Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports four arrests took place over nearly the past 10-days. On April 12th, 27-year old Danielson Allen-Harris, of Stuart, was arrested by Stuart Police on charges that include: Interference with Official Acts; Trafficking stolen weapons/1st offense; Felon in control of a firearm; Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree; Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer without injury, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. Allen-Harris – who also had multiple felony convictions in Illinois – was released from the Adair County Jail in Greenfield the same day, on a $5,000 cash or surety bond.

31-year old Tyrone Anthony Morris, of Stuart, was arrested at the same location on charges of Trafficking stolen weapons/1st offense; Reckless use of a firearm (for discharging a weapon near a residence where other persons were located), and Felon in control of a firearm. Morris had a previous conviction in Iowa for Domestic Assault causing bodily injury. He was released from the Adair County Jail on a $10,300 cash or surety bond.

As we reported last week, the incident began at around 11-p.m. Saturday, April 11th, with a report of shots fired at 615 SW 7th St. in Stuart, Apartment 6. Officers responding found fresh shell casings and determined that several shots had been fired within feet of the front door of the apartment Officers could hear people arguing inside the apartment and discovered three adults and several children were inside.

An investigation resulted in the discovery of two handguns, one of which has the serial number filed-off and was believed to be stolen, and marijuana. It was discovered that one of the male subjects fired several shots from one of the recovered handguns leading to the shots fired call. During the arrest, Allen-Harris allegedly became combative and assaulted a Stuart Reserve Police Officer by chest bumping him and spitting on a him. He also allegedly damaged a Sheriffs Department vehicle by kicking the door and windows. Deputies from the Adair and Guthrie County Sheriff’s Offices and Iowa State Troopers assisted at the scene.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 20-year old Jaxson Timothy Blade Hall, of Stuart, was arrested April 12th at a separate location from the previous incident. Hall was taken into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault w/injury or mental illness/1st offense, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Hall admitted to assaulting his girlfriend at their residence in the 500 block of Max Drive. He was later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

And, on April 13th, 33-year old Michael Eugene Matherly was arrested on two Union County warrants. He was later released on his Own Recognizance.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will conduct an electronic meeting 6-p.m. Wednesday (April 22nd) via YouTube (at https://youtu.be/g7b5aQpscRs). On the agenda is discussion with regard to the IASB Needs Assessment Survey Results, along with COVID-19/District Response and Planning.

Last week, Governor Reynolds announced that all school districts and nonpublic schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year and will continue to offer continuous learning to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. That also includes the cancellation of spring sports activities.

The governor and the Iowa Department of Education also announced that the state of Iowa will:

• Waive instructional time requirements for the remainder of the 2019-2020 regularly scheduled academic year for schools that continue to provide continuous learning through one of two approved options, voluntary educational enrichment opportunities, required educational services, or a combination of the two.
• Require schools to submit a Return to Learn Plan to the Iowa Department of Education by July 1 outlining ways they will address disruptions to learning as a result of COVID-19. This could include summer school, enrichment activities or other opportunities to address the needs of learners.
• Waive the requirement that schools start no earlier than Aug. 23, allowing school districts and nonpublic schools to make local decisions about the length of their 2020-2021 academic year.

The Atlantic School Board will also act on the resignation of Jordan Newberg as 2nd Grade Teacher/Girls Soccer/MS Wrestling Coach. And, they will act on the disposal of two buses: #12 (A 2008 Thomas) and #15, (a 2007 Thomas), both of which are being replaced with money from the VW grant. In order for the district to receive the grant money, the buses mentioned will need to be salvaged or destroyed.

The Board will act on approving Change Orders/Proposal Requests with regard to the Atlantic Athletic Facilities Improvement Project. Proposals for dirt work/perforated drain tile and related costs were received from Central Iowa Dirt Works of Johnston, for 8,173, and $8,710, from Rochon Corporation of Iowa.

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has identified a woman whose body was found inside a house near Grimes over the weekend. The sheriff’s office said in a news release Tuesday that 35-year-old Melanie Scheuring, of Grimes, was found dead in a home that deputies, firefighters and medics had been called to Sunday morning. Officials say arriving deputies and medics found a Scheuring unresponsive in the home, along with her 46-year-old fiance. Authorities have not released the fiance’s name or given details on how she died. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal of Investigation are investigating the death.

The Atlantic Fire Department was called to the scene of an unknown structure fire this afternoon. A building was said to be on fire at 65504 Galveston Road, northeast of the old State Patrol Headquarters off of Highway 71. The call went out at 12:22-p.m.  Crews were told a few minutes later there was a small grass fire at the scene…not a structure fire.

Montgomery County – As concerns continue to grow and more Iowans are becoming infected, the Montgomery County Auditor’s office is planning for the Primary Election on June 2. Montgomery County Auditor & Commissioner of Elections, Stephanie Burk said “We are confronting COVID-19 head-on with a challenge that requires us to make some changes. Some polling places in Montgomery County will be combined in effort to reduce exposure to our poll workers. Many of our loyal poll workers that have worked for many years fall under the high-risk category and we need to protect them. We will be cutting polling locations from seven to two. By doing this, it will reduce the workers,” Burke explained.

The Auditor’s office will be following guidelines to ensure that voting machines are clean. In addition, the poll workers will be provided with masks, gloves and shields. Voters will each be given a new pen to use. “By doing these practices, we will promote the health and safety of the poll workers needed to run Montgomery County’s elections,” Burke said.  Those voters that usually vote at the Elliott Community Building, Red Oak First Christian Church and the Red Oak Fire Station will be voting at the Red Oak Gold Fair Building. Any voters that vote at the Grant Fire Station and the Villisca Community Room will now be voting at the Stanton Fire Station. Burke said the inconvenience is expected to be minor and emphasized this is a temporary move just for this Primary Election due to COVID-19.

Auditor Burke continues to encourage citizens to vote by mail. The Montgomery County Auditor’s office recently mailed absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in Montgomery County. “We have had positive feedback and have already received hundreds of requests to be processed,” she said. The Iowa Secretary of State will be following up with an additional absentee request form. They will be mailing a request form to every active registered voter in the state as well. “If you already mailed a request form to the Auditor’s office, you do not need to submit another one. Your request will already be processed.” Burke explained. She also assured that only one ballot will be mailed to the voter. Absentee voting has security measures that are followed. Those request forms sent by the Secretary of State will be mailed to the voter at the end of the month.

“We are going to try to comply with all the recommendations from the Iowa Department of Public Health while providing in-person absentee voting. We want to minimize public health risks to voters and those election and courthouse staff.” Burke said. If the courthouse is closed to the public, curbside voting will be offered in the courthouse parking lot and by appointment only. If the courthouse is open to the public, voters will vote absentee in the courthouse as normal and curbside voting will still be available. In-person voting will begin on May 4.

For more information about the 2020 Primary Election or absentee voting, please call the Auditor’s office at 6235127. You can also follow Montgomery County Auditor & Elections Facebook page and at www.montgomerycountyiowa.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa (The Des Moines Register) — Magazine publisher and multimedia company Meredith Corp. has announced it will temporarily reduce pay for nearly two-thirds of its employees as it copes with plummeting advertising revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Des Moines Register reports that the pay reductions will begin May 4 and last through Sept. 4. The company said about 45% of its employees will see a 15% pay cut. The highest-paid employees will have pay reduced between 20% and 40%.

Company spokesman Art Slusark says no corporate or national media group employees earning less than $75,000 a year will have their pay cut. That includes employees in Des Moines, where Meredith is based.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Tuesday), held her daily COVID-19 press conference. Over the past 24-hours, she said there were:

• 482 NEW, positive COVID-19 cases, for a total of 3,641. 33% of the positive cases are related to the surveillance testing conducted at meat processing facilities. The IDPH has not yet released the age and location of the people who most-recently tested positive for COVID-19.
• Two new counties, though (Cherokee & Humboldt), were added to the list of counties with New cases of COVID-19, for a total of 84 counties.
• 1,313 new negative cases, 23, 974 total negative cases.
• There are 214 currently hospitalized coronavirus patients. The IDHP says 1,293 patients have recovered. The recovered patients account for 35% of all positive tests thus far.
• 27,615 total people have tested (or 1 out of every 113 per capita)
• 1,293 confirmed cases of Iowans who have recovered (for a recovery rate of 35%)
• The State Hygienic Lab has 7,273 tests available.
• Four additional deaths related to Long Term Care Facilities were also reported, for a total of 83. According to IDPH the additional 4 deaths were reported in the following counties.
  • Linn County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
  • Polk County, 1 older adult (61-80 years), 2 elderly adults (81+)

Ten percent of all the positive cases in Iowa are still related to long-term care facility outbreaks. 51% of all deaths in Iowa are among residents of those facilities. These cases represent the newest diagnosed cases and not all of the cases statewide. Across the State’s six Regional Medical Coordination Centers, there are: 214 COVID-19 patients hospitalized; 23 were admitted in the last 24-hours; 89 COVID-19 patients are being treated in an ICU; 60 are on ventilators. There are 4,200 in-patient beds available, 553 ICU beds and 696 venilators available for patient care.

Reynolds also officially announced the launching of “Test Iowa,” a program she alluded to last week.

(It’s a public-private partnership that makes available 540,000 COVID tests, to increase the State’s testing capacity up to 3,000 additional tests per day, in addition to what is currently taking place. It’s also designed to help gather critical information from Iowans that will help health officials better target and fight the virus.)

Iowa is only the second State in the nation to deploy the ambitious initiative.

(It includes an online health assessment to determine if a person SHOULD be tested, and drive-thru testing locations for swabbing. The swabs are sent to a lab with the results returned within 48-to 72-hours.)

The process, Reynolds said, “Is as easy as three simple steps.”

She said the State is also working to connect individuals who test positive to health care providers through a tele-health visit. In the meantime, a hotline has been established for questions about COVID-19 in Iowa. It is available 24/7 by calling 2-1-1 or 1-800-244-7431.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent accidents. At around 3:27-a.m. Monday (April 20), a single-vehicle rollover accident took place off Interstate 80 near mile marker 62. Officials say a 2004 Chevy Express van driven by 20-year old Tearra Marie Guevara, of Lincoln, NE, was westbound on I-80 when the woman lost control of the vehicle, which then flipped then onto its passenger side. There were no injuries were reported. Damage to the van was estimated at $4,500.

And, on April 15th, Cass County Deputies responded to a report of a motor-vehicle accident on 610th Street. A 2007 Jeep Commander driven by 25-year old Kyle Lynn Wilson, of Atlantic, was northbound on 610th Street when the vehicle left the roadway and entered the west ditch. It rolled over and eventually caught fire. Wilson and his passenger, 40-year-old Laurie Kay Parrott, suffered minor injuries, and were transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. The vehicle was estimated to be a total loss. The incident remains under investigation.