HARVEST HIT HIGH GEAR LAST WEEK. WITH DRY CONDITIONS FOR MOST OF THE STATE UNTIL SUNDAY, THE LATEST USDA CROP REPORT SHOWS 30 PERCENT OF SOYBEANS WERE BROUGHT IN FROM FIELDS ACROSS IOWA. PRODUCERS HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN TO 12 PERCENT OF THE STATE’S CORN. FIGURES FOR BOTH CROPS ARE NEARLY THREE WEEKS AHEAD OF THE PACE FROM 2019. THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SAYS HARVEST IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING AT THE FASTEST RATE SINCE 2012. THE FIRST FROST OF THE SEASON IS POSSIBLE IN SOME PARTS OF THE STATE LATER THIS WEEK.
COULD PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WIN A SECOND TERM WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY FACING AN INCREASINGLY HOSTILE CONGRESS? THAT SEEMS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE, AT LEAST LOOKING AT THE IOWA ELECTORATE, ACCORDING TO PATRICK MURRAY OF MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY. MURRAY WAS A RECENT GUEST ON KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL AND TALKED ABOUT TICKET SPLITTING. FIND MORE OF MURRAY’S ANALYSIS AT KXEL.COM.
FORMER IOWA GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD DEFENDED A TOUGH APPROACH TO CHINA THAT HAS RILED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE WORLD’S TWO LARGEST ECONOMIES. AS BRANSTAD LEAVES HIS ROLE AS AMBASSADOR TO CHINA, HE SAYS THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE PROGRESS ON TRADE, AND HOPES THAT WILL EXTEND TO OTHER AREAS INCLUDING CHINA’S TREATMENT OF DIPLOMATS AND JOURNALISTS. BRANSTAD DOWNPLAYED THE STRAINED RELATIONSHIP, NOTING IT HAS WEATHERED UPS AND DOWNS IN THE PAST.
IOWA’S 2020 SENATE CANDIDATES TRIED TO TIE THEIR OPPONENTS TO TAX ISSUES AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET DURING A TELEVISED DEBATE LAST NIGHT. REPUBLICAN SENATOR JONI ERNST DEFENDED RECENT TAX POLICY, ARGUING THAT OPPONENT TERESA GREENFIELD, AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE JOE BIDEN, WANT TO GO A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. MEANWHILE GREENFIELD, THE DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER, POINTED TO RECENT NEWS ABOUT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S TAX BILL AS REPRESENTING MANY OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THE CURRENT TAX SYSTEM. MONDAY’S DEBATE WAS CONDUCTED BY IOWA PBS.
ONLY ONE INJURY WAS REPORTED FROM A LARGE EXPLOSION IN DUBUQUE ON MONDAY. A GAS LINE HAD BEEN DISRUPTED BY WORK IN THE AREA AROUND 4 O’CLOCK YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. FIREFIGHTERS HAD STARTED AN EVACUATION AND UTILITY CREWS WERE WORKING ON THE PIPELINE WHEN AN EXPLOSION DESTROYED A HOUSE AND CAUSED OTHER DAMAGE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. DUBUQUE FIRE OFFICIALS SAY ONE FIRST RESPONDER WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH A CUT, BUT NO ONE ELSE WAS HURT DURING THE LITERALLY EARTH-SHAKING INCIDENT.
PARENTS OF SOME YOUNG CHILDREN IN JESUP HAVE BEEN SCRAMBLING TO FIND CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS. LAST WEEK ONE PERSON WITH TIES TO JESUP ELEMENTARY PRESCHOOL TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS. FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THERE WERE ASKED TO QUARANTINE THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN MEET FOR A DEBATE TONIGHT IN CLEVELAND. MANY VOTERS HAVE ALREADY FORMED STRONG OPINIONS OF THE TWO CANDIDATES. PATRICK MURRAY OF MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY WAS A RECENT GUEST ON KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL AND TALKED ABOUT POLLING IOWA VOTERS, AND WHO IN THE STATE IS LIKELY TO ACTUALLY CAST A BALLOT. POLLING DATA RELEASED BY MONMOUTH LAST WEEK PUT TRUMP AT 49 PERCENT AND BIDEN AT 46 AMONG LIKELY VOTERS. IN 2016, TRUMP WON IOWA BY A MARGIN OF MORE THAN 147 THOUSAND VOTES OVER HILLARY CLINTON.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA POSTED ITS BEST COVID-19 RATE OF THE SEMESTER YESTERDAY. THE STUDENT HEALTH CENTER TESTED 117 STUDENTS LAST WEEK AND RETURNED JUST 11 POSITIVE CORONAVIRUS RESULTS. THE RESULTING POSITIVE RATE OF 9.4 PERCENT IS THE FIRST TIME THAT MARK HAS BEEN IN THE SINGLE DIGITS SINCE STUDENTS RETURNED IN AUGUST. AS OF YESTERDAY, UNI SAYS JUST 25 PEOPLE ARE IN QUARANTINE OR ISOLATION AS A RESULT OF COVID-19. ASIDE FROM TESTS DIRECTLY CONDUCTED BY THE SCHOOL’S HEALTH CENTER, UNI SAYS ANOTHER 11 CASES WERE SELF-REPORTED AFTER TESTING IN OUTSIDE FACILITIES.
TWO FORMER IOWA BASKETBALL STARS ARE TEAMMATES AGAIN. TWO SEASONS AGO, MEGAN GUSTAFSON AND KATHLEEN DOYLE HELPED THE HAWKEYE WOMEN TO THE ELITE EIGHT. THIS WINTER, THEY’RE HEADED TO POLAND TO PLAY FOR THE SAME PROFESSIONAL CLUB THERE.
