The Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA) sent an open letter to the state legislature on Thursday, asking lawmakers to “accept your position of critical role models to the people of Iowa” and “lead by example and always wear a mask during your work at the Capitol and ask others to do the same.” As IPHA […]
COVID-19
‘Our state has never been stronger’: Reynolds calls for accelerated tax cuts and full-time in-person school, despite pandemic

More than 4,200 Iowans have died from COVID-19, and food insecurity in the state has been pushed to it highest level in living memory by economic damage from the pandemic. Still, Gov. Kim Reynolds told the Iowa Legislature at the beginning of her Condition of the State speech on Tuesday night that “the condition of […]
Linn County has only received an ‘extremely limited’ supply of COVID-19 vaccine, health officials say

Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are arriving in Iowa and Linn County “very slowly,” and supply of the vaccine is “extremely limited,” according to Linn County Public Health. County public health and medical officials from the local hospitals urged residents during a LCPH news conference to remain patient as it might take the county longer […]
Iowa may soon start vaccinating all older adults; anti-vaxxers protest without masks at State Capitol

A total of 91,501 Iowans, including 9,411 residents of Johnson County and 6,797 residents of Linn County, had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The department has said it will now publish updates on the number of people vaccinated, at both […]
COVID-19: ICCSD’s waiver request was denied as Reynolds plans elimination of hybrid learning; deaths surpass 4,000

Late on Thursday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) rejected the Iowa City Community School District’s request for a waiver to switch to all online classes for two weeks. The district applied for the waiver on Tuesday as Johnson County’s COVID-19 test positivity rate continued to increase over the last two weeks, with fears […]
Letter to the editor: My COVID-19 vaccine story

By Katelyn Meyer, Coralville I received my first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 17. As an ICU nurse who has worked frequently with COVID-positive patients at UIHC, I was among the first several hundred employees vaccinated in the state of Iowa. I had worked the night before, so I finished giving report […]
No-parking zones will be set up on Thursday and Friday, as crews remove snow from Iowa City streets

There will be temporary no-parking zones set up on Thursday and Friday, as crews from the Iowa City Public Works Department remove snow from the streets. The Streets and Traffic Engineering Division has already posted No Parking signs along the routes to be plowed. Vehicles will need to be moved by 7 a.m. on the […]
Reynolds administration decides it no longer needs the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s weekly reports

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration has decided Iowa no longer needs the weekly report on the state from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. “We are not requesting the report at this time,” Iowa Department of Public Health spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand told the Des Moines Register in an email on Monday afternoon. Ekstrand did not respond […]
Iowa City is composting Christmas trees and curbside recyclers get the tree collected for free

As the holidays, like the rest of 2020, fade into the past, Iowa City residents with curbside recycling have an easy way to dispose of holiday evergreens going brown. Like other organic waste, formerly festive trees can be put at the curb and will be collected on the regular collection day. The trees will be […]
Twenty for 2020: Songs that shaped Iowa’s sonic landscape
Kirk Ferentz tests positive for COVID-19

Hawkeye football Head Coach Kirk Ferentz has tested positive for COVID-19 and “will remain home until Dec. 27,” the University of Iowa Athletics Department announced in a statement on Friday morning. According to UI Athletics, Ferentz tested positive using a rapid antigen test on Thursday morning, and the results were confirmed by a PCR test. […]
Uncertainty remains about how many doses of COVID vaccine Iowa will receive this month

There was confusion on Thursday over how much COVID-19 vaccine Iowa will receive in its initial shipments from the federal government. During her Dec. 3 news conference, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state had been told it would receive 172,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of December. But on Wednesday […]