A change to how the state of Iowa reports coronavirus-related deaths increased Iowa’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,898, today (Tuesday). Until Monday, the Iowa Department of Public Health only reported COVID-19 deaths if the person who died had a positive PCR test result. That method left out deaths in which a person had tested positive using an antigen test and cases in which COVID-19 was listed as the cause of death on a death record without a positive test result. The Iowa Department of Public Health said the federal system for cause-of-death did not include COVID-19 as a cause of death when the pandemic first began. Moving forward, the state of Iowa will report all COVID-19 deaths in which a health care provider reports the cause of death or underlying cause of death as coronavirus.

With that information, here is the latest data from the State: Deaths (as mentioned) total 2,898, an increase of 181 from Monday; 2,650 deaths are from underlying causes; 248 are contributing factor deaths.  Positive cases increased 1,393, to 246,237. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks have increased from 137 Monday to 141 today. LTC deaths amount to 1,127.

Hospitalizations stand at 900, with 191 COVID patients in an ICU, 111 admitted since 10-a.m. Monday, and 111 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 57 COVID patients, 20 of whom are in an ICU, eight were recently admitted, and 10 are on a ventilator. Hospitalization analysis shows 645 patients were hospitalized with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, while 255 were hospitalized for another reason but tested positive for the virus. State data shows 63% of those hospitalized are 60 or older, with 34% of the total hospitalized over the age of 79.

State data shows 1,255,014 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus. Iowa reports a 14-day positivity rate of 16% and a 7-day rate of 12.1%. Iowa reports 67 of the state’s 99 counties have a 14-day positivity rate at 15% or greater. That’s down from 74 the previous day. There are 18 counties with a rate at 20% or higher, down from 25 a day earlier. There are no longer any counties with a rate greater than 30%. Cass County’s positivity rate has fallen to 13.9%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases; and the total number of deaths in each county (Configured by the new reporting formula):

• Cass, 876 cases; 34 deaths
• Adair, 485; 15
• Adams, 196; 2
• Audubon, 315; 6
• Guthrie, 811; 22
• Harrison County, 1,171; 46
• Madison County, 779; 6
• Mills County, 1,134; 7
• Montgomery, 556; 12
• Pottawattamie County, 7,059; 69
• Shelby County, 826; 16
• Union County,  899; 9

A collision Monday night in northwest Iowa between a van and a semi, has claimed one life and resulted in injuries to another person. The Iowa State Patrol says the crash in Cherokee County happened at around 8:42-p.m. on Highway 59. A 2006 Dodge Caravan driven by 50-year old Bradley Donald Herwig, of Cherokee, was traveling south on Highway 59 while a 2009 Kenworth tractor-trailer driven by 28-year old Oscar De Los Reyes Barrera, of Palmdale, CA, was traveling north.

The van and the semi collided head-on on the northbound lane, resulting in fatal injuries to Herwig, who was not wearing a seat belt. Barerra was injured and transported by Cherokee Ambulance to the local hospital. The accident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of one of Iowa’s largest agricultural groups says some people wrongly blame farmers for the recent report that finds 750 segments of Iowa’s lakes, rivers and streams are impaired by pollution. Mike Paustian, of Walcott, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect the environment.

“People who live in the urban areas want to point at the farmers and say they need to change what they’re doing,” Paustian says, “and the farmers want point at people in the cities and say, ‘No, you need to change what you’re doing,’ but the reality is, we all need to work together and we all need to do our part to try and solve this problem.” The report released last week by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows 61-percent of the state’s rivers and streams and 67-percent of lakes and reservoirs are impaired.

Paustian says most of pork producers are proactive in protecting the state’s waters and they have flow meters on their manure application equipment. “They know exactly how many gallons per acre they’re putting on. It’s really gotten fine-tuned,” Paustian says. “As we look to implement additional practices in the field, above and beyond what we’re already doing, we’ll just continue to get better.” Following the release of the D-N-R report, environmental activists started calling for a moratorium on all large agricultural operations. Paustian says that’s unfair.

“It’s a little bit of a disingenuous argument to try to make it about size,” Paustian says. “We have producers of all sizes in Iowa and it really doesn’t matter what size you are, you can still do a good job with your nutrient management or a bad job. It’s up to the individual. Size doesn’t really have much to do with it.” Paustian says many producers are growing cover crops where they’re able to apply manure and keep the beneficial impacts in the soil.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials have changed the method for publicly reporting the number of Covid-related deaths in Iowa, using the same system as the National Center for Health Statistics. The change initially added at least 177 deaths to the state count overnight. Iowa Department of Human Services director Kelly Garcia says the state is now using a special code number on death certificates indicating Covid was the underlying cause or a contributing factor to the death of an Iowan. “It is a more fulsome picture of exactly what happened surrounding that death,” she said, “rather than a case investigation which has bits and pieces and is accurate, to the best of our knowledge, but this is really relying on the full medical record.”

Until yesterday (Monday), state officials not only required Covid to be cited on a death certificate, but required proof the person had tested positive for the virus using a test that detects the genetic material of Covid. Garcia says there are new types of tests available now, plus the state relies on the judgment of doctors in reporting all other causes of death — using the coding system that now includes a code NUMBER for Covid. “This information will be helpful for national comparison and I believe it will also be helpful when we compare causes of death over the course of the entire 2020 calendar year…In years to come — one year out, five years out, 10 years out — this change will allow us to see an apples to apples comparison,” Garcia said.

She added, “…Nothing is changing around the way a clinician would do their work, rather we are changing the way we record that information at the state level.” The state website tracking coronavirus data will be updated every morning with an updated count on Covid-related deaths, according to Garcia. “This is a change that Iowans can rely on,” Garcia says. “Academics, those who do research in other capacities, from other states, at a national level can also rely on it and that is incredibly important.”

Also last (Monday) night, the Iowa Department of Human Services announced the Covid-related death of a resident at one of the six facilities the agency oversees. A department spokesman said the location or day of the death will not be released to protect the identity of the client who died.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Tabor Police Department are seeking information concerning a burglary that occurred at the Glenwood State Bank, located in Tabor, the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6th and early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 7th.

Authorities say a man entered the bank lobby at approximately 8:47 PM and then left the area. Two men returned at approximately 12:30 AM and removed the ATM from the lobby. The white males were said to be wearing camouflage jackets.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) _ Casey’s General Stores Inc. (CASY) on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $112 million. The Ankeny, Iowa-based company said it had profit of $3 per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.66 per share.

The convenience store chain posted revenue of $2.22 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.2 billion. Casey’s shares have increased 18% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $187.82, a rise of 8% in the last 12 months.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The remains of Nebraska and Iowa sailors who were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor 79 years ago will get to return home soon thanks to the work of experts at Offutt Air Force Base. It’s part of a five-year effort to identify Navy sailors and Marines who went missing while serving on the USS Oklahoma, a battleship that capsized during the attacks.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is working to identify remains with DNA technology and other modern methods. The agency’s historians and forensic anthropologists had hoped to identify 315, or 80%, of the missing men by the end of 2020. With weeks to go, they have identified 281 of them.

(Radio Iowa) – A 25-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder for a shooting that happened after hundreds of Trump supporters rallied outside the Iowa Capitol Sunday.  According to a news release from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, there was a confrontation in a public parking lot east of the Capitol. Michael McKinney of St. Charles is accused in court documents of intentionally firing a handgun” at a 15-year-old girl.

Michael McKinney

The teenager, identified only by her initials in court documents, was riding in a vehicle traveling through the parking when she was shot in the leg. She was taken to a Des Moines hospital for treatment. State officials on Sunday said the wound was not life-threatening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump presented the nation’s highest civilian honor to Dan Gable, a renowned wrestler and coach from Iowa who won a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Trump called Gable “the greatest wrestler, probably ever.” Gable is one of several sports figures to be presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom during Trump’s time in office.

President Donald Trump awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, to Olympic gold medalist and former University of Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Gable was a champion wrestler at Iowa State University, compiling a 117-1 record and winning two NCAA titles. Gable would go on to an incredibly successful coaching career at the University of Iowa, where his teams won 15 NCAA titles.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports on or about Dec. 3rd, at around 9:24-p.m., Deputies conducted a traffic stop, which resulted in the arrest of 36-year old Brandon Stalker, of Corning. Stalker was arrested on an active Adams County warrant for Contempt of Court/Failure to Appear. On or about Dec. 5th, Adams County Deputies made contact with 28-year old Kyle Trimble, of Texas, who was in transit, walking, and attempting to get into Union County. Upon further investigation, a handgun was found on Trimble, who was arrested on a charge of Going Armed with a Dangerous weapon. He was then transported to the Adams County Jail. That same day, Deputies conducted a traffic stop on Highway 34 on a speeding vehicle. The driver, 24-year old Javier Hernandez Campos, was charged with OWI/1st offense, Speeding, and driving without a valid license. While at the Adams County Jail, a warrant for the arrest of an illegal alien was issued to Campos by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

On Dec. 6th, Adams County Deputies responded to a call at a residence in the 1400 block of 210th Street, with regard to an unknown man sleeping on a couch in the residence. 39-year old Jeffrey Erickson, of Des Moines, was arrested on a Burglary charge. And, at around 7:30-a.m. Monday (Today), Deputies responded to a tripped motion alarm at 2527 125th Street, in Prescott. An investigation determined entry was made via a first floor window, and a power box on a utility pole near the home had been damaged. Anyone with information regarding the burglary should contact the Adams County Sheriff’s Office at 641-322-4444.