THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR IS QUICKLY APPROACHING FOR MANY IOWA DISTRICTS. YESTERDAY, GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS TALKED ABOUT THE PROCESS OF BRINGING STUDENTS BACK TO CLASSROOMS. REYNOLDS SAYS SOME COVID-19 STATISTICS COULD BE SKEWED DUE TO OUTBREAKS IN NURSING HOMES AND OTHER FACILITIES UNLIKELY TO IMPACT SCHOOLS, MAKING IT IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION OFFICIALS TO UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT OF CORONAVIRUS RATES.
WHEN COLLEGE CLASSES BEGIN, FOOTBALL WILL NOT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. THE BIG TEN POSTPONED ALL FALL SPORTS ON TUESDAY, LEAVING OPEN THE POSSIBILITY THAT FOOTBALL AND OTHER GAMES COULD BE PLAYED IN THE SPRING. BESIDES THE LOSS OF FUNDS FOR ATHLETICS, BUSINESSES IN IOWA CITY AND ELSEWHERE THAT USUALLY BENEFIT FROM INCREASED TRAFFIC ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL SATURDAYS COULD SUFFER.
A MAN IN CEDAR RAPIDS WAS SHOT IN THE FOOT ON TUESDAY EVENING. POLICE SAY THE SHOOTING HAPPENED AROUND 8 O’CLOCK IN THE 4800 BLOCK OF 16TH AVENUE SOUTHWEST. THE VICTIM’S INJURIES WERE NOT LIFE-THREATENING.
A PUBLIC HEARING ON A BLACK HAWK COUNTY MASK MANDATE IS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK. THE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS DISCUSSED THE TOPIC TUESDAY. SUPERVISORS HEARD A LEGAL OPINION THAT IF A MANDATE IS APPROVED, IT COULD BE ENFORCED BY AUTHORITIES, DESPITE COUNTER-OPINIONS FROM THE STATE ABOUT LOCAL MANDATES.
THE STORMS WHICH PASSED THROUGH IOWA MONDAY CONTINUE TO LIMIT MANY ROUTINE SERVICES. TUESDAY, THE BLACK HAWK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE NOTED THAT MANY 911 CALL CENTERS MAY NOT RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT A CALLER’S LOCATION. THOSE DETAILS ARE USUALLY PROVIDED BY PHONE NETWORKS WHICH WERE DAMAGED BY THE STORM. EMERGENCY DISPATCHERS MAY NEED MORE TIME TO COLLECT INFORMATION THEY WOULD NORMALLY HAVE ON SCREEN. MEANWHILE, POWER AND INTERNET OUTAGES HAVE MADE IT HARDER TO FUEL UP. EVEN GAS STATIONS WHICH HAVE POWER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROCESS CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS IF THEIR INTERNET CONNECTION IS DOWN.
STATE CLIMATOLOGIST JUSTIN GLISAN PROVIDED MORE DETAILS ABOUT MONDAY’S STORM. HE OFFERED A SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENED AS THE WEATHER MOVED THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN IOWA. GLISAN SAYS THE HIGH WINDS IMPACTED AN AREA STRETCHING MORE THAN TWICE THE WIDTH OF IOWA: APPROXIMATELY 770 MILES. DAMAGE WAS NOTICEABLE AS FAR EAST AS OHIO. STATE OFFICIALS SAY APPROXIMATELY 10 MILLION ACRES OF IOWA AGRICULTURAL LAND COULD HAVE SEEN AT LEAST SOME DAMAGE.
AFTER FALSIFYING HER TIME CARD WHILE WORKING FOR THE CITY OF DUNKERTON, FORMER POLICE CHIEF KATHERINE KRIEGER HAS RECEIVED PROBATION: TWO TO FIVE YEARS OF PROBATION FOR CLAIMING $3,000 WORTH OF HOURS SHE HADN’T WORKED. SHE HAS REPORTEDLY LEFT LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IS CURRENTLY STUDYING TO BECOME AN ATHLETIC TRAINER.
OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN SIZING UP MONDAY’S DERECHO AS IOWANS HAVE BEEN LEARNING ABOUT THE STORM WHICH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A HURRICANE WITHOUT AN OCEAN. IOWA CLIMATOLOGIST JUSTIN GLISEN TALKED ABOUT A RARE EVENT WHICH LEFT A WIDE SWATH OF THE MIDWEST REELING. UTILITY OUTAGES RESULTING FROM THE STORM STILL NUMBER IN THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
IT WILL BE AWHILE BEFORE THE FULL AGRICULTURAL IMPACT OF MONDAY’S DERECHO CAN BE ASSESSED. IOWA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY MIKE NAIG TALKED ABOUT WHAT PRODUCERS ARE DEALING WITH. NAIG SAYS FARMERS WILL LIKELY BE ABLE TO TELL WHETHER CORN AND OTHER CROPS WILL RECOVER BEFORE AUGUST COMES TO AN END.
AN AMBULANCE ACCIDENT ON WATERLOO’S WEST SIDE DID LEAD TO ONE INJURY LAST NIGHT. THE AMBULANCE WAS ANSWERING AN EMERGENCY CALL BUT WAS NOT CARRYING A PATIENT WHEN COLLIDED WITH A CAR; ONE OF THE VEHICLES ALSO HIT A POWER POLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF WILLISTON AVENUE AND WEST NINTH STREET. THE REPORTED INJURY WAS NOT SERIOUS, BUT THE IMPACT WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO DEPLOY THE AMBULANCE’S AIRBAGS.
