Vice President Mike Pence has called Iowa’s response to the coronavirus “a success story” and will visit Des Moines today. Pence is scheduled to meet with faith leaders to encourage them to responsibly resume in-person church services. Pence and Iowa’s two U.S. Senators will also meet with grocery and agriculture leaders to discuss food supply.
Gov. Kim Reynolds has relaxed regulations in all counties effective today, allowing some businesses within even the 22 counties with the highest community spread to reopen. The governor addressed fears that some may have about venturing out into such public places and said those uncomfortable going out should simply stay home.
Investigators from multiple states are looking into whether a long-haul truck driver from Iowa who has been implicated in the killings of three women in the 1990s could be responsible for other unsolved homicides. Officers arrested 58-year-old Clark Perry Baldwin in Waterloo Wednesday after new DNA evidence tied him to three women whose bodies were dumped in Wyoming and Tennessee in the early 1990s. Court documents say he also raped and choked a woman in Texas in 1991. Detectives with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are “looking at any connections” that Baldwin may have to cold cases here from that era, and other agencies are also scrutinizing Baldwin.
The state reported yesterday it has surpassed 11,000 known positive cases and 231 deaths tied to COVID-19…655 new positive cases and 12 more deaths from the day before. Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday announced a broader reopening of business in Iowa for at least a limited time. Malls and fitness centers in the 22 counties with the highest level of infections are allowed to reopen today, with some restrictions. Those same businesses in Iowa’s 77 other counties reopened a week before.
As a result of the governor’s order, Von Maur plans on opening its stores in Coralville, Cedar Falls, and Cedar Rapids starting today. Customers may notice several changes in order to follow CDC guidelines. At College Square Mall, Von Maur will reduce its hours to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week as the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the state’s economy. The new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday showed 24,693 new claims. The new report comes as the state begins to allow the reopening of businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Gov. Kim Reynolds first imposed business restrictions on March 17. Since then, 285,422 jobless claims have been filed.
The Republican Party of Iowa announced that the 2020 State Convention, scheduled for Saturday, June 13, will not be convening in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the State Central Committee voted unanimously to mail paper ballots to all state convention delegates. Using paper ballots for the district convention process proved to be an overwhelming success. RPI reports that more than 80 percent of delegates participated in the mail-in process, which is higher participation than for recent in-person district conventions. Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann will be my guest today on KXEL Live & Local just after 9 a.m.
The Linn County Fair Association has cancelled grandstand and grounds entertainment at next month’s scheduled Linn County Fair in Central City, including the Sawyer Brown concert. The decision was made yesterday due to the threat of spreading COVID-19. Organizers say details on how 4-H/FFA exhibits and events will be held are still being finalized with more information expected by the middle of this month.
If you notice a change to one of downtown Cedar Rapids’ landmarks later this month…it’s for a good reason. The Alliant Energy Tower will be lighting up in different area school colors to celebrate 2020 senior graduates. The display will start on May 21st with a different school and its colors to be spotlighted for eight consecutive nights.
