(Radio Iowa) — Local public health officials say one-fifth of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases are in Black Hawk County and more than 90 percent of the county’s cases are connected to the Tyson pork processing plant in Waterloo. Dr. Mathew Sojka, the chief medical officer for Mercy One in Waterloo, says it’s a scary time.

“We don’t know if another surge is going to occur,” he says. “I’m very nervous about that with seeing the numbers in the community increase like they have over the last week.” Dr. Sharon Duclos is medical director at People’s Community Health Clinic in Waterllo. She says health care workers are going through an emotional roller coaster.

“It’s hard because you start to go through the grief of realizing, again, this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” she says. Dr. Duclos says her greatest fear is a member of her staff will contract the virus. Black Hawk County public health officials say one percent of the county’s population has tested positive for the coronavirus. Eleven resident of Black Hawk County have died of the virus.

(Radio Iowa) — The mayors of five cities in the Sioux City metro are asking local public health officials as well as state officials in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota to reveal more information about Covid-19 cases in their area. Sioux City, Iowa Mayor Bob Scott says “Provide more comprehensive reporting data to include the specific locations where any outbreak or spread has occurred.”

Local public health officials have refused to say whether a recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the region is linked to a meat packing plant in Dakota City, Nebraska. It’s the largest employer in the Sioux City metro area. The letter from the five mayors directly asks any area business to publicly reveal if there’s been an outbreak of the virus among employees.

“This includes accurate information to employees and the public about any confirmed cases in their facilities and the steps they’re taking to protect their employees,” Scott says. “This information should be shared in a response plan to reduce the spread of the disease in their facilities and our community.” The mayors are asking any business that’s the site of an outbreak to close until they develop a response plan.

The mayors of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, South Sioux City, Nebraska; North Sioux City, South Dakota and Dakota City, Nebraska signed onto the statement along with Sioux City’s mayor. The group also referred to regional closures related to the pandemic. “Our priority is the health and safety of our citizens,” Scott said. “To that end, we urge Governor Reynolds, Governor Rickets and Governor Noem to act cautiously in lifting current restrictions across the three-state region too soon.”

Yesterday (Monday), Governor Reynolds announced restaurants, bars, fitness clubs and retail businesses in 77 Iowa counties may reopen on May 1st. The four counties that are adjacent to Woodbury County are included in that opening-for-business zone.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:25 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will partially reopen businesses and churches in 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties, even as the state is suffering from fast-growing numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths. Beginning in those counties May 1, Reynolds said that restaurants, fitness centers, retail stores and malls will be allowed to reopen at 50 percent of their operating capacity. She said that she would also allow church services to resume without limits on their size statewide. Reynolds said the 77 counties have experienced a downward trend in virus activity over the last two weeks. She said that she would extend previously-ordered business closures in 22 other counties through May 15.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Meat isn’t going to disappear from supermarkets because of outbreaks of the coronavirus among workers at U.S. slaughterhouses. But as the meat plants struggle to remain open, consumers could face less selection and slightly higher prices. Industry leaders acknowledge that the U.S. food chain has rarely been so stressed and that no one is sure about the future, even as they try to dispel concerns about shortages. On Sunday, the meat processing giant Tyson Foods ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times and other newspapers outlining the difficulty of producing meat while keeping more than 100,000 workers safe and shutting some plants.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislative leaders say they will not resume this year’s legislative session until after May 15. The Iowa Legislative Council will meet by telephone this week to vote on the continued suspension of the session. The date and time for the meeting wasn’t immediately set. The council makes rules when the legislative body isn’t in session. It voted on April 9 to continue the initial suspension passed in March due to increasing coronavirus cases.

EARLING, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in western Iowa have responded to an explosion at a gas station in the tiny town of Earling. A woman who answered the phone for the Shelby County Emergency Management office confirmed that an explosion had occurred at the gas station Monday morning, but said she could give no other details, including whether anyone had been injured. Omaha, Nebraska, television station KETV reports from local officials that two people were sent to hospitals with injuries. Video footage captured by the station showed the windows of nearby homes shattered by the blast. Earling is a village of about 400 people located about 110 miles west of Des Moines.

Last week, we told you the Des Moines Register officially cancelled this year’s RAGBRAI and announced plans to hold it next year, in July. That was due to concerns about COVID-19. Today (Monday), we learned that the other, across state ride, is cancelled. T-J Juskiewicz, Director of the Iowa Ride, said “Unfortunately, after evaluating the current situation surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19) and great concern for the safety of the general public, the townspeople, riders, support drivers, volunteers, the Iowa State Patrol troopers, safety officials and staff, it will not be safe nor feasible to host the inaugural Iowa’s Ride on July 12-18, 2020.”

Here’s a quick snapshot of what the Governor’s proclamation on Monday, April 27th, means:

The CAM School District’s (CSD) Board of Education held a scheduled 10-minute electronic meeting Monday afternoon. The Board held a Public Hearing on the 2020-21 Certified Budget and Flex Resolutions, both of which were approved a short time later. The Budget calls for a levy of $10.47/per $1,000 assessed property valuation.

They also approved Resolutions: Expending funds from the CAM CSD Flexibility Account – for Professional Development & a Professional Development Core Curriculum, as well as the Home School Assistance Program.

Other business included approval of the 2020-21 contract agreement with CAMEA (the CAM Education Assoc.) and contracts for 2020-21 School Year. Steps and lanes as well as the cost of insurance were previously negotiated, with a 2.33% package increase. Hourly staff received an additional 2% increase because of the increase in FICA and IPERS.

The CAM Board approved the resignations of: Ellie Stirek – Cheerleading sponsor; Samantha Rosenbeck – Model Teacher, and Anna Amdor as ParaEducator at the South Elementary School.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s Attorney General Tom Miller is suing an Orange City man for alleged price gouging. Spokesman Lynn Hicks says the lawsuit accuses Michael Evan Noteboom of charging excessive prices for some 250 items. “He was in one case selling a 12-count package of paper towels for $119.99. He was selling a 12-ounce can of Lysol for $65.99, a 12-pack of toilet paper for 86 dollars,” Hicks says. Hicks says they first asked Noteboom to stop selling the items at those prices.

Our lawsuit alleges he persisted, so we followed up with a cease and desist letter. Still no response from him, so we filed a lawsuit,” Hicks says. “This is the first lawsuit our office has filed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hicks says. while this is the first lawsuit — it is not the first report of price gouging. “We’ve had 470 reports of price gouging across Iowa during this pandemic,” according to Hicks. “….Our office has been very busy checking out each of those reports.” The governor’s disaster declaration triggered the price gouging rule. Hicks says the complaints vary.

He says they’ve come about individual sellers posting items online and other complaints come against traditional stores.”Everyone is covered under this law. anybody who sells something at an excessive price for goods and services that are needed during a disaster are covered,” Hick says. Hicks says they contact the seller if the complaint looks legitimate, and the seller will most often lower the price and even give a refund.

“For the most part we are getting cooperation — be we continue investigate and we will see if we have any others that raise to the level of a lawsuit,” he says. There have also been some complaints that don’t fall under the price-gouging rules. “Some people have called and said the price of wine has gone up — well that isn’t quite considered necessary,” Hicks says. “And so, it has to fit those definitions. A lot of people say the price of gasoline varies from this city to that city. The price of gasoline has gone down during this pandemic, so it’s not price gouging.”

The lawsuit filed against the Orange City man asks a judge to order a temporary and permanent injunction to stop Noteboom from selling household merchandise on any platform. It also seeks consumer restitution and civil penalties. Businesses or individuals found in violation of Iowa’s price-gouging rule could face civil penalties of up to 40-thousand dollars under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office responded Monday morning to several 911 calls of a large explosion in Earling. The calls started coming in at approximately 8:25-a.m. Upon arrival it was known that the Earling Standard gas station was on fire and debris was scattered a large distance from the building.

Photo courtesy KNOD in Harlan

Two individuals who were inside the building during the explosion did make it out and received medical attention. Both were initially transported by ambulance to Myrtue Hospital in Harlan, and from there one was taken by helicopter to an Omaha Hospital.

(Radio Iowa) — The Calhoun County Board of Supervisors and the county attorney met this (Monday) morning and accepted the resignation of Sheriff Scott Anderson. Anderson’s resignation comes about two weeks after he was arrested and charged with domestic abuse assault and assault on persons in certain occupations. A petition for his removal as Sheriff had already been filed prior to his resignation. In addition to the criminal charges, Anderson is accused of sexual harassment of a former Calhoun County Dispatcher.