A traffic stop Thursday morning south of Audubon, resulted a man and woman from Nebraska being arrested on drug charges. According to the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, 40-year old Raymond Williams, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance- marijuana 3rd and Possession with Intent to Deliver. He was seen by the magistrate and held on a $10,000 bond. He later posted surety bond and was released.

32-year old Tameika Willis, also from Omaha, was arrested on Possession of Controlled Substance- marijuana 2nd and Possession with Intent to Deliver. She was also seen by the magistrate and held on a $10,000 bond. She later posted a surety bond and was released.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Audubon Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) – Several northwest Iowa school districts now have mask mandates in place after the state relaxed its quarantine guidelines. Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District is requiring students and staff in grades seven through 12 to wear masks in classrooms where they can’t social distance. Superintendent James Craig says there’s been very little pushback.

“I know that there are folks that don’t want to wear the masks, but they’re really doing a good job of doing it here,” Craig says, “and understanding that doing that keeps them safer and keeps them more likely to stay in school and not have to be quarantined at home.” Sibley-Ocheyedan tightened its social distancing measures two weeks ago. Students in upper grades had to participate in some classes remotely when social distancing wasn’t possible. Craig says with a mask requirement, the district can have all students in its classrooms safely.

The West Lyon Community School District in Inwood now requires masks for students and staff in grades seven through 12 when they can’t social distance. Superintendent Shawn Kreman says before this, a couple students had already quarantined twice because of close contacts. “I think the message was, ‘Hey, by masking up, we’re going to better our chances to not be sent home for 14 days.'” Kreman says, “So I think the underlying message, kids got it really quickly.”

Kreman says the district is requiring masks in upper grades only because it’s harder to spread those students at least six feet apart. Unlike elementary kids, those students also move to several classrooms throughout the day. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s new guidance says people in schools don’t have to quarantine if they were wearing masks properly while in close contact with an infected person who was also wearing a mask.

(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says Iowans have set a record for absentee ballots requested in an election. Pate reports 703,768 requests as of Friday. That surpasses the previous high set in 2016 when more than 693,000 Iowans requested absentee ballots. Of the requests just over 365,000 were requested by Democrats and more than 212,000 were from Republicans.

Voters registered with no party requested nearly 124,000. Over 96,000 have been returned so far with nearly 60,000 of those from Democratic voters. Iowans have until 5 p.m. Oct. 24 to request an absentee ballot. Iowa voters can also cast a ballot in person at their county auditor’s office through Nov. 2.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the northeastern Iowa city of Waverly say a $36 million construction project to expand and renovate the Waverly Health Center is ahead of schedule, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the second phase of the project is underway, just months after the mid-May groundbreaking. The second phase will add 31,000 square feet to include a new emergency department, large family practice clinic and outpatient area.

It’s expected to be enclosed by Thanksgiving and operational in a bout a year. The third phase will renovate 40,000 square feet of the current emergency department and support staff areas into a new general surgery clinic, orthopedic clinic and other outpatient services.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), Friday (today) announced the launch of the new Residential Utility Disruption Prevention Program. The program will provide eligible households with up to $2,000 towards electric, natural gas and water bills if they are at risk of disconnection due to an inability to pay due to a COVID-19 related loss of income. Payments through the program will be made directly to utility providers and applied to the applicant’s account.

The Governor said “We are facing an unprecedented pandemic and from the very beginning the state has made it a priority to provide critical assistance to families, farmers, renters, homeowners, and small business owners For Iowans who lost their job or saw their paycheck shrink as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Residential Utility Disruption Prevention Program will help them keep the power on and their water running.”

The state allocated approximately $14.5 million of federal CARES Act funds for utility assistance programs (the Small Business Utility Disruption Prevention Program launched in mid-July). To be eligible to receive assistance, a residential electric, natural gas and/or water utility customer must have:

• A primary Iowa residence with active residential utility accounts, renters may apply as long as the utility account is in the applicant’s name;
• An unpaid utility bill balance or have previously entered into a payment plan with their utility provider;
• An annual income that is 80% of the median family income, based on county and household size
• Experienced a COVID-19 loss of income (job loss, reduction in hours, reduction in pay) on or after March 17, 2020 that resulted in hardship in paying bills for electric, natural gas, and/or water utility service provided between March 17, 2020 and October 31, 2020.

IEDA and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham says “Iowans, especially our low-income citizens have been greatly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud to make available this program offering to help our most vulnerable maintain critical utility services.”

For a full list of eligibility requirements, additional information and to apply, visit iowahousingrecovery.com. Applications will be accepted between October 8, 2020, and November 20, 2020, or until funding is depleted, whichever comes first. Assistance will be awarded based on application completeness and eligibility in order received until all funds have been exhausted.

The Fall harvest is underway across much of Iowa, and that means large and numerous pieces of agricultural equipment will be moving back and forth between the farm, fields and grain elevators. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ryan DeVault, out of Council Bluffs, says motorists need to be prepared to encounter the various slow moving vehicles and pay attention.

He says those vehicles typically don’t travel more than 25 miles per hour, and you can be on top of them faster than you think.

The size of farm equipment has increased dramatically over the years. DeVault says the operators of those machines are abiding by the law as best as they can, but you need to give them some room.

The Trooper says to “Expect the unexpected at this point during the harvest season,” especially when the farming equipment is about to make a turn into a field or a farm drive.

The bottom line, he says, is to stay focused and avoid distractions like cell phones. Another thing to be alert for during the harvest season, is deer running out of fields.

Trooper DeVault says flashing your lights or honking your horn in hopes the deer will run the other way, is not necessarily helpful in preventing a collision. He said also, farmers and others hauling grain need to be careful the grain isn’t spilled on the roadway. Motorcyclists need to be watchful too, as the loose corn and beans act like marbles, causing a loss of control, especially when motorcycles are turning.