(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s lakes and rivers continue to be busy, especially on the weekends. Iowa D-N-R boating law administrator Susan Stocker, says things really got going during the Fourth of July.”I think the challenge is for 2020 as we might all agree is that cabin fever probably hit people about four-thousand percent. And so everybody based on previous restrictions wanted to be out and enjoy the weekend,” Stocker says.

She says there were 11 people arrested for boating under the influence of alcohol during the Fourth of July weekend — which was a little above last year. There were 392 additional citations or warnings issued. Stocker says the crowds aren’t going away — especially with all the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having.”With the temperatures in the 100’s then people are out on the water recreating — and though they are surrounded by water — they forget to drink water,” Stocker says. “Adding alcohol and not adding any water, dehydration and alcohol certainly don’t mix.”

With this weekend likely to be another hot one, Stocker says boaters should drink plenty of water — and follow all the safety rules. “With lifejackets, the only way that it is going to save you is if you are wearing it. Because unfortunately just like seatbelts –if you get into an accident in a car — you are not going to have time to put your seatbelt on before you get into a crash,” Stocker says. She says having the life jacket nearby is not enough. “If you do get into a crash and are thrown out of a boat — the wind and waves are going to take you in one direction and your life jacket and safety equipment in another direction,” according to Stocker. “So, certainly, wearing the lifejacket is vital.”

Any children 12 and under must wear a lifejacket at all times on a vessel underway in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Another sweltering July weekend is in the forecast, as high temperatures tomorrow (Saturday) across Iowa are expected to climb into the low- to mid-90s with heat indices returning to the triple digits. Mark Mintun, an emergency medical staffer at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says if you’re planning on being active and outside, you must push fluids “It’s all about hydration,” Mintun says. “You should start in the morning when it’s still cool out. You should be drinking water, sports drinks, Pedialyte, whatever you like the best or think works the best. If you work outside, you really have to be proactive and start drinking early in the morning and drink every time you think of it.”

Without taking precautions and staying well hydrated in this heat, Mintun says you could be facing a very unpleasant road. “Heat exhaustion, you’ll get kind of dizzy, you’ll sweat a ton, your skin will feel cool and clammy even though your body is hot,” Mintun says. “Your heart will be going fast and you’ll start to get some muscle cramps. Heat stroke, things get a lot worse. You’ll get a severe headache, you don’t sweat any more, again a fast heart rate and you’ll feel very faint. You may even pass out.”

If you don’t pay attention to the warning signs, Mintun says your condition can quickly go from bad to worse. “Heat exhaustion can transition very rapidly to heat stroke,” Mintun says. “Once you start getting cramps and sweating bad and just feeling overall horrible, you have to get to a cool area, you have to hydrate. If that’s not working, you’re probably going to have to seek emergency medical attention.” Other tips for beating the heat include: wear plenty of sunscreen, wear light-colored, light-weight clothing — and a hat — and take frequent breaks in the shade or indoors. Keep up with the latest forecast at weather-dot-gov.

The State of Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard as of 10-a.m. today (Friday), showed: two more confirmed, positive cases of COVID-19 in Cass County, for a total of 34 and a positivity rate of 2.9%.  In Cass County, 1,167 residents have been tested, 28 people have recovered from the virus and 1,132 have tested negative.

Guthrie County has three more COVID-19 cases than Thursday, for a total of 116; and Montgomery County has a total of 29. An additional case of the virus was confirmed by Montgomery County Public Health this (Friday) afternoon.The latest Montgomery County case is an adult age 41-to-60, who contracted the virus through community spread, and is isolating at home.

Across the State, five more people have died from the virus since Thursday, and 451 more Iowans have tested positive. The State’s death toll from the virus stands at 820. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is at 40,960. The IDPH says 441,256 Iowans have been tested. Of those, 398,707 have tested negative for COVID-19. Officials said also, 29,148 persons have recovered from the virus.

Hospitalization data show: 230 persons were hospitalized (2 less than yesterday); 72 individuals are in an ICU; 28 were admitted, and 28 were on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA), five people are hospitalized with COVID-19, four are in an ICU, there were two new hospital admissions, and one person remains on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care (LTC) data show 21 outbreaks, 548 staff/patients have tested positive for the virus, 154 have recovered and 441 have died.

Here is the latest data for confirmed cases and the number of persons recovered from COVID-19, in Cass and surrounding counties, plus any change in the numbers (Highlighted number indicate a change from Thursday):

• Cass: 34 positive cases, 28 recovered
• Adair: 22 positive cases, 16 recovered
• Adams: 12 cases (recovered data still not available from the IDPH)
• Audubon: 22 cases, (No recovery data available)
• Guthrie: 116 cases, 66 recovered
• Montgomery: 32 cases, 17 recovered
• Pottawattamie: 990 cases, 729 recovered
• Shelby County: 126 cases, 124 recovered

The dream of a local group of citizens in Red Oak for an early Childhood Development Center a little less than two-years ago, will culminate with opening of the facility on August 17th, thanks to efforts by the non-profit Montgomery County Child Development Association and more than 30 volunteers, to raise nearly One-million dollars, in a community of 5,500 population and county of 13,000 residents – during a pandemic no less.

Laura Kloewer, Vice-Chair of the Montgomery County Child Development Board, says that since the Association was founded, progress on the project has moving forward nicely.

Center Director Jackie Howell spoke about the facility, who it will serve and what will be offered to foster children’s growth.

They will offer a nature-based playground in addition to their curriculum. The Red Oak School District is partnering with the ROCDC. Superintendent Ron Lorenz said the Child Development Center gives the District an opportunity to “Provide rigorous, relevant and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for all kids, birth through 21.”

Fundraising for the project got a big boost, thanks in-part to matching funds in the amount of $150,000, from the ACORN Development group. Houghton State Bank is also among more than a dozen businesses and families who support the project through funding.

Anyone wishing to help the Red Oak Child Development Center meet their fundraising goal, can email director@redoakcdc.org. You can also see updates on the Red Oak Child Development Center Facebook page.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa nursing home has acknowledge a coronavirus outbreak at its facility that has left six residents dead. Risen Son Christian Village in Council Bluffs said the six COVID-19 deaths at its facility have occurred since it reported its first case on June 26. Risen Son says 21 other residents and 13 employees have been infected with the virus. The facility says it has dedicated units for infection control and is not allowing infected employees to come back to work until they are cleared by the health department.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest coronavirus figures in Iowa show the number of confirmed cases nearly doubled in the 24-hour period from Wednesday morning to Thursday, pushing the state’s total to more than 40,500. The state health department’s virus tracking site showed that as of 10 a.m. Thursday, there had been 716 cases confirmed from the day before, when 374 cases were confirmed. The state also reported seven more COVID-19 deaths, bringing Iowa’s total to 815 since the beginning of the outbreak. Hospitalizations for the virus also continued to creep upward, with 232 people hospitalized for the virus by Thursday morning.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who died after becoming trapped in a grain bin in northwest Iowa. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says 65-year-old Daniel Cronin died Tuesday after becoming trapped in the bin located about five miles east of Le Mars. Officials said deputies and other first-responders were called Tuesday morning to the grain bin for a report of a man trapped. Investigators say Cronin had been loosening stuck corn when the crust broke, and he sank into the grain. Officials say the accident happened despite the use of safety measures. Officials say Cronin had died by the time his body was recovered about an hour after rescuers arrived.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — One of the first coronavirus outbreaks at an Iowa meatpacking plant was more severe than previously known, with over twice as many workers becoming infected than the Iowa Department of Public Health publicly confirmed. The department announced at a May 5 news conference that 221 employees at the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction had tested positive for COVID-19. But records show that days earlier, Tyson officials told workplace safety regulators that 522 plant employees had tested positive to their knowledge. A dozen of the plant’s roughly 1,300 workers were believed to have been hospitalized by then, and two died after contracting the virus.

Public Health/Emergency Management officials in Mills and Montgomery Counties, Thursday, reported additional, positive cases of COVID-19. In Mills County, there was one additional case, for a total of 62 and a positivity rate of 2.6%. Officials say the latest case is a person 41-to-60 years of age, who contracted the virus through community spread. Of the 62 confirmed cases, 34 of those individuals have recovered from COVID-19. More than 2,400 Mills County residents have been tested for the virus.

In Montgomery County, there are three new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 28. The latest cases contracted the virus by close personal contact with a previously reported positive case. The individuals include a person 17 years of age or younger, and two adults age 18-to 40. All are isolating at home.

In Montgomery County, 1,046 residents have been tested for the virus, nine people are being monitored by Public Health officials and 17 have recovered. There have also been two deaths attributed to COVID-19.

(UPDATED 7/24) – As the Cass County Fair continues, members of the Atlantic, CAM and Griswold FFA Chapters would like to remind everyone that the FFA Foodstand is open for business.  Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller says the FFA foodstand is open to the public for people to get a meal and go (there is no seating).  The FFA Foodstand will also take Cash, Checks or Credit Cards this year.

The FFA Foodstand will open from 7:00am until 4pm Friday through Monday and open in the afternoon on Tuesday during the Cass County Fair.   Every morning there will be freshly made cinnamon rolls and breakfast burritos. For lunch, stop out and get a Cass County Fair classic, the FFA Maidrite.  Miller says “We will also have hamburgers, hot dogs, walking tacos, nachos chips and chocolate chip cookies. We hope to see you at the FFA Foodstand!”

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber, Thursday afternoon, released to the media the District’s 70 page Return-to-Learn Manual, with a reminder “Recommendations within this manual are fluid and subject to change.” The same information was sent out in an e-mail to parents of District students. The document can be found in its entirety, here.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa nursing home has acknowledge a coronavirus outbreak at its facility that has left six residents dead. Risen Son Christian Village in Council Bluffs said the six COVID-19 deaths at its facility have occurred since it reported its first case on June 26. Risen Son says 21 other residents and 13 employees have been infected with the virus.

The facility says it has dedicated units for infection control and is not allowing infected employees to come back to work until they are cleared by the health department.

(Radio Iowa) — The Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP) is sending out money from two federal grant programs. O-D-C-P director Dale Woolery says one program involves money from the coronavirus emergency funding. “It’s a new grant program and its intending to address evolving needs from the evolving pandemic,” Woolery explains. “In this case in Iowa we are applying these funds in particular to helping shore up response in the justice system.”

The program is sending out nearly two-and-a-half millions dollars to 26 agencies. “A lot of it is technology-driven. Many of these grants are going to support technology solutions or systems — like case management, connectivity between places like jails and courtrooms, and even hospitals basically to help remotely manage resources and the provision of services,” according to Woolery. He says the need for these types of resources increased as the pandemic hit. “So, it’s a lot about logistics in situations or circumstances where we have to operate remotely. Like a lot of entities — those in the justice system are having to adapt as well,” Woolery says.

Some of the examples of the projects are a county-wide mobile networking for law enforcement agencies and county attorneys; a cloud-based case management system for 19 county attorney offices, in coordination with the Iowa Association of Counties; connectivity between jails and electronic health records; remote court/jail connections. The other money comes from the yearly Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. “Those federal dollars go out mainly to local jurisdictions to support drug and crime prevention, treatment intervention and enforcement efforts,” Woolery says.

He says the money can help fund a variety of services. “Drug enforcement task forces, drug courts, mental health courts,community crime prevention coalitions. And other projects that would either fit the prevention, treatment, intervention or enforcement category,” he says. These grants total nearly two million dollars and require a match from the agency that is receiving them.

Among the JAG grant recipients is:

• Council Bluffs Police Department Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force $72,000
• Sioux City Police Department Tri-State Drug Task Force $94,500
• Mills County Public Health Not Alone Youth Mentoring Program $13,200

And, included among the recipients of the coronavirus emergency funding, is:

• Crawford County Attorney’s Office Remote Access $5,874
• Fifth Judicial Dist Dept of Corr Service Electronic Monitoring, Remote Access $72,166
• Fourth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services Remote Services $20,000
• Third Judicial District Court Remote Services $15,715

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The complete list is as follows:

JAG grants:
Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement DNE Task Force $190,895
Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office Multijurisdictional Drug Law Enforcement Task Force $63,300
Seventh Judicial Dist. Dept. Corr Services Scott County Mental Health Court $34,000
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, (MINE) $325,374
Marshall County Sheriff’s Office Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force $82,000
Waterloo Police Department Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force $188,000
Iowa City Police Department Multi-Agency Drug Task Force $100,000
Council Bluffs Police Department Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force $72,000
Seventh Judicial Dist. Dept. Corr Services Gateway Action Plan Diversion Program $52,000
Burlington Police Department Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force (SEINT) $38,600
Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute – ISU Improving Coaching Capacity of National Guard Counterdrug Civil Operations Program $21,285
Centerville Police Department South Central Iowa Drug Task Force $15,000
Ottumwa, City of Southeast Iowa Inter-Agency Drug Task Force $100,000
Scott County Sheriff’s Office Scott County Special Operations Task Force $59,000
Sioux City Police Department Tri-State Drug Task Force $94,500
Mason City Police Department North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force $51,000
Mills County Public Health Not Alone Youth Mentoring Program $13,200
Story County Sheriff’s Office Central Iowa Drug Task Force $35,200
Decorah, City of Northeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force $11,000
Clinton County Board of Supervisors Partnership to End ENDS in Clinton County – FY21 $15,820
State Public Defender State Public Defender Digital Forensics Resource $28,290
Polk County Sheriff Polk County Sheriff’s Office /Bridges of Iowa Drug Treatment Partnership RSAT
Lee County Sheriff’s Office Lee County Narcotics Task Force $34,800
Linn County Mental Health Access Center Crisis Team Operations and Training $21,000
Muscatine County Muscatine County Drug Task Force $34,000
Clinton Crime Free Housing Project $13,150
Coronavirus emergency funding:
Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office Remote Access $970
Clarke County Attorney Office Remote Access, Social Distancing, Remote Offender Monitoring $38,170
Clay County Attorney Social Distancing $10,210
Corrections, Iowa Department of Remote Access, Housing, ICON Enhancements $804,376$
Crawford County Attorney’s Office Remote Access $5,874
Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Criminal Justice Information System – Health Records $212,779
Fifth Judicial Dist Dept of Corr Service Electronic Monitoring, Remote Access $72,166
First Judicial District DCS Remote Access, Remote Services $61,582
Fourth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services Remote Services $20,000
Iowa Department of Public Safety Remote Access, Remote Services $153,700
Iowa Judicial Branch Transportation, Interpreters, Remote Access $315,000
Jones County Attorney’s Office Remote Access $2,839
Justice, Iowa Department of Remote Access $12,000
Law Enforcement Academy, Iowa Equipment $6,235
Meskwaki Nation Police Department Mobile Computing $21,833
Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office Mobile Computing $24,500
Muscatine County Remote Courtroom $18,031
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Polk County Jail Remote Hearing Initiative $24,995
Public Health, Iowa Dept of – Medical Examiner’s Office Equipment $110,000
Second Judicial District, DOCS Remote Access, Remote Services $148,815
Sixth Judicial District Dept of Correction Remote Access, Remote Services $100,600
Story County Attorney’s Office Case Management System – multiple counties $200,000
Third Judicial District Court Remote Services $15,715
Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office Remote Access $3,000
Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office Mobile Computing $43,000