IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Church officials say a Roman Catholic professor will return to teaching and the ministry, with restrictions, after an inquiry found he misbehaved sexually in the 1990s but not against minors. A Diocese of Des Moines investigation found that the allegations against the Rev. Robert “Bud” Grant did not involve a minor because the complainant was “above majority age” at the time. The diocese says Grant engaged in behavior in the early 1990s that violated the 6th Commandment ban on adultery and his priestly promises. Grant is expected to return to teaching at St. Ambrose University in Davenport in the spring.

(Radio Iowa) – The state now reports COVID-19 outbreaks in 143 long-term care facilities statewide. Governor Kim Reynolds acknowledges that’s up more than 50 nursing homes from a week ago, with more than 45-hundred residents testing positive — and more than a thousand have died.

The governor says the state’s overall positivity rate is falling, as are the number of hospitalizations due to COVID. At the moment, she says the 18-to-29 year old age group is seeing the most new cases.

(Radio Iowa) – A top official in the Iowa Department of Revenue confirms some Iowa communities are getting early holiday gifts from the state in the form of much larger checks than expected from local option sales taxes. State chief economist Robin Anderson says it’ll be a boom to the budgets in quite a few towns and counties. “Some of the increase does have to do with changes to how we collect sales tax revenue for internet sales,” Anderson says. Estimates are made by the state based on the first three quarters of the previous year, and changes to the economy and our buying habits during this year’s pandemic threw off those estimates. Some counties are now getting what are called “true up” checks in the mail from the state.

“So, if there’s an overshoot or undershoot, we true up those numbers,” Anderson says. “That’s likely what happened with these cities and counties and other local entities that are getting extra paychecks from the state.” Some communities were anticipating state checks of ten-thousand dollars, and they’re instead getting checks of between five and ten times that amount.  “The initial data that we had shows flat growth and then growth comes in better than expected throughout the year,” Anderson says. “So really, we’re limited in the data that we have when we develop the forecast. Sometimes, we’re a little bit off and we have to reconcile those numbers.”

The pendulum swings both ways though, as she says some communities are getting less than they originally expected.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Tuesday (Today), said the increases in positive cases of COVID-19 over the last several weeks has resulted in an increased use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but “thanks to months of procurement and ongoing monitoring and management, Iowa’s PPE stockpile is strong. Jacob Nicholson, a Response Division administrator for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD), said Iowa analyzed trends in the statewide usage rates and monitored shortages in the supply chain, and the State is well positioned to meet the needs for PPE in the months to come.

(He said gloves and disposable gowns have been in demand, but there is still a 16 months supply of gloves and 18 months supply of gowns in the stockpile, ready to be dispersed.)

In addition, the State has executed contracts with suppliers for those high demand items, with resupply shipments scheduled to be delivered to the HSEMD warehouse every month for the next seven months.

(He said as of this week, the State has completed 2,557 deliveries of PPE and other necessary supplies, totaling 15.7-million individual items.)

Most recently, he said, they’ve worked in partnership with County Emergency Management Coordinators in Pottawattamie, Union and five other Counties, to established seven PPE hubs, or nodes, across the State.

Nicholson says their PPE distribution model will enable requests for supplies to be filled more rapidly than ever before.

Officials with the City of Atlantic said Tuesday (Today), the Atlantic City Hall/Police Department will continue to be closed to the public until December 13^th, at which time the closure will be re-evaluated.  If you need something, please call 243-3512 (for non-emergencies) to reach the police department, and 243-4810 to reach city hall.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer says despite these “trying” times, they are striving to find some normalcy for the children of the County. “This is why,” he said, “we are still continuing our OPERATION BLESSING program this year.”

The Page County Reserve Program started Operation Blessing in the mid 1980’s to ensure that every child in the rural areas of Page County had the opportunity to receive a gift at Christmas. It has continued every year since for well over 30 years. This year the Sheriff’s Office and Reserve program will continue this tradition of ensuring that children in Page County receive a gift for Christmas. In these times, the program is adapting. Sheriff Palmer says “We will be delivering gifts but the delivery system will be slightly different and is still being “fine tuned”.

From November 27th through December 19th 2020, the Page County Sheriff’s Office is taking gift requests for Operation Blessing. The Page County Sheriff’s Office program will cover children in the communities of Shambaugh, Braddyville, College Springs, Yorktown, Coin, Blanchard, Northboro, and Hepburn as well as the rural areas, of Page County. Ages of children covered by this program are Birth up to 15 years of age and be a resident of the above mentioned areas of Page County. The requests must come from a parent or guardian of the child and can be called into the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193, or reported in person by the parent or guardian at the Page County Sheriff’s Office located at 323 N 15th Street in Clarinda.

Palmer says “We strongly encourage the phone calls versus the in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Again requests will be taken from Friday November 27, 2020, through Saturday December 19, 2020. Each child will be given a first and second choice. It is suggested that a toy and clothing be requested.” Anyone wishing to donate money to the Page County Sheriff’s Office Operation Blessing program can either stop by the Page County Sheriff’s Office or mail the monetary donation to the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 323 North 15th Clarinda, Iowa, 51632. Monetary donations are taken year round at the Office.

The Sheriff says “I would once again like to thank everyone for their donations and support of the program throughout the years, for without monetary donations, this program would not be able to continue. I wish to also thank our staff at the Sheriff’s Office / Jail for their assistance in everything they do with this program. They go above and beyond with the call taking, shopping, wrapping and organization of this program. They along with the organizations, businesses, and individuals who donate make this program a success every year. THANK YOU!!!
May everyone have a joy filled and safe Holiday season.”

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. is voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of organic romaine hearts sold in 15 states, including Iowa. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the products being recalled are Dole Organic Romaine Hearts 3pk (UPC 0-71430-90061-1), combined English/French packaging, with Harvested-On dates of 10-23-20 and 10-26-20, and Wild Harvest Organic Romaine Hearts (UPC 7-11535-50201-2), with Harvested-On dates of 10-23-20 and 10-26-20.

The FDA said the recall is being conducted due to a possible health risk from E. coli in the two products. Dole Fresh Vegetables is coordinating closely with regulatory officials. Consumers are advised to check products they have in their homes and discard any product matching the production description, UPC codes and Harvested-On dates listed (above).

No illnesses have been reported to date in association with the recall.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A panel has determined that a white Iowa police officer who shot and paralyzed a Black man during a 2016 traffic stop will not get his job back. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the city’s Civil Service Commission on Monday voted not to reinstate Officer Lucas Jones. His attorney says an appeal is planned. Jones was fired in June, but not for the 2016 incident in which critics say he unfairly pulled over and needlessly shot a fleeing Jerime Mitchell. He was fired over his handling of a traffic stop two days before he shot Mitchell in which he gave a Black female motorist a major break.