Two Cedar Rapids hospitals received their first shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines yesterday…and both St. Luke’s and Mercy say they intended to begin vaccinating staff members right away. This came a day after the first COVID-19 vaccinations occurred in the state on Monday at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. More than 100 staff members got vaccinated on the first day, twice as many as originally planned.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration is using $10 million in federal pandemic relief funds to pay the salaries of state police officers. The expense is listed in a state report as going toward “State Government COVID staffing” at the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The report claims the money will support payroll expenses for employees “whose services were diverted to a substantially different use as a result of COVID-19.” Department spokeswoman Debra McClung noted that the spending is allowable under revised Treasury Department guidance that stipulates that payroll expenses for public safety employees are presumed to qualify as pandemic-related.
A contract proposal offering no wage increase for two years is a “punch in the gut” to state employees, many of whom are working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Danny Homan, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61, also called the state’s initial contract offer a “slap in the face” Monday. The state countered Homan’s call for a 3% across-the-board wage increase in each of the next two fiscal years by offering no pay increase to approximately 19,000 employees at prisons, colleges, health agencies and other state institutions who are represented by AFSCME. Homan said he went into the meeting with low expectations because the state offered public safety employees represented by the State Police Officers Council an increase of one-half of 1%.
One person is dead following an accident at a Black Hawk County dairy farm…it happened just after 3:30 p.m. Monday at Blough Dairy on Hess Road. 36-year-old Christopher Holman of Waterloo was operating a piece of farm equipment, and authorities say it appears he was caught by moving parts of the equipment when attempting to break items loose within the machine. Holman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Franklin County Sheriff is investigating after a man was found dead Monday afternoon. Sheriff Aaron Dodd said the sheriff’s office received a call from the 400 block of 12th Street in Dows around 4:30 p.m., saying a man had been shot. Officers found the body of a man inside the home. The sheriff said the body was taken to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny for an autopsy…he earlier told media that the shooting did not appear to be self-inflicted.
We now know more about an explosion and fire at a Waterloo bus company Monday afternoon. The state fire marshal is investigating the cause, but Waterloo fire officials say a propane-fueled bus was getting maintenance work before the explosion at School Bus Sales Company, which sells and services buses to schools in Iowa, according to its website. Four people were taken by private vehicles to hospitals for treatment.
No one was injured in the fire that destroyed Beyer Motorsports in Hudson Monday night. Authorities believe the fire started at an oil burner, which was the business’ heat source. The business was open at the time and nine employees were inside. The fire burned overnight and into Tuesday morning. Because of the location of the business, the nearest hydrant was 3/4 of a mile away. All 13 bays were full of vehicles…all deemed total losses.
Iowa reported another 67 COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday, a day after posting 60 more deaths. The state changed its method of calculating deaths last week and officials said death records could take a week to be filed, so it’s difficult to know when the new deaths occurred, but the increasing number of lives lost to the virus mirrors national trends. Iowa’s total death toll now stands at 3,340. Iowa has seen a slowing of the virus spread, and the pressure on hospitals hasn’t surged after Thanksgiving as some health care professionals expected. The state is now averaging more than 1,700 new cases a day of late.
The University of Dubuque has bought 121 acres in northern Dubuque County that it plans to keep in its native state and use for education and research. School leaders on Tuesday announced the purchase of Wolter Woods and Prairies, located north of Balltown along the Mississippi River. The acquisition is the culmination of a 10-year relationship between the university and former landowners Mari and Gary Wolter, who sought an owner to continue their efforts to preserve the native landscape. University officials declined to say how much the school paid for the property, but noted an anonymous investor financed the purchase.
Fans hoping to see the Iowa Hawkeye football team go for its seventh straight win will have to wait a bit longer. The University of Michigan announced on Tuesday afternoon it is canceling its trip to Kinnick Stadium Saturday night due to COVID-19 concerns within their program. The Wolverines had canceled their last two games as well, due to players being out with the virus. Iowa is one of three Big 10 teams to play all eight regularly scheduled games for the 2020 season. With the cancelation of Saturday’s game, Iowa finishes the season at 6-2 and awaits word on any possible bowl game opportunities.
