“I’m proud of where our numbers are at,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said regarding COVID-19 during a photo-op with two turkeys at the governor’s mansion on Tuesday, “and we’re going to continue to make vaccines available and encourage people to get them if they want to.” According to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s latest data, […]
COVID-19
Posted inCommunity/News
Free mobile clothing closet helps locals in need bundle up, dress for school or jobs
Around 40 people picked out clothes on Thursday, when the Corridor Community Action Network’s (CCAN) brought its free mobile clothing closet to Pepperwood Plaza in Iowa City. The event was the first test drive for CCAN Clothing Cruise’s RV, which was packed door-to-door with winter, professional and school clothes. Plans for the Clothing Cruise began […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds’ COVID approval ratings rise; IDPH reports new cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to grow
A majority of Iowans approve of the job Kim Reynolds is doing as governor, according to a new Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register on Wednesday. A majority also approve of how the governor is handling the COVID-19 pandemic. The poll was published on the same day the Iowa Department of Public Health […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Audit: Gov. Reynolds misused almost $450,000 of COVID aid to pay her office staff
Gov. Kim Reynolds misappropriated almost $450,000 in federal pandemic relief funds to cover the salaries and benefits of 21 employees in her office, according to a report published by the Iowa State Auditor’s Office on Monday. This is not the first time Auditor Rob Sand has issued a report alleging Reynolds misused CARES dollars meant […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa joins another lawsuit against vaccine mandates; new COVID cases spike, pushing Iowa over half a million total cases
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Wednesday that Iowa is suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to stop the requirement that all workers at healthcare facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid be vaccinated against COVID-19. The action came just six days after the governor said the state would take “immediate legal action” to stop […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds says Iowa will sue to stop federal vaccine requirements; more than 7,000 Iowans have died of COVID, IDPH says
Iowa “will take immediate legal action to challenge” new workplace standards on COVID-19 vaccinations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said. In a written statement after OSHA published the new standards, Reynolds called the effort to increase vaccination rates and protect workers in congregate settings from being exposed […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City schools will host COVID-19 vaccine clinics for students between the ages of 5 and 11
Iowa City schools will hold COVID-19 vaccination clinics for students between the ages of 5 and 11 starting next week, the Iowa City Community School District announced on Wednesday. The CDC and FDA gave final approval to the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. Statewide, there are approximately 284,000 children in that age […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids unveils mural featuring local healthcare workers
A new two-story mural appeared almost overnight in Cedar Rapids to recognize the courage and sacrifice of healthcare workers. “This project is meant to be a tribute. A tribute to our local healthcare workforce,” said Jesse Thoeming, executive director of the Downtown District, which is part of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. “For these […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Roughly two out of five COVID-19 deaths in Iowa were preventable, former UI Public Health dean postulates
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 117 deaths from COVID-19 in its weekly update on Wednesday, increasing the state’s pandemic death toll to 6,965. The number of deaths from the virus reported by IDPH has increased in every weekly update in October. “It is instructive to compare Iowa and Minnesota, which have nearly […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Experts highlight importance of masks in schools; Gov. Reynolds says she’ll sue to stop any vaccine mandates
In the next issue of Pediatrics, a journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, medical experts from Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C., the George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University write that attempts by the states, including Iowa, to ban the use of masks in schools undermines public health efforts to contain COVID-19 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The 13th Iowa City Book Festival includes Bob Woodward, a celebration of Dostoevsky and more
Literature lovers should get ready to indulge in a week-long celebration of authors, readers and writing, as the 13th annual Iowa City Book Festival (ICBF) kicks off. This year’s festival runs from Monday, Oct. 18 to Sunday, Oct. 24, and unlike last year’s festival, which was entirely virtual because of the pandemic, it will have […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Eliza, Finn and the art of reinvention
There is this thing that humans — not all of them but, observationally, a sizable majority — do to suffering: They want it to mean something. We want that meaning to make the suffering noble, and we want that noble suffering to reframe that tragedy as beneficial for us. Just watch someone (your humble narrator, […]
