IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sept. 3 hearing has been scheduled in a lawsuit seeking to block Gov. Kim Reynolds’ order that schools return to classroom learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The Iowa State Education Association and the Iowa City Community School District are requesting a temporary injunction to block enforcement of the governor’s mandate. If granted, that would mean school districts would have their own authority to decide whether to move to 100% remote learning and not face retaliation from the state if they do. Reynolds has said that school districts must provide at least 50% in-person instruction or face consequences.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped significantly in July but remained far higher than the rate before the coronavirus pandemic led to an economic slowdown. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday a 6.6% unemployment rate, down from 8.4% in June. The rate was more than twice as high as July 2019, when the state recorded a 2.7% rate. The number of Iowa residents without jobs dropped from 137,700 in June to 107,300 in July.
(Radio Iowa) — Many Iowans have held off on their summer travel plans due to COVID-19, pushing things back to fall. While some airlines are offering heavily discounted fares in hopes of luring travelers back, Iowans planning a fall fling will find plenty of changes, especially with scheduling. Kyle Potter, editor for the website ThriftyTravler.com, says airlines have cut the number of flights dramatically. “Where you might have had a handful of different flight options every day — early morning, mid-morning, a few throughout the afternoon and evening — now that’s usually down to just one or two flights a day no matter where you’re looking to go,” Potter says. “In some cases, you might need to make a connection.”
Potter says it doesn’t hurt to make plans in advance because airlines say they’ll let passengers change flights without paying a big fee. They can also cancel the flight or get a voucher for the value of the ticket, so he says there’s little risk involved in planning ahead. “If you do book a flight far in advance, odds are it’s going to change between now and whenever you get on the plane,” Potter says. “So certainly it may make sense to be a little bit more nimble, wait until the last minute or definitely expect that the ticket that you booked may not be the flight that you take.”
Another change with the pandemic, masks are now mandatory on all flights. On August 9th, domestic air travel topped 800-thousand passengers, the highest number since March 17th. Still, that’s still down 69-percent from a year ago. Potter says the federal CARES Act is helping airlines cover payroll expenses through September.
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is reporting another down quarter. Quad Cities-based John Deere reports net income for the third quarter of 811-million dollars. That’s down from 899-million a year ago. Worldwide net sales and revenues dropped 11-percent for the quarter and 12-percent for the past nine months. In a news release, Deere CEO John May says, “Although unsettled market conditions and related customer uncertainty are expected to have a moderating effect on key markets in the near term…Deere is well positioned to help make our customers more profitable and sustainable.”
The Derecho that struck the Midwest on August 10th, brought hurricane force winds of up to 140-miles per hour to parts of Iowa, caused millions of dollars in property damage, and a loss of at least 43-percent of the State’s corn and soybean crop. It also disrupted lives by knocking out power to more than 200-thousand homes and business. As of this (Friday) morning, approximately 14,500 power customers remained in the dark, with the bulk of those (over 12,000) residing in eastern Iowa’s Linn County.
“Zorro,” the baby raccoon. Photo courtesy Dr. Alan Farnsworth, DVM,
The major wind event was not kind to animals, either. In Adair, Veterinarian, Dr. Alan Farnsworth, found a female baby raccoon that he is nursing back to health. The Vet says he found the little critter the afternoon of August 15th.
Farnsworth gave the female raccoon subcutaneous fluids, which perked her up. He then began feeding her with a kitten milk replacer out of a little pet nursing bottle.
Doc Farnsworth says she’s drinking about 25-cc’s of milk replacer four-times each day. The goal, he says, is to eventually release “Zorro,” as he calls her, back into the wild in less than two months. She currently resides in a cage at his veterinary office in Adair, and is frequently visited by people who bring their animals in for care, or who just wanted to take a peek at the guest bandit.
Farnsworth said distemper and parvo-virus are the most common-type of maladies that affect raccoons in the wild. He says if you find a young raccoon in the wild, it’s best to leave it alone, because the mother will often come back for them. But this case was different.
Because raccoons are social creatures among their own kind, Farnsworth brought her a little stuffed animal she enjoys holding. The Vet says he’s trying hard not to become attached to her, because he knows she has to leave eventually.
Farnsworth has served the area as a Veterinarian for the past 43-years.
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