(Atlantic, Iowa November 5, 2020) The Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund has awarded $81,500 to demolish six dilapidated houses in three Southwest Iowa communities. The grants include one property in Griswold, two in Red Oak, and three in Villisca. The awards will pay for up to 50% of the actual cost of asbestos testing and removal and demolition, up to a maximum grant of $15,000 per property. In order to qualify, those cities had to take ownership of the property and demonstrate that removal of the property is the best option for the improvement of the neighborhood. The application process is highly competitive as there is a large need throughout the region to remove houses that are beyond repair. Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) administers the housing trust fund.

SWIPCO Executive Director, John McCurdy said “There is a huge unmet need in our region for new and rehabilitated housing, but on the flip side there are many situations where the best thing for a neighborhood is to demolish a dangerous eyesore and move on to better things. We’re proud to have one of the few programs in the state that sets aside funds to do this unglamorous but needed work.”

The Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund serves the counties of Harrison, Shelby, Cass, Montgomery, Page, and Fremont. It is supported by membership dues paid by the participating
counties, by grant funds including from the Iowa Finance Authority, and by revenue generated from loans made to first time homebuyers. The main programs the trust fund carries out include new homeownership grants and loans, housing rehabilitation, and dilapidated property removal. Information about trust fund is available at www.swipco.org under the “Housing” tab.

Police in Creston cited the driver of an SUV, following an accident Wednesday night in the 800 block of Abell Street. Authorities say 17-year old Angel Eduardo Medina, of Creston, was cited for Failure to provide proof of financial liability (insurance), after the 2007 Ford Edge he was driving left the road and struck a dumpster on the Fastenal property. The dumpster was shoved into a parked Fastenal delivery truck. The accident happened at around 10:15-p.m.

Medina told Police he was unable to slow down as he negotiated the curve, which caused him to lose control. Damage from the accident amounted to $5,000 for both the SUV and the Fastenal Company’s 2016 Dodge RAM pickup.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a rollover accident Wednesday afternoon, southwest of Panora. Authorities say 17-year old Robert Nathan Martinez, of Jamaica, was traveling west on Soldier Trail at around 4:45-p.m., and was blinded by the sun. The glare caused him to miss a southerly curve in the road. The 2005 Jeep Cherokee he was driving rolled into the north ditch and crashed into a fence, causing $6,000 damage to the SUV, and $350 damage to the fence, owned by John Fisher, of Bayard.

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

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The Audubon Community School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday night, approved, during a Special Session, the Project Plans, Specifications, and Form of Contract (FOC), for the District’s Middle School/High School Renovation Project.

Superintendent Eric Trager…

(Said their action followed a public hearing on the matter, and means the District can put out a Request For Bids. The bid documents will be published and sent out next Tuesday (Nov. 10th). Bid proposals will be due on Dec. 8th.)

This past Spring, District patrons approved a $7.5-million bond issue for the entire project. Mr. Trager said the portion approved Wednesday night (including Design and Engineering) amounts to about $6-million of the total project cost.

He said there were no comments from the public during the meeting, and both he and the Board is happy to keep moving forward with the project.

The City Council in Walnut will meet this evening in-person at the Walnut Community Center, beginning at 5 o’clock. The public is welcome to attend the meeting in-person or online via GoToMeeting (Using this link or by dial-in to 1-(872)-240-3412, access code 948-919-373).  Among the items on their agenda for tonight is:

• A Wind Farm Request
• A review of the City’s Health Insurance package
• Discussion with regard to the Sesquicentennial Celebration Budget
• Discussion pertaining to the Walnut Community facilities
• Discussion and possible action on amending the Code of Ordinances pertaining to Solid Waste Collection Fees.
• And the consideration for adoption, of several Resolutions with regard to the transferring of funds from the General Fund into various other, City held funds.

The Creston Police Department reports a man was arrested Wednesday on a charge of Domestic Assault/simple assault. 22-year old Kane Farlow, of Creston, was arrested at his home. He also faces a charge of Interference with Official Acts. Farlow was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Iowa has passed the one-million mark on tests for COVID-19. The State’s Coronavirus dashboard (as of 10-am. today) shows 1,005,088 Iowans have been tested for the virus. Since 10-a.m. Wednesday, and a record of 4,562 tests have come back Positive for COVID-19, for a total of 140,609 since the beginning of the pandemic, and there have been nearly 862,788 total Negative tests. The IDPH says 20 more deaths have been reported since Wednesday, for a total of 1,801. There was: one more death in Cass County attributed to the virus (for a total of 7); One more death in Harrison County (19 total), and one more in Union County (total of 6).  Cass County also has 13 more Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 538. Double-digit cases increase were also reported in Guthrie, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery and Shelby Counties. Pottawattamie County has 106 new cases since 10-a.m. Wednesday.

Statewide, pre-existing conditions account for 1,176 of the total deaths, while Long-Term Care facility deaths are up five, to 870. The number of Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks is 84. In Cass County, two facilities: Atlantic Specialty Care and the Griswold Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, have a combined total of 144 positive cases, with 31 recovered. Harrison County has 258 cases among three facilities, and 186 recovered.  (For more data not seen here, go to https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/)

Hospitalizations set another record in Iowa, jumping from 777 on Wednesday to 839 today. There are five more COVID patients in an ICU, at 188. Admissions dropped from 164 Wednesday to 156 today. And there are three fewer persons on a ventilator, for a total of 60. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are seven more people hospitalized with COVID, at 54; Two more are in an ICU, for a total of 15, and three more people were admitted, for a total of nine. There are now two persons on a ventilator, one more than reported yesterday.

The State’s Individual Positivity rate is up to 14.0% from 13.7% previously, and the 14-day rolling average is up to 16.9%, compared to 15.7% on Wednesday. There are 21 counties with a Positivity rate of 20% or greater, up from 18 previously. Cass County has a Positivity rate of 21.3%.  Taylor County is at 22.4%, and Page County’s Positivity rate jumped from 20.5% to 26.5%.  Wayne County, in eastern Iowa still has the State’s highest Positivity rate, at 33.6%

Officials say 97,944 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, 540 cases {+13}; 351 recovered; 7 deaths
• Adair, 254 {+2}; 89; 1
• Adams, 93 {+1}; 55; 1
• Audubon, 214 {+2}; 113; 1
• Guthrie, 470 {+11); 307; 15
• Harrison County, 778 {+18}; 437; 19
• Madison County, 416 {+7}; 296; 3
• Mills County, 532 {+37}; 257; 3
• Montgomery, 234 {+12}; 188; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,773 {+106]; 2,706; 47
• Shelby County, 468 {+23}; 428; 2
• Union County,  319 {+8}; 247; 5

(Radio Iowa) – Ashley Hinson of Marion will be sworn in as Iowa’s first district congresswoman in January after defeating Democratic Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer in this week’s election. Hinson says she’s ready to get to work — and will attend orientation programs in Washington, D.C. next week. She also spoke yesterday (Wednesday) with Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, a Democrat who was just reelected to a second term. The two talked about how they can collaborate.

“She’s serving in the majority. I want to make sure that I am a partner for her in the minority,” Hinson says. “I think it’s important that we do have that amplified voice and Iowans work together as a delegation.” Axne says voters want solutions. “I think women just know how to get things done and that’s the clear message from constituents, that they’re sick and tired of seeing gridlock,” Axne says.

Three women will represent Iowa in the U.S. House next year. That third woman will be either Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa or Democrat Rita Hart of Wheatland. Current returns in Iowa’s second congressional district show Miller-Meeks leading by 282 votes. Miller-Meeks has not declared victory, but her campaign has said she expects to hold the lead as eligible absentee ballots arrive at county auditors’ offices and are added to the vote total. Hart’s camp says the race is too close to call and all votes legally cast should be counted.