In the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus update today (Friday, 10-a.m.), officials report: Three more people have died from COVID-19 (for a total of 742); Officials say 358,394 have been tested for the virus to-date, with the number of positive cases up 744 to 33,756. There were 7,972 Iowans tested Thursday, another new single-day record. One of 9 Iowans have been tested for the virus and 1 of 94 have tested positive. Negative cases stand at 326,822; and, 25,750 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

Iowa’s hospitalization rates have been increasing since the beginning of July after a long period of decline. IDPH reported 169 current patients with COVID-19, up from 168 the previous day. There are 54 patients listed in intensive care, up from 49 the previous day. There are 26 patients on ventilators, equal to the previous day. There were 19 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, down from 32 the previous day. In southwest/western Iowa RMCC Region 4: Five people are hospitalized (2 less than yesterday); 4 are in an ICU; none were admitted to a hospital, and there was no one on a ventilator. Long-Term Care (LTC) facility data show: 15 current outbreaks; 282 residents/staff tested positive for COVID-19; 87 have recovered, and there have been 392 deaths to-date.

County-by-County COVID-19 cases, and the number of person who have recovered (   ).

• Cass: 27 (19)
• Adair: 16 (12)
• Adams: 8 (8)
• Audubon: 16 (15)
• Guthrie: 72 (57)
• Montgomery: 11 (8)
• Pottawattamie: 796 (655)
• Shelby: 119 [2 more than on Thursday] (105)

(Radio Iowa) – A meat locker in Story City is the first in Iowa to be allowed to sell its products to customers in other states. A new federal program lets state-inspected lockers get a U-S-D-A stamp on processed meat, so it can be sold across state lines. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says this opens up new markets for Iowa meat lockers as well as livestock and poultry producers.  “Iowa’s got a great brand for agriculture, as we know, and specially for meat production and so we think that’s something that
we think can perform very well really all across the country,” Naig says.

This could broaden the range of Iowa beef, pork and poultry sold to restaurants in cities like Chicago and beyond that promote the farm-to-table concept. It also means Iowa-branded meat could be sold in regional grocery stores.  “Over the last couple of months we’ve had a lot of focus on the food and agriculture supply chain and meat in particular and so I think there’s a lot of interest on the part of consumers and restaurants and really all across the board in more options when it comes to sourcing meat,” Naig says, “and we’ve seen that in the fact that our meat lockers are very, very busy and we like that we think that there’s an upside for them to stay busy.”

Naig and his staff worked for nearly a year to ensure all state regulations and inspections met the federal program requirements. It meant buying some new equipment and additional training for the state’s meat and poultry inspectors. “It does also require USDA to come into those lockers from time to time,” Naig says, “but the day-to-day, ongoing operational inspections will be conducted by our team.”

Meat processing businesses that have fewer than 25 full-time employees can sign up for the federal program. Al’s Country Meat Locker in Calmar and Ohrt’s Smokehouse in Ionia have also qualified for the program. Naig says dozen other meat lockers that are eligible have applied.  “This is where I think there’s an opportunity: one for those existing meat lockers to expand, maybe hire some additional staff, make some equipment investments and some facility investments,” Naig says. “And we are hearing, too, of some real interest in some new facilities and folks getting into the business, so that’s an exciting thing for us to look at — expanding this market opportunity and the economic development that goes along with it.”

There are a couple of hundred meat lockers in the state and 68 of them are eligible for this federal program.

Police in Council Bluffs report a warrant has been issued for 23-year old Raymundo Rafael Silva-Gomez, of Bellevue, NE., associated with a pursuit that began with a traffic stop. Police tried to stop a beige Cadillac near 535th and Ronald Road at around 5-p.m., Thursday, when the failed vehicle to pull over. Officers eventually discontinued the pursuit.

The vehicle was involved in a crash at 13th and Missouri Avenue, in Omaha. Silva-Gomez was identified as – the suspected driver.

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

UNDATED (AP) — Worker advocates have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging that meat processing companies Tyson and JBS have engaged in racial discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic. The complaint filed Wednesday alleges the meatpacking companies haven’t implemented appropriate social distancing on production lines or slowed production speeds. As a result, it says, Hispanic, Black and Asian workers have suffered. The complaint alleges the policies violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects individuals from racial discrimination by recipients of federal financial assistance. The companies have together received more than $150 million from USDA programs this year.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A federal appeals court says a Davenport officer who stomped on the ankle of a suspect used unreasonable force but nonetheless cannot be held liable. The 2015 stomp by officer Brian Stevens allegedly broke the ankle of suspect Juan Shelton, who was pinned down by five officers at the time. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals says that Stevens enjoys qualified immunity and therefore cannot be sued for excessive force. The court says that it was unreasonable for Stevens to stomp on Shelton’s ankle under the circumstances, but that officers cannot be held liable for such split-second decisions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has tapped a senior team in Iowa. It’s a sign that Democrats see the state where Republican Donald Trump beat them handily in 2016 as within reach. The campaign told The Associated Press that Biden is naming veteran Democratic operative Jackie Norris as his senior adviser of a team in Iowa. Joining Norris as Biden’s Iowa campaign director is Lauren Dillon, who directed Amy Klobuchar’s Iowa caucus campaign. Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points in the state four years ago. A competitive race in Iowa likely signals trouble for Trump in states he won by smaller margins.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. energy boom and strong backing from President Donald Trump propelled a major expansion of the nation’s sprawling oil and gas pipeline network in the past decade. But mounting political pressure and legal setbacks have put its future growth in doubt — even as the pandemic saps demand for fuel. Two major oil pipelines in the Midwest suffered courtroom blows this week and utilities in the Southeast cancelled plans for an $8 billion gas transmission line. Industry executives acknowledge their opponents have found some success in the courts, but say demand will rebound and pipelines are the safest way to move oil.