A Linn County Correctional Center inmate committed suicide by hanging Tuesday. Sheriff’s deputies discovered 52-year-old Chad Allen Lloyd of Cedar Rapids unresponsive in his cell around 6 p.m. He had been last observed by deputies about an hour before when he was locked-down in his single cell after the evening meal. Staff members began CPR and he was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1 o’clock yesterday morning. Lloyd was being held for the U.S. Marshal’s Service on a federal meth distribution charge.
Two more people in Linn County, and one more person in Black Hawk County, have died of the coronavirus…among the 11 deaths disclosed by state officials on Wednesday. A total of 219 Iowans have now died of COVID-19. There were also 293 new confirmed cases across the state, bringing the total to 10,404.
For weeks, Black Hawk County had more coronavirus cases than any other county…Sheriff Tony Thompson says one positive thing he sees about the situation currently is that the peak of the Tyson outbreak may be past. Sheriff Thompson was a guest on KXEL Live & Local yesterday; you can hear the full conversation at KXEL.com.
A Marion man was arrested after leading authorities on a chase through two counties with his 2-year-old son before the pursuit came to an end in Waterloo. 59-year-old James Dixon Sr. has been charged with child endangerment, eluding, and violation of a no contact order. The child had been reported missing late Tuesday. The van Dixon was operating continued after officers took out its tires, and its radiator began to overheat before being stuck in a residential yard.
The Cedar Rapids Police Department has announced a second employee tested positive for Covid-19 Tuesday. The officer was off-duty when he or she began to experience minor symptoms at home. A test was given Sunday and the positive test results received Tuesday morning. The officer last worked on Saturday and is between 18-40 years of age.
$8.1 million in federal grant money from the Federal Transit Administration is headed to Cedar Rapids through the CARES Act. The funding will be used for transit operations and administrative leave in order to respond to and recover from COVID-19. Cedar Rapids Transit, which serves 14 routes in Cedar Rapids and Linn County, was awarded the full CARES Act apportionment requested.
The 2020 Sullivan Hartogh Davis Cedar Valley Honor Flight Variety Show has been canceled due to the coronavirus concerns. Those with said tickets for this year’s fundraising show can use them for the 9th annual show to be held in 2021.
The Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market will be a drive-thru market on June 6th and 20th. The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance announced Wednesday the drive-thru feature is to make sure the market complies with health guidelines for farmers markets. Customers will place orders online and will pick up their items from vendors between 7:30 a.m. and noon. Purchases will not be allowed on-site during the market.
A state official says nearly 1,400 workers at three Tyson Foods pork processing plants in Iowa have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Iowa Department of Public Health revealed Tuesday that the state’s largest outbreak to date has been at the Tyson plant in Perry in central Iowa. There, 730 workers were confirmed to have the virus, 58 percent of those tested. The Tyson plant in Waterloo has had 444 workers test positive out of about 3,000, and its Columbus Junction plant has had 221 confirmed infections out of some 900 employees. Two other large outbreaks were confirmed at a Tama beef plant and a Newton wind turbine blade plant.
Tyson Foods will begin limited operation of its pork processing plant in Waterloo Thursday, more than two weeks after closing the facility because of a coronavirus outbreak among workers. It has been closed since April 22. The plant is Arkansas-based Tyson’s largest pork processing operation, with the ability to process 19,500 hogs per day.
