City Street Crews To Work On Railroad Crossing
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Street Dept. will be closing the railroad crossing on 6th Ave. S.W. starting May 7th, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m. We will be grinding the existing asphalt approaches on both sides and then laying new asphalt to make a smoother crossing.
Plymouth County Reports Having 34 Positive Cases Of COVID-19
(Le Mars) — People have had to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus since mid-March, with several interruptions to our daily lives. Businesses, church services, organizations, events, meetings and seminars, and schools have all had to be closed or cancelled because of the virus. The number of positive
cases of COVID-19 continues to climb, including Plymouth County. Tara Geddes, Community Health Director for Plymouth County says as of Wednesday, May 6th, Plymouth County has reported 34 positive cases.
Some people have wondered if Governor Reynolds was a bit too quick in lifting many of the restrictions for 77 Iowa counties, including Plymouth County.
Geddes says since the governor’s order allowing for businesses to again be open, Plymouth County has witnessed a significant increase for the number of positive cases.
The community health official says Plymouth County probably has not yet seen our number of positive coronavirus numbers reach their peak.
Geddes says health officials are learning more about the virus each and every day. She says the symptoms associated with the COVID-19 virus have now expanded.
Check back here for part 2 of the series.
More Businesses Allowed To Open Beginning On Friday
(Des Moines) — Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a proclamation allowing campgrounds, drive-in movie theaters, tanning facilities and medical spas to reopen throughout the state tomorrow (Friday).
Iowa dentists will be able to perform routine procedures if their office has enough masks and other personal protective equipment. LAST Friday, restaurants and other businesses were allowed to reopen in 77 Iowa counties.
Social and fraternal clubs in those counties may reopen THIS Friday, to serve food and beverages — but at 50 percent capacity. In the other 22 counties, fitness centers can start taking appointments and let one person in at a time. Malls and other retail businesses can reopen at half capacity. However,
restaurants in the 22 county zone must remain closed.
Denison Mayor Wants TestIowa.com To Set Up Testing Site For Her City
(Denison) — The mayor of a western Iowa city that’s home to two packing plants is asking state officials to establish a “Test Iowa” site in her community. Pam Soseman is the mayor of
Denison.
State officials confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks on Tuesday
at packing plants in Perry, Waterloo, Tama and Columbus Junction. Smithfield operates a pork plant in Denison, with about 12-hundred-50 hourly workers. A few hundred others work at the Quality Meats plant in Denison. Denison is in Crawford County and the latest state report shows there are now 103 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Crawford County.
National data indicates meat packing has more foreign-born workers than any other industry in the country. Soseman is worried the Test Iowa app that screens people for testing may not be understandable to all the packing plant workers in Denison.
Last month state officials sent test kits to Columbus Junction and Waterloo after concerns that dozens of workers had contracted COVID-19 and the virus was spreading in the community. The state has also sent what Reynolds calls “strike teams” to test nursing home employees in areas where outbreaks have been identified in long term care facilities.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Celebrates National Nurses Week
(Le Mars) — This is National Nurses Week, and Lorrie Mortensen serves as the Director of Nursing at Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars. She says this week is recognized as the time we honor our nation’s nurses because of Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Nightingale was a nurse during the Crimean War and offered aid and comfort to wounded and ill soldiers on both sides.
Mortensen talks about the number of nurses employed at Floyd Valley Healthcare.
Mortensen says there are many different aspects of nursing that extend from surgical units to trauma to intensive care to pediatrics and more. She says nurses are the ones that provide care round the clock.
Mortensen says she often refers to a quotation heard about the importance of nursing when discussing the nursing profession with others.
The director of nursing says it is the nurse that constantly is in contact with the patient and offering comfort and aid to patients. Mortensen says she had the privilege when first beginning her nursing career to work side by side with Dr. Donald Faber.
Mortensen offers several examples of how the nurses carry on after the doctor’s visit.
Since the start of the COVID-19 virus pandemic, nurses have been working longer hours and are on the front lines of the virus. Mortensen says the coronavirus has interrupted everyone’s lives, including the nursing staff.
(photos contributed.)
Nebraska Man Who Fired Shot At Trooper Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison
(Sioux City, IA) — An Omaha man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for firing a shot at an Iowa state trooper who was chasing him. Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony Walls entered a guilty plea to assault on a peace officer and four additional charges. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge. Walls was a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation in Sioux City last December. He resisted arrest after the trooper found he was wanted for domestic assault. As he ran away, Walls fired two shots at the trooper, but he missed.
Several Iowa National Guard Troops To Be Deployed
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa National Guard reports several troops will be deployed in the coming months. About 330 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be deployed in late July. Another 400 Iowa National Guard soldiers will be headed to Kosovo. The Guard will hold send-off ceremonies for the units in August and September. They will complete final training and those deployments are
expected to last about one year.
