Positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic, amount to 230,902. Deaths total 2,427. The IDPH says one more death was reported in Harrison County, for a total of 30. Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities report 1,069 deaths, and deaths attributed in-part to preexisting conditions number 1,335.

Hospitalizations are beginning to creep back up, after six consecutive days of decline. The data show 1,172 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, 10 more than Monday. Health officials say 235 COVID patients are in an ICU, 129 were admitted, and 144 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in southwest/western Iowa (RMCC Region 4) report: 64 hospitalized;  20 are in an ICU (4 more than Monday); four were admitted (Compared to 9 Monday), and nine COVID patients are on a ventilator (There were 8 yesterday).

Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are up from a record 156 Monday to a new record of 162 today. The IDPH says 4,898 patients/staff have tested positive; 2,195 have tested negative. Area LTC data show: 214 positive cases and 132 recoveries at the three facilities in Cass County; 126 positive and 29 recovered in Shelby County (2 facilities); 139 positive and 120 recovered in Harrison County (1 facility); and 234 positive cases along with 79 recoveries at three LTC’s in Pottawattamie County.

Iowans who have recovered from the virus number 137,431, while 1,215,675 have been tested, to-date. There were 4,613 lab results returned yesterday, with 3,432 negative results and 1,171 positive. The individual positivity rate is 19.0%, and the 14-day rolling average is 17.1%. Cass County’s positivity rate is 18.4%. A total of 982, 620 negative results have been returned since the pandemic began. The IDPH says 137,433 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 820 cases {+4}; 515 recovered; 23 deaths
• Adair, 442 {+1}; 248; 8
• Adams, 171 {+1}; 90; 2
• Audubon, 300 {+4}; 211; 2
• Guthrie, 764 {+10); 455; 15
• Harrison County, 1,087 {+10}; 748; 30
• Madison County, 695 {+9}; 414; 4
• Mills County, 1,064 {+11}; 522; 7
• Montgomery, 483 {+20}; 231; 11
• Pottawattamie County, 6,445 {+126]; 3,704; 70
• Shelby County, 773 {+8}; 458; 11
• Union County,  782 {+10}; 311; 6

A traffic stop early Tuesday (this) morning at Highway 34 and Eastern Avenue in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man from Shenandoah. Red Oak Police say 59-year old David Wayne Taylor was taken into custody at around 12:30-a.m., for Driving While Barred. Taylor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

A judge, Monday, set both the pretrial conference and jury trial dates for an Atlantic man who was arrested November 4th on Adair County Class-D felony warrants for Willful Injury causing bodily injury, and Going Armed with Intent. The dates for 53-year-old Rex Dean McDermott were set during his arraignment hearing.

Online court records show the pretrial conference will take place Feb. 5th at 9:30-a.m., and a jury trial was set for March 9th, also at 9:30-a.m. A criminal complaint against McDermott alleges that at around 11-p.m. on Oct. 30th, he pulled a woman out of a pickup truck near Fontanelle, punched her and then struck her with an unknown wooden object. The victim suffered a laceration above her right eye, bruising and swelling of the face and other areas of pain.

McDermott remains free on a $25,000 surety bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have certified a Republican candidate as a six-vote winner for an open seat in the U.S. House, in what is shaping up to be the closest congressional election in decades. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks finished ahead of Democrat Rita Hart in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District after a recount saw her 47-vote lead steadily dwindle to single digits. The state Board of Canvass voted Monday afternoon to certify Miller-Meeks as the winner over Hart by a final count of 196,964 to 196,958. The board also certified President Donald Trump as the winner of the state’s six electoral votes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa coronavirus deaths continued to increase in the past two weeks as the state ends November posting 687 deaths. That’s a 34% increase from the 512 deaths reported in October. Iowa reported 28 additional deaths on Monday, pushing the state total to 2,403. There were 1,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. Hospitalizations continued to fall but some health care officials are expressing concern that they may rise again if Thanksgiving gatherings caused additional virus spread as expected.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, is back in the Senate on Monday after testing positive for coronavirus two weeks ago. Grassley, 87, isolated after finding out he had been exposed to the virus and tested positive shortly after that. He said in a statement that he never had any symptoms and had been cleared to return to the office by his doctors. He says the disease affects people differently. He added, “More than a thousand Americans are dying every day and many more are hospitalized. That means we all have to do our part to help protect our friends, family and fellow Americans.”

Glenwood, Iowa – – The burning ban that has been in place for all of Mills County, Iowa will be lifted tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. (Tuesday, December 1, 2020).  Larry Hurst, Director of Emergency Management in Mills County, says “Due to abnormally warm temperatures and several months of below normal precipitation, Mills County had placed a burn ban in effect in September to mitigate against the potential for widespread, devastating fires throughout the County.”

During this period the Local Fire Departments in Mills County and the E-911 Communications Center had in place an automatic mutual aid protocol that gave firefighters an edge in their response times with the necessary equipment and personnel. “During this timeframe their performance made for a safer Fall Harvest”, said Hurst.

Even though the ban is being lifted this Agency strongly urges landowners that have a requirement to conduct controlled burns of a larger scale, to contact their local Fire Chief to discuss methods and weather considerations as an item of preparation prior to conducting burn. Of note, Mills County does have a Controlled Burn Ordinance (2008) for un-incorporated area of County that requires a property owner to contact the Mills County Communications Center at 712.527.4871 prior to conducting a prescribed burn.

Hurst also urged property owners that lived within the City limits of the seven jurisdictions within County to become familiar with ordinances dealing with burning as applicable before they light fires of any type.

Crossroads of Western Iowa is set to present “Project Hope,” a series of free mental health support sessions and Q&A’s for those impacted by Covid-19. The 2-hour sessions will run throughout December and January with recordings available for those unable to attend live. While all sessions are free and open to the public, they will touch on issues of particular importance to three groups: first responders, essential workers, and students.

Project Hope will help the community cope with the changes brought on by Covid-19, whether that is staying connected while socially distant, overcoming compassion fatigue, dealing with vicarious trauma and the loss of normalcy, or taking ownership of your time and building resiliency during a time everything feels out of control.By coming together to ask questions and discuss positive mental health habits, everyone will be reminded that what we are currently facing is a shared experience and we can help each other and ourselves through it.

Project Hope’s world-renowned speakers have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Dr. Oz Show, TODAY, Rachael Ray, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC World News Tonight, TLC, TEDx, and more. A full list of speakers, including their bios and presentation descriptions, is available online. Anyone interested may register online at https://www.explorecrossroads.com/home/projecthope/

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A former northwest Iowa sheriff’s deputy has pleaded not guilty to stealing prescription drugs from the department’s evidence rooms and homes he was searching while on duty, and committing burglaries at five Plymouth County pharmacies. Forty-one-year-old Aaron Leusink, of Le Mars, entered his written plea Monday to more than 10 charges, including first-degree burglary and felonious misconduct in office.

Leusink, a former Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputy, was arrested in September. He is accused of taking prescription drugs from homes he was searching and pills that were evidence in other cases. Agents searching Leusink’s home in April found more than 1,600 prescription medication pills and several opened evidence bags.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have certified a Republican candidate as a six-vote winner for an open seat in the U.S. House, in what is shaping up to be the closest congressional election in decades. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks finished ahead of Democrat Rita Hart in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District after a recount saw her 47-vote lead steadily dwindle to single digits.

The state Board of Canvass voted Monday afternoon to certify Miller-Meeks as the winner over Hart by a final count of 196,964 to 196,958. The board also certified President Donald Trump as the winner of the state’s six electoral votes.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids woman is suing the city’s police department after her 13-year-old Black son was attacked by a police dog and arrested before he was released without charges. The open records lawsuit is asking that the police department be ordered to provide records, body camera recordings and audio and video arising from the incident involving the teenager.

His mother, TonyaMarie Adams, said her son went to spend the night at a friend’s house two nights after a derecho seriously damaged Cedar Rapids. The lawsuit say the teen fell asleep in the friend’s backyard and awoke to the dog attacking him and police yelling at him.

The Annual Lighted Parade, presented by A.M. Cohron & Son, will fill downtown Atlantic with holiday cheer this Saturday, December 5th, starting at 6 PM. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce said “The Lighted Parade is a holiday tradition that Atlantic families look forward to every year. We felt this year could use some extra cheer and magic, so we worked closely with Cass County Public Health and Governor Reynold’s to organize a safe parade,” Smith said.

To accommodate State of Iowa Public Health mandates, the route has been extended. The parade will begin at 6th & Chestnut Street, travel north then turn east on 2nd Street and travel south on Walnut Street. Spectators must park along the route and remain in vehicles at all times. There will not be fireworks this year. The parade will also be live streamed on the Chamber’s Facebook page for those who wish to enjoy from home.

According to Smith, “With State mandates, adhering to the rules in place for this event is really important. We realize it’s not ideal to remain in the car the duration of the parade, but we’re very pleased and thankful with the respect shown during Grand Lighting, where the same rules applied. We’re confident the community will show the same respect for this event.”

Those interested in participating in the Lighted Parade can visit www.atlanticiowa.com for a registration form. Registration isn’t required but encouraged. Lineup will begin at 5 PM at 6th & Walnut Street. Participants must wear a mask if there are more than one person on a float while maintaining social distancing. Floats must have a holiday theme of their choosing. Each float also must have lighting and Christmas music is encouraged! Santa will not be allowed on floats, as he will end the parade on his Firetruck.

Before the parade, Santa will be in his Cabin at City Park from 3 – 5:30 PM. One house is permitted at a time and masks are required for those over the age of two. Families waiting to see Santa need to wait in vehicles. The Chamber will greet you, take your information and let you know when it’s your turn. Santa’s Cabin is presented by the Atlantic Rotary Club, Atlantic Dental Center and The Picker’s Parlor/The Franklin Market.

Capture the Christmas magic with #MyAtlanticIA and post to the Atlantic Area Chamber’s Facebook page or Instagram (AtlanticIowaFan). Contact the Atlantic Area Chamber with any questions at chamber@atlanticiowa.com or call 712.243.3017.