Mills County Public Health Officials on Monday, confirmed two new cases of COVID-19. One cases is person age 18-to-40. The other is a person 41-to 60-years of age. Both cases were contracted through community spread.

The latest data brings to 24 the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Mills County, with 21 of those persons having recovered from the virus. Officials say 1,596 people have been tested for the virus in Mills County.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five recent arrests.

On Friday, June 12th Deputies arrested 58-year-old John Mark Boyer of Faucett, MO for OWI 2nd Offense at 10:17 p.m. on 189th Street. He was taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

On Saturday, June 13th Deputies arrested 50-year-old Douglas Mark Berggren of Red Oak for Driving While Barred. He was arrested at 11:49 p.m. at 370th and Compass Avenue. He was taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

Also arrested Saturday, June 13th was 34-year-old Dane Eugene Matthew Hansen of Bellevue, NE for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested at 11:55 a.m. and held in the Mills County Jail on $1,300 bond.

On Sunday, June 14th Deputies arrested 56-year-old Jeffrey Patrick Bogart of Omaha, NE on charges of Drug Possession/Delivery, Possession of Controlled Substance, Drug Tax and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested at 3:28 a.m. on 189th Street. Bogart was booked into the Mills County Jail on $31,300 bond.

Also arrested Sunday at 1:19 p.m. was 19-year-old Nathan Edward Lee Richardson of Malvern for Driving While Revoked. He was arrested at the intersection of 300th Street and Paddock Avenue. Richardson was booked into the Mills County Jail on $1,000 bond.

(Updated 1:00 p.m.) The Iowa Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard today (Monday), shows no new deaths since Sunday, for a total of 650 deaths to date. There are 86 new positive cases, for a total of 24,047. The IDPH says an additional 108 people have recovered, for a total of 14,543, and 203,476 people have tested Negative. A total of 227,523 test results have been completed by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.

RMCC data show 197 Iowans are hospitalized with COVID-19, that’s 6 less than Sunday. Of those, six less people are in an ICU (71 total), and 51 are on ventilators (4 more than Sunday). In addition, 19 people were admitted to a hospital for treatment of COVID-19, eight less than Sunday. In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA), there were only slight changes in the stats from Sunday: Nine were hospitalized (1 more than Sunday), five were in an ICU (no change from Sunday). There were two new COVID-19 related hospital admissions, and no change in the number of patients on ventilators (2).

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are at 36. The number of LTC staff/patient testing positive for COVID-19 is at 1,323, Recoveries amount to 785. Unfortunately, the number of LTC facility-related deaths is up 2, to 341.

Here’s the latest county-by-county breakdown (for those with changes), with the number of positive cases, and (The number recovered):

• Cass: 14 (14)
• Adams: 7 (5)
• Guthrie: 59 (42)
• Pottawattamie: 510 (284)
• Shelby: 49 (36)

Note: Unless there is a significant increase in the positive test results and/or deaths from COVID-19, KJAN will provide daily updates for the 24-hour period at around 6-a.m. each day

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say another arrest has been made in the April killing of an Iowa City man. Iowa City police arrested 30-year-old Whitney Claybon on Saturday, saying she shuttled a suspect in the case out of town and lied to detectives regarding his whereabouts. Claybon is charged with accessory after the fact and obstructing prosecution in the April 20 shooting death of 21-year-old Kejuan Winters. Officials say Claybon told detectives on May 14 that she took a man suspected in the killing to Chicago. But detectives later discovered that Claybon had used another person’s driver’s license to rent a car and take the man to Minnesota.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has announced he will travel to Iowa this week to meet with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. The vice president also plans to tour recreational vehicle manufacturer Winnebago Industries and give an address to its employees on Tuesday. It will be Pence’s second trip to Iowa in as many months. In early May, Pence visited the Des Moines area to meet with Reynolds during a spike in coronavirus cases in the state. Pence also spoke to a group of faith leaders in Iowa about resuming religious services as COVID-19 cases continued to rise.

Des Moines — In recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, the Iowa Insurance Division reminds Iowans that heightened isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic have created a perfect storm for senior financial exploitation.

“Social isolation is a leading factor contributing to the financial exploitation of older investors and quarantines to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus have taken social isolation to a new dimension for many seniors, making them more vulnerable to financial exploitation,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said.

While financial abuse can happen at any time, perpetrators often strike during times in a senior’s life when they may be more vulnerable, such as during a health crisis or after the death of a loved one. Scammers often gather personal details from obituaries and social media posts and use this information to target their victims. Some even will exploit trust within seniors’ social and support groups to become more involved in their lives.

What to Watch For:

Senior financial exploitation can be difficult to identify or recognize. Below are five examples of warning signs to watch for among the seniors in your lives:

• A new and overly protective friend or caregiver or surrendering control of finances to a new friend or partner.
• Fear or sudden change in feelings about somebody.
• A lack of knowledge about financial status or reluctance to discuss financial matters.
• Sudden or unexplained changes in spending habits, a will, trust, or beneficiary designations.
• Unexplained checks made out to cash, unexplained loans, or unexplained disappearance of assets (cash, valuables, securities, etc.). Also watch for suspicious signatures on the senior’s checks or other documents.

How You Can Help:

• Keep in touch with older family members, friends, and neighbors. Call or leave a note on their front door. If they have the technology, send them a text, email, Facetime or Skype. Contact is key to letting your loved ones know you are thinking of them.
• Let your older family members know that fraudsters and scammers have found ways to exploit the pandemic. Make them aware of the red flags of fraud, which remain consistent regardless of the fraud or scam.
• Iowans with suspicions of possible senior financial exploitation to contact the agency at iid.iowa.gov or 877-955-1212.

Financial and investment professionals also are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division to request a Senior$afe presentation on how to spot and report suspected senior financial exploitation.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a couple of arrests over the weekend.

On Friday June 12th Deputies arrested 27-year-old Maxwell Tenesee Davies of Des Moines on a charge of Driving While Barred (Aggravated). Davies was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

On Saturday June 13th Sheriff’s Officials arrested 40-year-old Zachary James Watkins of Atlantic on a charge of Public Intoxication (Simple). Watkins was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on his own recognizance.

AMES, Iowa – June 15, 2020 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is requesting public input for a proposed replacement of the Iowa 175 bridge over Maple River, 1.1 miles west of the east junction with Iowa 141.

The project includes replacing the existing 240’ x 26’ steel beam bridge with a 299’ x 44’ pretensioned prestressed concrete beam bridge. New bridge approaches will be constructed, and new guardrails installed, and shoulders will be paved 20’ beyond the ends of the guardrails.

Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2022.

Through traffic on Iowa 175 would be detoured during construction using Monona County Roads E-34, L-32, and Iowa 141. For more information, see the website listed below.

For general information or to make a comment regarding the proposed bridge project, contact Shane Tymkowicz, P.E., assistant district engineer, Iowa DOT District 3 Office, 2800 Gordon Drive, Sioux City, Iowa 51102, phone 712-276-1451 or 800-284-4368, email shane.tymkowicz@iowadot.us.

Comments must be received by June 25, 2020 to be considered.

Visit the Iowa DOT’s project-related public involvement event website at www.iowadot.gov/pim for information about scheduled public meetings and hearings, or view and offer input on any DOT project using the new “Map Search” feature. If you would like to receive future email notifications, or submit a comment or question regarding this project, go to https://bit.ly/iowadot3324.