STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS MADE MORE ADJUSTMENTS TO COVID-19 DATA ON THE IOWA CORONAVIRUS WEBSITE OVER THE WEEKEND. THE NUMBERS VARIED WIDELY AT DIFFERENT POINTS DUE TO MAINTENANCE ON THE PAGE. THE COUNT OF IOWANS WHO HAD DIED DURING THE PANDEMIC TEMPORARILY DROPPED BY NEARLY 20 PERCENT, BUT THEN RETURNED TO JUST OVER 11 HUNDRED. OTHER STATISTICS VARIED WIDELY AT DIFFERENT TIMES, DURING WHAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CALLED A SITE UPGRADE.
LAST WEEK’S STATE PROCLAMATION CLOSING BARS IN SIX COUNTIES HAS SPURRED SOME CREATIVE RESPONSES. IN MARION, JEANNE MATTHEWS’ BAR – UPTOWN SNUG – HAS FOUND A WAY TO STAY OPEN SELLING “TO GO” DRINKS. MATTHEWS TOLD OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 THAT HER CUSTOMERS ARE ABLE TO THEN CONSUME THOSE DRINKS IN THE NEARBY MARION UPTOWN ARTWAY. PATRONS OF SEVERAL MARION RESTAURANTS HAVE ACCESS TO THE ARTWAY, AND TABLES ARE SOCIALLY DISTANT.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS HAVE LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL COVID-19 RELIEF DOLLARS. THE DEADLINE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IS SEPTEMBER 11TH. FARMERS INVOLVED WITH PRODUCTION OF MORE THAN 160 COMMODITIES CAN RECEIVE USDA ASSISTANCE BECAUSE PRICES OF THOSE PRODUCTS WERE AFFECTED BY THE PANDEMIC.
AS MANY OF 65 PERCENT OF TREES IN CEDAR RAPIDS ARE LIKELY TO BE LOST IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS MONTH’S DERECHO. THE ESTIMATE IS UP FROM 50 PERCENT INITIALLY PROJECTED BY CITY OFFICIALS. A FINAL NUMBER MAY NOT BE KNOWN FOR SOME TIME WHILE WAITING TO SEE IF SOME TREES RECOVER IN THE SPRING. SOME NEW TREES COULD BE PLANTED THIS FALL.
ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP BOXES ARE LEGAL, BUT ONLY UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. IOWA SECRETARY OF STATE PAUL PATE EXPLAINED THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL. ACCORDING TO AN ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT LAST WEEK, MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF IOWA COUNTIES HAVE PREVIOUSLY USED ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP BOXES IN SOME WAY. ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION WILL BE SENT TO VOTERS ON OCTOBER 5TH.
IOWA CITY POLICE WERE SEARCHING TWO APARTMENTS ON SUNDAY FOLLOWING GUNFIRE IN THE AREA. THE SHOTS WERE HEARD IN THE 1100 BLOCK OF ARTHUR STREET AND REPORTED TO AUTHORITIES DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS EARLY SUNDAY. AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE NOT BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ANY INJURIES FROM THE INCIDENT. ONE MAN WAS ARRESTED AFTER THE SEARCH ON WHAT APPEAR TO BE UNRELATED CHARGES.
PROPANE MAY BE IN SHORT SUPPLY AGAIN THIS FALL. IN 2019, A LATE, WET HARVEST FORCED FARMERS TO USE A LOT OF PROPANE IN ORDER TO DRY THEIR GRAIN. EVEN THOUGH CROPS WERE DEVELOPING AHEAD OF LAST YEAR’S SCHEDULE AND DESPITE DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN SOME PARTS OF IOWA, GRAIN DRYING MAY STILL BE NECESSARY. THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SUGGESTED THAT CORN KNOCKED DOWN BY THIS MONTH DERECHO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DRY NATURALLY. MORE THAN 3-AND-A-HALF MILLION ACRES OF CORN WERE AFFECTED BY THE STORM.
IOWA SECRETARY OF STATE PAUL PATE AND ELECTION OFFICIALS IN SEVERAL COUNTIES WERE AT ODDS THIS SUMMER OVER DETAILS ABOUT ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUEST FORMS. LAST WEEK, COURTS RULED AGAINST LINN AND WOODBURY COUNTY AUDITORS WHO HAD SENT THOSE DOCUMENTS WITH MUCH OF THE INFORMATION ALREADY ENTERED. PATE TALKED ABOUT THAT THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL. HEAR MORE AT KXEL.COM. APPROXIMATELY 64 THOUSAND ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUESTS HAVE BEEN INVALIDATED BY THE TWO COURT DECISIONS.
A CENTURY OLD HOME IN INDEPENDENCE WAS BADLY DAMAGED BY FIRE ON SUNDAY. THE FIRE SCENE WAS IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT OF THE CITY BETWEEN THE BUCHANAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE AND THE WAPSIPINICON RIVER. THE INDEPENDENCE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYS A NEIGHBOR SPOTTED THE FIRE AND ALERTED THREE PEOPLE AT HOME ABOUT THE DANGER. EVERYONE WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE WITHOUT INJURIES.
SEVERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN SOUTHEAST IOWA ARE REPORTEDLY ENDORSING STATE SENATOR MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS IN THE RACE FOR IOWA’S SECOND DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL SEAT. THE GROUP INCLUDES SHERIFFS, POLICE CHIEFS, AND OTHERS WITH TIES TO MORE THAN TWO DOZEN DEPARTMENTS. THE GROUP SAYS A PLEDGE BY MILLER-MEEKS TO MAINTAIN POLICE FUNDING LED TO THEIR ENDORSEMENT.
