The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests from the past week. On Nov. 15th, 43-year old Patrick Lee Karnes, of Des Moines, was arrested by Stuart Police for Theft in the 5th Degree, for allegedly stealing two bottles of alcohol and a sweatshirt, from the Stuart Kum-and-Go Store. He was also charged with Violation of a No Contact Order. Karnes was released the following day from the Adair County Jail, on his Own Recognizance.

And, Saturday night (Nov. 21st), 63-year old Jeffrey Allen Jennings, of West Des Moines, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol, for OWI/1st offense. His arrest followed an investigation into an accident, whereby Jennings’ vehicle crashed into a high tension cable barrier off westbound I-80, near mile marker 88. Jennings admitted to drinking three Bloody Mary’s earlier in the evening. He refused to take a breath test at the Adair County Jail, and was held on Sunday afternoon and then released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s a sign on the Iowa Department of Transportation’s website, acknowledging “technical difficulties.” The Iowa D-O-T’s Andrea Henry says the private company that provides the online capacity for the agency’s website is dealing with a ransomware attack on its system.  “We utilize a hosting vendor and they have had a major outage,” she says, “so we have been working with them since last Monday to get that website restored.”

Henry says the data stored on the D-O-T’s website does not appear to be affected. “We’ve been assured that there has been no compromise to any of our data, information or anything that lives on our website,” Henry says. The entire Iowa D-O-T website is down. “However, we do have a temporary site at our usual address, which is www.iowadot.gov, and we’re able to connect you to some of the most time-sensitive services,” Henry says, “such as making appointments for drivers license services, online renewal, renewal of license plates and some motor carrier services as well.”

Henry says there’s also a chat feature on the website, to get other questions answered during normal business hours. It could be next week before the D-O-T’s website is fully functioning again. “We are, of course, approaching the outage carefully to make sure that there’s no continued security concerns, so we’re hoping to have it up in the next day or two,” Henry says. “However, with the Thanksgiving holiday, it may continue into next week.”

Managed.com, the Iowa D-O-T’s web hosting company, shut down all its servers last Monday to prevent the malware from spreading to all it clients.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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DYSART, Iowa (AP) — Twin Iowa girls who faced long odds when they were born around the 22nd week of pregnancy are celebrating a miracle milestone — they turn 2 on Tuesday. The Des Moines Register reports that Guinness World Records has recognized Kambry and Keeley Ewoldt as the world’s most premature twins. Jade Ewoldt of Dysart gave birth to the girls on Nov. 24, 2018.

Kambry weighed nearly 1 pound and Keeley weighed a little over 1 pound. The girls spent the first four months of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Today, the girls love singing “Baby Shark,” doing the Chicken Dance and painting pictures.

Police in Creston, Saturday evening, arrested a man for Domestic Abuse Assault with Injury/1st offense. 28-year-old Rogelio Olovera Martinez, of Creston, was taken into custody at his residence, at around 6:15-p.m.  He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on a Promise to Appear in court.

And, a man from rural Diagonal reported to Creston Police Saturday morning, that sometime during the night of Nov. 20th – Nov. 21st, someone broke into his vehicle, while it was parked at 118 Manor Drive in Creston. Stolen from inside the vehicle were three semi-automatic pistols: A Kahr, .9mm; An M&P .380 caliber Bodyguard; and a SCCY CPX-3 .380 caliber gun. The loss was estimated at $938.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Iowa News Service) DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa hasn’t seen as much economic pain as some other states during the pandemic, but many residents and small businesses are still struggling.
Supporters of expanding the state’s solar tax credit say it could help with any recovery from the crisis. The reimbursement budget for Iowa’s credit is capped at $5 million annually, and with many homeowners and businesses investing in solar panels, there’s a waiting list to get return dollars from the state.

Aerial shot top view of solar panel photovoltaic farm

Cody Smith, policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, said that’s why the Legislature should consider modifications. He noted immediately paying those on the waiting list, while increasing the cap, would help a lot of Iowans hurting right now. “Now that we have this economic problem caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this solar tax credit could help put money back into the pockets of people who own those small businesses on main street, and people who have already invested in renewable solar energy,” Smith contended. Smith asserted Iowa should also decouple from the federal incentive, given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding that plan.

Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale, said he’ll advocate for an expansion in the next session. But he warns its future could depend on the upcoming budget forecast, and whether small businesses see more declines from the crisis. He also wondered whether Republican leaders will consider the idea. Certain sectors of Iowa’s economy, such as manufacturing, have held steady, but Forbes said smaller consumer-driven businesses like restaurants are still seeing pain.

Dwight Dial, a farmer from Lake City, said trying to get by in this environment is tough. He installed a solar array in 2018, and he said the benefits from that investment are helping. “My purpose of sustainability is that I am able to farm next year, that I can financially keep going,” Dial emphasized. “And the solar unit has made it feasible.” Dial said his operation’s energy costs have gone down considerably in a roller-coaster year for Iowa farmers. But he’s still waiting on state reimbursement for his solar purchase, and he said getting that would help pay off the initial investment, bringing more stability.

Those calling for changes say increasing the cap to $10 million not only helps those on the list, it would encourage others to take advantage, creating more demand for the solar industry.

(Updated 10-a.m.) Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Monday), shows 13 additional deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since Sunday’s 10-a.m. report, for a total of 2,205. The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing condition statewide are 1,310, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 1,004, 1 more than on Sunday. There is one more death to report in Pottawattamie County, for a total of 66.

Officials say there have been 1,661 new confirmed, Positive cases of the virus reported since yesterday, for a total since the pandemic began, of 211,722. Cass County has one new, Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 734. There are two less Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks, for a total of 119. Those care facilities report 4,413 positive cases and 1,887 recovered. Cass County’s three LTC facilities have a total of 201 confirmed positive cases and 104 recovered.

For the fifth day in a row, Iowa has fewer patients hospitalized with COVID-19. There are currently 1,333 patients hospitalized with the virus, down from 1,340 a day earlier. There are 273 patients in intensive care, up from 255 the previous day. There were 135 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, down from 186 a day earlier. There are also 135 on a ventilator.  In western/southwestern Iowa: there are 65 COVID patients in the hospital; 22 are in an ICU; 5 people were admitted to a hospital, and five people are on a ventilator.

Hospital analysis shows 964 of Iowa’s virus patients were hospitalized with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, while 369 were hospitalized for another reason but tested positive. State data shows 80% of those hospitalized with the virus are age 60 or older. The state’s data shows that 1,167,512 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus. Test results received yesterday amounted to 6,870, with 5,358 coming back Negative and 1,468 Positive. Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is 20.7%, and the Individual Positivity rate is 18.1%. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows Iowa’s seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate was 44.7% on Nov. 22, ranking third-highest third in the nation behind Wyoming and South Dakota.

The IDPH says 116,807 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, 734 cases {+1}; 480 recovered; 19 deaths
• Adair, 408 {+3}; 171; 6
• Adams, 152 {+1}; 80; 1
• Audubon, 281 {+1}; 145; 1
• Guthrie, 700 {+14); 380; 15
• Harrison County, 1,014 {+12}; 634; 28
• Madison County, 641 {+6}; 360; 4
• Mills County, 980 {+15}; 397; 6
• Montgomery, 426 {+11}; 202; 10
• Pottawattamie County, 5,746 {+72]; 3,302; 66
• Shelby County, 717 {+8}; 437; 4
• Union County,  686 {+6}; 264; 6

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says Iowans may spend more online this holiday season, but in-store sales are likely to be down. His Rural Mainstreet Index indicates the combination means retail activity in the 2020 holiday period will drop. “According to our survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of 10 states, including Iowa, they’re expecting holiday sales compared to 2019 to be down about 3.1%. Of course, that’s in-store sales,” Goss says. “The online sales are going to be up as much as 30%.” On-line activity for the holiday sales period is well underway, according to Goss.

“Retailers this year have been particularly aggressive in starting early because they understand the stress that consumers are under this year,” Goss says. Goss says consumers, in general, have more money to spend this year compared to last — because of the pandemic. “The savings rate went from 2-3% for the consumer to about 28%, so there is some money out there,” Goss says, “particularly when consumers have cut back in other areas.”

But Goss says his survey and others indicate consumers are pessimistic and that dampens purchasing. Each month, Goss surveys bankers in 10 states in the Great Plains and Mountain West. The overall index for the Rural Mainstreet Survey’s overall index fell in November from October — the first month-to-month decline since April.

A collision between two pickup trucks Sunday, in Creston, resulted in one person being transported to the hospital. Creston Police report a 2014 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 35-year old Julie Sandeman, of Creston, was stopped at the intersection of Sumner Avenue and Adams Street, waiting to turn left. A 2016 GMC pickup driven by 26-year old Ryan Sandoval, of Hastings, NE., came up behind Dodge. When Sandolval attempted to go around the Sandeman pickup, he misjudged the distance and did not swing out far enough. His pickup hit the other pickup in the right rear, causing a total of $9,000 damage. The accident happened at around 9:50-a.m.

Sandeman – who wore her seat belt – was transported by EMS ground ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston, after complaining of pain and possible injury. Sandoval was not hurt. No citations were issued.