Dr. Caitlin Pedati, the former medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health and state epidemiologist, who oversaw the Reynolds administration’s minimal approach to COVID-19 mitigation, has found a new job. Pedati, who announced in September she would be stepping down from her Iowa positions in “late October” has been hired by the Virginia […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
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COVID-19: Iowa adds 13,000 new cases; Gov. Reynolds celebrates legal win; Johnson County passes new mandate
Over the last seven days, Iowa hit new highs for the year in the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the number of patients hospitalized with the virus, according to the latest weekly update from the Iowa Department of Public Health. IDPH reported 13,039 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a significant jump […]
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Rob Sand is running for a second term as state auditor, squashing speculation he’d seek higher office
Almost as soon as Rob Sand was elected Iowa State Auditor in 2018, political writers and the Iowa Republican Party began publicly speculating on what office he would run for in 2022. Would Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office that year who wasn’t already a longtime incumbent (Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald has been in […]
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President Biden unveils plan to fight COVID spread over winter; hospitalizations in Iowa reach a new high for 2021
“I know COVID-19 has become very divisive in this country, it’s become a political issue, which is a sad, sad commentary,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday. “It shouldn’t be, but it has been. Now as we move into the winter and face the challenges of this new variant, we can put the divisiveness behind […]
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As Iowa GOP leaders eagerly await Roe being overturned, abortion rights advocates plan a rally on the Pentacrest
There will be a rally to support abortion rights on the University of Iowa Pentacrest at noon on Saturday. The event, organized by Repros for Iowa, Corridor Community Action Network and Iowa City Democratic Socialists of America, is in response to Wednesday’s hearing in the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Republican-appointed majority clearly indicated […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Judge halts enforcement of federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health workers in Iowa and nine other states
On Monday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction stopping the Biden administration from enforcing the mandate requiring workers at healthcare facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The injunction only applies to the 10 states who filed the lawsuit against the mandate. Iowa is one of those […]
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Gov. Reynolds says she’s ‘proud’ of COVID numbers ahead of Thanksgiving; IDPH reports more than 10,000 new cases in the last week
“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, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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LULAC files lawsuit to overturn Iowa’s ‘English-Only Law’ for voting materials
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Iowa took legal action on Wednesday to overturn a 13-year-old court order that prevents 97 of Iowa’s 99 counties from providing official voting materials in any language other than English, regardless of whether a voter is proficient in English. The civil rights organization filed a petition […]
