Author: Iowa Radio News

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines police officer was seriously injured when a car crashed into his patrol vehicle during a traffic stop. Officer Jon Kaufman pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 35 at 12:08 a.m. Sunday. As Kaufman was sitting in his patrol car behind the subject vehicle, another car hit his patrol car from behind. Kaufman suffered serious injuries. The car that hit Kaufman’s vehicle was driven by 61-year-old John Schwartz of Kellogg, who was also injured. The Iowa State Patrol is investigating.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – On Sunday evening, hospitalizations in Iowa surpassed 1,000 people due to coronavirus. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported that there are 1,034 Iowans currently in the hospital due to COVID-19. A total of 1,843 Iowans have died from the virus.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Public Schools will request a waiver to move the district to completely online learning as coronavirus cases spike in Polk County. In an emergency school board meeting on Sunday, the school board voted 6-1 to allow the district to request an online-only learning waiver from the state. The positivity rate is 16%.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The College Republicans group at Iowa State University is facing criticism for a tweet on the group’s Twitter account Saturday. Just after President-elect Joe Biden was projected the next president of the United States, the group posted: “Everyone, you must arm up, expect these people to attempt to destroy your life, the elites want revenge on us.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – In Iowa, some people spent Saturday celebrating President-elect Joe Biden’s victory while others said it’s not over yet. Groups gathered at the Capitol and Cowles Commons in Des Moines to voice their feelings about President-elect Joe Biden’s win. The events were peaceful.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa prison officials reported a coronavirus outbreak has infected nearly half of the inmates at an Iowa prison in Anamosa. A total of 476 inmates among 985 at the prison tested positive for the virus. A report provided by the department indicates 37 staff members also tested positive. Across the nine institutions the department manages, 601 inmates are currently infected as of Friday afternoon.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes in the second half after throwing three interceptions in the first, and No. 17 Iowa State came from behind to beat Baylor 38-31 Saturday night.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Tyler Goodson ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns as Iowa throttled Michigan State 49-7 on Saturday. Goodson led a balanced Iowa offense that racked up a season-high point total. The sophomore’s outing included a career-long 71-yard scamper, which set the Hawkeyes up for their sixth touchdown of the day.

DYERSVILLE, IA (IRN) – Dyersville police are investigating after a woman was shot and injured by her 2-year-old child. Police determined the child accidentally shot the 21-year-old woman with a handgun that was left unsecured.

IOWA (IRN) – Officials at the state’s largest hospital systems are warning Iowans that if the current COVID-19 infection rate continues, they will be overwhelmed with patients. Their preparations for the surge are forcing them to curtail other medical procedures, shift personnel from surgical duties to intensive care and expand ICU beds.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Health will hire its third spokesperson since the COVID-19 pandemic began following the departure of legislative liaison Amy McCoy. McCoy took over as the Iowa Department of Public Health’s spokesperson after it fired longtime public information officer Polly Carver-Kimm. Carver-Kimm is suing the state and Gov. Kim Reynolds claiming she was improperly fired for her willingness to respond to media requests.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – The Dubuque County Board of Health became concerned after they learned people in one of Dubuque’s low-income neighborhoods have been sharing masks. The board is now passing out free masks in the neighborhood.

JASPER COUNTY (IRN) – Democrat Rita Hart has now taken the lead in the race for Congress in Iowa’s 2nd District after Jasper County election officials identified and corrected a data reporting error, according to the County Auditor and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate.

JASPER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says there were errors in unofficial election results in one Jasper County precinct. Iowa’s tight race for U.S. House District 2 had shown Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks ahead of Democrat Rita Hart by just 282 votes. The Secretary of State’s website now shows Miller-Meeks’ total has gone down by 328 votes, and Hart’s has increased by 166. The total now stands at 196,603 for Hart and 196,441 for Miller-Meeks, a difference of 162 votes. Hart is now the apparent winner, but there will be a recount.

IOWA (IRN) – The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 topped 900 for the first time last night, pushing the state to another record-high for hospitalizations. There have been 14 additional deaths for a total of 1,815. Of those who’ve died, 879 were residents of long term care facilities. There are currently 87 outbreaks at long term care facilities in Iowa affecting 2,709 residents.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Medical leaders from the two largest hospitals in the Des Moines metro pleaded with Iowans to do their part to bring the outbreak under control. They say their hospital staffs are in rough shape after eight months of treating COVID-19 patients and they fear some very dark days are ahead with the huge increase of positive cases. Dr. Rossana Rosa, with UnityPoint, says “there will be more deaths, and there will be more suffering from a disease that remains preventable.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday hosted her first news conference dedicated to Iowa’s coronavirus response in nearly a month. Reynolds pleaded with Iowans to take additional steps to slow the spread of the virus but declined to enact any further mitigation efforts as new cases and hospitalizations continue to spike.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Iowa State University athletic officials said Thursday that a “very limited” number of spectators will be allowed to attend men’s and women’s basketball games at Hilton Coliseum due to coronavirus concerns. Seating capacity will be limited to 1,373 fans per game, less than 10% of Hilton’s seating capacity.

ARLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Despite the constant calls from health leaders and signs at just about every store to wear a mask, one business in Arlington is discouraging mask wearing. KCRG-TV reports 6 Corners Gas, the only gas station in the Fayette County town, has a sign in the front window that reads “No masks required, please remove before entering. Thank you.”

IOWA (IRN) – The state of Iowa has set another record for the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and for new cases reported in a single day. The deaths of 20 more Iowans are also being reported in the last 24 hours. A total of 1,801 Iowans have died of the virus, and 48% of deaths have been in long-term care facilities.

ALTA VISTA, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a northeast Iowa man found guilty of murdering his four-month-old son, who was found dead in a maggot-filled diaper in 2017. Zachary Koehn, 31, was convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. Koehn’s son, Sterling, was found dead in a baby swing.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The unofficial results from Tuesday’s race for Iowa’s second U.S. Congressional seat lean slightly to the right. Republican State Senator Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads former Democratic State Senator Rita Hart by 282 votes. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says he expects a recount.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that she is allocating another $28 million in relief to Iowa hospitals and local county health departments because of needs related to the pandemic. The funding comes from the $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act funds allocated to the state.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – According to a special investigation into district operations for the Iowa City Community School District from July 2017 to June 2019, Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand reports proper procedures were not followed. The report released on Wednesday showed the district did not follow its own policies requiring competitive bidding for contracts or agreements costing more than $135,000.