For the second week in a row, Iowa saw a decrease in both new and continuing unemployment claims. 3,375 new claims were filed last week, a decrease of 580 from the previous week’s adjusted number. 28,451 continuing claims were filed, and that’s a decrease of 2,081 from the previous week.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds yesterday tweeted that she looks forward to signing a bill approved by state lawmakers to ban the use of vaccine passports in certain situations. A vaccine passport is an identification card verifying a person’s vaccination against COVID-19. State senators passed the legislation on Wednesday in a 32-16 vote; the House approved the same bill 58 to 35 last week. If signed into law, the bill is expected to take effect immediately.
What is being called a “gastrointestinal virus” is keeping Longfellow Elementary students in Marion out of the classroom until Monday. The Marion Independent School District said Longfellow Elementary was experiencing an outbreak of a gastrointestinal virus, so students were sent home over the noon hour yesterday and the district’s preschool in the building was canceled for the afternoon. The district also opted to cancel school at Longfellow Elementary for today to allow more time for recovery.
A Pleasant Hill man has been charged with vehicular homicide, as prosecutors say he is at fault for a March accident that killed an Illinois man. 32-year-old Zachary Russell Willer was charged this week with vehicular homicide by reckless driving, and vehicular homicide while driving intoxicated. The Iowa State Patrol says Willer was behind the wheel when his vehicle hit a semitrailer that was stopped at a traffic light near Southeast Polk High School. A passenger in Willer’s car, 23-year-old Dean Goodenough of Maple Park, Illinois, died from his injuries, while another passenger was injured.
With most of last week good for fieldwork, Iowa farmers got a lot of planting done. According to the latest Iowa Crop Progress Report, half of the state’s expected corn crop was planted last week alone, with 69% of the crop in the field overall. That’s nine days ahead of the five year average. With warmer temperatures, there are even scattered reports of corn emerging. Nearly a third of Iowa beans were planted last week, with a total of 43% planted for the year. That’s 12 days ahead of normal.
Officials in Cedar Rapids say an 82-year-old man was found unconscious early yesterday in an apartment fire. Firefighters were called around 1 a.m. Thursday to the apartment complex, where an air conditioner unit on fire. Firefighters saw flames coming from the air conditioner opening and along the outside of the building. The man, identified as 82-year-old Robert Wesley Mischek, was found on the floor of an apartment unit on the ground floor of the three-story building. He was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital with life-threatening burns and later flown to an Iowa City hospital. No other injuries were reported.
Cedar Rapids Police have identified the man arrested after a verbal altercation led to gunshots Wednesday night. Police said the victim confronted a man for knocking over trash cans in the area of Mound Farm Drive and 32nd Street NE. That’s when the man fired gunshots. No one was injured, and no property damage was found. Officials arrested 20-year-old Jachai Crafton of Cedar Rapids based on information from the victim and other witnesses. Officials said Crafton appeared to be intoxicated and was in possession of marijuana and a stolen handgun. A shell casing was found at the scene that matched the caliber of the stolen handgun.
Cedar Rapids paid $619,000 to defend a white police officer against an excessive force lawsuit brought by a Black man he shot and paralyzed before the reaching a landmark $8 million settlement. The previously undisclosed legal costs add to the sizeable payout in the 2016 shooting of Jerime Mitchell by then-Cedar Rapids police officer Lucas Jones during a traffic stop. The city’s insurance company will fund the $8 million settlement, but city taxpayers are on the hook for $500,000 of the legal costs. That’s nearly twice as much as Cedar Rapids will save this year by closing a golf course and 20 times as much as it will spend on a new board to review complaints against officers.
