(Radio Iowa) – Incumbent Republican Senator Joni Ernst — locked in a tight battle with Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield – kicked off her final push to reach voters with a rally on her home turf in Red Oak. “My gut is saying really good things about this election cycle here in Iowa,” Ernst says. “It’s been a rough haul, no doubt about it…but I feel good and I’m asking for their support for the next six years.”

Ernst attended, but did not speak at President Trump’s rally Tuesday night in Omaha. Ernst says the thousands there — and at other G-O-P events this fall — show her Republicans are energized about the election. “They’re masked up, they’re enthusiastic,” Ernst says. “They know that it’s different with Covid, but they’re still coming out and being supportive and that’s what I’ve felt all across the state of Iowa, which tells me we’re going to have a good outcome Tuesday evening.”

Ernst will join Vice President Mike Pence at his rally in Des Moines early this (Thursday) afternoon.Her RV tour made stops in Red Oak, Council Bluffs and Atlantic, Wednesday. Ernst’s challenger Theresa Greenfield suspended her own R-V tour yesterday (Wednesday) after some of her campaign staff were around a person who later tested positive for Covid. Greenfield is regularly tested and recently tested negative, according to her campaign spokesman, but has taken a test again to be safe. The campaign had no results to share late Wednesday evening.

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s White House Coronavirus Task Force report on Iowa concludes nearly all of Iowa’s counties have moderate to high transmission of Covid. Last (Wednesday) night, the state set another record for hospitalizations, with 605 Covid patients reported in Iowa hospitals. Eli Perencevich is a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa.

“The biggest concern is we’re going to see more deaths as hospitals get overwhelmed,” he says. And Perencevich says health care workers are burning out. “There’s evidence that there is a tipping point where hospital staff get overwhelmed,” he says. “Even if you have beds, but you don’t have enough staff, staff start getting sick, too, as we just let the virus spread.”

Last (Wednesday) night, there were Covid outbreaks at 74 Iowa nursing homes according to the state’s coronavirus tracker. At 10 p.m., the website indicated 21-hundred-66 nursing home residents had the virus, 88 more confirmed cases than had been listed at noon yesterday (Wednesday).

Governor Reynolds said last week that Iowa hospital administrators had assured her they can handle the increasing number of Covid patients. The state website indicates 33 percent of inpatient beds were available last (Wednesday) night.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s number of coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to surge higher as medical professionals begin to worry that hospitals could be overwhelmed with patients if no action is taken to slow the virus spread. Iowa hospitals had 596 coronavirus patients on Thursday, by far the highest number so far in Iowa and the 113 patients admitted in the past 24 hours also was the highest seen since the virus surfaced in Iowa in March. Doctors and hospital officials in Iowa are preparing for a system overrun by COVID patients by talking about how to transfer patients between hospitals and enacting surge plans that could turn non-hospital facilities into overflow bed capacity.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sixty people are charged in a widespread magazine telemarketing scam that authorities say netted $300 million from more than 150,000 elderly and vulnerable people nationwide. Minnesota U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald announced the charges Wednesday. She called it the largest elder fraud scheme in the country. The defendants are from 14 states and two Canadian provinces. Court documents say that over the last 20 years, they used a network of fake magazine sales companies and telemarketing call centers to trick people into making large or repeat payments. Prosecutors say the companies operated in Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, California, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Arkansas.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man has been convicted of murder in the 2018 stabbing death of a Bellevue man during a botched robbery. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 31-year-old Raymond Davis, of Des Moines, Iowa, was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and a weapons count in the death of 39-year-old Brent Quigley. Davis is one of five people charged in Quigley’s death. Police say Davis and another man, Christopher Reagan, fatally stabbed Quigley at his home in June 2018 as part of a plan to steal drugs and money from Quigley. Reagan was sentenced to 100 years to life in prison in June. Davis faces life in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Elections officials in Iowa are worried about the state’s rising number of coronavirus cases, saying that any illnesses or absences among key workers and volunteers could hinder their services through Election Day. A week before the election, Iowa is reporting a new high 7-day average of about 1,300 daily infections, record numbers of hospitalizations and a surge in deaths. County elections commissioners say they hope the virus does not sideline any of their small full-time staffs and experienced poll workers. Officials warn any unexpected absences or last-minute substitutes could lead to delays and long lines, particularly because social distance will be required for those waiting.

(Radio Iowa) – The Animal Rescue League helped Des Moines police seize several exotic birds from a home Tuesday. A-R-L director of animal services, Joe Stafford, says there were 11 birds removed. “Small, medium, large exotic birds just living in essentially complete filth — I mean the house was just covered in trash,” Stafford says, “rat droppings and just a large accumulation of stuff.” Stafford says there were seven cockatoos, two Amazon parrots and two cockatiels. All of the birds need medical attention.

“They’re in really rough shape. One of the cockatoos’ beaks was so severely overgrown that it almost came clear around and touched her breast. That is something that is extremely problematic for exotic birds — because you can’t really eat properly,” according to Stafford. “Another bird’s nails were so long they curled completely into a circle. again making it difficult for her to grip anything — whether that be food or to perch properly.” He says another bird has plucked some of its feathers — which is an indication they had not gotten proper care in some time.

Stafford believes the birds can recover with the proper care. “Certainly, we are hopeful. I mean we always have a guarded prognosis with these birds. They are going to require very intensive care — and probably some specialty care… we may have to have some specialists come in that deal with these things a on a more deep level, have a lot more experience,” Stafford says. Stafford says some of the birds are expensive to buy and it can be expensive to take care of them properly.

He says the A-R-L is working with Des Moines police on getting the birds permanently taken away from the owner. “Both sides are given an opportunity of course to share their perspective on that. Those proceedings I can tell you have been started,” Stafford says, “and we’ll see where that goes. Whether the owner wants to be cooperative and realizes she was in over her head and maybe wasn’t providing the best care, she can choose to relinquish them — and if not — we’ll go to court.”

The name of the owner of the birds has not been released.