Iowa Radio News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Polls are open for those who are opting for traditional Election Day voting after Iowans cast roughly a million ballots early. Polls opened at about 1,200 polling places at 7 a.m. Tuesday and voting will continue until 9 p.m. The Secretary of State’s Office reports just over 2 million Iowa residents are registered to vote, and about half of them already cast an absentee ballot. IOWA (IRN) – The number of people being treated for the coronavirus in Iowa hospitals continued to soar Tuesday, prompting hospital officials to warn that their facilities could be overwhelmed without serious efforts to curtail the virus spread. More than half of Iowa’s counties now report a high coronavirus positivity rate as the state has set two more hospitalization records. The Iowa Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 1,516 new positive COVID-19 cases and 22 additional deaths. There have been 1,755 total deaths since the pandemic began. AMES, IA (IRN) – Iowa State University alerted students Monday to the second reported sexual assault on campus in two days. It’s not known if the cases are related. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Smoke filled the air and could be seen for miles in West Des Moines Monday as firefighters worked to extinguish flames at a vacant office building. The building was in the beginning stages of demolition and nobody is expected to have been inside when the fire began. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – The Waterloo City Council discussed Monday a proposed housing incentive of $5,000 for future and current city employees. The hope is the incentive would encourage more employees to live within city limits. Employees would qualify by buying and living in a home in Waterloo for at least five years.

IOWA (IRN) – Nearly half of the counties in Iowa are reporting 14-day coronavirus positivity rates at 15% or higher. Eleven counties are above 20%, and of Iowa’s 99 counties, only 13 are reporting rates below 10%. Another 17 people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa and there have been an additional 1,469 confirmed cases. At 10 a.m. Monday, the state was reporting 1,733 COVID-19-related deaths, an increase of 17 deaths since the state’s tally at 10 a.m. Sunday. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man is dead after being shot and killed by his daughter. Twenty-four-year-old Rythm Huddleston has been charged with first-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm in the shooting death of 45-year-old Marcellas McNeil. Huddleston and McNeil had been arguing inside a bar and continued outside in a parking lot when Huddleston allegedly shot her father and fled the scene. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The Independence Police Department is investigating smashed windows and business doors in the downtown area. It happened late Saturday night. Police are asking businesses to look at their security camera footage around that time, and provide them with a copy. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A new poll from Emerson College released Sunday shows President Donald Trump leading over former Vice President Joe Biden. The poll has Biden at 46% and Trump at 47% with a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. The Emerson College poll has Democrat Theresa Greenfield ahead of Sen. Joni Ernst for the Senate seat 48% to 44%. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – President Donald Trump visited Iowa on Sunday to talk to supporters in Dubuque. His visit comes two days before Election Day and was hosted at the Dubuque Regional Airport. President Trump said the campaign is “very happy with Iowa.”

N) – The Iowa Poll released Saturday night by the Des Moines Register and Mediacom has Republican Sen. Joni Ernst slightly ahead of Democratic candidate Theresa Greenfield. The Iowa Poll has Ernst at 46% and Greenfield at 42%. In the presidential race, President Donald Trump took the lead over former Vice President Joe Biden. The poll shows Trump at 48% and Biden at 41%. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – In the race against incumbent Democrat Abby Finkenauer and Republican Ashley Hinson in the 1st congressional district, 51% are voting Republican and 36% voting Democrat. The 2nd district race against Republican Miller-Meeks and Democrat Rita Hart shows a dead heat with 41 percent Republican and 40 percent Democrat. In the 3rd district, where Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne is being challenged by Republican David Young, 45% are voting Democratic, and 39% Republican. In the 4th district, in the race of Republican Randy Feenstra against Democrat J.D. Scholten, 50% are voting Republican, 33% Democrat. LAWRENCE, KS (IRN) – Breece Hall matched a career high with 185 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Brock Purdy threw two TD passes and had another score on the ground and No. 23 Iowa State coasted to a 52-22 victory over winless Kansas on Saturday in Lawrence. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) -Northwestern erased an early 17-point deficit to beat Iowa 21-20 on Saturday. Twenty-nine members of the Iowa football team knelt down during the playing of the national anthem before Saturday’s home game against Northwestern. Whether standing or kneeling Saturday, all players held hands. There were 26 Black players and three white players who knelt. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz gave players permission for the first time to kneel for “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a demonstration for greater racial justice in America.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Health on Friday reported 2,621 new coronavirus cases and 14 additional deaths as hospitalizations continue to rise and more counties report high positivity rates. There are 31 counties with a 14-day positivity rate greater than 15%, up from a record 25 the previous day. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – New COVID-19 cases are being reported at Anamosa State Penitentiary and the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville. Officials say they will be organizing mass-testing for inmates and staff in the coming days, to determine which inmates should be placed in isolation. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police in Des Moines say they’ve made an arrest after a shooting killed a man and injured a woman. The shooting happened Thursday near the grounds of East High School. Officers called to the scene found a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her leg and learned that a 21-year-old man had been taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest and later died. Police say 27-year-old Wesley Marquise Bekish is charged with first-degree murder and a weapons count in the shooting. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A federal grand jury has indicted Brandon Tumause Owen, 20, of Cedar Rapids, for one count of Unlawful Drug User in Possession of a Firearm. Officials say Owen brandished an AR-15 rifle during a June protest in Iowa City.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Two-million dollars of CARES Act funding has been earmarked for work to develop a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine in Iowa. Governor Kim Reynolds announced she set aside the money for a collaboration of Iowa industry partners, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa to advance a nanovaccine candidate. The Nanovaccine Institute at ISU was established in 2013. U.S.A (IRN) – As of Thursday, there have been 83,757 daily new coronavirus cases in the United States, per Johns Hopkins University data. This is the highest single day reporting since the pandemic began. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Vice President Mike Pence hosted a campaign event Thursday at the Des Moines International Airport. Sen. Joni Ernst introduced Pence, and a masked Pence then exited Air Force Two and ran to the podium to address the crowd. Pence asked Iowans to re-elect President Donald Trump to chants of “four more years.” He outlined Trump’s accomplishments, saying the president improved the American economy, cut taxes and increased military and veteran health spending. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden visits Des Moines today. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie is urging caution tonight on Beggar’s night. The mayor is asking everyone to “limit or reconsider” their festivities this weekend due to growing coronavirus cases in the state. The White House considers Iowa to be a “hot zone.” IOWA (IRN) – Governor Kim Reynolds announced she has set aside $2 million in CARES Act funding to support the development of a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine through a partnership between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. The funding will help ISU and the U of I leverage their patented technology to advance a COVID-19 nanovaccine candidate that will address the limitations of vaccines already under development.