From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) – The new Interstate 74 bridge at Bettendorf is set to open next month, a year late and nearly $75 million over the original bid. The Quad-City Times reports that a public ceremony is set for Dec. 1 to give residents walk-on access to the new bridge that spans the Mississippi River, connecting Iowa to Illinois. Officials say the twin-span bridge will open to traffic in the days after the ceremony. The Iowa-bound portion of the bridge was to have opened by the end of 2020, while the Illinois-bound span was set to open at the end of this year. The Iowa Department of Transportation has also authorized up to $74.5 million in additional construction costs, pushing the price tag to $396 million.
DETROIT (AP) – Deere workers approved a new contract Wednesday that will deliver 10% raises immediately and end a monthlong strike for more than 10,000 employees. The United Auto Workers union members voted 61% in favor of the deal with the tractor maker. It was the third vote on a contract offer. Workers recently rejected an offer that was similar to the one approved Wednesday. This latest proposal made only modest changes to the details of Deere’s internal incentive pay plan. The new contract covers 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas where the Moline, Illinois-based company’s iconic John Deere equipment is made. The workers had been on strike since Oct. 14.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State data shows hospitalizations, people in intensive care and deaths from COVID-19 are all up in Iowa. The information released Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Public Health data says 544 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 123 who are in intensive care. The latest report posted 102 deaths, which the agency says occurred between Sept. 15 and Nov. 11. The state is now reporting 7,268 deaths. Iowa is 15th in the nation for the death rate in the past week with 3.1 deaths per 100,000 people. About 9.7% of Iowa children aged 11-15 have received a dose of vaccine.
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) – Two people have died in a two-vehicle crash at Maquoketa in eastern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says the crash happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday when a southbound car turning left off Highway 61 was hit by a northbound pickup truck. Television station KCRG reports that the crash killed two men, 68-year-old Gary Schlapia and 61-year-old Michael Griffin, both of Maquoketa. It was not clear from a patrol report whether Schlapia and Griffin were in the same vehicle. Two other men were taken to hospitals for their injuries.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police in Des Moines are seeking two people suspected in the fatal shooting a dog that was protecting its owner during a home invasion early Wednesday. Police say the incident happened around 12:30 a.m. as a woman and her dog returned home from a walk. Investigators say two armed people kicked in the woman’s door, leading the dog to attack the intruders. Police say that’s when one of the suspects shot the dog. The dog was rushed to an emergency veterinarian hospital, but died of its injuries. Police say the suspects fled and no arrests have been made.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former manager for an influential Iowa-based pork dealer has died in a crash, days after federal prosecutors charged him in a scheme to swindle hog farmers through fraudulent buying practices. The Iowa State Patrol says 70-year-old Steven Demaray, the former regional buying manager for Lynch Livestock, was driving a truck that crashed head-on Monday morning into a concrete overpass support pier on Highway 63 near New Hampton, where he lived. Demaray, who was known by his nickname “Shooter,” was the only person in the vehicle and died at a hospital. An accident report released Tuesday gave no indication why his truck left the road. A federal grand jury on Nov. 4 indicted Demaray and a former Lynch Livestock bookkeeper on two counts of mail fraud. Demaray had pleaded not guilty.
