President Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail for the first time since his COVID-19 diagnosis…and he will be making a campaign stop in Iowa on Wednesday at the Des Moines International Airport at 6:00 p.m. It will be a general admission event, with registration available on the campaign’s website. The doors to the event will open at 3:00 p.m. The president will hold a rally in Florida today and Pennsylvania tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a new CBS News poll shows the president and challenger Joe Biden deadlocked when likely voters in Iowa are surveyed, with each scoring 49 percent in the survey.
Crop loss estimates from the August derecho have increased by more than 50%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday the number of crop acres that Iowa farmers are unable to harvest has grown to 850,000 from estimates last month that 550,000 acres were lost because of the storm. The damage caused by winds of up to 140 mph was compounded in late summer with a drought that, at its peak, encompassed much of the state. The drought area is again expanding after some September rainfall.
Authorities say a freshman at the University of Northern Iowa was struck and killed by a passing tractor-trailer while outside his car on the U.S. Highway 20 overpass at Hudson Road Friday afternoon. 19-year-old Isaac Roerig of Sioux City, was standing in the travel portion of the highway next to his parked car when he was hit by a semi driven by 71-year-old James Ricke of Fort Dodge. Roerig was initially taken to a hospital, where he died.
Officials say a $36 million construction project to expand and renovate the Waverly Health Center is ahead of schedule, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The second phase of the project is underway, just months after the mid-May groundbreaking. The second phase will add 31,000 square feet to include a new emergency department, large family practice clinic and outpatient area. It’s expected to be enclosed by Thanksgiving and operational in about a year. The third phase will renovate 40,000 square feet of the current emergency department and support staff areas into a new general surgery clinic, orthopedic clinic and area for other outpatient services.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says Iowans have set a record for absentee ballots requested in an election. Pate reports 703,768 requests as of Friday. That surpasses the previous high set in 2016 when more than 693,000 Iowans requested absentee ballots. More than 96,000 have been returned so far. Iowans have until 5 p.m. Oct. 24 to request an absentee ballot. Iowa voters can also cast a ballot in person at their county auditor’s office through Nov. 2…election day itself is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
ITC Midwest will be patrolling power lines and transmission structures this week to assess long term damage caused by the August 10th derecho. Helicopters will be used in the greater Cedar Rapids area beginning tomorrow and will take two to four days. The storm affected 1,215 miles of power lines, nearly 20% of the entire ITC Midwest electric transmission system.
The City of Waterloo yard waste/compost site on Independence Avenue is closed until further notice, as a result of large brush fire there Saturday night. There were no injuries, and officials are still investigating how the fire started.
More than 10,200 people registered for the 30th annual Especially for You Race Against Breast Cancer, which took place virtually yesterday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, more than $296,000 in registrations was raised for the Especially for You Fund, which provides financial assistance for breast and gynecological cancer screenings and services for area individuals in need. NRG Media was proud to be a sponsor of the event.
The flight schedule from Waterloo to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for the month of November was announced Friday evening. There will be only one flight from Chicago to Waterloo, offered Wednesday through Monday. It will leave Chicago at 1:05 p.m. and arrive in Waterloo at 2:12 p.m. With that, there will only be one flight from Waterloo to Chicago, offered Wednesday through Monday, as well. It will leave Waterloo at 4:17 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 5:29 p.m. There will be no Tuesday flights during November this year, and no flights on November 26 and 27 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The October schedule just went into effect last Thursday, with one flight each way per day, with different arrival and departure times depending on the day, and no flights on Wednesday in October.
