MORE DETAILS ARE BECOMING AVAILABLE ABOUT A COVID-19 TESTING SLOWDOWN AT A TEST IOWA SITE IN DUBUQUE. AN AIDE TO GOV. KIM REYNOLDS SAYS CONCERNS WITH QUALITY AND SAFETY PROMPTED THE STATE TO REDUCE OPERATIONS THERE THIS WEEK. THE STATE WILL SEND 2,000 ADDITIONAL KITS TO DUBUQUE COUNTY TO MAKE ADDITIONAL TESTING AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS AT OTHER AREA CLINICS. THIS WEEK, TESTS WERE LIMITED TO 100 SAMPLES PER DAY AT EPIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS DURING REDUCED MORNING HOURS. THE SITE HAD BEEN PROCESSING FOUR TO FIVE TIMES THAT NUMBER PRIOR TO THE CHANGES.
SOME IOWA PORK PRODUCERS ARE STILL RECOVERING AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS SHOCKED THE MEAT SUPPLY CHAIN THIS SPRING. DURING A RECENT EDITION OF KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, IOWA PORK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION CONSUMER INFORMATION DIRECTOR JOYCE HOPPES TALKED ABOUT THE BACKLOG OF MARKET-READY HOGS. EARLIER THIS YEAR, MANY MEAT PROCESSING PLANTS EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT DISRUPTION AS COVID-19 MOVED QUICKLY BETWEEN WORKERS IN CLOSE QUARTERS. THAT LED TO MANY MARKET-READY HOGS BEING EUTHANIZED WHEN THERE WAS NO PLACE TO SEND THEM.
THE UNI MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM WILL NOT BE GOING TO THE CAYMAN ISLANDS THIS FALL. THE PANTHERS ARE STILL SCHEDULED TO PLAY IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS CLASSIC JUST BEFORE THANKSGIVING, BUT THE TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN MOVED TO NORTHWEST FLORIDA. MATCHUPS FOR THE FIRST ROUND OF THE EVENT ARE EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED SOON.
ADVOCATES FOR MEAT PROCESSING WORKERS ARE ASKING A MAJOR COMPANY TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR SICK EMPLOYEES TO STAY HOME. THAT CALL COMES IN THE WAKE OF NEW DETAILS ABOUT ONE OF THE FIRST CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAKS AT AN IOWA MEATPACKING PLANT. OVER TWICE AS MANY WORKERS WERE INFECTED IN COLUMBUS JUNCTION THAN THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLICLY CONFIRMED. THE FIGURE WAS REPORTED AT OVER 200 BUT WAS ACTUALLY MORE THAN 500. MANUEL GALVEZ IS A COMMUNITY ADVOCATE WHO SPOKE TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT CBS2. TYSON PLANTS IN WATERLOO, PERRY, AND STORM LAKE WERE ALSO AMONG THOSE AFFECTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS BEEN STUDYING THE DISPARITY BETWEEN CATTLE PRICES PAID TO RANCHERS AND THE HIGHER PRICES EARNED BY MEAT PROCESSORS. A 20-PAGE ANALYSIS RELEASED WEDNESDAY CITES A FIRE LAST YEAR AT A MAJOR KANSAS PROCESSING PLANT AND THIS YEAR’S TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. RANCHERS SAW CATTLE PRICES DROP WHILE CONCERNS ABOUT MEAT SCARCITY CAUSED PRICES AT GROCERY STORES TO RISE.
THE 99TH ANNUAL CEDAR FALLS BIBLE CONFERENCE WILL BEGIN THIS SATURDAY. THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, EVENT DIRECTOR MATT REISETTER EXPLAINED THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE CONFERENCE MOVEMENT A CENTURY AGO. REISETTER SAYS MANY OF THE SAME CONCERNS AND ISSUES THE PROMPTED THE FIRST CEDAR FALLS BIBLE CONFERENCE IN 1922 ARE STILL RELEVANT TODAY.
AFTER TWO MONTHS OF LOOKING FOR A MICHIGAN SHOOTING SUSPECT IN EASTERN IOWA, AUTHORITIES CAUGHT UP WITH FRANKY ACKLEY IN CEDAR RAPIDS. ACKLEY IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS FATALLY SHOT IN JACKSON, MICHIGAN, BACK IN MARCH. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVED ACKLEY WAS IN IOWA AS EARLY AS MID-MAY. THE SEARCH INVOLVED U.S. MARSHALLS. ACKLEY WAS ARRESTED IN THE 100 BLOCK OF 20TH AVENUE SOUTHWEST YESTERDAY AND IS EXPECTED TO BE SENT BACK TO MICHIGAN ONCE TRANSFER DOCUMENTS ARE FINALIZED.
ALMOST 200 THOUSAND SERVINGS OF PORK HAVE BEEN GENERATED THROUGH THE PASS THE PORK PROGRAM. THE JOINT EFFORT OF THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, THE IOWA PORK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION, MEAT LOCKERS AND FOOD BANKS BEGAN IN APRIL. JOYCE HOPPES OF THE IOWA PORK PRODUCERS SHARED DETAILS ABOUT A NEW STAGE OF THE PROJECT, SUPPORTED BY FEDERAL DOLLARS. HEAR MORE FROM HOPPES ABOUT THE PASS THE PORK PROGRAM AT KXEL.COM.
AN IOWAN COULD TAKE ON A NEW ROLE PROTECTING THE NATION FROM TERRORIST THREATS. CHRISTOPHER MILLER IS A NOMINEE TO LEAD THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER. HE ALREADY WORKS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND HAS SERVED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL. MILLER IS ORIGINALLY FROM IOWA CITY AND WENT TO CITY HIGH BEFORE COLLEGE AND SERVICE WITH ARMY SPECIAL FORCES.
