A TRANSITION BETWEEN PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATIONS SHOULD HAVE NO IMPACT ON DISTRIBUTION OF COVID-19 VACCINES IN IOWA. GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS TALKED ABOUT THAT DURING A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH KXEL’S JEFF STEIN. THE FIRST ROUND OF CORONAVIRUS VACCINES ARE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE IN THE STATE NEXT WEEK, WITH OVER 170 THOUSAND DOSES ANTICIPATED BY THE END OF THE YEAR. LARGE PHARMACY COMPANIES WILL BE ADMINISTERING VACCINATIONS TO RESIDENTS IN IOWA’S LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES.
AUTHORITIES IN CENTRAL IOWA ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER A SHOOTING AND TRAFFIC INCIDENT NEAR THE STATE CAPITOL LAST NIGHT WAS RELATED TO A PRO-TRUMP RALLY. AN INJURED WOMAN WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF A NON-LIFE THREATENING INJURY. THE UNIDENTIFIED VICTIM REPORTEDLY SUFFERED A LEG WOUND. THE IOWA STATE PATROL AND DIVISION OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION WERE INVESTIGATING.
WATERLOO FIRE FIGHTERS RESPONDED TO A PAIR OF INCIDENTS IN ONE TRIP EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. FIRE CREWS EXTINGUISHED BOTH A STRUCTURE AND A VEHICLE FIRE IN THE 200 BLOCK OF MADISON STREET. INITIAL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE FIRE IS NOT LIKELY TO HAVE SPREAD NATURALLY FROM ONE SCENE TO THE OTHER. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED.
IOWA SECOND DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE RITA HART WOULD LIKE THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO RESOLVE WHO WON THE SEAT SHE WAS SEEKING AGAINST MARIANETTE MILLER-MEEKS. THE REPUBLICAN, MILLER-MEEKS, DEFEATED THE DEMOCRAT, HART, BY SIX VOTES. REPUBLICAN IOWA SECRETARY OF STATE PAUL PATE RECENTLY TALKED ABOUT HART’S EFFORT TO BYPASS ELEMENTS OF THE STATE’S ELECTION DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS. THE NEW CONGRESS IS SCHEDULED TO BE SWORN IN ON JANUARY 3RD.
A WATERLOO MAN WILL GO TO PRISON FOR A THREATENING PHONE CALL TO U.S. CONGRESSMAN JERRY NADLER’S OFFICE. LATE LAST WEEK, KENNETH BROWN PLED GUILTY TO MAKING THE CALL IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR, DURING WHICH BROWN SAID NADLER WOULD BE ASSASSINATED. THE INCIDENT HAPPENED AT THE TIME OF PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS. BROWN WILL BE SENTENCED AT A FUTURE COURT APPEARANCE AND FACES A FEDERAL PRISON TERM OF UP TO FIVE YEARS.
OVER THE WEEKEND, A SIXTH ANAMOSA PRISON INMATE DIED OF COVID-19. THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS SAID SUNDAY THAT LARRY WHALEY DIED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HOSPITALS AND CLINICS IN IOWA CITY. WHALEY HAD BEEN SERVING A 50-YEAR SENTENCE FOR A MASON CITY SHOOTING. THE ANAMOSA STATE PENITENTIARY HAS HAD A SIGNIFICANT CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK THIS FALL. WHALEY WAS 64 AND HAD BEEN HOSPITALIZED FOR SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH.
THE IOWA NATIONAL GUARD RECEIVED WELCOME NEWS LAST WEEK. FEDERAL FUNDING WAS APPROVED TO SUPPORT THE GUARD’S RESPONSE TO COVID-19 AND THE AUGUST DERECHO. THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, YOU HEARD IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS TALK ABOUT THE NATIONAL GUARD’S EFFORTS. THE MONEY TO REIMBURSE GUARD EXPENSES WAS SECURED WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S SIGNATURE LAST THURSDAY.
BEFORE WEEKEND MASSES, IOWA’S CATHOLIC BISHOPS RELEASED A STATEMENT ABOUT THE COVID-19 VACCINES WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN ARRIVING IN THE STATE THIS MONTH. THE JOINT STATEMENT CALLED THE DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINES “ENCOURAGING” AND ADDRESSED CONCERNS ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS AND THE SPEED AT WHICH THE TREATMENT WAS DEVELOPED. THE BISHOPS ALSO NOTED THAT VACCINES FROM PFIZER AND MODERNA COULD BE USED IN GOOD CONSCIENCE, CALLING THEIR DEVELOPMENT “REMOTE” FROM TISSUE COLLECTED FROM ABORTED FETUSES. THE FOUR DIOCESES SAID THE COMMON GOOD OF PUBLIC HEALTH TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER RESERVATIONS ABOUT BEING TREATED WITH VACCINES.
THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTED IOWA CITY-BASED MCI FOR A COVID-19 CONTACT-TRACING CONTRACT. THE COMPANY IS EXPECTED TO SUPPLY 200 CONTACT TRACERS TO SUPPLEMENT HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS. THE FIRST 60 MCI EMPLOYEES WERE COMING ONLINE LATE LAST WEEK. THE 2.3 MILLION DOLLAR DEAL HAS COME UNDER SCRUTINY BECAUSE MCI OWNER ANTHONY MARLOWE HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS A REPUBLICAN INSIDER.
