Announcement of a second positive case of coronavirus at the Iowa Capitol yesterday again raised the issue of safety in the building. Iowa House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson says a person associated with the House tested positive on Wednesday. It is the second positive test in the building since lawmakers convened more than two weeks ago. Democrats have complained daily that Republican leaders refuse to initiate a mask mandate in the building. But House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says leaders have done what is needed to ensure a safe work environment.
The Iowa Senate has passed a bill which would let parents choose to send their children to school 100% in-person, even if their school district did not previously offer it. The bill says school districts not previously offering 100% in-person learning must now offer it. According to the Iowa Department of Education, 82% of Iowa school districts were offering full on-site learning in early December. Districts must start notifying parents and give them at least five days to make a decision. The bill passed 29-18 and is now headed to the House. If the bill were to receive final passage, districts could still apply to go temporarily online for all students if their COVID-19 positivity rates were high enough.
Iowa Senators also voted 29-18 to add an amendment to the Iowa Constitution giving Iowans the right to keep and bear arms under Iowa law. Democrats believe the wording of the proposal goes too far in protecting Iowans’ gun rights. Republicans say the issue should be decided on by Iowa voters. If the Iowa House passes the measure with the same language, the issue will go before voters in the 2022 general election. Any amendments to Iowa’s Constitution must pass two separate legislatures with the exact same language. The gun rights amendment already passed through the previous legislature in 2019-2020. Iowa is one of only six states without gun rights specifically written in its constitution.
An Iowa City woman is accused of assaulting two people at a store over not wearing a face mask. It happened at the Walgreens on Second St. in Coralville at around 8:30 Wednesday night. Officials said 30-year-old Evelyn Chinchilla spit on two victims after they made a comment about her not wearing a mask in the store. Officials said the three people became “entangled” and fell to the ground. Chinchilla then pulled out a handful of one of the victim’s hair and scratched their nose. She bit the other victim, breaking skin through the victim’s shirt. The victims and a store clerk identified Chinchilla to authorities after seeing her driver’s license photo. She reportedly also told the store clerk her name. Chinchilla has been charged with two counts of assault causing bodily injury.
The Des Moines Public School District identified several assault and bullying victims on its website…by mistake. Seven documents published on the district’s site included names and descriptions of students requesting transfers to different school districts. Some of the descriptions identified bullying, assault and even one sexual assault victim by name. The documents were removed after our coverage partners at Local 5 television notified the district about the matter. The oldest document was dated August 2019, but the district says a privacy setting was “inadvertently changed” in February 2020 that caused the documents to become publicly viewable.
With more snow on the way this weekend, our partners at the TV9 Weather Lab looked at how much snow we’ve had so far this season. Cedar Rapids has received around 27.3″ of snow which is 9.0″ above average for the season so far. Dubuque has the highest Eastern Iowa metro total at 37.5″…13.9″ above average. Waterloo has received 28.8″ of snow, which is above average by around 8.2″. Iowa City has picked up 23.5″, which is 7.4″ above average.
Officials say an Iowa prisoner serving a life sentence for the January 2003 shooting death of his wife has died after contracting COVID-19. The Iowa Department of Corrections says 89-year-old Harold Duncan died Tuesday from complications from the virus and other pre-existing medical conditions. The department says Duncan was in a hospice room at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville at the time his death. Duncan was 72 when he was convicted of first-degree murder for shooting and killing his wife, 62-year-old “Kay” Duncan. Authorities said Duncan then turned the gun on himself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
Federal prosecutors say a Cedar Rapids doctor has agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement over allegations that he prescribed opioids to patients who had no legitimate medical need for the drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says an investigation by the Iowa’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration found that Dr. Paul Lottes had violated the Controlled Substances Act. Prosecutors say that from August 2017 to April 2019, Lottes wrote prescriptions for the powerful painkillers to two patients in violation of the act.
