THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES SAYS FIVE THOUSAND GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL SPILLED WHEN A TANKER TRUCK CRASHED INTO A WATERLOO HOUSE ON THURSDAY MORNING. THE TRUCK WAS CARRYING 7,500 GALLONS AT THE TIME OF THE WRECK. THERE WERE NO SERIOUS INJURIES FROM THE INCIDENT, BUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING THE CRASH SITE ON RIDGEWAY AVENUE WAS EVACUATED FOR MORE THAN SEVEN HOURS. THE DNR SAYS IT IS TAKING MITIGATION ACTION IN A CREEK NEAR THE CRASH SCENE, AS WELL AS ATTEMPTING TO BLOCK THE LIQUID FROM FLOWING DOWNSTREAM INTO THE CEDAR RIVER.
DEERE AND COMPANY REPORTED A SOLID THIRD QUARTER AND A POSITIVE FORECAST IN A COMPANY REPORT ISSUED THIS MORNING. THE TRACTOR AND HEAVY EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER SAYS IT’S EARNINGS FOR THE THREE-MONTH PERIOD ENDING IN THE FIRST DAYS OF AUGUST WERE $2.57 PER SHARE, DOWN ONLY 24 CENTS FROM THE SAME PERIOD IN 2019, DESPITE THE CHALLENGES TO THE WORLDWIDE ECONOMY CREATED BY COVID-19. DEERE SAYS IT EXPECTS TO EARN TWO-AND-A-QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS FOR THE FULL YEAR, UP FROM FORECASTING A 1.6 TO 2 BILLION DOLLAR PROFIT, WHICH THE COMPANY HAD EXPECTED IN MAY.
WATERLOO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS HAVE A STUDENT MASK MANDATE, BUT DISTRICT SPOKESWOMAN TARA THOMAS SAYS THAT WON’T BE AS MUCH OF A CHALLENGE, THANKS TO AN INVESTMENT IN UNIQUE HARDWARE. HEAR MORE FROM THOMAS DURING THE IOWA THIS WEEK PROGRAM ON KXEL THIS WEEKEND.
THE WATERLOO BUCKS ARE CHAMPIONS AT THE END OF AN ABBREVIATED, COVID-19 ALTERED, 2020 SEASON. THURSDAY NIGHT, THE BUCKS DEFEATED THE MANKATO MOONDOGS 17-6. AT THE SAME TIME, THE ST. CLOUD ROX FELL TO THE WILMAR STINGERS 9-3, ALLOWING WATERLOO TO FINISH A HALF GAME AHEAD OF ST. CLOUD IN A POD OF FIVE NORTHWOODS LEAGUE CLUBS FROM IOWA AND MINNESOTA.
RESIDENTS IN AREAS DAMAGED BY LAST WEEK’S DERECHO MAY SEE PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES OF THEIR HOMES AND PROPERTY. IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS EXPLAINED: THOSE PHOTOGRAPHERS MAY LEGITIMATELY BE RECORDING DAMAGE AS PART OF THE IOWA INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE PROCESS. REYNOLDS SAYS THERE ARE MULTIPLE TEAMS DOCUMENTING THE DAMAGE, FROM ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING HOMELAND SECURITY, FEMA, AND THE RED CROSS.
A WATERLOO RESTAURANT OWNER WITH A REPUTATION FOR HELPING THOSE IN NEED HAS BEEN IN CEDAR RAPIDS DURING THE STORM RECOVER. RODNEY LEWIS OF RODNEY’S KITCHEN ANSWERED THE CALL FROM CEDAR RAPIDS TEAMSTERS AND JOHNSON COUNTY SUPERVISOR ROYCE-ANN PORTER TO SERVE THE HUNGRY. HE WAS WORKING OVER A GRILL WHEN HE TALKED TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9. LEWIS HAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED HIS RESTAURANT IN ORDER TO VOLUNTEER.
OVER 65-HUNDRED IOWANS FILED NEW UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS LAST WEEK. THE NUMBER IS UP BY A LITTLE MORE THAN 12-HUNDRED PEOPLE FROM THE SAME REPORT A WEEK BEFORE. APPROXIMATELY ONE-IN-FIVE JOB LOSSES WERE RELATED TO MANUFACTURING. THE TOTAL COUNT OF PEOPLE IN IOWA RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS CAME IN AT OVER 83,000. THAT FIGURE IS DOWN FROM NEARLY 93,000 ON AUGUST 13TH.
EARLIER THIS WEEK, IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS STOPPED ATTORNEY GENERAL TOM MILLER FROM JOINING A MULTI-STATE LAWSUIT TO INTENDED TO PREVENT CHANGES TO U.S. POSTAL SERVICE POLICIES. YESTERDAY, SHE TALKED ABOUT THAT AND IOWA’S MAIL-IN BALLOT ALTERNATIVES. REYNOLDS SAYS THE POST OFFICE HAS A FLAWED BUSINESS MODEL, BUT THE SERVICE’S ON-GOING ISSUES CAN ONLY BE FIXED WITH A LONG-TERM STRATEGY.
WHEN IN-PERSON CLASSES START MONDAY IN WATERLOO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS WILL NOT BE STARTING FROM SCRATCH WHEN IT COMES TO PROCEDURES RELATED TO THE DISTRICT’S COVID-19 RESPONSE. THIS IS SPOKESPERSON TARA THOMAS. THOMAS SAYS THE DISTRICT GAVE CLASSROOM CORONAVIRUS POLICIES A TEST DRIVE DURING A SUMMER JUMP-START PROGRAM, WHICH SHE CALLED SUCCESSFUL. TARA THOMAS IS OUR GUEST DURING THIS WEEKEND’S EDITION OF IOWA THIS WEEK.
