A man from Pottawattamie County died Friday morning during a motorcycle accident north of Glenwood. The Iowa State Patrol reports 58-year-old Larry Garretson, of Council Bluffs, was operating a 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000 northbound on 221st Street at around 8:10-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the cycle left the road and entered the east ditch. The machine struck a fallen tree and road sign, causing Garretson to be thrown into the ditch.

Authorities say Garretson was wearing a helmet, but died at the scene from his injuries. The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Glenwood Fire and Rescue and the Mills County Sheriff’s Office.

Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard (as of 10 a.m. Saturday) indicated there were 14 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 since Friday’s report, for a total of 1,829. Two more deaths are reported in Cass County (for a total of 10), and Pottawattamie County (49 total), while Harrison County had had one additional death (total 21). The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing conditions statewide are 1,194, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 886, seven more than what was reported Friday.

Officials say there are 4,249 new confirmed cases of the virus, for a total since the pandemic began, of 148,391. Cass County also has 5 more Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 563. Double-digit case increases were also reported in Guthrie, Madison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie and Union Counties.

The number of Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks is 92, four more than Friday. Those care facilities report 2,798 positive cases and 1,183 recoveries.   In Cass County, three facilities: Atlantic Specialty Care, The Heritage House, and the Griswold Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, have a combined total of 143 positive cases, with 34 recovered. Atlantic Specialty Care has the highest number of COVID cases in the county, at 75. Harrison County has 294 cases among three facilities, and 200 recovered. Longview Home, Inc. has the highest positivity rate in that county, for a total of 119.  (For more data, go to https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/)

Hospitalizations were down from 912 Friday, to 901 on Saturday. There more COVID patients in an ICU, though, 194 Saturday as compared to 188 Friday. Persons admitted to a hospital since Friday’s report number 165, one more than yesterday. And there are 72 persons on a ventilator, compared to 67 on Friday. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are three more people hospitalized with COVID, for a total of 60; Four more are in an ICU, for a total of 21, and 8 people were admitted, (compared to 10 previously). There are currently three persons on a ventilator, unchanged from yesterday.

The health department reports 1,021,858 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19. The state received 6,479 lab test results in the previous day, with 1,841 Positive results and 4,632 Negative results. The State’s Individual Positivity rate is up to 14.5% (14.2% )previously, and the 14-day rolling average is up to 18.6% (It was 17.6% Friday).

Cass County’s Positivity rate dropped 19% to 18.6%.  Taylor County is up to 24.6%, and Page County’s Positivity rate jumped to 32.8%.  Jones County, in eastern Iowa has the State’s highest Positivity rate, at 41.2%.   Officials say 100,343 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, 563 cases {+5}; 364 recovered; 10 deaths
• Adair, 265 {+5}; 98; 3
• Adams, 93; 59; 1
• Audubon, 221 {+2}; 115; 1
• Guthrie, 495 {+15); 322; 15
• Harrison County, 799 {+6}; 474; 21
• Madison County, 443 {+17}; 312; 4
• Mills County, 578 {+31}; 285; 3
• Montgomery, 255 {+13}; 200; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,928 {+92]; 2,811; 49
• Shelby County, 483 {+5}; 4290; 2
• Union County,  342 {+12}; 254; 6

Mills County Public Health along with Mills County Emergency Management Agency announced
an additional death associated with novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the county today. The
individual was female in the age range of 60-79.

“We cannot express the sorrow we feel for the family in their time of loss,” said Mills County
Public Health Administrator Julie Lynes. “This loss will forever alter the lives of the family and
friends of this individual.”

Wear your mask whenever you might be within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes of anyone outside
of those you live with. We will continue to release these numbers on a weekly basis. For further
statistical data available, in near real time, visit the Iowa Coronavirus webpage at:
https://coronavirus.iowa.gov

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A woman from Red Oak suffered suspected serious injuries during a car vs. motorcyle accident on Friday afternoon. Red Oak Police were called to the intersection of East Washington Avenue and North 4th Street in Red Oak at 3:36 p.m. for the accident.

It was determined that a 2009 Honda Accord driven by 18-year-old Skylar Kathryn McGarry of Omaha was traveling southbound in the wrong direction of the one way 400 block of North 4th Street. McGarry failed to stop at the intersection with East Washington Avenue and struck an eastbound 2015 Triumph T Bird Storm motorcycle driven by 50-year-old Scott Allen Demont of Red Oak. Demont was taken to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. Demont’s passenger 57-year-old Norma Jean Demont was ejected from the bike during the crash and suffered suspected serious injuries. Norma Jean Demont was treated by Red Oak Rescue at the scene and then airlifted to UNMC in Omaha. McGarry and her passenger in the car were uninjured.

McGarry was cited for Failure to Yield on the right at an uncontrolled intersection. Damage to the Accord was estimated at $8,000 damage to the motorcycle was estimated at $15,000.

The Red Oak Police Department was assisted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies and the Red Oak Fire Department.

Montgomery County Auditor & Commissioner of Elections, Stephanie Burke, Friday, said that on Friday, November 6, 2020, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisor’s held a special meeting to call for a Special Election for District 1 Montgomery County Board of Supervisor. Burke said “There will be a Special Election held on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 to fill the vacancy of District 1 Montgomery County Board of Supervisor.”

In accordance with Iowa Code, the citizens of Montgomery County, requested a special election to fill the vacancy by filing a petition with the Montgomery County Auditor containing 80signatures of eligible electors within 14 days after the appointment was made.The seat will go on the Special Election Ballot as Board of Supervisors District 1 –To Fill A Vacancy.

The winner on December 15, 2020 is elected for the remainder of the term. The seat will be up for election in 2022 cycle. Delegates to the party’s county convention (Democratic and Republican) who represent District 1, who shall be convened as appropriate by the county chairperson in accordance with the Iowa Code.

Candidates will need to file a convention certificate and an affidavit of candidacy. Candidates may also file a nomination by petition with at least 15 signatures from eligible electors in District 1 and an affidavit of candidacy.Filing deadline is November 20, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. at the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.

If you have any questions, please contact the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office at 712-623-5127.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a suspect in the weekend shooting of a man at an apartment complex in Iowa. The the Sioux City Journal reports that police said Friday that they have a warrant for the arrest of 36-year-old Roderick D. Banks of Sioux City on a charge of first-degree murder. He is wanted in Sunday’s shooting of Solomon Blackbird at Park Place Apartments near Grandview Park.

Officers found Blackbird suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The Sioux City Police Department says the shooting may have been motivated by a drug deal between the two men.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa prison officials reported a coronavirus outbreak has infected nearly half of the inmates at an Iowa prison in Anamosa. Cord Overton, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said Friday that testing this week revealed 476 inmates among 985 at the prison tested positive for the virus.

A report provided by the department indicates 37 staff members also tested positive. Across the nine institutions the department manages, 601 inmates are currently infected as of Friday afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – A man who distributed child porn videos online will spend more than twenty years in federal prison. Thirty-one-year-old Kelby Fowler of Traer pleaded guilty to distribution and possession of child pornography. Fowler admitted he distributed and possessed child pornography, including a depiction of a minor who was under 12 Prosecutors say Fowler possessed multiple videos showing children being sexually assaulted or raped.

In an interview with law enforcement, Fowler also admitted to previously sexually assaulting a young child for whom he babysat. Fowler was sentenced to 252 months in federal prison.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The family of a 97-year-old Iowa woman who died of the coronavirus is questioning why a Davenport hospital released her while she was still sick and did not inform her family that she had been sent home. The Quad-City Times reports that Helen Lowery died two days after she was found unconscious in a chair in her apartment on Oct. 21 by a maintenance worker.

Grandson Michael Lowery says her family had no idea she had been sent home, even though he had asked to be informed. A hospital spokesman did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.