The Atlantic Police Department, Thursday (Today), reports two arrests. This (Thursday) morning, 46-year old Benjamin Eddleman, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Harassment with Personal Contact. On Wednesday, 26-year old Bryce Baker, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Thursday) shows there are 977 new, positive cases of COVID-19 in test results since 10-a.m. Wednesday, for a pandemic total of 322,513. The IDPH says there were 58 additional deaths recorded over the previous 24 hours, for a pandemic total of 5,033. Officials attributed 4,555 deaths to an Underlying Cause, while COVID was a contributing factor in 478 deaths. In western and southwest Iowa, there was one additional death reported in each of Madison and Shelby Counties.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility data show there are 47 current outbreaks among those facilities in Iowa. Those facilities account for 1,365 of Iowa’s positive cases, while 841 LTC patients have recovered from the virus. LTC deaths make up 2,064 of the State’s total number of deaths.

The IDPH reports there are 360 people hospitalized with COVID symptoms. Officials say 77 COVID patents are in an intensive care unit (ICU), the number of patients admitted over the past 24-hours is 54, and there are 31 people on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa),  25 are hospitalized with COVID symptoms, 10 are in an ICU, five were admitted since, and three people are on a ventilator.

The Health Dept. reports also, 275,706 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Of those doses, 137,242 persons have received their first, or initial dose, while 69,232 have received their second dose.  The State’s 14-day positivity rate is 9.3%, and the seven-day average is 7.4%. A total of 290,011 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

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, 1,197 cases; {+8}; 46 deaths
• Adair, 717; {+6}; 24
• Adams, 310; {+0}; 3
• Audubon, 440 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,061 {+2}; 27
• Harrison County, 1,624; {+7}; 67
• Madison County, 1,322; {+4}; 13
• Mills County, 1,414; {+8}; 20
• Montgomery, 930; {+2}; 32
• Pottawattamie County, 9,418; {+18}; 130
• Shelby County, 1,106; {+2}; 30
• Union County,  1,153; {+2}; 29

The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports, 60-year old Edward Paul Swanson, of rural Braddyville, was arrested Wednesday on a Page County Warrant for Failure to appear. Swanson posted a $1,000 bond, and was released pending future court appearances.

Edward Swanson

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would make contraceptives like “the pill” available to adult women without a prescription is now eligible for debate in the Iowa House. Governor Kim Reynolds announced her support of the move in 2018 and the Republican-led Iowa Senate endorsed it two years ago, but key Republicans in the House opposed the idea. If this year’s bill becomes law, Republican Representative Ann Meyer of Fort Dodge says women who show a photo I-D to a participating pharmacist could get a three-month supply of contraceptives from behind-the-counter, then another year’s worth after that. “It requires consultation with a primary care or a woman’s health care practitioner after the initial 27 months,” Meyer says.

Today, Iowa women must go to a doctor and get a prescription for birth control patches and pills. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames, a Democrat, says the bill will help women who can’t afford frequent doctor’s visits. “This is a good step forward,” Wessel-Kroeschel says. “Since we lost the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver, many women have been really struggling to find birth control.”

Contraceptives wouldn’t technically be over-the-counter medications, so they’ll still be covered by insurance if the bill becomes law. It passed the House Human Resources Committee on a 15-to-two vote Tuesday afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – A group of Republican legislators say conservative students at Iowa’s public universities are complaining they’re being harassed on campus because of their political views. Representative Holly Brink, a Republican from Oskaloosa, convened a hearing this week with administrators from the three schools. “Iowa State, UNI and the University of Iowa — you are here for Iowans. Iowa is not here for you,” Brink said. “And we will continue to protect and make sure that things are going right for students and the next generation.”

Administrators at the hearing apologized for a series of recent campus conflicts over student free speech rights. David Johnsen, the dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, apologized for an email exchange he had with a student. It was a “reply all” conversation distributed to everyone in the dental school.  “We do not want any of our students to have an experience that leaves them feeling unsupported or fearful…To be honest to the committee, we have heard from other students, faculty and staff in our college that we’ve failed them as well,” he said. “…Since October, we’ve been reviewing what happened, how the process worked and didn’t work and we’re working to implement steps that will prevent this from happening again.”

Other lawmakers accused the public universities of failing to teach conservative economic theory and being hostile to students who oppose abortion. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says the three public universities need to develop a plan to respond to thousands of students over the decades who’ve felt there’s one set of rules for conservatives and one for liberals. “Your goal, as universities, is education, not indoctrination,” Kaufmann says, “and so I would just ask that you report back to us.”

A Democrat on the committee warned there are all sorts of disputes throughout state government and the Oversight panel has to be selective in its investigations or it will turn into a full-time grievance committee. In 2019, Republican lawmakers enacted a campus free speech law. It directing Iowa’s public universities and community colleges to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression on campuses.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest hospital used its entire week’s allotment of COVID-19 vaccines in a single day. Wednesday was the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics’ first day of inoculating people over 65. Hospital C-E-O Suresh Gunasekaran says the quick rollout of one-thousand doses shows the Iowa City medical center is ready to scale up as vaccine supplies increase. “Soon as we get the doses, we have the capability in this community to get that in people’s arms within a day or two,” Gunasekaran says. “Even if the number is 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000, we really feel like we could do that in a single day.”

Now that the U-K variant of the coronavirus has been identified in Iowa, he says there’s even more urgency to speed up vaccinations. The U-I-H-C is offering appointments to those 65 and older through a random lottery and working with community groups to expand accessibility. Gunasekaran says he understands the frustration of those waiting for a shot, but he says more supplies are becoming available. “There is reason for optimism as we move forward that we’ll be able to get more vaccine,” he says. “The reality is today that we don’t have as much vaccine as we have eligible Iowans. We know the importance of continuing our safety standards, the importance of social distancing.”

Walgreens and C-V-S report getting another 32-thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines that are available for Iowans 65 or older. They’re being distributed to stores in 11 Iowa counties. Appointments can be made through the pharmacies’ websites. A New York Times report ranks Iowa third to last in the country for administering the vaccines per capita.