ADEL, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety, Saturday (today) says a Dallas County teen was reported missing Friday to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say 15-year-old Mackenzie Lyons was last seen at a residence southeast of Adel around 1:50 p.m. on October 30th, when she got into a black/dark blue mid-2000 four-door Honda Accord. Mackenzie is on prescription meds that are not currently in her possession.

If you have any information that can help authorities locate Mackenzie, please call the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office at 515.993.4567 or email Sheriff Chad Leonard at dispatch@dallascountyiowa.gov. Photos of Mackenzie and the vehicle are shown here:

Mackenzie Lyons

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 has had an increase of 2,823 positive COVID-19 test results from 10-a.m. Friday through 10-a.m. today (Saturday), and 10 additional deaths, for a total of 1,715. Pre-existing conditions account for 1,121 of the deaths, with 840 of the deaths taking place at a Long-Term Care facility. Among those who died was one person in each of Harrison and Union Counties. The IDPH says a total of 127,357 Iowans have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic.

Positive (Confirmed) cases of COVID-19 have jumped again in six area counties: In Cass County, there are 33 new cases, for a total of 468, with 305 having recovered thus far; There are 94 more cases in Pottawattamie County; 24 additional cases are reported in Harrison County and 22 in Mills County; Adair County has 16 new cases; Shelby County has 15 more cases, and Audubon County 14 additional positive test results. Montgomery County and Union Counties have 13 new cases, each. Other area counties have 10 or less new cases. (see the list below).

The Individual Positivity rate in Iowa is 13.1% (compared to 12.9% previously), and the 14-day rolling average is 13.4%, compared to 12.5% on Friday. O’Brien County leads the State in the percentage of Positive cases, at 24.5. Harrison County places 5th on the list at 22%, and Cass County is number eight, with 20.8%.

Hospitalizations are up again across the State, from 606 Friday to 630 today – another record. ICU patients are up slightly to 153, admissions are up modestly to 99, and there remain 55 Iowans on a ventilator. Western/southwest Iowa hospitals report 45 hospitalized, 11 in an ICU, five admissions and two on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks are up to 81 (compared to 76 on Friday), there are 2,314 patients/staff at those facilities who have tested positive for the virus, and 940 patients/staff have recovered from the effects of the virus.

There have been 971,807 tests completed to-date, with 841,992 coming back Negative. The IDPH says 93,188 people have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county (as of 9-a.m., 10/31), 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, 468 cases {+33}; 305 recovered; 3 deaths
• Adair, 215 {+16}; 77; 1
• Adams, 84; 49; 1
• Audubon, 187 {+14}; 103; 1
• Guthrie, 425 {+2); 282; 15
• Harrison County, 727 {+24}; 338; 17
• Madison County, 383 {+7}; 271; 3
• Mills County, 451 {+22}; 221; 3
• Montgomery, 206 {+13}; 155; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,499 {+94]; 2,541; 45
• Shelby County, 423 {+15}; 354; 2
• Union County,  281 {+13}; 232; 5

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a new online resource for beginning and experienced hunters. The series of “Let’s Go Hunting” videos is a clearinghouse of information for hunters, thanks to a partnership with Iowa Safari Club International and several other organizations. D-N-R hunter education coordinator Megan Wisecup says you can access the videos for free. “It’s definitely perfect timing with the way things are going right now this year,” Wisecup says. “We are excited to get this resource launched and out into folks’ hands.”

The series will feature 23 different videos on several hunting aspects such as location, how to call animals, types of weaponry and more. “The overall goal of our project is to create some resources out there that folks can navigate on their own time and from the comfort of their own home,” Wisecup says. “It’s really that next step after you get done with hunter education.” The videos can be a welcome plus for new hunters as well as seasoned veterans. “I think it will be a great addition and also a great refresher,” she says. “Even a lot of our own staff and officers enjoy having this as a refresher before going into the season.”

To check out the video series and find other resources to expand your hunting knowledge or even your first hunting experience, visit: www.iowadnr.gov/learntohunt.

A search warrant executed at around 8-a.m. Friday at a residence southwest of Villisca, resulted in the arrest of a man and a woman on drug charges.

Pickins

Haynes

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year old Michael Leo Pickens, of Villisca, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver, and 39-year old Haley Ann Haynes, of Villisca, was arrested for possession of Meth/2nd offense. Both were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond.

Deputies were assisted during their search of the home by the Montgomery County K9 Unit and Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is now rescheduling non-emergency surgeries and procedures as needed. The move started Friday, and was made as the state continues to see record-breaking numbers of COVID-19-related hospitalizations. U-I-H-C C-E-O Suresh Gunasekaran says they’ve seen a significant increase in transfers from hospitals in the eastern region of the state in the past few days.

“The key issue is that the transfers that we’re getting are not just COVID patients, they’re also really complex, sick patients,” Gunasekaran says, “and so that’s a bit of what we’ve also been working through as well.”

Gunasekaran says the hospital has not yet rescheduled any procedures. He says the 800-bed hospital has the capacity to take the transfers now, but he says he’s concerned about what will happen if COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase.

“If the next four weeks are like the last four weeks in terms of the level of increase we see day over day in terms of the infection rate and hospitalizations, I think we really do risk overwhelming the health care system,” he says.

In the past week, COVID-19 hospitalizations have surged past 600 statewide, setting new records on nearly a daily basis.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

A passenger in a vehicle that struck a deer was struck by a car Friday night, in eastern Iowa’s Jackson County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 23-year old Matthew A. Bowling, of Maquoketa, died at a local hospital, after he was struck by a 2016 Chrysler 300 a little before 7-p.m.

The accident happened after a 2016 VW Jetta driven by 19-year old Paige Cupps, of Dubuque struck a deer on southbound Highway 62, at 256th Avenue. The vehicle came to rest in the northbound lane. Bowling was out inspecting the damage when he was hit by the Chrysler, which was unable to stop in-time.

The man was thrown into the ditch. The VW came to rest on the west shoulder of the road, while the other vehicle stopped on the east shoulder. The accident remains under investigation.

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

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A surge in coronavirus cases has led officials in one western Iowa county to require people to wear faces masks in public. Television station KETV reports that the Harrison County Board on Thursday approved the mask regulation resolution in a 2-1 vote. Supervisor John Straight voted for the mandate. He hopes it will help bring down virus numbers in the county, where the positivity rate has topped 20% for three straight weeks. State data shows 2,621 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Iowa in the past 24 hours. That’s one of the highest single-day totals recorded so far. An additional 14 deaths raised the state’s death total to 1,705.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials in many U.S. states being hit hard by the coronavirus are resisting taking stronger action to stop the spread, even as a fall resurgence strains hospitals. Pleas from health experts are running up against political calculation and public fatigue, with spiraling new infections eclipsing previous caseload highs that set off national alarms in the spring and summer. During those earlier outbreaks in the Northeast and then in the Sun Belt, many governors closed schools and businesses and limited public gatherings. But the new surge has brought a decidedly more limited response in many states. Total confirmed cases in the U.S. topped 9 million Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say they’ve made an arrest after a shooting killed a man and injured a woman. Police say the shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Thursday near the grounds of East High School. Officers called to the scene found a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her leg and learned that a 21-year-old man had been taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest and later died. Police identified him as Alston Troy Edwards, of Des Moines. Minutes after the shooting, police arrested a suspect with the help of information from witnesses. Police say 27-year-old Wesley Marquise Bekish is charged with first-degree murder and a weapons count in the shooting.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has kept in place guidance from Iowa’s secretary of state that county elections commissioners can only set up absentee ballot drop boxes at or outside their offices. Judge William Kelly rejected a request from a Latino civil rights organization and a group aligned with Democrats to block Secretary of State Paul Pate’s guidance and allow for drop boxes in locations such as grocery stores. The ruling isn’t expected to have an impact because it comes so close to Election Day. Most absentee ballots have already been returned and auditors had dropped plans to add drop box locations even if Pate’s guidance was suspended.

DES MOINES – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, Friday, said the Anamosa State Penitentiary and the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women received the results of positive COVID-19 tests Thursday afternoon. Due to the new positive cases, those facilities are entering a restricted movement status to mitigate further viral spread. While on restricted movement, video visitations have been suspended at this time at both facilities.

The facilities are currently organizing mass-testing for inmates and staff in the coming days to identify any additional inmates that should be placed in medical isolation or quarantine units as part of the facilities’ virus mitigation strategies. As additional testing is conducted and additional inmates are identified as positive for COVID-19, updates will be posted at https://doc.iowa.gov/COVID19. Whenever an inmate tests positive for COVID-19, staff notify the inmate’s emergency contact immediately.

The department says it has been preparing for and dealing with the eventuality of COVID-19 in the prison system for months. Since the start of the pandemic, the department has had over 1,200 inmates and over 200 staff recover from the virus and a total of 4 inmates that passed away due to complications related to the virus.

An outline of the changes to DOC protocols can be found at doc.iowa.gov/department-corrections-steps, and more information related to COVID-19 in the DOC can be found at doc.iowa.gov/COVID19. For members of the public with questions about COVID-19 in the prison system, a hotline is available during business hours Monday-Friday by calling (515) 373-5457. For more on the free o-mails, phone calls and video visitation that the department has provided for those incarcerated to communicate with their loved-ones, please visit https://doc.iowa.gov/families-during-covid19.

DAVENPORT, Iowa- United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced Friday, that 20-year-old Brandon Tumause Owen, of Cedar Rapids, was indicted by a federal grand jury for one count of Unlawful Drug User in Possession of a Firearm, after he brandished an AR-15 rifle during a June protest in Iowa City.

According to public records, Owen was stopped on June 7, 2020, by Iowa City Police for a traffic offense. An impaired driving investigation was performed and indicated Owen was under the influence of marijuana. An AR-15 rifle was located inside Owen’s vehicle. Under federal law, it is illegal for an unlawful drug user to possess firearms.

According to Attorney Krickbaum, “Our Constitution protects everyone’s right to peacefully protest against injustice. It does not protect anyone’s  right to illegally carry and publically brandish an AR-15. We will prosecute those – including protestors – who commit federal gun crimes.”

After the indictment of Owen, FBI Omaha’s Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, “The FBI holds sacred the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment freedoms. When someone threatens the safety of peaceful protestors, we will step in to protect them.”

The case is part of Project Guardian (PG) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), programs bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Iowa City Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.