Drought conditions continue to worsen in Iowa as the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows nearly the entire state is dry. A swath of the state from the Nebraska border to the edge of Polk County is in extreme drought, accounting for nearly 15% of the state. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists 37% of the state in severe drought. Only a portion of Winnebago and Worth counties along the Minnesota border, less than 1% of the state, is excluded from drought conditions.
The drought and derecho have done a number on Iowa crops. The latest numbers from the USDA show only 45% of corn is in good and excellent condition. That’s the lowest level since October of 2013. Soybeans are also struggling. The USDA reports 50% are in good or excellent condition, the lowest level so far this season.
Iowa Workforce Development has reported a decrease in both initial and continuing unemployment claims in the last week of August. There was 6,377 new unemployment claims for Iowa workers that week, but the total number of continuing unemployment claims was 76,832, down from 83,312. The industries hit the hardest continue to be manufacturing, self-employed, and health care.
One person is dead and another injured in a single-vehicle accident on a gravel road outside of Dunkerton yesterday afternoon. Black Hawk County Sheriff’s deputies said a man died at the scene, while firefighters rescued a woman who was trapped in the vehicle and took her to a hospital for treatment. Authorities were called to Wheeler Road near Bennington Road after the vehicle rolled and came to rest in a ditch around 3:30 p.m.
Enrollment at the University of Northern Iowa has fallen for the third straight year. But despite a 975 student decline from a year ago, officials point to positive growth in the number of freshmen and out-of-state students, plus a near record-high retention rate. UNI announced yesterday an overall enrollment of 9,522 students as of last Friday, the university’s fall census date. That is a drop of 2,385 students since the fall of 2017, when enrollment was essentially unchanged from the year before. Officials believe some incoming students opted to delay starting school due to the COVID-19 pandemic; they say new freshmen who plan to begin classes in the spring semester is more than double last year’s number.
A Coralville police officer was involved in a shooting yesterday. Police were called to the 2400 block of Dempster Drive for a welfare check on a potentially suicidal male just before 10 a.m. Officers said they heard a gunshot while at the scene, but were able to make contact with the occupant of the home. For around an hour, officers tried to convince the man to accept help, but he continued to threaten himself and others. The man then came out of the garage with a rifle pointed at officers. One officer fired two rounds, both struck the man. He was taken to a hospital for treatment; his condition is unknown. Investigation continues.
Meanwhile, authorities say a Bettendorf police officer shot and killed a man who had threatened a child inside a home. The confrontation happened yesterday when officers responded to a report of someone who was bleeding holding a knife to the throat of a 4-year-old child. Police say the man was holding a sharp-edged weapon when one of the officers shot him…he died at the scene. Several children were in the home. No one else was injured. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating.
A former spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health has filed a lawsuit against the state, Gov. Kim Reynolds and one of the governor’s spokespersons that claims she was illegally fired because of her willingness to respond to media requests. Polly Carver-Kimm says she filed the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming violation of Iowa’s whistle blower laws when she was forced out of her job in July. A department spokeswoman says the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation against the state.
A district court judge says barring “unforeseen circumstances”, she’ll issue a ruling next week on whether to block state officials’ mandate for schools to return to in-person learning as the primary option, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The judge heard arguments this week in a lawsuit brought by the Iowa City school district and the Iowa State Education Association. Lawyers for the district and the teachers’ union asked her to impose a temporary injunction that would allow local school boards to decide when it’s safe to reopen classrooms to students and teachers. Many school districts have already returned to class, with more scheduled to begin classes on Tuesday, after Labor Day.
Tyson Foods says it is planning to open medical clinics at several of its U.S. plants—including one in Iowa—to improve the health of its workers and better protect them from the coronavirus. The Arkansas-based company, which processes about 20% of all beef, pork and chicken in the U.S., said yesterday that its plan to open the clinics was in the works before COVID-19 struck this year, but that they will undoubtedly help the company respond to the pandemic. Tyson says it would initially set up clinics near seven of its plants, including one in Storm Lake, in a pilot program. Tyson joins a long list of companies that have clinics on or near their worksites.
