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Iowa early News Headlines: Tuesday, Nov. 10 2020

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November 10th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

UNDATED (AP) — Three Iowa prisons are reporting coronavirus outbreaks with hundreds of inmates and more than 100 prison workers testing positive in recent days. An Iowa Department of Corrections report says the prison at Clarinda has 377 inmates and 16 staff members testing positive, and at the prison in Rockwell City there are 254 positive inmates and four staff members. The department released data Friday showing an outbreak at the Anamosa prison, where 485 are now testing positive out of 982 inmates housed at the prison. Another 50 staff members are testing positive. Other prisons have smaller numbers of positive cases. In total 1,145 inmates and 103 staff members are positive in the state’s prisons.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State prison officials say a 70-year-old man imprisoned for his role in a 1981 Davenport murder has died from COVID-19 and other health issues. David Streets, who died Sunday, was serving a life sentence in the death of Mark Webb and the kidnapping of another man. The kidnapped man, Russell Greer, was taken to Palisades State Park near Cedar Rapids, where he was tied to a tree, beaten and left for dead. Streets was one of five people convicted in the case. Corrections officials said he died at the University of Iowa Hospitals, mostly likely from COVID-19 and several pre-existing health conditions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Insurance Division says its paid $1.6 billion in insurance payouts for damages caused by a rare wind storm that blew through the state in August. The agency said Monday that insurance companies paid nearly 160,000 claims as of Nov. 2. The companies are holding more than $1 billion more in reserves for future claims for damages from the derecho, which carried winds up to 140 mph. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said in a news release that his office has received just over 90 complaints out of more than 200,000 insurance claims filed about derecho-related damages.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines school district has requested a waiver to move completely to online learning as state figures show coronavirus infections and hospitalizations remain high. The Des Moines school board approved the waiver late Sunday. It’s up to the state Department of Education to grant a waiver. Superintendent Tom Ahart notes Polk County’s average virus positivity rate has topped a state-mandated 15% threshold for districts seeking to shift to online instruction. The state on Monday reported 4,212 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. Three more people have died, bringing the state’s virus death toll to 1,845. A record 1,034 virus patients are being treated in hospitals.