MINBURN—The drinking water advisory that was issued for Minburn following a water main break on Monday has now been lifted.

After repairs were completed, and all routine flushing and disinfection, two samples were taken and no bacteria was found in the samples, allowing for the advisory to be lifted.

(Radio Iowa) – Revenue for Casey’s General Stores in its just-concluded fiscal year reached eight-point-seven BILLION dollars. Casey’s C-E-O Darren Rebelez says in the midst of the most challenging business environment of our lifetime, that’s an astounding figure. “Casey’s ’21 Fiscal Year yielded the strongest results in our 53 year history,” Rebelez says.

Rebelez says Casey’s adjusted what it stocked inside its stores more than a year ago, selling less grab-and-go food while selling more P-P-E and groceries. He says there was also higher demand for beer and alcohol as restaurants and bars closed and people began consuming more alcohol at home. In February, March and April of this year, Rebelez says in-store sales were up 13 percent.

“We’re now seeing recovery in our prepared food and fountain business as the world moves toward normal traffic patterns,” Rebelez says. “Guest traffic is rising and we’re seeing a resurgence in pizza slices, dispensed beverages and bakery as our guests return to their normal daily routines.”  Retail gas sales dropped throughout the country during the pandemic and the decline is shown on Casey’s ledger, too. “We finished the year down 8.1% in same-store gallons sold,” he says, “with an all time high fuel margin of 34.9 cents per gallon.”

That record fuel margin pushed Casey’s profits from fuel sales up nearly 24 percent. Casey’s share price ended the fiscal year 18 percent higher than the previous year. Casey’s employs 40-thousand people and operates more than 21-hundred convenience stores in 16 states.

The Iowa Department of Public Health in their latest COVID-19 update, Saturday (today) reports 157 additional, positive cases of COVID-19 from over the previous 24-hours, for a pandemic total of 403,079. The Coronavirus dashboard also shows two additional deaths, for a total of 6,097. Deaths at Iowa’s Long-Term Care facilities since the start of the pandemic, amount to 2,370.

There remain four LTC outbreaks in Iowa, with 31 positive cases among patients and staff, and four persons who have recovered. Iowa’s 14-day and seven-day positivity rates are both up slightly, to 1.9%.

The number of Iowans hospitalized by COVID are up from 73 on Friday, to 81 Saturday. Officials report 19 patients are in an ICU; 19 COVID patients were admitted to a hospital, and sven patients are on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (hospitals in western & southwest Iowa), there are three people hospitalized with COVID-19, one person was in an ICU, one personwas admitted over the previous 24-hours, and no one was on a ventilator.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County (since the beginning of the pandemic) and the total number of deaths (Since the beginning of the pandemic) in each county to date:
Cass, 1,476 cases; 54 deaths
Adair, 993; 32
Adams, 355; 4
Audubon, 546; 10
Guthrie, 1,312; 32
Harrison County, 1,935; 73
Madison County, 1,786 19
Mills County, 1,801; 24
Montgomery, 1,118; 38
Pottawattamie County, 12,343;173
Shelby County, 1,374; 37
Union County, 1,381; 35

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest early Saturday of 45-year-old Johnny Thomas Houser of Villisca for OWI 1st Offense. Houser was stopped in the area of 250th Street and Q Avenue, just south of Viking Lake State Park. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.