(Radio Iowa) – A 21-year-old Newton couple face charges after their three-month-old child was found with broken bones. Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess says Stormy and Jessica Agan both face two counts of child endangerment and one count of child neglect. They are currently free on bond. A police investigation determined they were responsible for the care of their child when the injuries occurred. Newton Officers were called to MercyOne Newton Medical Center November 24th, when the Agans had brought the child in with a broken arm. Hospital staff also discovered the infant had a broken rib. The injuries seemed inconsistent with an accident.

According to Chief Burdess, officers received conflicting stories as to how the infant was injured. With the help of the Department of Human Services, additional medical information was obtained. It involved an additional broken bone in the child’s leg. Doctors described that injury as a highly specific fracture from non-accidental trauma.

March 2, 2021 (DES MOINES) – Awards totaling $6.18 million were announced today (Tuesday) for 18 communities across Iowa. The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) made the awards through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which provides support for community improvements.  Awards were made for water/sewer and stormwater infrastructure improvements, housing rehabilitation and employment-related transportation projects. Grants are awarded based upon the benefit to low- and moderate-income Iowans, financial need, project impact and readiness, and commitment of local resources to the project.

In western Iowa:

• The City of Manilla received a CDBG Community Facilities award amounting to $300,000, for Daycare. The local match is $250,000.
• Madison County received a CDBG Community Facilities award amounting to $170,000, for Mental health facility improvements. The local match is $96,725.
• The City of Creston received a CDBG Community Facilities award amounting to $600,000 for Water treatment improvements, with a local match of more than $1.63-million.
• And, the Monona County community of Ute received a CDBG Community Facilities award amounting to $300,000, for Water system improvements, with a local match of $792,560.

CDBG funds enable communities to make needed improvements to water and sewer systems, improve housing conditions for low-income homeowners, provide facilities for disabled and at-risk individuals and make transformative downtown improvements. The CDBG program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. IEDA is responsible for administering the CDBG funds in the non-metropolitan areas of the state.

For more information on CDBG or other community programs, visit iowaeda.com/cdbg/ or contact cdbg@iowaeda.com.

The Iowa Department of Public Heath at 10-a.m., Tuesday, reported an additional 481 positive COVID-19 test results returned from the labs since Monday, for a pandemic total of 364,188. There were also 26 additional deaths reported, for a total of 5,498. Long Term Care facility deaths account for 2,174 of the State’s total number of deaths.

The number of Long-Term Care facility COVID-19 Outbreaks down, from 19 Monday, to 14 on Tuesday. Hospitalizations once again increased, from 197 Monday to 224 as of Tuesday. COVID patients in an ICU decreased from 48 to 39. There were 34 patients admitted to hospitals over the 24-hour reporting period (compared to 31 Monday), and 11 patients on a ventilator.

Hospitals in Western & Southwest Iowa report: 10 people remain hospitalized for COVID; five COVID patients are in an ICU, two patients with COVID symptoms were admitted over the past 24-hours, and one person remained on a ventilator.

Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate remains 4.3%, while the seven-day rate went from 4.5% to 4.4%.

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, 1,342 cases; {+11}; 51 deaths
• Adair, 919; {+0}; 28
• Adams, 325 {+0}; 4
• Audubon, 487 {+2}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,166 {+2}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,790; {+0}; 69
• Madison County, 1,547; {+5}; 18
• Mills County, 1,631; {+0}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,040; {+3}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 10,764; {+8}; 143
• Shelby County, 1,211; {+5}; 33
• Union County,  1,262; {+0}; 31

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Senate is taking up the coronavirus relief package that passed the House over the weekend, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley isn’t a fan. Grassley, a Republican, says the five previous coronavirus relief bills that passed Congress in the last year, which provided four-trillion dollars in aid, were all bipartisan in nature. “Unlike these previous coronavirus bills,” Grassley says, “this package is more like a two-trillion dollar wish list of Democrat political priorities.”

The only bright spot in the House bill, according to Grassley, was an amendment from Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull. The non-partisan amendment would have helped Iowa farmers who saw their fields destroyed by the powerful derecho last August. Feenstra’s amendment had the support of fellow Iowan and Democrat Cindy Axne when it was introduced in the House Agriculture Committee. “The derecho amendment that Feenstra brought up passed through the committee,” Grassley says. “Unfortunately, Iowa farmers didn’t make the cut as the amendment was stripped by the House Democratic leaders, presumably, just because it was sponsored by a Republican congressman.”

The powerful storm packed winds that topped off at 140-miles an hour, the equivalent of a category-four hurricane. Grassley says the derecho wiped out 800-thousand acres of crops. “It’s pretty obvious that those farmers deserve as much help as other people that get disaster relief,” Grassley says. “I’ll be working with my colleagues in the Senate to revive the amendment so that farmers hurt by the derecho and other natural disasters can receive federal assistance.”

A controversial amendment that would have raised the federal minimum wage was removed from the House bill. It does include funding for vaccine distribution, funding for local, county and state governments, and direct payments to millions of Americans of up to 14-hundred dollars.

The Atlantic Police Department reports two arrests took place Monday, and two occurred on Sunday. Authorities say 49-year old Daniel Lambson, of Atlantic, was arrested Monday for Burglary in the 3rd Degree and Theft in the 3rd. And, 28-year old Renson Berdon, of Atlantic, was arrested for False Report-911 calls. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

On Sunday, 19-year old J.R. Berdon, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Interference with official acts. And, 21-year old S-K Kovac, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear. Both men were also booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Jail roster shows both Berdon’s and Kovac remained in the facility as of Tuesday morning.

Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a special meeting beginning at noon, on Wednesday. The meeting takes place virtually, via YouTube. During their session, the Board will act on awarding the purchase of 1,425 Chromebook licenses to Rick’s Computer repair, of Danbury (IA), in the amount of $35,625. Technology Director Roger Warne received three identical quotes for Chromebook licenses. By approving the request, Superintendent Steve Barber says it would represent the first step in upgrading the District’s current Pre-K through 12 1:1 (One-to-one) program.

Rick’s Computer provides repair services for the District’s computers. Mr. Barber says since the money on all three of the quotes are identical, he feels it would be best to award the quote to Rick’s, based on the company’s relationship with the District.