We now know the identity of the victim in Monday morning shooting incident in the 400 block of F Avenue NW in Cedar Rapids. He has been identified as 24-year-old Charles James Griffin. No further information has been released, but police initially said a person of interest was being questioned.
During her update yesterday on Iowa’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Kim Reynolds joined the call for Congress to pass a new pandemic relief bill to help small businesses and Iowans continue their recovery from the virus’s impact on the economy. November marked the deadliest month for COVID-19 in Iowa since the pandemic first reached the state in March. Reynolds says mitigation efforts are helping the positivity rate in the state drop. But she said there is still work to be done and that includes getting financial help to Iowans that need it. Gov. Reynolds says funding from the original CARES Act is still being allocated to those that need it, but there’s just not enough state funding to help cover everything. In her words, “They need to step up, they need to do their job. They need to come together, get it figured out and get relief sent to the states for our small businesses and Iowans that are suffering.”
Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson has selected a Cedar Rapids native and veteran of Sen. Joni Ernst’s staff to lead constituent services efforts in Iowa’s 1st District. Hinson has named Sam Pritchard as her district director. Hinson also announced that her campaign manager, Jimmy Peacock, will be her chief of staff, splitting his time between Washington and the 20-county 1st District. He previously worked for Sen. Marco Rubio and as an aide to Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
A Texas company has announced it will build a $15 million plant in northwest Iowa that will make environmentally-friendly shipping pallets from corn plant waste, such as stalks, husks and leaves. Corn Board Manufacturing will build the 50,000-square-foot plant on 40 acres west of Odebolt in Sac County. The company makes a wood alternative, named CornBoard, from corn stover, the plant debris that’s typically left in the field after a crop is harvested. The company already uses CornBoard to make ski, snow and skateboard equipment under the Stalk It brand name, as well as indoor and outdoor furniture. Company CEO Lane Segerstrom says construction will begin in the spring and the plant will employ up to 30 people.
A new monthly survey of business leaders in Iowa and eight other Midwest and Plains states suggests a drop in confidence in the region’s economy. After climbing every month since bottoming out in April, the overall index of the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions survey fell from 70.2 to 69.0 last month. Any score above 50 on the survey’s indexes suggests growth. But the survey’s confidence index looking ahead six months plummeted 20 points to 50.0 this month from October’s 70.4.
Public health data in Iowa shows signs that the coronavirus infection rate is slowing but the number of people hospitalized and dying with COVID-19 remains high. Some of the lower numbers in case positivity could be due to reduced testing around the Thanksgiving holiday. Some hospital officials are bracing for another surge in positive tests and illness within the next week due to Thanksgiving family gatherings. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say Iowa’s positivity rate declined in the past two weeks but remains third in the nation at 41.24%. Iowa posted 24 deaths and 1,906 new confirmed cases yesterday. Hospitals reported 1,172 patients with COVID-19, up 10 from the day before.
Local and state health officials have ruled a nursing home resident in Dubuque has been reinfected with COVID-19. It’s the first known case of reinfection in Dubuque County. Officials say the resident completed their 10 days of isolation and reached the 28 day threshold of not having symptoms to be considered “recovered” by the IDPH. A month later the resident started showing symptoms again, was tested and the results came back positive. The resident tested negative week after week between the two positive results. That resident has made it through their second infection and is out of isolation.
Beginning this weekend, fans will be able to return to attending Iowa State football and basketball games in-person, with COVID-19 restrictions in place. The announcement came yesterday. Saturday is the last home football game, against West Virginia; meanwhile, basketball will play DePaul at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday. Seating capacity is reduced at Jack Trice Stadium to 15,000, which is less than 25% of the stadium’s total capacity. The university says face coverings are required at all times for all fans. (not used)
It became official Monday…subject to legal challenges…but Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks has been declared the winner in Iowa’s 2nd congressional district race, by six votes out of almost 394-thousand cast. Miller-Meeks talked about her race against Democrat Rita Hart on TV on Fox and Friends yesterday. The congresswoman-elect said she trusts the voting system in Iowa, but said there are things that could be improved. Democrats will hold a slim majority in the U.S. House. Iowa’s delegation flipped from 3 Democrats and 1 Republican…to 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat as a result of the November election.
Kum & Go CEO Kyle Krause announced yesterday he will be transitioning out of his role at the beginning of the year. Krause will be succeeded by his son, Kum & Go President Tanner Krause, on Jan. 1. Krause became head of the convenience store chain in 2004. He will remain in his role as CEO of parent company Krause Group. Des Moines-based Kum & Go employs 5,000 associates at its 400 stores in 11 states.
The Waterloo Black Hawks are scheduled to begin this new month at home on Friday versus the Sioux Falls Stampede at 7:05 p.m. While the Black Hawks have played just twice so far this season, Sioux Falls’ seven games are the most completed by any USHL club at this stage of the season. Then Saturday, the Hawks are scheduled to hit the road for a contest versus the Dubuque Fighting Saints. The Hawks have been off the ice for the past two weeks due to COVID-19 issues.
