HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE CONSISTENTLY WARNED THAT COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS ARE STILL NECESSARY. SPEAKING TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9, HEATHER MEADOR OF LINN COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH SHARED SOME REASONS WHY THE CORONAVIRUS HAS BEEN SHOWING SIGNS OF A REBOUND. MEADOR ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO CONTINUE WEARING MASKS, AS WELL AS SOCIAL DISTANCING, EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED A COVID-19 VACCINATION.
THE LINN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE BELIEVES ALCOHOL WAS INVOLVED IN AN INJURY ACCIDENT JUST BEHIND THE FUNERAL PROCESSION FOR MURDERED ANAMOSA PRISON GUARD ROBERT MCFARLAND. AROUND 2:30 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, A DRIVER WAS SLOWING AS HE APPROACHED THE LINE OF VEHICLES ON HIGHWAY 30. SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES SAY THAT VEHICLE WAS REAR-ENDED BY A GARBAGE TRUCK WHICH CONTINUED ON UNTIL BEING PULLED OVER BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. ROBERT TRUAX OF MARION WAS ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF OPERATING THE TRUCK WHILE INTOXICATED. THE DRIVER OF THE CAR – GARY SAMS OF ANAMOSA – SUSTAINED NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES.
A WATERLOO MAN IS BEGINNING A PRISON TERM WHICH WILL LAST MORE THAN FIVE YEARS. FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY A SEARCH OF BRADLEY MCMAHAN’S HOME IN 2019 RECOVERED MORE THAN A THOUSAND PILLS CONTAINING THE ANXIETY DRUG ALPRAZOLAM, AS WELL AS AMMUNITION AND STOLEN PROPERTY. MCMAHAN HAS BEEN SENTENCED FOR BEING A FELON AND UNLAWFUL DRUG USER IN POSSESSION OF AMMUNITION.
IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS HAD TARGETED THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK TO MAKE COVID-19 VACCINES AVAILABLE FOR ALL ADULTS. SOME PARTS OF THE STATE ARE OPERATING AHEAD OF THAT SCHEDULE. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS THAT HUMBOLDT COUNTY IS ONE EXAMPLE; PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS THERE ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD HOLD VACCINATION CLINICS THIS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY FOR ANYONE AGE 16 AND UP. THE NEWS COMES AMID CALLS TO CONTINUE SOCIAL DISTANCING AND WEARING MASKS FOR THE TIME BEING, DUE TO REBOUNDING CASE COUNTS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
SCREENINGS FOR COVID-19 HAVE BECOME A ROUTINE PART OF LIFE SINCE LAST SPRING. ANOTHER TYPE OF POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING SCREENING IS BEING ENCOURAGED DURING COLON CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. CEDAR RAPIDS DOCTOR SACHIN GOYAL TOLD KXEL’S JEFF STEIN THAT POLYPS IN THE COLON CAN BE A SIGN OF TROUBLE AHEAD. COLON CANCER IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN THE U.S., WITH 140 THOUSAND NEW CASES EXPECTED ANNUALLY.
HIGH WINDS CREATED CHALLENGES FOR FIRE FIGHTERS IN SEVERAL PLACES ON MONDAY. IN RURAL MARSHALL COUNTY, THERE WERE REPORTS OF WILDFIRES WHIPPED UP BY WIND. IN MARION MONDAY EVENING, A MODULAR HOME WAS DESTROYED BY A FAST SPREADING FIRE. AND IN CEDAR RAPIDS LAST NIGHT A CALL BROUGHT FIREFIGHTERS TO A SMOKEY INCIDENT AT A HOME IN THE 1200 BLOCK OF 1ST AVENUE NW. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED AT ANY OF THOSE FIRE SCENES.
WE’RE INTO THE FINAL DAYS OF MARCH. ALTHOUGH COLON CANCER AWARENESS MONTH IS ENDING, DOCTORS AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS SAY THAT’S NO REASON NOT TO TAKE THE RISK OF COLON CANCER SERIOUSLY. DR. SACHIN GOYAL OF MERCY MEDICAL CENTER SAYS THERE ARE SEVERAL SCREENING OPTIONS AND EARLY DETECTION LEADS TO THE BEST OUTCOMES. COLON CANCER SCREENING IS RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE AGE 45 AND OLDER. HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH DR. GOYAL IN THE PODCAST SECTION AT KXEL.COM.
MANY RESTAURANTS HAVE HAD TO CHANGE THEIR NORMAL PROCEDURES FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. THAT’S HAVING AN IMPACT IN SMALLER COMMUNITIES, LIKE MORRISON, SOUTHWEST OF CEDAR FALLS. OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 TALKED WITH TOM MCLEAN, OWNER OF THE MORRIS INN STEAKHOUSE. THE STEAKHOUSE HAS BEEN IN OPERATION FOR 67 YEARS, AND IS MORRISON’S ONLY RESTAURANT.
A SEVENTH CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASE HAS BEEN REPORTED AMONG PERSONNEL WORKING AT THE IOWA STATE CAPITOL. LIMITED DETAILS WERE RELEASED MONDAY. THE COVID POSITIVE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE STATE SENATE. OFFICIALS SAY THE UNNAMED INDIVIDUAL WAS LAST ON HAND THURSDAY.
