Demand for vaccines in Iowa continues to decline with the state ordering fewer doses each week…and sliding downward in its national ranking of fully vaccinated people. Public health officials say Iowa ordered 2,450 doses for this week with just 16 out of Iowa’s 99 counties ordering doses. Last week, the state ordered more than 5,000 doses and the week before, more than 7,800 doses. Federal data shows Iowa has slipped to 21st in the nation with 44.9% of the population fully vaccinated. Two weeks ago, Iowa was 17th.
The Poweshiek County Sheriff says more than $15,000 has been pledged as a reward for information that helps investigators find out what happened to a missing Montezuma boy. Officials say the pledges have come from area businesses and citizens who are concerned about the disappearance of Xavior Harrelson, who was last seen “on or about May 27” in Montezuma, where he lived in a trailer park with his mother. The sheriff’s office said the money would be paid out for “information which leads to resolution of this case.” Harrelson turned 11 years of age a few days after his disappearance.
The FBI is now working with Des Moines Area Community College on a data security breach that led to days of the school’s various campuses being shut down. The security incident closed the college on Friday and forced it to partially shut down its computer network. In person courses resumed yesterday, but online courses are still not being held due to “network limitations” that remain. Neither the college nor the FBI has offered details on the security breach, but college President Rob Denson says no personal information was disclosed.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a bill that changes state election laws. The bill passed the legislature last month, and sets strict limits on who can assist voters in delivering ballots. It says no one can deliver a ballot for another voter unless they live in the same home or are immediate family members. It also sets new limits on who can help deliver a ballot for a blind or disabled voter. The change was to prevent so-called “ballot harvesting” which has been criticized in other states. The governor this week also signed into law a bill that bans teaching about white privilege in K-12 public schools and in public colleges and universities. Reynolds says teaching what is called “critical race theory” is actually about “discriminatory indoctrination.”
Iowa traffic enforcement officials are vowing to crack down on motorists speeding, driving while drunk or driving while distracted by cell phones in an effort to slow the rising traffic fatality rate. Iowa State Patrol Col. Nathan Fulk says Tuesday that officers have reported some of the most dangerous driving behaviors in the 85-year history of the patrol in recent months. He says excessive speed and impaired driving skyrocketed last year, pushing traffic fatalities higher than the previous year even as the pandemic reduced road traffic volume by 12%. Law enforcement will have an increased presence on Iowa roads June 9-12. The goal is to get traffic fatalities below 300 this year, something that hasn’t occurred in Iowa since 1925.
Trial for one of the inmates facing charges related to the deaths of two staff members at the Anamosa State Penitentiary has been moved to Linn County. Thomas Woodard Jr. faces two counts of First Degree Murder and one count of Second Degree Kidnapping and Attempted Murder. The trial will begin June 22. On the same day, another inmate involved in the attack, Michael Dutcher, will begin his trial on the same charges in Jones County.
The Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center will become the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center on August 18. Marcus Hotels & Resorts of Milwaukee will assume management of the facility on the same date. The hotel and conference center were planned by city leaders as a catalyst for economic and hospitality development and as an anchor in the redevelopment of a former industrial park and brownfield site. The city-owned hotel has been operated by Marriott since it opened in 2006.
