Police in Red Oak report two separate arrests occurred Wednesday. A little before 9-p.m., 20-year old Logan Dane Andersen, of Carthage, MO., was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance-Marijuana/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Andersen was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 8-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 42-year old Janet Lynn Hernandez, of Red Oak, on a warrant for Compulsory Education Violation/1st offense. Her bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – The number of Iowans hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 has been on a steady uptick this month. As of early this (Thursday) morning (3:45-a.m.), 195 Iowans are hospitalized, five more than yesterday, and up more than 22 percent since July 1st. Governor Kim Reynolds says the majority of TOTAL positive cases this month are concentrated in 10 of Iowa’s counties — and among younger adults.

“We know where the positive cases are occurring and why and we’re carefully considering whether additional targeted mitigation efforts are necessary to slow the spread in some areas,” the governor says. The average age of those testing positive for the virus was 63 in March, when the first cases were confirmed in Iowa. This week the average age has dropped to 39. Reynolds has made it clear she may re-impose some restrictions on bars as a result of the increase in confirmed infections among young Iowans.

“You will not see me shut down the entire state,” Reynolds says. “We know where the increases are taking place. We have some idea of what we believe it may be tied to and so we will target our response based on the information that the Department of Public Health and the epidemiologist team is collecting.”

More than 391-thousand Iowans have taken a COVID test this year. Over 36, 640 have tested positive, and nearly 92-hundred of them currently have an active infection.

(Updated 7:56-a.m.) (Radio Iowa) – A woman who’s been the Iowa Department of Public Health’s lead spokesperson for more than a decade has been forced out of the post. Polly Carver-Kimm says she believes she’s a casualty of the pressure the department’s been under in the midst of the pandemic and, as a former journalist, she felt her role was to be an advocate for openness and timely responses. “I felt that maybe that was part of the reason why I was let go because, you know, we kind of closed up a little bit,” Carver-Kimm says.

Carver-Kimm says her dismissal was not a surprise. “I have sensed that something was coming for several months now because I was just consistently relieved of duties and it started back in March not long after we had our first case of COVID-19,” Carver-Kimm says, “and at that time then I was told that I wouldn’t be handling media inquiries anymore.”

Carver-Kimm says her other job duties that related to COVID-19 were gradually reduced, then, about a month ago, Carver-Kimm was removed from her role as the officer in the agency who fulfilled public records requests from the media. She says the department’s director, who is leaving HIS job July 31st, called her yesterday (Wednesday) and gave her the choice to resign or be terminated. “I asked why,” Carver-Kimm says, “and he said they were doing a restructuring and that was all he offered.”

Amy McCoy, a lobbyist for the agency who was assigned to work with the media during the pandemic, says the department can’t comment on personnel matters, but has gone above and beyond to share up-to-date and comprehensive information about COVID-19. She said the agency values the role media plays in getting information to the public and intends to continue a strong partnership.

Carver-Kimm says the past few months have been a trying period for the agency. “All the people who work at IDPH have the best interests of the health of Iowans in mind. This is a situation that it’s no surprise to anyone that’s become a political football, too, and so all of the media is vetting by the governor’s office,” Carver-Kimm says. “..I’m not saying that the governor’s office changes our message because I believe the governor’s office has the best interests of Iowans in mind, too. It just makes it difficult to work independently.”

Carver-Kimm is married to Radio Iowa sports director Todd Kimm. She was a long-time reporter and morning talk show host at a Des Moines radio station before she was hired to work in the public health department in 2007.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has denied an Iowa drug kingpin’s requests to delay his execution, which is scheduled for Friday. U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand wrote Tuesday that he would not intervene to delay Dustin Honken’s execution date due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said the Bureau of Prisons was in the best position to weigh the health risks against the benefits of carrying out the execution. Strand also denied Honken’s motion to declare his execution void due to an alleged procedural error by the government. He affirmed the executive branch’s power to set the date for executions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police found two bodies in a home after responding to a 911 call from a child who believed his mother had been injured. The child called 911 just after 1 p.m. Wednesday to report his mother had been hurt, prompting officers and medics to go to the home on the city’s south side. Sgt. Paul Parizek says the first-responders found the bodies of a woman and a man, and both had traumatic injuries. Parizek says a homicide investigation was underway but there didn’t appear to be a threat to the community. The names of those killed weren’t released so relatives could be notified.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials in central Nebraska have identified two men killed in a head-on crash involving a car and semitrailer as Iowa residents. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that the crash happened Tuesday evening on U.S. Highway 83 about seven miles north of North Platte. Investigators say a northbound car crossed into the southbound lanes directly into the path of the truck, which tried but could not avoid a head-on crash. Deputies say both vehicles caught fire, and two men in the car died at the scene. Authorities later identified the driver killed as 32-year-old Robert Islas and his passenger as 59-year-old Gilbert Vasquez, both of Sioux City, Iowa. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a judge’s order that the Dakota Access Pipeline be shut down in three weeks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued an “administrative stay” of the judge’s order. But The Bismarck Tribune reports that the appeals court said its order “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of the case. The stay will remain in place until the appeals court rules on whether developer Energy Transfer can keep oil flowing while the court decides its appeal of the shutdown order.