A COMPUTER PROGRAMMING MISTAKE HAS BEEN SKEWING IOWA’S COVID-19 DATA. THE GLITCH HAS BEEN SHIFTING NEW CONFIRMED CASES TO EARLIER MONTHS OF 2020, MAKING THE CURRENT RATE OF INFECTION LOOK LOWER THAN IT REALLY IS. AN IOWA CITY NURSE SPOTTED THE MISTAKE AND THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTEDLY CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM IN AN EMAIL RESPONSE TO HER CONCERNS. OFFICIALS ARE STILL WORKING TO CORRECT THE ERROR.
ITC IS THE COMPANY WHICH SENDS POWER ACROSS IOWA AND SEVERAL OTHER MIDWESTERN STATES THROUGH THE HUGE TRANSMISSION TOWERS THAT ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE POWER GRID. SPOKESMAN ROD PRITCHARD TALKED ABOUT WORK BEING DONE TO FIX ITC’S EQUIPMENT AFTER LAST TUESDAY’S DERECHO. YESTERDAY DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, PRITCHARD SAID THE STORM CAUSED DAMAGE AFFECTING ABOUT 20 PERCENT OF ITC’S TRANSMISSION LINES.
THE LINN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS A MISTAKE AT AN INTERSECTION SOUTH OF MARION LED TO A FATAL ACCIDENT ON MONDAY EVENING. THE INITIALLY UNNAMED VICTIM TRIED TO DRIVE A SMALL CAR ACROSS FOUR LANES OF HIGHWAY 100 AND WAS HIT BY AN EASTBOUND PICKUP TRUCK. EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE COULD NOT SAVE THE DRIVER OF THE CAR; THE PICKUP DRIVER WAS UNINJURED.
IT WILL BE EASIER TO GET AROUND DUBUQUE. TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS HAVE OPENED A SOUTHWEST BYPASS WHICH CONNECTS HIGHWAY 20 TO HIGHWAYS 61 AND 151. THE SIX MILE HIGHWAY AVOIDS APPROXIMATELY A DOZEN STOPLIGHTS ON DUBUQUE’S WEST SIDE.
THIRTY-SIX OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES HAD SEVERE CROP DAMAGE FROM LAST TUESDAY’S DERECHO. DESPITE THE RAIN WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE STORM’S HIGH WINDS, THIS WEEK’S USDA CROP REPORT STILL SHOWS THAT DRY SOIL IS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN FOR FARMERS. ONLY 44 PERCENT OF THE STATE RATES AS HAVING ADEQUATE OR BETTER TOPSOIL MOISTURE, AND MUCH OF IOWA IS AN INCH SHORT, WHEN IT COMES TO THE AMOUNT OF RAIN NEEDED. THE REPORT SHOWS CORN AND SOYBEAN CROPS REMAIN APPROXIMATELY THREE DAYS AHEAD OF AVERAGE DEVELOPMENT, DESPITE THE WEATHER CHALLENGES.
THE WATERLOO CITY COUNCIL HAS PASSED A MASK MANDATE REQUIRING FACE COVERINGS IN PUBLIC SPACES, INCLUDING BUSINESSES. THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONS, LIKE FOR DINING AND EXERCISING. THE VOTE DURING MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING WAS 6-1, WITH COUNCILWOMAN MARGARET KLEIN DISSENTING. AMONG COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTING FOR THE PROPOSAL, THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION OF WHETHER THE MANDATE WENT FAR ENOUGH. THE RESOLUTION GIVES MAYOR QUENTIN HART THE AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE HOW TO ENFORCE THE NEW RULE.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S TOP EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL WAS IN CEDAR RAPIDS MONDAY. FEMA CHIEF PETE GAYNOR TOOK A FIRSTHAND LOOK AT THE RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S SEVERE STORM. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR CLEARING DEBRIS, AS WELL AS FIXING PUBLIC FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE, HAS BEEN APPROVED THROUGH EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS.
NOMINATING CAUCUSES COULD BECOME AN ENDANGERED SPECIES BEFORE THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CYCLE. AS THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION BEGAN MONDAY, PARTY CHAIRMAN TOM PEREZ TOLD REPORTERS THAT DEMOCRATS SHOULD ABANDON THE FORMAT. HE DIDN’T SPECIFICALLY NAME IOWA, WHICH HAS HELD A CAUCUS AHEAD OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY FOR DECADES. PEREZ’S TERM ENDS AFTER THIS NOVEMBER’S ELECTION; HE WENT ON TO SAY FINAL DECISIONS ABOUT THE NOMINATION PROCESS WILL HAVE TO BE MADE BY HIS SUCCESSOR.
CRAIG BERTE IS NOW OFFICIALLY THE NEW POLICE CHIEF IN CEDAR FALLS. HE HAD SERVED AS ACTING CHIEF SINCE JANUARY AND WAS NOMINATED TO TAKE OVER THE POSITION, LONGTERM, EARLIER THIS MONTH. THE CEDAR FALLS CITY COUNCIL VOTED 5-1 IN FAVOR OF THE APPOINTMENT. DAVE SIRES HAD THE ONLY “NO” VOTE. BERTE HAS SPENT THREE DECADES AS A MEMBER OF CEDAR FALLS’ POLICE FORCE. HE REPORTS TO PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR JEFF OLSON, WHO ALSO OVERSEES THE CITY’S FIRE RESPONSE OPERATIONS.
APPROXIMATELY 20 PERCENT OF THE POWER TRANSMISSION LINES IN ITC’S IOWA GRID WERE DAMAGED BY LAST TUESDAY’S MASSIVE WIND STORM. ITC SPOKESMAN ROD PRITCHARD DESCRIBED THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF THE DESTRUCTIVE DERECHO. PRITCHARD SAYS HUNDREDS OF UTILITY WORKERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY HAVE RESPONDED AFTER THE STORM. ITC SUPPLIES BULK POWER TO ELECTRIC COMPANIES, WHICH THEN CHANNEL IT TO HOMES AND BUSINESSES. HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PRITCHARD AT KXEL.COM.
