The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Friday (today), reported three arrests took place Thursday. Authorities say 28-year old Angel Marie Shlee, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation. Her bond was set at $2,500.

29-year old Shaka Renee Gordon, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop at around 6:20-p.m. on Interstate 29. Her bond was set at $1,000. And, 56-year old Michael Jay Scott, of Chippewa Falls, WI., was arrested on 189th Street in Mills County, for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.

MOUNT PLEASANT – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections reports that on Thursday night, the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility (MPCF) was notified that an inmate has tested positive for COVID-19.

The inmate is an older adult male (ages 55-64), and was placed in medical isolation when he first reported to Health Services that he was not feeling well on Wednesday, July 8 at approximately 12:20 PM. After being assessed, he was immediately taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) for further medical evaluation and care. While at UIHC he was tested for COVID-19.  On Thursday, July 9, MPCF was informed of his first negative COVID-19 test. UIHC administered a second test, and MPCF was informed that this test was also negative. However later that day, MPCF was contacted by UIHC and informed that in fact the inmate was positive for COVID-19, and will remain at the hospital for care and monitoring supervision. He is currently in stable condition.

Working with the Iowa Dept. of Public Health and State Hygienic Lab, MPCF will be conducting additional testing of staff and inmates at the facility to identify those that might be carrying the virus while asymptomatic.

The department has been preparing for, and responding to incidents of COVID-19 in the prison system for several months. An outline of the steps that have been taken can be found at doc.iowa.gov/department-corrections-steps, and more information related to COVID-19 in the DOC can be found at doc.iowa.gov/COVID19. For members of the public with questions about COVID-19 in the prison system, a hotline is available during business hours Monday-Friday by calling (515) 373-5457.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa is spending $1 million to remove spray-painted messages Black Lives Matter protesters left on campus buildings earlier this summer. But not before documenting and preserving the images for future generations. Hundreds of protesters who gathered and marched across the campus in recent weeks left a slew of social justice messages, including on the 178-year-old Old Capitol and 93-year-old Field House. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the $1 million cleanup will employ five Iowa companies to remove the spray paint from building exteriors.

To preserve the messages, UI Libraries will collect photos in an institutional archive that will grow and expand with additional documents, video clips, sound recordings and first-person narratives.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A man who went missing from an Iowa care center days ago has been found alive in a water-filled ditch. Volunteers had been searching for Mike Jensen since he was reported missing Monday from Ravenwood Specialty Care in Waterloo. Jensen is a former Wartburg College music instructor whose brain tumor diagnoses is the subject of an independent film.

The Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier reports that a worker found the 45-year-old Jensen in the ditch, partially submerged in 4 to 5 inches of water and among cattails almost 10 feet tall. Police have said Jensen left the center Monday night through a window.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman says the Iowa Department of Public Safety will hand over internal misconduct records to a federal grand jury investigating a trooper after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena in court. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the department must comply with the subpoena, which seeks internal investigation records related to an officer who is under scrutiny for possible civil rights violations.

The department had asked the courts to quash the subpoena, saying that it would have a chilling effect on internal investigations. A federal judge and the appeals court upheld the subpoena, saying the department failed to show it was unreasonable. The ruling doesn’t identify the officer under investigation.

CORALVILLE – The Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) reports earlier today (Friday), several staff members were injured while attempting to restrain an inmate at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (IMMC).

A counselor was working with an inmate in a mental health unit at IMCC, when the inmate began to indicate they would try to cause self harm by jumping from an upper level of the unit. As staff responded to try to keep the inmate from hurting himself, another inmate became physically aggressive, and required restraint from staff. As several correctional officers were attempting to bring them under restraint, the inmate physically resisted by wrestling with and kicking responding staff. In the process, two staff members suffered injuries.

One sergeant received a neck injury, and has been relieved form duty to be reviewed by a medical professional. An officer was reviewed by facility medical staff for a possible concussion, but was found to be fit to return to duty.

The incident remains under investigation.

Celebrate Christmas in July by joining in the Cass County Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange. Lake Anita State Park, the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and Healthy Cass County
invite you to share your favorite Christmas cookie recipes this July. Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bailey Smith says “We know people are doing a lot of COVID baking, and we want to celebrate Cass County’s love of Christmas by encouraging the sharing of favorite cookie recipes this summer.”

Joshua Peach, Manager of Lake Anita State Park, says “We always celebrate Christmas in July at the Lake Anita campground. This year we’re encouraging campers to also share favorite Christmas cookie recipes. Bonus points if they can be made over a campfire!” Recipes will be shared on the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce website, the @HealthyCassCounty Facebook page, and in local newspapers.

How to submit a recipe:
Email, mail, or drop off the recipe in person to either the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce (kelsey@atlanticiowa.com, 102 Chestnut Street, Atlantic IA 50022), or Cass County
Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh (bhoegh@iastate.edu, 805 W 10th Street, Atlantic IA 50022).

What to include in your recipe submission:
1. Dish name
2. Your name
3. Story about your recipe, if you have one to share.
4. Ingredients
5. Directions

When: Recipes are welcome through the end of July.

Who: Everyone in Cass County is welcome!

Lake Anita State Park celebrates Christmas in July on July 18, 2020. Campers are invited to decorate campsites in the spirit of Christmas, visit Santa at the popcorn shed at 7:00 PM, and
then watch the movie “Frozen 2” while judges view campsites to award prizes. For more information on local wellness events or resources, follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty.

(KCCI/Radio Iowa) – According to the administrator of a social media page set-up to help coordinate the search for a missing Waterloo man, he has been found alive, but a report on his condition was not immediately available. KCRG-TV reports Mike Jensen had been found and that family was going to where he is, but no further details were released. The 46-year-old former Wartburg College professor left Ravenwood Specialty Care in Waterloo on Monday night. His family said he climbed out of an unlocked window.

Jensen had a brain tumor and now suffers from dementia. Jensen’s wife, Jen, says her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2012. “He’s had diminished capacity since 2016,” Jen Jansen says. “Mostly from the brain cancer and complications from the treatments.”  Jensen says the past few months have been extremely difficult on the family. Jensen and the couple’s three daughters, one of whom just graduated from Waverly-Shell Rock High School, haven’t been able to visit Michael because pandemic restrictions. “He’s been in a nursing home for two years with cooperative care,” Jensen says. “… To be quite honest, with COVID, we’ve been at the end of our rope. It had been 121 days on Monday since I’ve seen him and been able to hug him.”

Nearly 50 volunteers showed up in Janesville Thursday to help look for him and they spent the morning searching property between Cedar Falls and Waverly before severe weather ended the effort around noon. Mitchell says she’s extremely grateful for the support her family has received from friends and strangers.  “When I drove in the parking lot, I had to a minute to have a good cry,” Jensen says. “It’s overwhelming to see … a parking lot full of volunteers, who are taking their summer day.”

Firefighters and first-responders went door-to-door in Janesville Thursday night. The search for Jensen resumed this (Friday) morning.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say several people — including two children — were seriously injured when a stolen car being chased by Council Bluffs Police slammed into another vehicle in Omaha, Nebraska. Authorities say identified the suspected driver as 23-year old Raymundo Rafael Silva-Gomez, of Bellevue, NE. Police tried to stop the Cadillac he was driving near 535th and Ronald Road at around 5-p.m., Thursday, but Silva-Gomez failed to pull over. Officers eventually discontinued the pursuit.

The car at some point crossed the Missouri River into Omaha at speeds over 100 miles per hour, ran a red light and crashed into a sport utility vehicle at 13th and Missouri Avenue, in Omaha. The impact caused two children to be ejected from the SUV. KETV in Omaha reports Silva-Gomez suffered a fractured leg in the crash. He was wanted on warrants and was cited for reckless driving, no registration and no proof of insurance.

Police said the driver of the Murano, 18-year old Rosa Espinosa, of Omaha, suffered a fractured arm. Paramedics also took a 12-year-old girl to Nebraska Medicine for treatment of a fractured clavicle. A 9-year-old boy suffered a fractured arm and collarbone. The front-seat passenger, 17-year old Denice Garcia, of Omaha, suffered minor injuries, according to police.