The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa College Aid reports a slight drop in the number of students filing the information that’s used to determine if they qualify for federal aid, state-funded grants, and scholarships provided by colleges and universities. Spokesperson Elizabeth Keest Sedrel says the filing rate for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA fell from 54 to 52 percent. “We’ve been working on pumping up the FAFSA filing numbers for several years — and we’ve been very successful — we’ve been seeing year-over-year increases,” according to Sedrel. “And, along about March when COVID really became a big issue in the United States, Iowa like all of the states in the country, really saw those rates start to dip.”

She says part of the issue could be the seniors have been at home and not in school. “When K-through-12 schools closed the physical campuses, high school seniors wouldn’t have had regular personal contact with their school counselors any longer. And a lot of times these school counselors are the ones who facilitate that filing for financial aid,” Sedrel says. She says it could also be due to uncertainty about what would happen with colleges. “We do think that there was in issue with students not being sure what was going to happen with schools in the fall,” she says. “A lot of the time period we are looking at here — physical campuses has closed for the remainder of that school year — but schools hadn’t yet announced their plans for the fall of 2020.”

Sedrel says the positive is Iowa hasn’t seen the drop that other states have. “It’s happened all across the country. Iowa has actually seen a smaller dip than most other states — so we don’t want to paint this out to be a dire situation,” Sedrel says. But we are going to have to offset the loses from this year as we do look to moving forward on these FAFSA numbers.”  She says getting financial aid for students aligns with the Future Ready Iowa goal of having 70 percent of the workforce with education or training beyond high school by 2025. Sedrel says students and families can go online and file for FAFSA to find out how much aid is available.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A is seeking public comment on changes it claims will make it easier for rural communities to get loans for major projects. Four loan guarantee programs reassure banks they’ll be repaid when towns borrow for infrastructure. Johnathan Hladik, at the Center for Rural Affairs, says more banks might be willing to work with rural communities under the plan, but he says rural leaders should review it with a skeptical eye. “There’s every reason to think that this was something that was developed with banks in mind,” Hladik says. “So just to be sure, it’s going to be important for us to read that fine print and to make sure it’s a positive for those communities.”

The proposal would streamline the process and is intended to reduce red-tape, according to a U-S-D-A statement. That could entice more banks to participate. Hladik says the change might make things easier for towns, or it might make more money for large banks. He has a recommendation for community leaders considering the loan guarantee programs. “Take a look at what these regulations look like and what those restrictions look like because this cannot be something that is good for banks only, it’s got to be good for the community,” Hladik says.

Done right, he says, it could achieve the USDA’s stated goal of encouraging private investment in rural communities for efforts like rural water, waste water, energy and community-building projects. The public comment period goes through mid-September and the rule is slated to take effect October 1st.

(By Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)

The State of Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard (as of 11-a.m. today), shows there were six more deaths reported since Monday, and 513 new, confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The State’s death toll from the virus is up slightly, to 799, and the number of positive cases stands at 39,420. The IDPH says 423,223 Iowans have been tested. Of those, 382,357 have tested negative for COVID-19. Officials said also, 28,319 persons affected by the virus have recovered from it.

Hospitalization data show: two more people with COVID-19 were hospitalized, for a total of 223; 74 individuals are in an ICU (two less than Monday); 23 were admitted (up 2 from yesterday), and 32 were on a ventilator (2 more than Monday). In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA), data show no change in the number of persons hospitalized, at eight. One less person was in an ICU (3 total), and one person each was admitted and on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care (LTC) data show 17 outbreaks (1 more than the past few days), 462 staff/patients have tested positive for the virus, 95 have recovered and 426 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:

• Cass: 30 positive cases, 28 recovered [3 more recovered than reported Monday]
• Adair: 20 positive cases, 16 recovered
• Adams: 12 cases (recovered data still not available from the IDPH)
• Audubon: 21 cases [1 more than Monday], (No recovery data available)
• Guthrie: 107 cases [4 more than Monday], 62 recovered
• Montgomery: 21 cases [2 more than Monday], 16 recovered [3 more than yesterday]
• Pottawattamie: 925 cases [11 more than Monday], 704 recovered [8 more than yesterday]
• Shelby County: 125 cases, 122 recovered

(Radio Iowa) – Starting today (Tuesday), hospitals in Iowa’s largest metro area will again restrict visitors.  Due to the steep rise in COVID-19 cases, especially in Polk and Dallas counties, the Des Moines metro area hospitals will stop allowing any visitors, with just a few exceptions, like if the patient is under 18, in maternity care, is suffering from delirium, or is imminently dying. The latest visitor ban covers Broadlawns, MercyOne Des Moines and West Des Moines Medical Centers and UnityPoint Health – Des Moines. Officials say they understand the restrictions may be difficult, but they’re in the best interest of hospitalized patients and staff.

Polk County Health Department spokesperson, Nola Aigner Davis says the county has not seen an increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations. But it has been averaging between 120 and 130 new confirmed cases daily. “When we see high cases like that, we want to put our most vulnerable populations, including our hospitalized individuals in the most safest conditions possible,” she says.

Davis says the county has seen cases increasing since late June. “We could peak higher than what we saw in May. So when we see numbers like that we know we have to protect our most vulnerable and those are patients that are hospitalized.” Hospital visitor restrictions were put in place statewide in March, and then eased in June as cases at the time were dropping.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year old Brandon Michael Johnson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday, on a valid warrant for Contempt of Court. Johnson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

One person was seriously injured during a single-vehicle accident in Shelby County, Monday evening. According to reports, the crash happened just before 7-p.m. near the Shelby County Golf Course. Westphalia Fire and Rescue was called to the scene, along with LifeNet helicopter.

Additional details are currently not available.

Accident scene photo submitted to KJAN

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A police chief says investigators continue to chase leads in the disappearance of a 10-year-old Davenport girl and are still hoping to find her alive. Authorities looking for Breasia Terrell have called off an organized search in Clinton County, which began last week and included hundreds of volunteers. Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski says that investigators have determined their time would be better spent now following up on other leads they have developed. He says that everyone on the team wants to “find her alive” and that is their intent. Terrell disappeared on July 10 while spending the night at an apartment with her half-brother and his father.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — School districts that plan to reopen classrooms in the fall are wrestling with whether to require teachers and students to wear face mask. The issue has divided urban and rural schools and yielded widely varying guidance. The divide has also taken on political dimensions. In Iowa, Democratic-leaning cities like Des Moines and Iowa City have required masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Smaller, more conservative communities have left the decision to parents. Many states are calling for teachers to wear masks. Some will require masks for students. Many other states are leaving the decision to local officials.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A long-serving city councilor in eastern Iowa has resigned days after calling Black Lives Matter protesters “a bunch of criminals” at a public meeting.Tom Gill, a dentist whose tenure on the Coralville city council dates to 1987, submitted his resignation Friday.That was the same day that Mayor John Lundell issued a statement criticizing Gill for his remarks during a July 14 meeting about potential policing reforms in the city of 23,000 people.Lundell said the remarks offended him and other council members and that he’d heard from many residents who found them “very troubling and not reflective” of their concerns.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa state health officials have reported another jump in confirmed cases of coronavirus, as well as another death, in the last day, as the state continues to see a rise in hospitalizations. The state health department’s virus tracking site showed 343 cases and one death had been confirmed in the 24-hour period from Sunday to 10 a.m. Monday. The state’s total deaths since the beginning of the outbreak stood at 793 Monday, while the total number of cases reached 38,907. The site showed that as of Monday morning, 221 people were hospitalized for the virus — a number that has been slowly increasing over the last few weeks. The increasing number of cases prompted hospitals in the Des Moines area to stop allowing most visitors.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo, Monday, said that at around 3:45-p.m., a call came into the Shelby County 911 Center for a plane that was having mechanical problems and was needing to make an emergency landing at the Harlan Municipal Airport. According to Airport Manager Scott Pigsley, a crop duster was conducting commercial crop dusting southwest of the airport when a mechanical problem occurred.

The pilot was able to land the aircraft safely at the Harlan Municipal Airport with no injuries. Harlan Police Department, Shelby County Sheriffs Office, Harlan Fire Department, Medivac Ambulance, and Shelby County Emergency Management all responded. The event is under investigation by authorities.

The Iowa Department of Transportation, today (Monday), awarded more than $3.9-million worth of funding for 46 Volkswagen Settlement Environmental Mitigation Trust program projects. Among them was $105,796 for Casey’s General Store in Stuart, for a Direct Current (DC) Fast Charger Corridor project, with a total cost of $132,246.  (Additional details can be found here)

In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a complaint alleging Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act with the sale of motor vehicles between 2009 and 2016 equipped with “defeat devices” designed to perform differently during normal vehicle operation than during emissions tests. This meant that vehicles exceeded the EPA compliant levels of nitrogen oxides during normal use. Volkswagen agreed to settle some of the allegations with the creation of an Environmental Mitigation Trust (Trust) to fund strategies that will reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. Iowa will receive approximately $21 million in Trust funds for mitigation projects which will be distributed through competitive application programs over the next several years.

Applications for the second funding cycle for categories 1, 2, and 3 were received in February from private organizations, public transit system operators, cities, counties, and schools that own and operate diesel fleets and equipment in Iowa for $4.9 million in funding available across the three eligible project categories. In addition, $1.1 million was available for the first funding cycle of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Supply Equipment toward two types of electric vehicle charging sites.