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.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities say a woman was accidently shot by her two-year old child in Dyersville on Wednesday night. Dyersville police say a 911 call came in around 6:15 pm about a shooting that happened on 4th Avenue Northeast. Authorities say a 21-year-old woman was accidentally shot by her child with a handgun that was left unsecured. The woman was transported to Finley Hospital in Dubuque and later airlifted to Iowa City.

Authorities have not released her name and her condition was not available. The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.

A woman from Ringgold County suffered suspected minor, non-incapacitating injuries last Sunday morning, during a rollover accident in Union County. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year old Autumn Rose Marie St. Onge, of Diagonal, was driving a 2007 Kia Sorento northbound on P-27/The High and Dry Road at around 6:40-a.m., when an animal ran in front of her vehicle.

When St. Onge swerved to miss the animal, she over-corrected and lost control, causing the car to roll over on the road.  The car came to rest on its wheels, in the west ditch. St. Onge was transported by EMS Ground to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston.  The vehicle was a total loss ($5,000 damage). No citations were issued.

(12-pm 11/6) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office, Friday (today), said a West Des Moines man reported on Nov. 2nd, that sometime recently, someone broke into his machine shed in rural Union County, by damaging a window. The thief or thieves took several items, including: An Indestro wrench set; SK ½” drive socket set; Two KT grinder wheels; an axe; a lighter; a 50’ extension cord, and a tub of rags. Estimated value of the damage and items taken is $380.

And, a man from Shannon City reported to the Union County Sheriff’s Office on November 4th, that sometime in last two days, someone damaged the door to his shed and took miscellaneous tools, DeWalt battery, and Napa jump starter. The items were valued at $500 altogether.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, Friday (today), ordered a hand-count audit of unofficial election results in one Jasper County precinct following an apparent discrepancy in the numbers. An investigation by the Secretary of State and County Auditor Dennis Parrott determined that a human data entry error in the Jasper County Auditor’s Office resulted in some results being over-reported in the Clear Creek-Poweshiek precinct.

The contest primarily impacted by the error was the Second Congressional District race. Due to the discrepancy, Secretary Pate ordered a hand-count audit of the precinct in question and requested a countywide administrative recount of all results. Pate says “The integrity of Iowa’s elections is my top priority as State Commissioner of Elections. We have protections in place in Iowa to ensure the integrity of the vote. All elections are conducted on paper ballots. There is a paper trail that allows us to go back and look at all the results if there is a discrepancy. We conduct post-election audits. The system worked and we will make sure all the numbers are accurate.”

Auditor Parrott agrees with Secretary Pate’s request for a countywide recount. “Obviously on election night the Jasper County Auditor’s Office made an election results reporting error. It has since been corrected,” Auditor Parrott said. “I credit the system of checks and balances that Iowa has that gives auditors time before the county supervisors canvass the vote to catch errors and issues that may have happened on Election Day.”

The hand-count audit of the precinct in question and countywide administrative recount was expected to have begun immediately, and should be completed ahead of the Jasper County canvass of votes on Tuesday afternoon. Election night results are always unofficial. The numbers are not finalized until after counties conduct post-election audits and canvasses, and the numbers are certified on a statewide basis at the end of November. Every county is conducting post-election audits in randomly selected precincts to help ensure the integrity of the vote.

You can view the unofficial results for every county at this link.

The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Bat House Workshop. Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning says the workshop will be held at Outdoor Educational Classroom in Massena, on Saturday November 14th, beginning at 9-a.m. A suggested donation per house of $10 is appreciated. All ages welcome, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Learn all about Iowa’s bats, and build a small bat house or purchase a kit, during the workshop.

Please pre-register by Tuesday, November 10th by calling 712-769-2372 or email lkanning@casscoia.us.

(Radio Iowa) – The Secretary of State’s website now shows Democrat Rita Hart leading Republican Marriannette Miller-Meeks by 162 votes in Iowa’s second district congressional race.  The TOTAL number of votes listed on the website has also changed, by more than two-hundred votes. On Wednesday morning, the Secretary of State’s website showed Miller-Meeks leading by 282 votes.

Secretary of State Paul Pate and the Jasper County Auditor will be holding a news conference late this (Friday) morning in Newton, which is in the second congressional district. W-O-I Television in Des Moines reports state officials gave the Jasper County Auditor permission yesterday to recount ballots in one precinct after noticing the tabulation from that precinct was eight votes short of what it should have been. Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott told the station a counting machine had malfunctioned in that precinct and ballots were getting jammed.