FEDERAL LEGISLATORS WILL RETURN TO WASHINGTON TODAY FOR THE BEGINNING OF A SO-CALLED LAME DUCK SESSION. HOPES REMAIN FOR A NEW COVID-19 STIMULUS PACKAGE. HOWEVER, IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST EXPRESSED HER FRUSTRATION WITH PREVIOUS EFFORTS ON THAT FRONT WHEN SHE WAS A RECENT GUEST DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL. AFTER A BREAK FOR THANKSGIVING, THE CURRENT CONGRESSIONAL CALENDAR IS SCHEDULED TO WRAP UP DURING THE WEEKEND BEFORE CHRISTMAS.
FACE COVERINGS AND PROCEDURAL CHANGES ARE UP FOR DISCUSSION BY THE WATERLOO CITY COUNCIL THIS EVENING. DURING THE FORMAL MEETING, COUNCILMAN JONATHAN GREIDER HAS PROPOSED EXTENDING WATERLOO’S MASK MANDATE BY AN ADDITIONAL SIX WEEKS. BACK IN AUGUST, GREIDER INTRODUCED THE CITY’S ORIGINAL MASK RESOLUTION, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN EXTENDED ONCE. WATERLOO COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO CONTINUE A DISCUSSION ABOUT REDUCING THE NUMBER OF FORMAL COUNCIL MEETINGS FROM FOUR TO TWO EACH MONTH. IF EVENTUALLY APPROVED, INFORMAL CITY WORK SESSIONS WOULD REPLACE THE FORMER MEETING DATES.
COVID-19 IS SURGING THROUGH NURSING HOMES IN THE LATEST WAVE OF THE PANDEMIC. NEW WEEKLY CASES AMONG RESIDENTS ROSE BY NEARLY 300 PERCENT FROM THE END OF MAY TO LATE OCTOBER. RESIDENT DEATHS MORE THAN DOUBLED, ACCORDING TO THE ANALYSIS BY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HEALTH RESEARCHERS. THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS NURSING HOME OUTBREAKS INVOLVE COMPLEX DYNAMICS AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS PROVIDED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO HELP NURSING HOMES AS WELL AS THOUSANDS OF FAST-TEST MACHINES.
PARTS OF TWO CEDAR RAPIDS GARAGES WERE CHARRED BY FIRE ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. FIREFIGHTERS SAY THE INCIDENT BEGAN AS ONE FIRE BETWEEN THE TWO STRUCTURES IN THE 200 BLOCK OF 11TH STREET NW. WHEN IT SPREAD, FIRE CREWS RESPONDED TO KEEP THE GARAGES AND THEIR CONTENTS FROM BEING CONSUMED. WHILE THERE WAS SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE, AUTHORITIES SAY THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND THEY CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF THE ORIGINAL DEBRIS FIRE.
MORE MONEY WAS SPENT ON LAST WEEK’S SENATE ELECTION BETWEEN JONI ERNST AND TERESA GREENFIELD THAN ANY OTHER IN STATE HISTORY. ERNST REACTED TO THAT WHEN SHE WAS A RECENT GUEST DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, FOCUSING ON THE MONEY SPENT BY SUPPORTERS OF HER OPPONENT. ERNST WON A SECOND TERM IN THE SENATE, EARNING OVER 860 THOUSAND VOTES TO TOP GREENFIELD 51.7 PERCENT TO 45.1.
AVERAGE GAS PRICES HAVE CONTINUED TO SLIDE FROM LATE OCTOBER INTO THE FIRST DAYS OF THIS MONTH. ON A NATIONWIDE BASIS, GASOLINE FELL 3 CENTS PER GALLON OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS TO $2.19. MANY IOWA PUMPS WITH ETHANOL BLENDS ARE DISPENSING FUEL AT LESS THAN TWO DOLLARS PER GALLON. INDUSTRY ANALYSTS SAY THAT GAS PRICES WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO DROP BECAUSE CRUDE OIL COSTS REMAIN LOW. THE CURRENT AVERAGE IS 50 CENTS BELOW WHERE IT WAS A YEAR AGO. THE AVERAGE PRICE OF DIESEL IN THE BI-WEEKLY SURVEY WAS $2.48 A GALLON, DOWN ONE CENT FROM THE LAST REPORT.
THE CORONAVIRUS AND ITS EFFECTS MAY BE THE MAJOR OBJECT OF CONGRESSIONAL ATTENTION THIS WEEK. WITH SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES BACK IN WASHINGTON, KXEL’S JEFF STEIN ASKED IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST WHAT ELSE SHE PLANS TO FOCUS ON DURING THE LATE WEEKS OF THIS SESSION. YOU HEARD FROM ERNST AFTER SHE WAS REELECTED FOR A SECOND SENATE TERM LAST WEEK. IF YOU MISSED THE FULL INTERVIEW, YOU CAN HEAR IT ANYTIME AT KXEL.COM.
WHATEVER YOUR INTEREST IN ART, YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN WORK BY NORMA “DUFFY” LYON. THE LATE ARTIST SCULPTED BUTTER COW STATUES AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR FOR DECADES. IN TOLEDO, ONE OF LYON’S PERMANENT WORKS WAS DAMAGED IN THE AUGUST DERECHO. HER SON, ERIC LYON, TALKED WITH OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ABOUT THE COST TO MAKE REPAIRS. TOLEDO OFFICIALS ARE SEEKING GRANTS AND DONATIONS AND HOPE TO COAT THE FIBERGLASS-BASED SCULPTURE IN BRONZE.
YOU MAY HEAR BELLS AS EARLY AS THIS MORNING IF YOU ARE HEADED TO THE STORE. AT 11 O’CLOCK, THE SALVATION ARMY OF WATERLOO/CEDAR FALLS OFFICIALLY OPENED ITS 2020 HOLIDAY RED KETTLE CAMPAIGN. BESIDES DROPPING CONTRIBUTIONS INTO THE FAMILIAR STORE-FRONT KETTLES, THE CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION IS ASKING PEOPLE TO HELP ELECTRONICALLY. THE GROUP SAYS ANYONE CAN SPONSOR A VIRTUAL KETTLE TO ENCOURAGE DONATIONS. THE SALVATION ARMY OF WATERLOO/CEDAR FALLS SAYS ITS CAMPAIGN GOAL FOR THE 2020 CAMPAIGN IS 601 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
