A traffic stop in Page County on a motorcycle with no license plate escalated into a high-speed pursuit, Thursday. According to Sheriff Lyle Palmer, a Page County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a Kawasaki motorcycle on 310th Street, just west of Highway 71, or about one-mile north of Braddyville. The driver and only occupant of the motorcycle – later identified as 51-year-old Steven William Wells, of College Springs –  was wearing a helmet, along with a red sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Steven W. Wells

The Motorcycle accelerated to speeds of over 100 mph and continued west on 310th with the Page County Deputy pursuing with lights and siren in a fully marked Page County Sheriff’s Office vehicle. The motorcycle continued west for approximately 3.5 miles at speeds in excess of 100 mph before turning north on Oak. The motorcycle then traveled north on Oak in to the city of College Springs, IA with the Deputy still in pursuit, not losing sight of the motorcycle.

The cycle finally stopped at 806 Pine Street in College Springs where Wells was immediately taken into custody. Hes was transported to the Page County Jail and held on charges of Driving while license is barred (Aggravated Misdemeanor), Eluding or attempting to elude a Peace Officer (Aggravated Misdemeanor). Wells also faces numerous other traffic violations from this pursuit. Bond on the charges was set at $4,000.

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department say two people were arrested recently, on separate charges. On Thursday (4/15), 21-year-old Carlos Estrada Joya, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000. And, on Wednesday, 44-year-old Richard Finn, of Pacific Junction, was arrested for OWI/1st offense and Possession of Marijuana, following a single-vehicle accident.

Authorities say Finn was traveling westbound on Green Street in Glenwood at around 2:35-p.m., when he lost control of the 2012 Harley Davidson he was operating, while negotiating a curve in the roadway. The cycle hit a curb and sustained $3,000 damage. Finn suffered a bump on the back of his head. He was evaluated by Glenwood Rescue, but refused treatment.

An investigation determined Finn had slow, slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes, and an odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from him. He admitted to officers he had smoked marijuana before riding the motorcycle. Finn refused sobriety tests and was arrested on the OWI charge. He was also cited for failure to maintain control, and having no valid driver’s license. His bond was set at $2,000.

(Des Moines, IA) Today (Thursday), the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) confirmed one case of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 P.1  in Iowa. This variant is also referred to as the Brazilian variant. We are still learning about the characteristics of this strain including any potential impact on vaccine effectiveness.

The case was detected in Johnson County. IDPH and local public health have already initiated contact with the individual to understand exposures and initiate the health monitoring process. The process includes notifying anyone with whom the individual has been in close contact. As always, affected individuals are advised to isolate in accordance with IDPH and CDC guidance.

The case was identified by the State Hygienic Lab (SHL). SHL is doing sequencing to understand what strains are circulating here in Iowa and contribute to the understanding of COVID-19 activity in the United States. Routine analysis of genetic sequence data assisted in identifying the new variant strain in Iowa.

The emergence of new variants underscores that it remains critical for Iowans to continue the mitigation efforts that we know work to slow the spread of COVID-19:

• Wear a mask or face covering
• Practice social distancing with those outside your household
• Clean your hands frequently with soap and water
• Stay home if you feel sick
• Get tested if you are exposed to, or have symptoms of COVID-19
• Get a COVID-19 vaccine when one is offered to you
• If you have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, review CDC guidelines here

Griswold Fire and Rescue& Cass EMS were dispatched to the scene of a head-on collision in Montgomery County, Thursday afternoon. The call about the crash on Highway 71 at 110th Street went out at 3:45-p.m. Dispatch reports indicate two females were injured. One complained of back pain, the other was said to be disoriented.

A medical helicopter from Clarinda was set to arrive on the scene at around 4:30-p.m. Additional details were not immediately available.

Earlier, at around 2:05-p.m., Atlantic Rescue and Cass County EMS responded to a reported accident involving a motorcycle.  Dispatch reports said the scooter-type cycle had toppled onto its side just south of Keystone Road (about three-miles south of Atlantic), on Highway 71, just south of Keystone Road. The male operator of the machine, who is from Clarinda, was found behind the cycle, on the east shoulder of the road.

Authorities say the operator of the cycle said he had been traveling north on Highway 71, when he lost control on the graveled portion of the road. He suffered from apparent head and leg injuries, was transported by Cass EMS to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. The victim’s name had not been released as of late Thursday evening.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls says now that Democrat Rita Hart has conceded Iowa’s second congressional district race to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, disparities exposed by the recount in that race can be addressed. “I think the time is right, for a leadership bill, for Democrats and Republicans to come together to make some bipartisan changes to how recount elections are handled in Iowa,” says Wahls, who is from Coralville, which is in the second congressional district.

Two weeks ago, Hart dropped her request for a U.S. House review of the contest. Miller-Meeks finished six votes ahead of Hart in November’s recount of the 400,000 ballots cast in the second congressional district’s 24 counties. Scott County barely competed its recount in time and Wahls says priority one should be letting counties have more than three members on a recount board. “Currently, they don’t have that ability, but for large sized counties, you want to have that ability to have more people involved in the recount process,” Wahls says.

Hart’s campaign had argued there were at least 22 legally cast ballots that were not counted in the second district race. Wahls is recommending that future recount boards be allowed to review all ballots cast, not just the ballots that were included in the initial count, plus Wahls says legislators should get rid of the early December deadline for a panel of judges to complete any requested review of a recount.

“Instead we should give those (judges) the amount of time that is necessary for them to finish their work,” Wahls says. “We shouldn’t be forcing them to try and conclude by an arbitrary deadline.” Hart says a handful of days were not a sufficient amount of time for a panel of judges to oversee a review of 400,000 ballots in her second district contest.

The top Republican in the Iowa House says there are discussions underway that may yield a bipartisan agreement on technical changes in Iowa election law, but it’s unclear whether those changes will address recounts.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley today (Thursday), said it is unlikely the 2021 legislature will vote to make it illegal to drive while handling a smartphone.

Grassley said some of the questions House Republicans have raised haven’t been answered. “Just the enforcement, with law enforcement, how that would all play out,” Grassley during an online news conference. “There’s a lot of members in the (House Republican) Caucus who have a lot of questions of how that actually look in its implementation.”

It is illegal to text while driving in Iowa, but drivers cannot be ticketed for having a cell phone in their hand while driving. The first vehicles to feature hands-free technology for making cell phone calls were introduced in 1999.

Today 26 other states have laws that ban motorists from using cell phones while driving, unless they’re making calls through the software in their dashboard. Back in 2015, Governor Terry Branstad lobbied legislators to pass a law to make it a crime to handle a cell phone while driving, but it failed that year and in every year since.

(Atlantic) – Crossroads of Western Iowa has taken on the new moniker of Trivium Life Services. Officials with Crossroads said Thursday (Today), “When Crossroads of Western Iowa was founded in 1975, they served just eight individuals with disabilities. Having now expanded into nine counties across two states, with further expansions on the horizon, it became apparent they needed a new, unifying name. As Trivium Life Services, the organization has adopted the mission of “Creating Hope. Empowering Lives. Inspiring Communities.”

CEO Brent Dillinger says “The new name and mission statement more fully encompass our vision for the future while honoring our history.” Trivium, which previously focused only on disability services, expanded into behavioral health and substance use disorder services in 2019. Across all service lines, Trivium serves more than 2,500 clients each year and employs approximately 400 individuals.

With this change, Dillinger says “We would like to stress that there will be no disruption to services and our clients will receive the same quality care from the same devoted staff. The clients are at the heart of everything we do and to offer them the highest quality of services, we must continue to evolve” Dillinger said also, “I see this change as a way to offer a wider variety of services on a national stage. As the organization continues to grow, we will have greater resources and more opportunities for our employees to grow with us. I am looking forward to all we will accomplish as Trivium.”

Iowa House District 21 Representative Tom Moore, Thursday, issued his weekly legislative update, “On the issues.” Moore, a Republican from Griswold, said in his report, “On Wednesday night the House passed SF 342, voting 63-30, to support Iowa Law Enforcement. This is a comprehensive bill, and some of the provisions are detailed below…”

·     Allows peace officers and their families to join the safe at home program, which keeps their name and address private.

·     Clarifies that shining a laser in another person’s eyes is assault.

·     Increases penalties for harassing peace officers, blocking roadways, disorderly conduct, and damaging property.

·     Protects state employees from civil lawsuits when they are acting within the law.

·     Protects drivers from civil lawsuits if they are exercising due care and injure someone blocking the road.

·     Makes changes to disability benefits to ensure better medical care and services to peace officers.

·     Allows peace officers to use accrued sick leave to pay for health insurance after retirement.

·     Requires that local governments allow law enforcement to enforce Iowa laws.

·     Increases penalties for rioting.

·     Clarifies that payments for medical care and vacation cannot be counted against a disability pension.”

Bills of Note

SF 546– Private Instruction Drivers Education: 2011 saw the adoption of private instruction monitored by the DOT for homeschool children. This bill clarifies that private instruction as defined by code, by any parent or guardian, qualifies as “competent private instruction.” It also changes certain provisions of parental drivers education to best utilize time within the course, maintain rigorous standards, make parentally supervised drive time equitable, and allow both parents to teach their child. On Monday, this bill passed the House 59-33. It still needs to pass the Iowa Senate.

HF 857– Butchery Fund: This bill creates a butchery fund within the Iowa Economic Development Authority. This will provide funding for new butchery businesses and meat lockers, existing facilities wishing to expand or upgrade, and a task force will be established to explore adding butchery programs to our community colleges and universities. We hope this will spur economic development in the butchery field, as Iowa needs more available lockers and butchers. Tuesday, this bill passed the House with a vote of 91-0.

HF 855– Adoptee Birth Certificates: This bill allows adoptees to obtain a copy of their birth certificates, and it allows biological parents to decide how much information should be provided to the adoptee. I ran this bill a couple years ago but did not have the support. After the change in the makeup of the House; it passed the House with a vote of 91-0.

Economic Development Budget

Representative Moore said also, “This week the Appropriations Committee passed the Economic Development Budget. This budget is subject to change during further negotiation with the Senate, but it now contains the following…”

·     A total of $78 million for Iowa’s economic development

·     $3 million for the Iowa Child Care Challenge Fund

·     $1.2 million for regional tourism and marketing

·     $750,000 for local meat processing businesses

·     $1.8 million for the Jobs Training Program

Moore on this Week: ” We spent much of this week debating bills and preparing to debate bills. The budget committees have also been meeting, trying to hammer out our yearly budget. It is a long process, since we have to deliberate within our chamber on the ideal budget numbers, and then negotiate with the Senate over the final budget.”

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, as of 10-a.m., Thursday, indicated that for the fourth day in a row, there were no additional deaths from COVID-19 to report. The pandemic total stands at 5,857. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,296 of the total number of deaths across the state. That is also unchanged.

There were 603 additional positive test results for COVID-19 returned from the labs, for a total of 387,805. There remain three Long-Term Care facility outbreaks, with 31 positive cases among residents and staff within those facilities.

Health officials say COVID-related hospitalizations are down slightly, to 215, and there are 49 COVID patients in an ICU, eight less than on Wednesday. The IDPH says 37 people were admitted to a hospital across the state, which is a decline of nine from Wednesday, and 19 patients are on a ventilator, compared to 14 in the previous report.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show: There are 21 hospitalized with COVID; 10 COVID patients are in an ICU; four people were admitted with symptoms of COVID (2 more than previously reported), and there remain two COVID patients on a ventilator.

The 14-day positivity rate is 4.7%. The seven-day rate is 4.6%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

• Cass, 1,422 cases; {+1}; 54 deaths
• Adair, 962; {+1}; 32
• Adams, 338 {+3}; 4
• Audubon, 513 {+2}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,257 {+4}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,881; {+1}; 73
• Madison County, 1,669; {+1; 19
• Mills County, 1,745; {+1}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,079 {+0}; 37
• Pottawattamie County, 11,756; {+33}; 160
• Shelby County, 1,328 {+2}; 37
• Union County,  1,322; {+1}; 32