With significant numbers of Iowans already showing a hesitancy to get a coronavirus shot, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is expressing concern that the pause in use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine could solidify a resistance among some people. She said Wednesday it’s important that people don’t jump to conclusions about vaccine safety. Federal agencies paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday and are investigating six cases of blood clots in women. Gov. Reynolds herself received the J&J vaccine six weeks ago and reportedly had only minor side effects. Iowa has fully vaccinated 33.8% of its adult population over 18 but 20 counties this week refused vaccine allotments after failure to fill existing vaccine slots. The state is beginning informational campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy.
The President of the Iowa Board of Regents says they will not be mandating vaccinations for any student or employee at UNI, Iowa, or Iowa State, for the upcoming academic year. Michael Richards did say he strongly encourages members of the campus community to get vaccinated.
Barbara J. Wilson has been named as the second of four finalists in the search for the University of Iowa’s next president. She is interviewing on campus Thursday and Friday of this week. Wilson is currently an executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs for the University of Illinois System. Hari Osofskey, who interviewed earlier this week, was the first candidate named and currently is the Dean of Penn State Law and the Penn State School of International Affairs. The names of the other two candidates will be revealed the day before their scheduled visits. The Iowa Board of Regents will name the next president on April 30.
The Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services says she is the one who made the decision to decline the federal government’s request for Iowa to accept migrant children from the border. During an interview last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Iowa did not have the proper facilities for the children and said, “it’s the president’s problem.” Iowa DHS director Kelly Garcia says she advised Reynolds on the decision. Garcia says she believes it would not be appropriate to place refugees in group settings with Iowa children who have behavioral issues. She also says it would take a lot of people to support the migrants, and it would become Iowa’s obligation to place the children with permanent families. She did say she could reverse her decision as the state learns more about support for funding or translation services from the federal government.
A teenager is recovering after a stabbing in Marion…police were called to the 200 block of 3rd Avenue just before 11 p.m. Tuesday. They were told a teenager had been stabbed by a sibling at the home. That teenager was taken to the hospital for treatment. The sibling accused in the attack was also treated at the hospital and then was later arrested and taken to Linn County Juvenile Detention on three separate assault charges, one of which would be a felony. None of the injuries appear to be life threatening, and no other information is being released at this time.
Police in Omaha have found the body of a woman inside a car that was submerged in a far western Iowa lake. Officers patrolling the area found the submerged car in Carter Lake just before 1 o’clock early Wednesday morning. Police say the car’s headlights and taillights were still on when the officers found it. The Omaha Fire Department was called to pull the car from the water, and the body of 22-year-old Nyahon Thuok of Omaha was found inside. Police are investigating to determine how the vehicle ended up in the lake.
Trial has begun for a man accused of shooting to death a woman and her two young children inside a Des Moines home in 2019. The first day of 33-year-old Marvin Esquivel Lopez’s trial included testimony from his wife in which she said she saw him shoot 29-year-old Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez twice in the head after the two had argued the night of July 18, 2019. Police say officers also found Flores-Rodriguez’s two children dead in the home’s basement with two gunshots each to the head. Esquivel Lopez, who is also known to federal authorities as Marvin Escobar-Orellana, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
