News
Governor calls for school closings as legislative session is suspended
Iowa Gov. Reynolds recommended Sunday that all Iowa schools close for four weeks as part of the state’s response to the escalating community-based spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19. “Based on new information today from the Iowa Department of Public Health, now is the time to move to the next level of response,” Reynolds said Sunday. […]
Coronavirus ‘community spread’ confirmed; governor calls for new precautions
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Saturday that COVID-19 has entered a new stage in Iowa with a first case of a Dallas County resident testing positive who did not contract the virus from a known source such as an out-of-state trip. Iowa has had 18 people test positive for the highly infectious disease caused by […]
U.S. House passes coronavirus response bill; Rep. Steve King votes no
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House early Saturday approved an emergency stimulus package to combat the coronavirus pandemic after President Donald Trump signaled his support for the bill. The multibillion-dollar package aims to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by a new coronavirus, and mitigate its economic effects as fears of recession loom. The […]
Reynolds broadens coronavirus response but doesn’t back closing schools, businesses
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Friday a state task force will add representatives from schools, businesses and hospitals to fight a coronavirus outbreak. Seventeen Iowans had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus as of Friday. That’s an increase of one case over Thursday’s count. An Iowan from Harrison County tested positive for the virus in […]
Dems postpone county conventions; GOP’s are still on
The Iowa Democratic Party has postponed its March 21 county conventions due to the coronavirus outbreak. “We have come to the determination that the spreading coronavirus poses a risk that outweighs a temporary delay in moving the caucus-to-convention process forward,” Democratic Party Chairman Mark Smith said in a statement. “This is not an easy decision, […]
State pledges $1 million for added local election security
State cybersecurity workers plan to scan all Iowa counties’ websites and internal systems before the election, and will offer $1 million statewide to help pay for upgrades, Secretary of State Paul Pate announced. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the office of the chief information officer will conduct the scans. “We built a very […]
LGBT students escorted out of the Capitol after complaint of transgender kids in restroom
Over 150 LGBT students were escorted out of the Iowa Capitol on Thursday after a group of transgender kids refused to leave the men’s restroom and use gender-neutral bathrooms instead, according to Iowa Safe Schools, an LGBT student advocacy group. Middle- and high-school students draped in rainbow flags toured the Capitol in the morning as […]
Iowa adds two new positive COVID-19 cases for a total of 16
Iowa has two more positive cases of COVID-19, both linked to the same Egyptian cruise that is responsible for most of the positive cases in the state. The new positive cases bring the total number to 16 in Iowa. Both are adults between the ages of 61 and 80; one is from Johnson County and […]
Iowa Judicial Branch sets rules for coronavirus response
Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen has issued an order governing how the courts will operate amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus that’s currently spreading in the United States and in many countries around the world. “Preparation is key to minimizing coronavirus/COVID-19 impact on the services the judicial branch provides Iowans,” […]
Coronavirus ‘social distancing’ raises concerns about Iowa’s blood supply
Canceling university classes and other “social distancing” measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 could have an unintended public health consequence: reducing the state’s and nation’s blood supply. Stacy Sime, president and CEO of Lifeserve Blood Center, said as of Wednesday, nine blood drives had been canceled, reducing collections by about 275 units of […]
Controversial housing voucher legislation advances
A controversial bill intended to block Iowa local governments from banning housing discrimination against people with rental vouchers advanced in the Iowa House Thursday. The bill, Senate File 2368, already passed the Senate. It next will be considered by the House Judiciary Committee. The subcommittee was chaired by Rep. Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant. Lohse said he […]
State revenue estimates hold steady; officials say impact of COVID-19 is uncertain
Citing the lack of hard evidence that state revenues will be affected by the early stages of COVID-19, Iowa’s three-member Revenue Estimating Conference kept its projections largely the same for the current budget year and next year. “The sky is not falling. It’s a little cloudier than usual but Iowa has a stable, albeit slowly […]