The deadline to file nomination papers for the Nov. 3rd General Election, is fast approaching. Candidates must submit their nomination papers to your Auditor’s Office by the end of business, Friday. In Cass County, all candidates need to call 712-243-4570 to set up a time to file their papers at the courthouse before 5-p.m., due to the fact the courthouse is closed to the public.

There are still three candidates needed for the Cass County Soil & Water Conservation District, which is a non-partisan post. Four people are needed to file for the Agricultural Extension Council. The filing deadline for that office is August 26, 2020.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (March 19, 2020) — Hy-Vee, Inc. announced today (Thursday), additional changes to its operations in response to the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Effective Friday, March 20, customers will no longer be allowed to bring in reusable bags until further notice since it is difficult to monitor their cleanliness. Because it is not always easy to know the sanitization procedures customers are taking at their homes to keep the bags clean, this is one more way the grocer is helping prevent the spread of the virus.

Customers also will start seeing temporary window panels installed at checkouts to help provide an additional layer of protection for both our employees and customers.

These panels are being installed at the checkout, as this is the point in the store visit where customers and employees are in the closest contact. In the aisles or at our service counters, customers and employees have more flexibility in placing distance between themselves but the setup of the checkout limits that ability. These panels are in place in our Des Moines-area stores, and will be installed in all other Hy-Vee locations over the next few days.

“The spread of this virus is asking us all to take extraordinary measures and change the way we live our lives,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman, CEO and president. “We are continuing to adapt at Hy-Vee so that we can serve our customers and keep everyone in our stores as safe and healthy as possible.”

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been notified of 6 additional positive cases of Iowans with COVID-19, for a total of 44 positive cases. 642 negative tests have been conducted at the State Hygienic Lab.

According to IDPH, three individuals reside in Polk County, one adult 19-40, one middle aged adult 41-60, and one older adult 61-80.  One adult 19-40 living in Muscatine County, one middle aged adult 41-60 living in Dubuque County; and one adult 19-40 living in Johnson County is an adult in. Two additional non-residents of Iowa tested positive at Iowa healthcare facilities for COVID-19.

The Iowa Department of Homeland Security said also, there are several RUMORS that need to be addressed with regard to the COVID-19 outbreak:

1. The Governor is NOT announcing a 15 day shelter in place recommendation at her press conference today as you may have heard from an email that came from the Secretary of State office.

2. The National Guard is NOT being called up to close interstates, borders or anything else in Iowa.

AMES, Iowa – March 19, 2020 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is requesting public input on the proposed replacement of the U.S. 30 bridge over the stream located 2.3 miles east of Harrison County Road F-32, and the proposed detour route.

The proposed project provides for removing the existing 50-foot by 30-foot steel girder and floor beam bridge and replacing it with a single span, 80-foot by 44-foot beam bridge. This bridge will be constructed using accelerated bridge construction (ABC) methods, where the bridge will be constructed off-site and will then be slid into place once the existing bridge is removed. This method was chosen to expedite the project and reduce the amount of time the road is closed. For more information, please go to www.iowadot.gov/pim to view a video showing an example of how the ABC process works.

Through traffic on U.S. 30 would be detoured during construction using Harrison County Road F-32, Iowa 191, and Iowa 37. The closure would be approximately two weeks in length to allow for the removal of the existing bridge and slide the new bridge into its place. Local traffic will have access to U.S. 30 during construction.

For general information regarding the proposed improvements or public meeting, contact Scott Suhr, transportation planner, Iowa DOT District 4 Office, 2210 E. Seventh Street, Atlantic, Iowa 50022, phone 712-243-3355 or 800-289-4368, email scott.suhr@iowadot.us.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey of bankers in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states suggests they expect the economy to slow down over the next few months as the nation deals with the coronavirus outbreak. The overall index for the region fell to 35.5 in March from February’s healthy 51.6 reading. Any score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said 61 percent of the bankers surveyed expect the measures being taken to fight the coronavirus to lead to a recession.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Revenue today (Thursday), extended the filing and payment deadline for several state tax types, including income tax. The changes, prompted by COVID19, are designed to provide flexibility to hard-working Iowans whose lives have been disrupted. The changes are a result of an order signed by Director of Revenue Kraig Paulsen. The order extends filing and payment deadlines for income, franchise, and moneys and credits taxes with a due date on or after March 19, 2020, and before July 31, 2020, to a new deadline of July 31, 2020.

Specifically, the order includes:

IA 1040 Individual Income Tax Return and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1040C Composite Return and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1041 Fiduciary Return and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1120 Corporation Income Tax Return and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1120F Franchise Tax Return for Financial Institutions and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1065 Iowa Partnership Return and all supporting forms and schedules
IA 1120S S Corporation Return and all supporting forms and schedules
Credit Union Moneys and Credits Tax Confidential Report

Businesses and organizations are being urged to donate personal protective equipment (PPE), by contacting your local public health agency and county emergency management agency. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) is encouraging Iowa businesses and organizations to donate extra personal protective equipment to assist health care providers, healthcare facilities and first responders who are actively responding to COVID-19.

Ken Sharp, division director of Acute Disease Prevention, Emergency Response and Environmental Health “This is an unprecedented public health disaster and stocks of personal protective equipment for health care providers and first responders are being used rapidly. Any organizations that have extra PPE supplies that aren’t immediately needed should consider donating them to help those on the front lines of this disease.”

Any type of health care PPE will be welcomed, especially rubber gloves, gowns, eye protection and masks. Both the Cass and Montgomery County Emergency Management Agencies are working to address needs locally and beyond. To donate PPE in Cass County, please contact the Cass County Public Health Department at 712-243-7552 or Cass County EMA at 712-254-1500.

In Montgomery County, contact Montgomery County Public Health or Montgomery County Emergency Management. Brian Hamman, Montgomery County Emergency Management Director, says “This is a worldwide pandemic, any and all donated supplies are extremely welcomed and will be distributed to our local health care facilities and local first responders to continue to respond to the active COVID-19 threat.”

For PPE donations in other area counties, contact your local Department of Public Health or Emergency Management Coordinator.

(Radio Iowa) — Most court proceedings in Iowa are on hold to prevent the spread of the coronavirus — but county clerk of court offices remain open to deal with legal emergencies. State Court Administrator Todd Nuccio says they are keeping a narrow scope. “At this point, we’re focusing on emergency matters. Things like domestic abuse, protective orders, elder abuse proceedings, child removal proceedings, hospitalization, mental health commitment-those types of actions that require immediate intervention by the court,” Nuccio.

He says the court system continues to accept all kinds of filings, but new in-person trials won’t be scheduled until early May.  “It’s just that you’re not going to be able to receive a bench trial or a jury trial any time for the near future.” Trials that were already in progress as of March 13th will continue. Even if county courthouse buildings are closed to the public, they’ll have information posted outside for contacting the clerk of court.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met this (Thursday) morning to act on Pandemic Pay Resolution for both the Hourly/Non-Exempt, and Contracted/Salaried Employees. Both Resolutions passed. Additional details were not immediately available. The meeting was supposed to have been conducted electronically live, on a You Tube channel, but technical difficulties prevented that from happening.

A video of the meeting will be posted on You Tube as soon as it’s available.