WHILE PROTESTS IN SOME PARTS OF DES MOINES WERE VIOLENT AND DESTRUCTIVE OVER THE WEEKEND, THOSE GATHERED NEAR THE CITY’S POLICE STATION LAST NIGHT LEFT PEACEFULLY AFTER OFFICERS SURROUNDING THE BUILDING KNELT IN PRAYER WITH THEM.
MEANWHILE, DAVENPORT ISSUED A SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER DUE CIVIL UNREST. THIS MORNING AUTHORITIES INDICATED THAT TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN AN OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE THERE. A DAVENPORT OFFICER WAS INJURED IN AN OVERNIGHT INCIDENT IN WHAT THE CITY’S POLICE CHIEF PAUL SIKORSKI CHARACTERIZED AS AN AMBUSH.
CEDAR RAPIDS FIRE FIGHTERS DEALT WITH A LARGE OVERNIGHT APARTMENT FIRE IN THE 3200 BLOCK OF PIONEER AVE SOUTHEAST. FLAMES BROKE THROUGH THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING. CREWS WERE ON THE SCENE SHORTLY AFTER 10 O’CLOCK AND HAD THE FIRE CONTAINED WITHIN AN HOUR.
TOMORROW’S PRIMARY ELECTION WILL BE A TEST OF CORONAVIRUS CAMPAIGN STRATEGY. REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS HAVE REWORKED THEIR OPERATIONS TO ADJUST TO POLITICS DURING LOCKDOWNS. SOME CAMPAIGNS HAVE GOTTEN VOLUNTEERS TO HAND-WRITE LETTERS TO TRY TO TURN OUT SUPPORTERS. OTHERS ARE SHIFTING MONEY INTO TELEVISION, FIGURING AN ELECTORATE LARGELY STUCK AT HOME IS BINGE-WATCHING. MANY HAD ASSEMBLED ADVISERS TO TALK VOTERS STEP-BY-STEP THROUGH THE PROCESS OF REQUESTING ABSENTEE BALLOTS.
PROTESTS IN CEDAR RAPIDS AND WATERLOO OVER THE WEEKEND WERE PEACEFUL. OVERNIGHT IN WATERLOO, A GROUP OF 20 TO 50 PEOPLE GATHERED NEAR CITY HALL AND THE BLACK HAWK COUNTY COURTHOUSE. AFTER CONGREGATING AND TALKING WITH POLICE REPRESENTATIVES, THE GROUP DISPERSED. MEANWHILE IN CORALVILLE, THERE WAS SOME OVERNIGHT VIOLENCE BETWEEN POLICE AND PROTESTERS IN THE CORAL RIDGE AREA, WITH SEVERAL ARRESTS REPORTED.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, AN ACCIDENT SOUTH OF CENTER POINT TIED UP SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE 380. A DRIVER TOWING A CAMPER LOST CONTROL AND BOTH LANES OF THE HIGHWAY WERE BLOCKED WHEN THE TRAILER OVERTURNED. DUSTIN KRUGER OF FAIRFAX HAD MINOR INJURIES. THE BACKUP EXTENDED APPROXIMATELY FOUR MILES BEFORE TRAFFIC FLOW WAS RESTORED.
THIS WEEK, THE IOWA BOARD OF REGENTS WILL MEET. THE THURSDAY SESSION IS EXPECTED TO INCLUDE A VOTE ON FREEZING TUITION AND FEES FOR THE COMING ACADEMIC YEAR. UNIVERSITY LEADERS HAVE EXPRESSED UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND RELATED ECONOMIC SHOCKS ON ENROLLMENT THIS FALL.
THE AVERAGE PRICE OF GAS WENT UP 8 CENTS OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS, TO $2.05 PER GALLON. ANALYSTS SAY DEMAND HAS INCREASED WITH THE EASING OF STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS. THE CURRENT AVERAGE PRICE IS STILL 88 CENTS LESS THAN IT WAS A YEAR AGO.
THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS BROUGHT PEOPLE TO THE STREETS IN THE CEDAR VALLEY, THE CORRIDOR, DES MOINES, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SOME OF THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATIONS OF THE WEEKEND HAPPENED IN THE STATE’S CAPITOL. A CURFEW WAS PUT IN PLACE LAST NIGHT IN POLK COUNTY. MEANWHILE IN DAVENPORT, OVERNIGHT VIOLENCE LED TO TWO DEATHS DESPITE A SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER THERE.
CEDAR RAPIDS FIRE OFFICIALS ARE LOOKING INTO A LATE NIGHT FIRE AT A MCGRATH AUTO DEALERSHIP. THE FIRE HAPPENED NEAR THE LOT’S SERVICE DEPARTMENT, WITH HEAVY SMOKE SPOTTED BEFORE FIRE TRUCKS ARRIVED. THE DEALERSHIP IS IN THE 4000 BLOCK OF FIRST AVENUE SOUTHEAST.
BUTLER COUNTY IS NOW AMONG THE AREAS OF THE STATE WHICH HAS HAD A COVID-19 DEATH. HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY THE VICTIM WAS IN THE 61-TO-80 AGE CATEGORY. AS OF THIS MORNING, IOWA’S TOTAL NUMBER OF FATAL CORONAVIRUS CASES WAS AT 537 WITH THE NUMBER OF POSITIVE TESTS APPROACHING 20,000.
THE COST OF FOOD BOUGHT TO EAT AT HOME SKYROCKETED AT THE FASTEST RATE IN 46 YEARS, AND ANALYSTS CAUTION THAT MEAT PRICES IN PARTICULAR COULD REMAIN HIGH AS PROCESSING PLANTS STRUGGLE TO SO KEEP WORKERS HEALTHY. WHILE PRICE SPIKES FOR STAPLES SUCH AS EGGS AND FLOUR HAVE EASED THE EXPERTS SAY TO EXPECT VOLITILITY FOR PRODUCE LIKE CARROTS AND POTATOES DUE TO TRANSPORTATION ISSUES AND THE HEALTH OF WORKERS WHO PICK CROPS AND WORK IN VEGETABLE FACILITIES.
