(Radio Iowa) – If your trees are still standing after this week’s derecho, Iowans are asked to check those trees and be on the lookout for the Asian longhorned beetle as August is when it emerges from inside trees where it burrows. Samantha Simon, an invasive species coordinator with the U-S-D-A, says the destructive bug is not native to the U-S and has few-to-no natural predators.  “It likes to attack our 12 types of hardwood trees, including maples, elms, birches and willows,” Simon says. “Once a tree has the beetle, the infested tree doesn’t recover and they die. We’re looking for the public’s help to identify this beetle and to help us eradicate it.”

Asian Longhorned Beetle

Watching for the beetle and the damage it causes is one way for homeowners to protect their own trees. She notes, it’s a distinctive creature. “It measures one to one-and-a-half inches in length,” Simon says. “Its body is black with white spots and its antenna are banded in black and white. It sounds kind of gross but it’s actually really cute.” People can unknowingly spread Asian longhorned beetles by moving firewood, since they can hide inside wood. She asks that Iowans familiarize themselves with the pest and spend five minutes checking their trees for signs of them. “We ask that people take a photo or if they can capture it, if it’s alive, they can put it in a container and put it in the freezer for us,” Simon says. “It’s really important that they report it to USDA and they can do that online at Asianlonghornedbeetle.com.”

You can also call the agency’s hotline: 866-702-9938. The beetle was first spotted in the U-S in New York in 1996 and spread far quite quickly. It’s one of a group of invasive pests and plant diseases that costs the nation some 40-billion dollars each year in losses to trees, plants and crops.

A traffic stop at around today (Friday) at around 4:25-a.m. in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest on a drug charge, of a man from Nebraska. Red Oak Police say officers conducted the traffic stop at the intersection of Highway 34 and 48. Upon further investigation, 18-year old Miguel Angel Morales-Morales, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver, a Class-D Felony offense. Morales was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $5,000 bond.

The latest information (10-a.m. Friday) from the Iowa Coronavirus dashboard shows there are eight new, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cass County, for a total of 90. Statewide, 678 more Iowans tested positive for the virus, for a total of 50,813. Iowa’s reported positivity rate is 9.4% compared to 8.5% Thursday.

Ten more deaths have been reported since 10-a.m. Thursday, for a total of 964, with 518 of those taking place at a Long-Term Care facility. The website said 676 of the state’s deaths involved Iowans with preexisting conditions. The IDPH says 39,788 Iowans have recovered from COVID-19, 4,564 tested negative Thursday, for a total of 488,834. Altogether, 542,871 Iowans have been tested for the virus.

The IDPH data show the following new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in these area counties: Adair County, 3 (38 total); Adams County,1 (total17); Audubon County, 1 (30 total); Guthrie County 3 (140 total); Pottawattamie County, 27 (1,379 total); & Shelby County has 4 new cases, for a total of 191.

Statewide hospitalization data show: 258 are hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms (compared to 261 Thursday); 75 are in an ICU (there were 88 Thu.); 31 were admitted to a hospital since Thursday (down 7), and 28 people remain on a ventilator.

Southwest/western Iowa hospitals report, over the past 24-hours: 14 people were in a hospital with COVID-19; Five people are in an ICU; There were 3 persons admitted and no one on a ventilator. Long-Term Care (LTC) data today, show: 29 Outbreaks; 892 patients/staff have tested positive; and 524 have recovered.

Here are the latest positive case numbers for southwest/western Iowa since 10-a.m. Thursday (County; Positive Case #’s; number of persons who have (recovered); {deaths since the outbreak began}. Counties with changes have highlighted numbers:

• Cass County: 90 cases (55); 1 death
• Adair County: 38 cases (20)
• Adams County: 17 cases (16)
• Audubon County: 30 cases (19); 1 death
• Guthrie County: 140 cases (108); 5 deaths
• Montgomery County: 62 cases (44); 4 deaths
• Pottawattamie County: 1,379 cases (1,031); 29 deaths
• Shelby County: 191 cases (169); 1 death.

The Iowa DPH website now features an analysis for public school districts with data on average county positivity rates over the past 14 days. That information can be found here.

Police in Creston report a woman driving a 2016 Hyundai suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday evening. Authorities say 38-year old Patricia Ann Hobbs, of Des Moines, was traveling east on Buckeye Street in Creston, with the passenger side rear tire that was blown out and shredded. The vehicle was driving on its rim when it went off the road to the south, where it struck a sign and came to rest. Police say Hobbs was intoxicated and refused chemical testing.

She was transported by EMS ground ambulance to the Creston Hospital. The vehicle sustained about $1,500 damage. The report did not indicate any charges or citations were issued.

Police in Red Oak, late Thursday night, arrested 20-year old Michael Lee Patrick. The Red Oak man was taken into custody following a traffic stop, and charged with  Driving While Suspended. Patrick was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $566 bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County, Thursday, said a man and woman from Glenwood were arrested late Wednesday evening on child endangerment and other charges. 24-year-old Joshua Robert Kisler and 20-year-old Samantha Jo Kisler were taken into custody.

Joshua Kisler

Samantha Kisler

Joshua Kisler was additionally charged with failure to provide proof of financial liability, while Samantha Kisler faces additional charges of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both suspects were being held in the Mills County Jail, with bond for Joshua Kisler set at $2,000. Samantha Kisler’s bond was set at $3,300.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 47-year old Larry Steven Hutchings, of Emerson, was arrested Thursday night for Driving While Barred, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $4,000.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say it will take five days or longer to restore power to some Iowa homes and businesses that have been without electricity after a wind storm left damage across the Midwest on Monday and killed at least four people. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a utility company spokesman says the straight-line winds that toppled trees and power lines across the state was unprecedented and caused extensive damage to the power grid. In rural central Iowa, a county sheriff has attributed two more deaths to the storm. He says that a 42-year-old woman on her porch was struck by a large tree as the storm moved through, and a 41-year-old electrician was electrocuted by a power line.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has sued two Democratic-leaning Iowa counties that are making it easy to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to invalidate tens of thousands of voters’ absentee ballot applications. The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups filed the lawsuits against elections officials in Linn and Johnson counties. At issue are absentee ballot request forms that the counties are sending to registered voters with personal information already filled in. The GOP lawsuits argue that the auditors are violating a state directive by prepopulating the forms and that any ballots cast in response to the mailings may be subject to legal challenge.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers across much of Iowa are dealing with the heartbreaking aftermath of a rare wind storm that turned what was looking like a record corn crop into deep losses. The storm slammed the Midwest with straight line winds of up to 100 miles per hour on Monday, gaining strength as it plowed through Iowa farm fields, flattening corn and bursting grain bins still filled with tens of millions of bushels of last year’s harvest. Similar damage was reported in Indiana and Illinois. Before the storm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had forecast a record national corn crop this year, of which Iowa was expected to provide about 18%.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids man has been charged in the fatal beating of his mother earlier this summer over what police say was an effort to steal $50 from her. Police say 49-year-old George Alan Deason is charged with first-degree murder and other counts in the death of 71-year-old Elsie Mae Deason. Police believe George Deason attacked his mother in her home on June 30. She was found the next day with critical injuries. Police said it appeared she had been severely beaten. She was taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries on July 23. Police say George Deason was arrested shortly after his injured mother was found, and police confiscated a battering weapon called a slapjack from him.

DES MOINES–Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation in response to a severe weather system that moved across Iowa and caused widespread damage August 10. The proclamation now allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather in Audubon and Madison counties. The proclamation also activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program.

Governor Reynolds previously declared a disaster and activated the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program for Benton, Boone, Dallas, Cedar, Clarke, Clinton, Greene, Grundy, Hardin, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Marshall, Muscatine, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Story, Tama, and Washington counties. Proclamations may be issued for additional counties.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $43,440 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Disaster Case Management is a program to address serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury or adverse condition. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Even with all of the rain that fell on Iowa during Monday’s derecho, the latest report from the U-S Drought Monitor shows little change from a week ago. The report shows all or parts of 11 counties in west-central Iowa are in their second week in the D-3 category, which means extreme drought. The scale only goes up to D-4, which is exceptional drought, though none of Iowa has reached that level yet this year.

The report shows much of Iowa’s western half remains under moderate or severe drought, while much of northern and east-central Iowa is considered abnormally dry. Only a smattering of counties on the southern and eastern borders are in normal territory.

The 11 counties now shown in extreme drought are: Adair, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Guthrie, Sac and Shelby.

(Radio Iowa) – Agents with Iowa’s largest home insurer are working plenty of overtime this week, trying to prioritize and process claims from clients who had damage to their homes, cars and other property in this week’s derecho.

Mark Doyle, a State Farm agent in Ames, says he’s had 450 claims filed since Monday, ranging from blown-over fences to homes that were totaled by the extreme winds and toppling trees. “Typically, we’ll get a hail storm that rolls through and it might touch on part of the town,” Doyle says. “This thing really just hit all parts of the town and all over. Half of Iowa got hit by this thing.”

Trees were blown onto fences, cars, power lines and everything else in Monday’s storms.

Statewide, the company’s claim count for this storm is over 13,000 and rising, which Doyle says is significantly higher than an ordinary severe weather event. The wind storm boasted gusts as high as 112 miles-an-hour and it caused destruction across Iowa’s midsection and well into Illinois and states further east.

In central Iowa, Ames was particularly hard-hit, including Doyle’s office, which compounded matters. “We had no power, we had no phones, we had no ability to forward those phones on to the 24-hour service, so we had a little delay in being able to get to people,” Doyle says. “We staged in my home because I did get power the next day.”

Much like a hospital’s emergency room has to determine which patients are in the most life-threatening condition and need to be seen right away, Doyle says they’re working to prioritize insurance claims.

“We’re going to take all of those people that have the severe losses, where their home is uninhabitable, they’re going to move to the front of the line,” Doyle says. “We need to take those displaced people and get them dealt with immediately. If someone has a tree on a fence in the backyard, that’s probably going to go to the back of the line.”

For Iowans with storm damage, he says to take pictures or video, and prevent any further damage by making temporary repairs. Save receipts for tarps and materials and start the claims process online, on the app or by phone. When hiring a contractor, get multiple estimates in writing and don’t pay for any work up front.