VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE IS THE LEADER OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S COVID-19 TASK FORCE. WHILE VISITING FOREST CITY ON TUESDAY, PENCE TALKED ABOUT THE NATION’S CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE WITH OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT DES MOINES’ CHANNEL 13. PENCE CHARACTERIZED THE CURRENT VIRUS SITUATION AS BEING DRIVEN BY TRACEABLE OUTBREAKS RATHER THAN BROAD COMMUNITY SPREAD. THE STATE OF IOWA REPORTED 141 NEW POSITIVE COVID-19 TESTS ON TUESDAY.
IOWA AG SECRETARY MIKE NAIG IS POSITIVE ABOUT THE OUTLOOK FOR THE STATE’S PORK PRODUCERS. IN A RECENT INTERVIEW DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, NAIG SAID A KINK IN THE MEAT SUPPLY CHAIN HAS NOT YET BEEN FULLY OVERCOME, BUT THE SITUATION IS IMPROVING. HEAR MORE FROM MIKE NAIG ABOUT THE PRICES CONSUMERS ARE PAYING FOR GROCERIES DURING NEXT HOUR’S KXEL NEWSCAST.
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY OFFICIALS IN CEDAR RAPIDS SEIZED A RIFLE AND AMMUNITION AS A PASSENGER WAS ABOUT TO BOARD A PLANE AT THE EASTERN IOWA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EARLIER THIS WEEK. (THE GUN WAS FOUND BY TSA PERSONNEL USING AN X-RAY MACHINE.) 58-YEAR-OLD SCOTT PENNEBAKER WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH VIOLATING SCREENING CHECKPOINT RESTRICTIONS. HE SAYS HE FORGOT THE FOLDING WEAPON WAS IN THE BACKPACK HE WAS CARRYING.
POLICE BELIEVE THE VICTIMS OF A FORT DODGE SHOOTING ON TUESDAY WERE INNOCENT BY-STANDERS. TWO ARE DEAD AND TWO OTHERS WERE INJURED FROM THE OUTBREAK OF GUNFIRE WHICH HAPPENED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. THE TWO FATALITIES WERE MEN, ONE WHO FIRST RESPONDERS FOUND ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET, AND THE OTHER IN A NEARBY CAR. TWO WOMEN HIT BY SHOTS WERE TREATED FOR WOUNDS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE LIFE THREATENING. FORT DODGE POLICE BELIEVE THERE WERE AT LEAST TWO SHOOTERS WHO MAY HAVE BEEN FIRING AT EACH OTHER. THE VICTIMS RANGED IN AGE BETWEEN 21 AND 47.
PRICES FOR MANY FOOD STAPLES HAVE FLUCTUATED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE LAST THREE MONTHS. SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULTY RESPONDING TO CHANGING CONSUMER DEMAND DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAVE OCCASIONALLY CAUSED SHORTAGES OF SOME GROCERY ITEMS. IOWA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY MIKE NAIG TALKED ABOUT THE SHOPPING LIST ROLLER COASTER DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, PARTICULARLY ON MEAT. NAIG SAYS MEAT PROCESSING CAPACITY HAS CLIMBED SINCE EARLY MAY AND EXPECTS PRICES TO EASE PROPORTIONALLY.
NEW FACILITIES WHERE STUDENTS CAN MEET WITH THEIR ADVISORS WILL BE THE RESULT OF A 300 THOUSAND DOLLAR GIFT TO ALLEN COLLEGE IN WATERLOO. THE MONEY IS FROM THE PAULINE R. BARRETT CHARITABLE FOUNDATION. THE UPGRADE TO THE COLLEGE’S GERARD HALL SHOULD BE FINISHED BY THE END OF 2021.
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR GERD CLABAUGH SAYS HE IS RETIRING THIS SUMMER. TUESDAY CLABAUGH ANNOUNCED HE IS LEAVING ON JULY 31. HE WAS APPOINTED TO RUN THE STATE’S HEALTH EFFORTS BY FORMER GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD IN 2014 AND REMAINED IN THE POSITION UNDER GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS. CLABAUGH HAS MAINTAINED A LOW PROFILE DURING THE STATE’S COVID-19 RESPONSE. HOWEVER, REYNOLDS SAYS CLABAUGH STRENGTHENED THE STATE’S INFECTIOUS DISEASE CAPACITY, IMPROVED HEALTH DATA COLLECTION, AND LED THE AGENCY TO RECEIVE NATIONAL ACCREDITATION.
THE 2020 IOWA STATE FAIR WAS CANCELLED EARLIER THIS MONTH. WHILE THAT IS A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR A WIDE-RANGING GROUP OF IOWANS, THE LOSS IS PARTICULARLY SHARP FOR 4-H AND FFA PARTICIPANTS. IOWA AG SECRETARY MIKE NAIG TALKED ABOUT MISSING OUT ON THE ANNUAL TRADITION WHICH HAS SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR SO MANY ASPIRING FARMERS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS. HEAR ALL OF NAIG’S COMMENTS FROM A RECENT KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL INTERVIEW ONLINE AT KXEL.COM.
INVESTIGATIONS INTO CLAIMS OF RACISM BY FORMER IOWA HAWKEYE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WILL COST THE SCHOOL AT LEAST $200 PER HOUR FOR A MISSOURI LAW FIRM HIRED TO LOOK INTO THE MATTER. ON THE HIGH END, THE RATE COULD BE $675 DOLLARS AN HOUR FOR SOME OF THE LAWYERS’ TIME. THE HUSCH BLACKWELL FIRM HAS RECENTLY HANDLED OTHER INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE STATE’S REGENTS SCHOOLS.
