The Waterloo City Council meets in regular session beginning at 5:30 this afternoon; among the items on the agenda will be a vote to hire a new police chief. Mayor Quentin Hart last week named Dr. Joel Fitzgerald, Sr., of Philadelphia to the position, subject to council approval. During an interview on KXEL Live & Local, the mayor outlined why Fitzgerald was his choice; you can hear the interview as a podcast at kxel.com. Hart said he was not aware of any opposition at the council level to his selection.
The state reported 389 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa yesterday, for a total of 2,902. One additional death reported yesterday, a resident of Muscatine County, making the state’s death toll so far 75. There are 198 Iowans currently hospitalized due to the virus. A total of 261 of the 389 new positive cases—two thirds—was due to testing of meat processing facilities–84 cases at Tyson, 177 cases at National Beef in Tama.
After 19 public officials in Black Hawk County called for Tyson Fresh Meats to close its Waterloo pork processing plant due to spread of the coronavirus, now officials in the city of Perry are calling for Tyson to close the plant in that town following a confirmed case of COVID-19 there. Tyson has shut down its plan in Columbus Junction…but the Waterloo and Perry plants remain open.
The Iowa prison system has had its first case of an inmate testing positive for the novel coronavirus. State officials confirmed the case; the inmate had been transferred Thursday from Henry County to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville. The inmate is in stable condition and in isolation while staff traces the inmate’s contacts.
And hospital administrators have acknowledged that 64 employees at the University of Iowa Health Care campus in Iowa City have tested positive for COVID-19, four of those this past Thursday alone.
It now appears a University of Northern Iowa employee has tested positive for coronavirus, the first known case on campus. UNI President Mark Nook said in a campus-wide statement the unnamed employee self-reported the diagnosis to the university Thursday, was “last on campus more than 30 days ago” and has been self-isolating since being diagnosed. Nook said he does “not expect to report additional confirmed cases through campus-wide messages moving forward.” The university did not announce the case to the general public or the news media.
The money is officially gone…the $350 billion allocated in the CARES act to help small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. John Sorenson, president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association, told KXEL News about Iowa’s share of that fund; you can hear the full interview as a podcast at kxel.com. Discussion continues about adding perhaps another $250 billion to that fund; in the meantime, thousands of applications have been submitted in hopes funding will be available.
Three Democrat Waterloo lawmakers filed an OSHA complaint late Saturday…the workplace safety complaint was filed against Tyson Fresh Meats by Rep. Ras Smith, Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, and Sen. Bill Dotzler. They allege multiple violations of the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration standards; specifically, after Tyson was notified of a positive case of an employee, Tyson failed to protect its employees from exposure to recognized COVID-19 hazards in the workplace, and did not act on useful CDC mitigation methods that have been deemed effective when utilized by various other industries.
Iowa’s unemployment rate climbed to 3.7% in March as the state began to see the impact of an economic downturn amid efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Development reported today the jobless rate increased from 2.8% in February. The U.S. unemployment rate for March was 4.4%.
A Buchanan County Sheriff’s Deputy was seriously injured when his vehicle collided with a suspect’s truck during a pursuit. It all started just after 2:30 Saturday afternoon, when authorities say a vehicle driven by 29-year-old Kevin Kraphl hit a person at the intersection of 5th and North Frederick in Oelwein. A Conservation Officer spotted Kraphl’s vehicle soon after and tried to stop him; that’s when a pursuit began, ultimately in Buchanan County. That’s where Kraphl is accused of hitting a patrol vehicle driven by Deputy Dan Walker at the intersection of Buchanan/Delaware Avenue and 150th. Kraphl then tried to run away from the scene but was quickly captured. Charges against him are pending. The pedestrian hit before the chase began was treated and released at an Oelwein hospital. Deputy Walter was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and in serious condition, but was awake and alert Saturday night.
