(Radio Iowa) — Face masks are a hard commodity to find lately as many Iowa drug stores and even hardware stores are sold out over rising fears about coronavirus. There’s a lot of confusion about masks, though, according to health care professionals in Davenport. Dr. Louis Katz, at the Scott County Health Department, says masks give people a false sense of security.  “There’s absolutely no evidence that a well person is significantly protected by wearing a mask, despite a lot of people wearing masks,” Dr. Katz says. “The thing that it does, it diverts masks that are going to be needed in acute care if the epidemic gets bad.”

While it doesn’t hurt people who aren’t sick to wear a mask, Katz says the supply of masks is very important. “I think that I will fail at convincing some segment of the public that they shouldn’t be wearing masks because those masks need to be made available to the hospitals and the clinics and the acute care facilities and the first responders,” Katz says. “They’re at a much higher risk than the general public.”

The Davenport-based Genesis Health System had been offering free masks and hand sanitizer to visitors — until recently. Lisa Caffrey (CAF-ree), the system’s the infection prevention coordinator, says they had to stop. “People are out running around buying or taking masks inappropriately,” Caffrey says. “We had to take our masks out of our public kiosks because people wouldn’t just take one, they were taking boxes of them. We had to do that. They’re available behind our counters. You just have to ask for it.”  Caffrey says if you’re going to wear a mask, at least wear it properly.  “The mask does not work unless you cover the mouth and nose and there’s a little metal bar in there that you pinch over your nose,” Caffrey says. “That’s the only way you’re going to get any kind of protection. The mask just keeps those big chunks from coming out all over everybody else.”

Federal health officials say masks are ineffective at preventing the spread of coronavirus. Caffrey notes, health care experts added a “C” to the three Cs of “Clean, Cover, and Contain.” The fourth “C” is for those who have symptoms to CALL ahead before going to the hospital, doctor’s office and other health care centers. That way, employees can isolate those who are sick from others in waiting areas.

(Radio Iowa) — One person was killed in a crash on Interstate 80 early this (Friday) morning just east of Iowa City. The state patrol says a car was stopped along the interstate but was still partly in the traffic lane. Troopers say it was hit from behind by a Jeep just after midnight, sending the car into the ditch while the Jeep rolled onto its side in the median.

The car’s driver was killed. She’s identified as 48-year-old Jennifer Ferguson of Marion. The Jeep’s driver, 27-year-old Callie VerSchoore of Marion, was injured and taken to University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Authorities in Iowa have issued an alert to law enforcement about a man allegedly involved this morning in a Storm Lake stabbing incident. Additional details about the incident are currently not available. According to an all-points-bulletin, 26-year old Jesus Hernandez is believed to be driving a gold colored 2008 Dodge Caravan, with Iowa license plate IPR-646. The vehicle is also thought to be occupied by a woman and three small children. Direction of travel is unknown.

The man is believed to be armed with a knife. Hernandez is 5-feet 3-inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. If you see the suspect vehicle, do not approach the it or the suspect. Call your local authorities or 9-1-1.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports four prisoners were recently transported from other facilities to the Pott. County Jail, to address warrants in Pottawattamie County. Authorities say 24-year old Anthony Ryan Caudillo, of Council Bluffs, was wanted on a felony Forgery charge, and Failure to Appear on a citation. His bond was set at $5,300. 61-year old Kenneth E. Meyerott, of Omaha, was wanted on a felony warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. His bond was set at $5,000.

32-year old John William Wilkinson, Jr., was transported from the Pottawattamie County Courthouse to the Pott. County Jail, Thursday, also on a warrant for 2nd Degree Theft.  And, 36-year old Kevin Andrew Brown, of Kansas City, MO., was transported from an Adult Detention Center in New Century, Kansas, to address a Pott. County felony warrant for Theft in the 1st Degree.

Police in Council Bluffs have updated their report about a woman missing after a pursuit and crash early this (Friday) morning. Officials say the driver was identified as 22-year old Dakota Girouex, of Red Oak, who remains at large. In their initial report, authorities said that at around 1:15-a.m., a Council Bluffs officer located a vehicle stolen from Council Bluffs, on the lot of Super 8 Motel on South 24th St. When the officer and another officer made contact with the stolen vehicle, the female driver exited the vehicle as commanded. Once out of the vehicle, however, the woman refused to follow officer’s commands. She got back in the vehicle and fled northbound on So. 24th St at a high rate of speed. The officers pursed the stolen vehicle west on 23rd Ave then north on So. 35th St.

As the fleeing vehicle was going through the intersection at 35th Street and Broadway, it was struck broadside by a westbound vehicle on West Broadway. The stolen vehicle continued north on N. 35th St and struck a stop sign at N. 35th St and Ave A where it came to a stop. The driver…later identified as Dakota Girouex…fled the scene on foot and officers were unable to locate her. The woman is about 5-feet 10-inches tall, weights approximately 155 pounds, and was wearing a “Batman” baseball cap, black hoodie, black & white Plaid shorts. The passengers in the stolen vehicle were not injured and refused to cooperate with officers.

The driver and passenger of the other vehicle were not injured. Both vehicles were towed from the scene. Anyone with information on location of Dakota Girouex is asked to call Council Bluffs Police Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867(STOP).

Firefighters from Griswold, this morning, were called to the scene of a semi on fire. A call about the unoccupied vehicle located at 60253 Wichita Road, was dispatched at around 8:20-a.m. The vehicle was located near a farm shed and some other vehicles. Additional details are currently not available.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) A group of students was escorted out of the Iowa capitol by state troopers after some transgender students refused to leave a men’s restroom and use gender-neutral restrooms instead. Iowa Safe Schools executive director Nate Monson says the L-G-B-T-Q students were at the capitol to lobby legislators. “Students were using the restrooms that they identify with and under the Iowa Civil Rights Act for the past 13 years, that’s been a protected class,” Monson says. “The state troopers at the capitol told our students that was not the case and they physically escorted about 150 students LGBTQ youth out the door.”

Someone had called capitol police to report an adult and minor females were in a men’s restroom. A video posted online shows a trooper telling the group his concern was about some type of possible sexual activity in the restroom. No one was arrested, but a couple of dozen students wound up waiting on the capitol steps for nearly three hours for a school bus to pick them up. Fifteen-year-old Morgan Gooden of Mitchellville says students in the group aren’t mad, but they are annoyed.  “We all just want this to stop,” Gooden says. “This was supposed to be our day to talk to legislators…and they had to ruin it for us over a bathroom, so we are all just very annoyed that they ruined it for us.”

Monson, who organized the lobby day, is seeking a meeting with the governor and the state public safety commissioner to discuss the incident.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A May 4 sentencing has been scheduled for a Dubuque man who neglected to properly care for his girlfriend’s baby. The Telegraph Herald reports that Mark Ward pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent person. Ward and his girlfriend, Iesha Searcy, were the primary caregivers of Searcy’s then 9-month-old daughter. The girl weighed less than 11 pounds when seen by a dietitian on Aug. 15, 2018. Court documents say the infant was hospitalized two days later, and a doctor found her to be severely malnourished. Searcy has pleaded not guilty. Her trial date is March 31.

An elderly male missing from northeast Iowa’s Black Hawk County, was found early this (Friday) morning, near the scene of an accident in Fremont County. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call a little after 1-a.m. today (Friday), about an (unidentified) 87-year-old male who was reported missing out of Evansdale, Iowa. Deputies were advised the man’s phone was tracked to a rural area northeast of Sidney, or about 300 miles from his home.

Deputies along with an aerial drone, the Fremont County K9 Unit, and LifeNet Medical Helicopter were called to attempt to locate the subject in the area. They found his abandoned vehicle, near the intersection of Foote Street and Maple Street in Sidney, a little before 4-a.m. The vehicle had left the road and hit a fence before becoming disabled. Deputies searched the area and found the man about one block from the crash scene.

He was transported to Grape Community Hospital in Hamburg by Sidney Rescue, for treatment of  minor injuries.