Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 1:40-p.m. Monday, of 26-year old Jacob Jones, from Creston. Jones was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for Domestic Assault with Injury. He remained in the jail pending a bond hearing.  And, at around 10-p.m. Monday, 40-year old Justin Robertson, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County LEC on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original, Possession of a Controlled Substance, charge. Robertson was later released on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux Rapids City Council has decided on disciplinary action for their Chief of Police over a comment he made on social media. Chief Tim Porter posted a comment on an image of a truck attempting to drive through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Des Moines. It read: “Hit the Gas and Hang on over the speed bumps.” Porter later apologized for the post, saying it was made on the wrong post.

After a closed session, the city council decided on two weeks suspension without pay and to have the council and Porter take a sensitivity course.

(Radio Iowa) -A soldier from the 185th Air National Guard in Sioux City is walking across Iowa from border to border to raise awareness about mental health. Technical Sergeant Jeff Campbell is on a 20 day, 389 mile journey that started in Clinton and will end back in Sioux City. “Twenty days? Nothing compared to someone who is suffering with depression for six months, someone who is legitimately struggling with a marriage,” Campbell says. “…We need to teach people that these bubbles of time are not permanent. You only do that by talking, by relating, by sitting down, having conversations.”

Campbell works as what’s called a “Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape” specialist for the 185th. He says issues concerning mental health affect everyone, plus mental health is a particular concern during these times of social distancing and isolation because of Covid019. “I’ve had a lot of people stop and talk to me about what I’m doing,” Campbell says. “I had a lady open up to me about a son that had died because of suicide and just the other day I walked with a guy who was Vietnam vet for five miles and he was just talking about his struggles.”

Campbell says mental health is a particular concern during these times of social distancing and isolation because of Covid-19. And he says it’s an issue in rural as well as urban Iowa. “It’s actually eye-opening talking to just different farmers and stuff and then just how they struggle in their suicide rate among their own community. You can’t escape it,” Campbell says. “It doesn’t matter where you re in the world, like, if you’re struggling mentally you have to be able to step outside of that…and be able to say: ‘Hey, this isn’t going to be forever.'”

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 600-thousand Iowans live with some form of mental illness.

The Atlantic City Council has a lot to consider during their meeting on Wednesday (July 1st). On their agenda is:

• The 3rd & final reading of an ordinance amending the Animal Shelter’s fee schedule to cover State mandated vaccinations of all intake animals and those adopted, if there is no proof of prior vaccinations. Approval of the ordinance would mean animals over 6 months of age not claimed by their owner within 3 days, must be vaccinated for Parvovirus, Distemper & Rabies. Animals under 6 months of age will need all vaccinations except rabies. No animal may be adopted or transferred to another facility without the age required vaccinations. The costs, ranging from $13-to-$60 or more, will be passed on to the adoptee.
• The 2nd reading of an ordinance amending City Code with regard to Curfew. The current ordinance states persons under 18 are not allowed outdoors “except between 6-p.m. and Midnight.” The overlooked error will be changed to “Midnight to 5-a.m.”
• The Atlantic City Council will also act on the 1st reading of an amended ordinance pertaining to Tree Trimmer Licensing. The amendment of a Permit Required section will be amended so that proof of Worker’s Comp Insurance (if applicable) is required; The amendment adds exemptions for: City employees performing tree work as part of their job; Private property owners trimming, removing or cutting trees on their own property or the publicly-owned right-of-way abutting their property, or any exceptions determined valid the Mayor, on a case-by-case basis (such as a declared emergency).
• The Council will hold the 1st reading of an amended ordinance pertaining to “Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants.” Changes include the addition of mobile food vendors and requirements, bond requirements are changed to insurance requirements, and there are two new exemptions.
• Another 1st reading of an ordinance concerns “Doing Business with the City,” which adds requirements for persons and businesses doing work for the City, to include insurance requirements.
• The Atlantic City Council will hold the 1st reading of an ordinance pertaining to “Truck & Large Vehicle parking,” (as previously mentioned, following last week’s CPC meeting).

There are also matters pertaining to: The closing of an alley behind the Fireside Lounge on July 11th, from 8-a.m. until 11-p.m, for a Street Dance; The Whitney Group Urban Renewal Area/TIF/Property Tax levy & a related public hearing; A supplemental Engineering Agreement for the 2020 Atlantic Golf & Country Club/Palm Street Drainage problem; The re-appointment of Alexsis Fleener to the Community Promotion Commission, and recognition of Crista Wiskus for her 20-years of service to the Atlantic Public Library.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports 145 new cases of COVID-19 today, and five more deaths. The latest figures mean 28,874 Iowans have tested positive, and a total of 712 have died. Officials say 302,719 Iowans have been tested for the virus, with 273,427 coming up with a negative test result.  The IDPH says more Iowans have recovered from the virus (23,003) and a total of 810,507 assessments have been completed, 5,000 more than yesterday.  Testing levels are at all-time highs for Iowa, averaging more than 5,500 test results per day in the last 7 days.

Three fewer Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are being reported today (21). The peak occurred in May at 35. In those care facilities, 669 people have tested positive, 520 have recovered and 365 have died, which is one more death than reported Monday. Iowa’s hospitalization data show 14 more people were hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms Monday, for a total of 133. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients number 34 (1 less than yesterday), 25 were admitted to a hospital over the past 24-hours, as compared to 19 the previous day. Two more people were on a ventilator, for a total of 20.

The numbers for southwest and western Iowa (RMCC Region 4) are nearly steady, with 5 hospitalized, 2 in an ICU, 0 admitted and one person on a ventilator). Area County-by-County figures show:

• 8 more people have recovered from COVID-19 in Adams and Guthrie Counties
• 3 more have recovered in Audubon County
• 11 more have recovered in Shelby County
• and 42 more persons have reportedly recovered in Pottawattamie County. There were also 8 more positive cases noted on the State’s COVID-19 database today.