Author

Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times. He has won numerous state and national awards for reporting and editorial writing.
COVID-19 spreads at Woodward home as Iowa tops 100,000 infections to date
By: Clark Kauffman - October 12, 2020
COVID-19 is continuing to spread at the state-run Woodward Resource Center for people with disabilities, while the statewide count of total infections to date passed the 100,000 mark. Iowa reported two new coronavirus deaths and 842 new infections on Sunday. Over the past week, there has been an average of 1,028 new infections per day, […]
COVID-19 spreading rapidly at two state-run care facilities for people with disabilities
By: Clark Kauffman - October 9, 2020
With COVID-19 spreading rapidly at two state-run facilities for the disabled, 61 residents and workers are now infected, according to public health officials. In addition, the death of one disabled resident is now being examined to determine whether it was caused by the deadly virus. The number of infections at western Iowa’s Glenwood Resource Center […]
Iowa hospitalizations at a record high as White House points to ‘preventable’ deaths
By: Clark Kauffman - October 8, 2020
The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 hit another record high on Thursday while the number of newly reported infections spiked at near-record levels. According to the New York Times’ COVID-19 tracker, Iowa reported at least five new coronavirus deaths and 1,296 new infections on Wednesday. Over the past week, there have been an average […]
New claims for unemployment remain flat in Iowa
By: Clark Kauffman - October 8, 2020
The number of newly filed claims for Iowa unemployment benefits remained relatively flat last week. A total of 4,730 new claims were filed during the week ending Oct. 3, a slight increase over the previous week’s adjusted total of 4,616. The number of continuing or ongoing weekly unemployment claims totaled 51,666, a decrease of 6,753 […]
Reynolds echoes Trump: ‘We can’t let COVID-19 dominate our lives.’
By: Clark Kauffman - October 7, 2020
Quoting President Donald Trump, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that while Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are now at an all-time high, “we can’t let COVID-19 dominate our lives.” Speaking at a press conference, Reynolds noted that COVID-19 hospitalizations have been climbing in Iowa for the past two weeks, particularly in the northwest section of the state. […]
Iowa’s recent COVID-19 hospitalizations set a new record
By: Clark Kauffman - October 5, 2020
Already ranked among the states with the worst infection rates, Iowa now has reached its highest-ever rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations. The rolling count of new COVID-19 hospital admissions in Iowa, as calculated by the state over a two-week period, hit 775 on Sunday. That was just five days after reaching what was then an […]
Iowa agency keeps secret the number of COVID-19 staff deaths in nursing homes
By: Clark Kauffman - October 5, 2020
The Iowa Department of Public Health is refusing to disclose the number of Iowa nursing home workers who have been infected with, or died from, COVID-19. For months, the department has released only combined staff-and-resident numbers for both infections and deaths in Iowa nursing homes. The agency has refused requests to separate the number of […]
Judge: State failed to investigate worker’s complaints about sexually charged incidents
By: Clark Kauffman - October 1, 2020
A disease specialist with the Iowa Department of Public Health was fired for sexual harassment earlier this year after complaining about sexually charged incidents in the workplace. One of the man’s complaints stemmed from a game, allegedly concocted by state employees, that awarded plush toys to contestants who used their mouths to put condoms on […]
COVID-19 hospitalizations climb to near-record levels in Iowa
By: Clark Kauffman - October 1, 2020
The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 is continuing to climb and is close to breaking the record set in early May. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been growing steadily over the past 12 days. On Thursday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported a near-record number of Iowans hospitalized with the virus: 407, which is the highest […]
New claims for unemployment benefits drop in Iowa after a recent spike
By: Clark Kauffman - October 1, 2020
Iowa workers filed 5,018 initial unemployment claims in the week ending Sept. 26, a decrease from the previous week’s total. The reduction is good news for Iowa, which last week reported 6,601 initial unemployment for the week ending Sept. 19. That number represented a 42% increase from the 4,652 new claims filed the previous week. […]
Two Iowa taverns fined $1,000 for violating governor’s COVID-19 orders
By: Clark Kauffman - September 30, 2020
The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division has reached settlement agreements with two tavern owners accused of violating Gov. Kim Reynolds’ orders on social distancing. Edin Sahinovic, owner of Edo’s Sports Bar in Waterloo, and Sophia Martinez, owner of Jalapeno Bar & Grill in Eagle Grove, have each agreed to a $1,000 civil penalty. In the past, […]
White House calls for action in ‘red zone’ Iowa as Reynolds relaxes COVID-19 guidelines
By: Clark Kauffman - September 30, 2020
As Iowa moves to relax its quarantine guidelines in defiance of CDC guidelines, the White House Coronavirus Task Force is warning that the state remains in the “red zone” for new cases of COVID-19. Red-zone states have had at least 101 new cases per 100,000 population. Iowa had 197 new cases per 100,000 population last […]