The latest COVID-19 numbers from the Iowa Coronavirus dashboard, today (as of 10-a.m. Tuesday), indicate there are 727 more Positive cases since 10-a.m. Monday, and 14 more Iowans have died from the virus, for a total of 1,548. The data show 905,751 tests have been completed to-date, with 4,220 results coming back since Monday’s report. Negative test results received since yesterday amount to 3,733 (for a total of 795,827), with 478 positive test results (a total of 108,297).  The IDPH says 83,463 Iowans have recovered from the effects of COVID-19. The state says 12% of individuals have tested positive, and the 14 day rolling average positivity rate is 9.5%.

There are: 15 more Positive cases in Cass County; 22 more in Pottawattamie County; 11 additional cases in Adair County; nine more in Harrison County, and four or less additional cases in each of Audubon, Guthrie, Madison, Mills and Shelby Counties.

Hospitalizations continue to rise, from 480 yesterday to 501 today. Intensive Care Unit numbers are up from 113 to 122. Officials say 71 people with COVID symptoms were admitted to an Iowa hospital, since Monday, compared to 63 yesterday. And, there are 45 patients on a ventilator. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 41 people with the virus are in a hospital facility, compared to 38 yesterday. There are 14 people in an ICU, compared to 10 Monday, eight persons were admitted, compared to six the previous day, and one person remains on a ventilator.

There are 65 Long Term Care facility outbreaks in Iowa, two more than on Monday. The IDPH reports: 1, 647 patients/staff at those facilities have tested positive for COVID; 673 patients/staff have recovered, and LTC deaths are up two, to 776.

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, 317 cases {+15}; 224 recovered; 2 deaths
• Adair, 136 {+11}; 65; 1
• Adams, 67; 36; 0
• Audubon, 129 {+1}; 69; 1
• Guthrie, 369 {+2); 232; 14
• Harrison County, 580 {+9}; 217; 8
• Madison County, 343 {+4}; 212; 2
• Mills County, 338 {+2}; 175; 1
• Montgomery, 155 {+1}; 137; 5
• Pottawattamie County, 2,964 {+22]; 2,181; 44
• Shelby County, 344 {+3}; 304; 1
• Union County,  209; 185; 3

The Atlantic City Council is set to meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, at City Hall. On their agenda, is the second reading of an Ordinance amending the City’s Code of Ordinances, with regard to the expansion of a two-way stop at 22nd and Olive to a four-way, and from a two-way stop at 32nd and Chestnut, to a three-way stop. The proposed changes is to encourage traffic to slow down before entering the city. During the Council’s meeting on Oct. 7th, an Atlantic resident voiced his opposition to the four-way stop at 22nd and Olive, and suggested Atlantic Police make more of an effort to hand out tickets to those who exceed the 35 mph speed limit. At that same meeting, the first reading of the ordinance passed by a vote of 5-to 1.

The Council, Wednesday, will act on a transmittal from the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, with regard to two proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance. The changes, according to Zoning Commission John Lund, would include: Bringing Deter Motor Company into conformance with the Zoning Ordinance. Currently, he says, the downtown district does not imply sales of outdoor good would be allowed. That will be corrected by amending a section of the Central Business District regulations to list “Automotive Sales” as a permitted use. The second change would simply clean up the language in the “Accessory Buildings” section of the Ordinance, by merging two nearly identical subsections into one. The P&Z has unanimously endorsed the changes. A notice and public hearing are required before any changes are made to the Zoning Ordinance.

In other business, the Council will:

• Hold the third and final reading of an Ordinance vacating and conveying an alley between Hemlock and Sycamore Streets, south of E. 18th Street.
• Act on a Resolution setting the date for a Public Hearing on vacating a Right of Way for a stub (non-connecting) section of road, just east of 9th and Plum Streets.

A Red Oak woman was arrested today (Tuesday), on an assault charge. Red Oak Police report 50-year old Shelby Joann Olivares was taken into custody at around 12:20-a.m. on a charge of Simple Assault. Olivares was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

A man from Cass County died in a crash head-on crash Monday afternoon in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 59-year-old David Passehl, of Anita, died at the scene of the crash that happened south of Fontanelle at around 4:50-p.m. The Patrol says Passehl was traveling north on the Fontanelle Road south of 270th Street in a 1997 Ford F-250 pickup, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle crossed into the southbound lane and collided with a 1998 Volvo semi, driven by 66-year old Phillip Lundy, of Orient. Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest on the road.

Lundy, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by Fontanelle Rescue to the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield. The accident remains under investigation.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports five persons were arrested over the past week. Late Saturday morning, 36-year old Erich Sean Johnson, of Casey, was arrested following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 at mile marker 79. A records check indicated Johnson was Barred from Driving. He was transported to the Adair County Jail, cited and then released. On Oct. 13th, Stuart Police arrested 28-year old Jackson Lee Norton, of Stuart, for Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon (a folding knife). His arrest followed a reported vehicle burglary in the 100 block of southwest 5th Street in Stuart, that escalated into a physical confrontation. Norton was released later that same day on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

During the afternoon of Oct. 12th, 33-year old David Boyce McIntosh, Jr., of Stuart, was arrested in the parking lot of an apartment complex by Stuart Police. He was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault with injury, following an incident involving his wife, whereby he allegedly slammed a car door on her arm during an domestic dispute. The incident was caught on a neighbor’s  cell phone video. McIntosh posted a $1,000 cash or surety bond, and was released the following day. Also arrested Oct. 12th, was 32-year old Andrea Karrisa Wilbourne, of Greenfield. She was taken into custody by an Adair County Deputy for OWI/1st offense, after being investigated for allegedly causing a power outage in part of Greenfield, after her car struck transformer. Wilbourne was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, on Oct. 11th, 45-year old Melissa Sue Anderson, of Adair, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol following an incident at the I-80 westbound rest area near mile marker 80. Anderson drove away from the scene and was located at her residence in Adair. She was taken into custody for Assault causing bodily injury, after allegedly slapping her boyfriend in the face. Anderson admitted to being the aggressor during the confrontation. She was cited and released at the scene of her questioning.

A traffic stop Friday in Page County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Missouri. Authorities say the vehicle was pulled over on Highway 71 at 290th Street, about eight-miles south of Clarinda. During the traffic stop, 25-year-old Frederick Eugene Woods, of Independence, MO., was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. Woods was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a on $1,000 bond pending future court proceedings.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Page County, late Sunday night, found a vehicle with its hazard lights flashing parked near the intersection of Highway 71 and 270th Street, or about six miles south of Clarinda. During their investigation, Deputies found 22-year-old Juan Manuel Morales, Jr., of Brookshire, TX., inside the running vehicle, slumped over in the driver’s seat.

Morales Jr., was arrested for OWI 1st Offense during the investigation. He was transported to the Page County Jail for holding in lieu of $1,000 bond, and pending further court proceedings.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa sheriff says an unidentified medical episode led to the death of a woman in the Linn County Jail the same day she was arrested on suspicion of theft and other counts. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said in a news release Monday that the exact cause of 59-year-old Jacqueline Marie Bridges‘ death will be determined later by the state medical examiner.

Bridges, of Cedar Rapids, was found dead in her cell Saturday afternoon after her family posted bond to have her released. Gardner says he had been arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of theft, money laundering and financial exploitation of a dependent adult.

(Radio Iowa) – Two people were injured this (Monday) morning in a house fire just west of the Iowa Great Lakes in the town of Lake Park. Lake Park Fire Chief Brandon Ehret says when crews arrived, the fire was spreading from the garage into the house and nearby vehicles. “The garage is completely gone,” he says. “We did get it stopped. It didn’t burn the house down, but there is heavy fire and water damage to the house.” Ehret says the house IS a total loss and some pets died in the fire.

“There was a little apartment building to the south of the garage that had also started on fire and we were able to get that building out,” Ehret says. “It’s pretty much a total loss.” The two Lake View residents who were injured in the fire were taken to a hospital in a private vehicle for treatment, then released. Property records indicate the house was built in 1940 and had an attached garage.

(Radio Iowa) – The candidates in Iowa’s third congressional district agree the federal government should be ensuring there’s an adequate supply of masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment in the United States. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines who is seeking a second term, says the Paycheck Protection Program should be re-opened to small businesses. “That’s what’s in the latest bill that we’ve got put together,” Axne said, “those who have been hit hardest by Covid and those who are the smallest businesses.”

Former Republican Congressman David Young of Van Meter, who lost to Axne in 2018, says there were bottlenecks in distributing the first round of federal help for small businesses. “We found some businesses as well that are structured differently,” Young says, “and may not have been able to accept the traditional first round of funding for our small businesses.”

Young and Axne, along with Libertarian candidate Bryan Jack Holder, debated last (Sunday) night for an hour on K-M-A Radio. The candidates were asked to rate President Trump’s response to the pandemic. Young says the Trump Administration appropriately focused on speeding up Covid vaccine trials. “Here’s how I see this and how a lot of Iowans tell me they see it as well: they tell me they want to know what Covid-19 is, what this virus is,” Young says. “They want to make sure, then, that they know to take precautions against it. They want to make sure that if they get it, do they have health care and are able to take care of their loved ones.”

Axne faulted Trump for failing to implement the National Production Act this spring to manufacture masks and other P-P-E. “Ninety-five percent of the supplies that we needed are produced outside of our country,” Axne said. “We needed to implement that immediately to put PPE in the hands of our health care workers, first responders, people in our nursing home centers — everybody who is most vulnerable to this.”

And Axne said once a Covid vaccine is available, American should be able to get a shot for free. Holder gave Trump’s response to Covid a B-minus.