Plymouth County Health Director Offers Perspective On Coronavirus
(Le Mars) — There has been a lot of information as well as misinformation about the coronavirus that has been in the news lately. Plymouth County Community Health Director, Tara Geddes, says there are several types of coronavirus, and there is no reason to panic.
Although there have been some deaths reported in Washington State related to the coronavirus, Geddes says we perhaps should be more concerned about influenza.
Geddes says people need to practice common sense to best protect themselves against the Covid 19 coronavirus.
The community health director says researchers are working hard to come up with a vaccine against the coronavirus, but as of now there isn’t any vaccine available.
Geddes says there have not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the state of Iowa.
Geddes suggests for people who have recently made international travel to check with their physician if they have questions about the coronavirus.
Judge Dismisses Charges Of Vehicular Homicide Against Des Moines Man
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge has dismissed charges filed against a man accused in the crash deaths of two men in Des Moines. Polk County court records say the judge ruled Monday that probable cause didn’t exist that Alejandro Contreras had committed the crimes of vehicular homicide. He’d already pleaded not guilty to the two counts. The crash occurred around
11:45 a.m. Feb. 20, when a southbound car and an eastbound car that had just entered a roadway collided. Police say two men in the eastbound car died.
The county attorney told station KCCI he expects the charges to be refiled by Friday.
Army Corps Of Engineers To Reduce Water Flow From Gavins Point Dam
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam will be decreased somewhat this week, so the river levels won’t interfere with ongoing levee repairs downstream. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that the amount of water flowing out of
Gavins Point on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will be reduced to 35,000 cubic feet (991.09 cubic meters) per second. That’s down from the current 38,000 cubic feet (1076.04 cubic meters) per second. Even at the new level, the releases from Gavins Point dam will remain more than double what is
typical for this time of year.
Former Soil And Water Conservation Officer Charged With Theft
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – A former secretary for Iowa soil and water conservation districts has been charged with stealing from the organizations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Iowa’s Northern District says Leslie Carey was charged Monday with one count of wire fraud. The Waterloo- Cedar Falls Courier reports her attorney filed a notice that she would plead guilty. Carey was an administrative aide for the soil and water conservation
districts in Black Hawk and Bremer counties from 2007 to 2017. She resigned after an overdrawn account led to a state audit.
Animal Abuser Given Two Years Sentencing
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A man who beat to death and beheaded a rabbit at an animal shelter in Des Moines has been given a two-year sentence. Court records say Bobby Carothers pleaded guilty last month to animal torture and requested immediate sentencing. Staffers at the Animal Rescue League shelter identified Carothers as being the last visitor in the building on Dec. 15.
The records say that as Carothers left he told one of the staffers that he was having rabbit stew that night. A short time later employees found the dead rabbit, Petunia.
Restoration Efforts Underway To Save Revolutionary War Monument
SPRINGVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A deteriorating Revolutionary War monument will be restored this summer in eastern Iowa if the Daughters of the American Revolution can raise enough money. The 16.5-foot marble and granite monument honors a Revolutionary War soldier buried in Linn County. Beverly Franks with the Marion-Linn Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution told The Gazette the monument is something to be proud of and should be saved. The monument was built in honor of Nathan Brown. The former soldier settled in Springville in the 1800s. Brown lived in Iowa for only 2 1/2 years before he died Nov. 25, 1842, at 81.
