CEDAR RAPIDS HAS A FACE COVERING MANDATE. CEDAR RAPIDS MAYOR BRAD HART ISSUED AN EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON REQUIRING MASKS IN PUBLIC PLACES IMMEDIATELY. THERE ARE A FEW EXCEPTIONS AND THE PROCLAMATION SAYS POLICE SHOULD USE INFORMATION TO BRING PEOPLE INTO COMPLIANCE. HOWEVER, VIOLATIONS CAN LEAD TO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES.
THIS WEEK, IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST SUGGESTED GOVERNMENT STATISTICS ON CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS AND DEATHS HAVE BEEN INFLATED. HEALTH EXPERTS REFUTE THAT IDEA, WHICH HAS BEEN CALLED A CONSPIRACY THEORY. YESTERDAY OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ASKED ERNST TO CLARIFY HER POSITION. IOWA’S COVID-19 NUMBERS, AND THE SYSTEM FOR COUNTING CASES, HAS REQUIRED SOME ADJUSTMENTS IN RECENT WEEKS. STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST DR. CAITLIN PEDATI TALKED ABOUT THAT ON WEDNESDAY DURING A CORONAVIRUS UPDATE IN DES MOINES. DURING THAT SAME BRIEFING, GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS SAID THAT THE STATE IS WAITING TO SEE HOW THE CLOSURE OF BARS AND OTHER ACTIONS TAKEN LAST WEEK AFFECT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 BEFORE OFFICIALS TAKE FURTHER STEPS.
IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS SHARED STATISTICS THAT SUGGEST RISING NUMBERS OF COVID-19 CASES IN AUGUST ARE CORRELATED WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS RETURNING TO CAMPUS. BOTH POSITIVE TESTS AND THE RATE OF INFECTION WERE UP DRAMATICALLY LAST MONTH IN COLLEGE COMMUNITIES AND PARTICULARLY IN COLLEGE AGE GROUPS. WHILE THE MOST DANGEROUS SYMPTOMS OF THE VIRUS TEND TO AFFECT OLDER PEOPLE AND THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING HEALTH CONDITIONS, REYNOLDS SAYS KEEPING COVID-19 FROM SPREADING AMONG STUDENTS IS NECESSARY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH.
ONE OF THE FIRST COVID-19 OUTBREAKS IN THE CEDAR VALLEY HAPPENED AT WATERLOO’S TYSON PORK PRODUCTION FACILITY. TODAY, TYSON FOODS SAID IT IS PLANNING TO OPEN MEDICAL CLINICS AT SEVERAL OF ITS U.S. PLANTS TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF ITS WORKERS AND BETTER PROTECT THEM FROM THE CORONAVIRUS. TYSON PRODUCES ABOUT 20% OF ALL BEEF, PORK AND CHICKEN IN THE U.S. MORE THAN 1,000 WATERLOO TYSON EMPLOYEES TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS, FORCING CHANGES TO PLANT OPERATIONS THIS SPRING.
A 2017 SHOOTING IN WATERLOO LED TO A SEVEN YEAR FEDERAL PRISON SENTENCE FOR 44-YEAR-OLD LEON JACKSON. EARLIER THIS YEAR, JACKSON ENTERED A PLEA OF GUILTY TO BEING A FELON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM WHEN HE WOUNDED A MAN DURING AN INCIDENT THREE YEARS AGO. JACKSON WAS ARRESTED IN 2019 AFTER A NEARLY TWO-HOUR STANDOFF WITH WATERLOO POLICE.
DESPITE RISING COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS IS IOWA, GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS IS STANDING BY A STATE RESPONSE SHE DESCRIBES AS FOCUSED. ALTHOUGH MITIGATION STEPS ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK WERE TARGETED TOWARD COLLEGE-AGE POPULATIONS, REYNOLDS SAYS EVERYONE NEEDS TO THINK ABOUT HOW THEIR PERSONAL CHOICES AFFECT OTHERS.
IT’S NOT CLEAR HOW MANY UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENTS AND STAFF PARTICIPATED IN A CAMPUS “SICK OUT” WEDNESDAY. NOT QUITE A THOUSAND PEOPLE PLEDGED TO DO SO ACCORDING TO THE GROUP WHICH ORGANIZED THE CLASS BOYCOTT. THEIR GOAL IS TO SEE ALL OF IOWA’S CLASSES MOVED ONLINE; THE UNIVERSITY HAS STARTED THE SEMESTER WITH A COMBINATION OF ONLINE AND IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA OFFICIALS SAY THERE IS NO CAMPUS-WIDE ATTENDANCE SYSTEM, AND EVEN EMPLOYEES MAY DELAY REPORTING VACATION OR SICK DAYS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE “SICK OUT” PARTICIPATION.
PROPANE WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY LAST FALL. CHILLY, WET CONDITIONS MEANT THAT FARMERS USED MORE THAN EXPECTED TO DRY GRAIN AT HARVEST TIME. THIS MORNING, DEB GROOMS OF THE IOWA PROPANE GAS ASSOCIATION TALKED ABOUT PREPARING FOR THIS YEAR’S NEEDS. GROOMS WAS A GUEST DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL. HEAR MORE AT KXEL.COM.
