GUN CRIMES HAVE BEEN UP IN IOWA CITY. AFTER NEARLY QUADRUPLING LAST YEAR, THIS YEAR’S COUNT OF “SHOTS FIRED” INCIDENTS ARE ON PACE TO BE RIGHT BACK NEAR THE SAME LEVEL. IOWA CITY POLICE CHIEF DUSTIN LISTON TALKED TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ABOUT GETTING THE PUBLIC’S HELP. DURING 2021, IOWA CITY HAS REPORTED THREE SHOOTING DEATHS.
MORE DETAILS HAVE COME OUT ABOUT A STANDOFF IN WATERLOO THAT ENDED EARLY MONDAY. 42-YEAR-OLD TIANZO MCNABB AND HIS NEIGHBOR BEGAN ARGUING IN THEIR WEST MULLAN AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD. POLICE SAY MCNABB PULLED A GUN; THE NEIGHBOR SUGGESTED IT WAS REALLY A BB-GUN, SO MCNABB FIRED A ROUND INTO THE AIR. MCNABB WAS LATER ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH ASSAULT WHILE DISPLAYING A WEAPON AND BEING A FELON IN POSSESSION OF A GUN.
IOWA SECOND DISTRICT CONGRESSWOMAN MARIANETTE MILLER-MEEKS IS NOT HEDGING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE CORONAVIRUS. SHE WAS A RECENT GUEST ON ‘THE NEXT REVOLUTION WITH STEVE HILTON’ PROGRAM. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION HAS MOVED INTO A SECOND PHASE OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW COVID-19 BECAME A PANDEMIC.
IT’S DAY THREE ON THE RAGBRAI ROUTE. RIDERS WHO STARTED THEIR MORNING IN FORT DODGE WILL END UP IN IOWA FALLS BY EVENING. TODAY REPRESENTS ONE OF THE SHORTEST DAYS ON THE TOUR: JUST 55½ MILES.
IN PALO MONDAY, CITY LEADERS CHOSE NOT TO SUPPORT A PLAN FOR A LARGE SOLAR FARM. THE DECISION WILL NOT STOP THE PROJECT BY NEXT ERA ENERGY BUT IS ANOTHER SIGN OF LOCAL OPPOSITION. RESIDENT SARA ALDEN TALKED TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9. SHE SAYS NEIGHBORS OBJECT TO THE PROJECT WHICH WOULD OCCUPY SOME LAND MANAGED BY LINN COUNTY CONSERVATION. THE PROPOSED SOLAR FAR WOULD COVER 35-HUNDRED ACRES.
SOME IOWA LEGISLATORS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT COMPANIES REQUIRING THEIR EMPLOYEES TO BE VACCINATED, INCLUDING HOSPITALS AND HEALTH SYSTEMS. THE TOPIC MIGHT BE ADDRESSED DURING A SPECIAL SESSION. REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR DENNIS GUTH OF KLEMME TALKED TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 AND ADDRESSED WHETHER THE LEGISLATURE WOULD BE DELIVERING AN ULTIMATUM TO HOSPITALS. LEGISLATORS ARE EXPECTED TO CONVENE IN LATE SUMMER OR EARLY FALL FOR A SPECIAL SESSION.
A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS IS AVAILABLE TO REPLANT TREES AFTER LAST SUMMER’S DERECHO. THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES IS OFFERING THE MONEY TO REFOREST PUBLIC LANDS, INCLUDING EVERYTHING FROM STREET RIGHT-OF-WAYS TO CEMETERIES. THE COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS THROUGH AUGUST 20TH.
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA ANNOUNCED SEVERAL CONTRACT EXTENSIONS FOR HAWKEYE COACHES ON MONDAY. MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES FRAN MCCAFFREY AND LISA BLUDER, WRESTLING COACH TOM BRANDS, AND BASEBALL COACH RICK HELLER ARE AMONG THOSE WHO CAN PLAN TO EXTEND THEIR TENURES IN IOWA CITY.
DEMOCRATIC IOWA LEGISLATORS HAVE CRITICIZED THE REYNOLDS ADMINISTRATION FOR NOT FILLING VACANT SEATS ON THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. JUST FOUR PEOPLE HAVE ACTIVE APPOINTMENTS TO THE 11 MEMBER BOARD, WHICH MEANT THAT IT COULD NOT MEET AS SCHEDULED EARLIER THIS MONTH. STATE SENATOR ZACH WAHLS OF CORALVILLE TALKED TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ABOUT THE BOARD OF HEALTH’S ROLE IN IMPROVING IOWA’S COVID-19 VACCINATION RATE. AS OF THIS MORNING, THE STATE OF IOWA REPORTS THAT 46.6 PERCENT OF IOWANS ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
CHINA IS AT ODDS WITH THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION OVER ITS CONTINUING INVESTIGATION INTO THE ORIGINS OF THE CORONAVIRUS. THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS CALLED CHINA’S POSTURE “IRRESPONSIBLE.” CONGRESSWOMAN MARIANETTE MILLER-MEEKS OF IOWA’S SECOND DISTRICT MADE EVEN STRONGER ACCUSATIONS DURING AN APPEARANCE ON ‘THE NEXT REVOLUTION WITH STEVE HILTON’. IN MAY, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ORDERED U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES TO REDOUBLE THEIR EFFORTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VIRUS’S ORIGIN.
THE BOUNCE-BACK AFTER THE ECONOMIC LOWS OF THE PANDEMIC IS SHOWING UP IN IOWA’S STATE TAX REVENUES. A REPORT FROM THE STATE’S LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY SHOWS IOWA COLLECTED 928 MILLION DOLLARS LAST MONTH. THAT IS UP 15 PERCENT FROM THE SAME PERIOD LAST SUMMER, AND EXTENDS A TREND COVERING OTHER PANDEMIC-AFFECTED MONTHS.
THE CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS ARE ON THE ROAD TO OPEN A NEW SERIES TONIGHT AGAINST THE WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS. THE KERNELS ARE CURRENTLY EIGHT GAMES OVER .500.
