Iowa is experiencing a surge of coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities, including the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. Officials say the spread there now includes 20 staff and residents. Six other outbreaks at long-term care facilities across Iowa were confirmed yesterday, bringing the statewide total since March to 23. Health officials reported yesterday another 508 people in Iowa had tested positive for COVID-19 compared with the day before, and 9 more had died, including one elderly adult in Black Hawk County and two older adults in Linn County.
Iowa’s non-profit organizations need help now more than ever in helping those affected by the virus, according to eastern Iowa attorney Gordon Fischer. Fischer said on KXEL Live & Local yesterday that there are fraudsters who are trying to take advantage of the situation, so you’re advised to make donations to groups you’re already familiar with, or do due diligence to check them out first. The podcast is at kxel.com.
Authorities say two people are dead and five others are hurt after a young driver crashed a minivan at an Iowa field entrance. Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla said the crash happened around 11:35 a.m. Tuesday after the driver lost control of the Toyota Sienna in the community of Jamaica. KCCI reports that the injuries range from serious to life-threatening and that names will be withheld until all family is notified. The driver was described as a minor. The crash is under investigation.
The state is advising laid off workers that they will lost their unemployment benefits if they refuse to return when their employer calls them back to work. Iowa Workforce Development notes that failing to return to work out of fear of catching the virus will be considered a voluntary quit, which disqualifies workers from receiving unemployment benefits.
An Iowa state audit has revealed improper spending of thousands of dollars of Postville Volunteer Fire Department funds. State Auditor Rob Sand said Tuesday that the special investigation found nearly $28,000 in improper disbursements and another $5,700 in unsupported disbursements from 2015 through 2018. Sand says the special investigation was requested by city officials concerned about finances at the department. Among the finding were more than $11,000 in public funds spent at a local grocery store and nearly $4,000 spent on cable TV. The reports says some $16,000 more was wrongly or questionably spent at various vendors.
An Iowa sheriff has resigned after being charged with assaulting his wife and officers who arrested him. Calhoun County Sheriff Scott Anderson resigned Monday, just hours before scheduled a court hearing to hear evidence to remove him. Court documents detail the testimony of other deputies and coworkers who say Anderson was often drunk, failed to show up at crime scenes while on duty and, according to one deputy, reported for work only four days during May last year. The Mason City Police Chief said in an affidavit that he doesn’t think Anderson “should have access to weapons.”
President Trump has ordered meat processing plants to remain open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply. An executive order signed yesterday by the president uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to keep plants open and prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves. The concern is how to keep workers safe at plants, which is being left up to local officials and the plants themselves to determine.
Black Hawk County health officials are encouraging churches to avoid mass gatherings despite the governor allowing religious services to resume. Public health director Dr. Nafissa Cisse Egbuonye say the county emergency operations center dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has received calls from church leaders after the announcement that religious services could resume around the state later this week. She told the Black Hawk County board of supervisors yesterday that people still need to stay home. She also told the board the Iowa Department of Public Health will be taking over the majority of the COVID-19 case investigations in Black Hawk County due to the heavy volume of cases.
The four Catholic bishops of Iowa have announced that public Masses will continue to be suspended. And a group of religious leaders have signed a letter to the governor objecting to their churches being able to reopen. The governor noted Monday that freedom of religion was a Constitutional right, and it was not the state’s role to limit that; however, individual congregations can determine what’s best for them in light of community spread in their area.
Two men who were inside a western Iowa gas station and auto repair shop when it was leveled by an explosion are expected to recover from their injuries. Investigators say the explosion damaged nearby homes and blew debris up to six blocks away.
