Gov. Kim Reynolds acknowledged Iowa is seeing surging numbers of coronavirus cases and record hospitalizations, but she says the health care system could handle the increase and no further action was needed to reduce infections. There were 444 people being treated for the coronavirus in hospitals as of Wednesday morning. Despite the increases, Reynolds says hospital officials had reported that they were equipped to handle the surge. She emphasized that everyone needed to take personal responsibility, including wearing masks when possible, washing their hands and observing social distancing.
A 42-year-old Iowa woman convicted of a 1993 stabbing death when she was a teenager has been granted work release. The Courier reports that Ruthann Veal was granted the transitional status Tuesday following an interview with a three-member panel of the Iowa Board of Parole. Veal was a 14-year-old runaway from Mason City when she was charged as an adult in the 1993 killing of 66-year-old Catherine Haynes, of Waterloo. Police said Haynes had been stabbed to death in her home and her credit cards stolen. Veal was sentenced to life in prison, but the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that such sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.
A central Iowa coach and teacher has been charged after police say he assaulted one of a group of students trying to toilet-paper his house. Police say Joel Bartz stopped a truck carrying a group of teens near his home around 10 p.m. on Sept. 17. A criminal complaint says that when one of the students got out of the truck and approached the teacher, Bartz grabbed the student and pulled him down while punching him in the back and head. Bartz is charged with assault and criminal mischief.
An inmate at the Linn County Correctional Facility was found yesterday afternoon not breathing and with no pulse. The adult male’s identity has not been released but Linn County Sheriff’s officials say he was rushed to the hospital. Another inmate started CPR and staff there continued until an ambulance arrived. This all happened around 4:20 p.m. Investigators say the man had only been in their custody since that morning. Authorities say an update will be provided later today.
A Johnson County school district will hold classes as normal on today following a one-day cancellation due to threatening messages on social media. School officials made the decision to resume classes on time today after consulting with law enforcement officials in the county. The school district went to online classes yesterday after being made aware of the messages. Additional security measures, including placing the school on a soft lockdown, will be in place as students return.
Microsoft has announced plans to build two more data centers in the Des Moines area. The tech giant confirmed that land purchases it made last month are for the development of more space for servers that bolster its cloud computing operations. Developers should break ground on the new projects next September and open the first buildings in the fall of 2022. The projects typically cost between $1-2 billion, occupy about 1.2 million-1.8 million square feet and employ 50-75 workers.
The city of Cedar Rapids has now hauled away more than one million cubic yards of storm debris from the derecho. With a fleet of more than one hundred trucks, around 90% of streets have been cleared of their first pass. The remaining 10% is expected to be cleared in the next week or two. The city does plan to have most debris cleaned up in the forthcoming second pass and will do a third pass for any leftover debris. Regarding non-organic debris, the city will be cleaning that up as well…but they ask that you make separate piles for those items.
