Des Moines, Iowa —The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data Wednesday. The health department reports 117 additional virus deaths, bringing the total to 6,965 since the start of the pandemic. IDPH said the most recent deaths were reported between Sept. 9 and Oct. 20. Health department data show positive tests continue to decline in Iowa. There were 6,340 positive tests in the last seven days, down from 6,542 at the last report on Monday. The state’s 14-day positivity rate remains at 8%.

The number of patients hospitalized in Iowa with COVID-19 ticked up slightly. There are currently 531 patients, up from 521 on Monday. IPDH reports 65.5% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, while 81.4% of those listed in intensive care with the virus are unvaccinated. There are COVID-19 outbreaks in 30 long-term care facilities, down from 31 on Monday.

The health department reports 3,657,561 vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa, with 67.6% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated and 70% of those 12 and older with at least one dose. IDPH releases new COVID-19 data each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

(Radio Iowa) – County election officials are urging Iowa voters to return their absentee ballots for next Tuesday’s election quickly. Adams County Auditor, Becky Bissell says changes by the Iowa Legislature now require your ballot to be received by your county auditor on Election Day to be counted.  “So now we have what we refer to as like a drop-dead date. So it has to be in the auditor’s office by 8 p-m on Election Day,” Bissell says.

She says depending on where you live, it might be too late to put your ballot in the mail.  “In southwest Iowa, I would not recommend putting it in the mail, because our mail goes to Des Moines and then back to us. And so I do fear that it’s not going to get back to me in time if my voters were to be putting it into the mail now,” according to Bissell.

Adams County (IA) Auditor Rebecca Bissell

Bissell says you should instead bring your completed ballot to your county auditor’s office or use the ballot dropbox in counties where those are available.

(reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – All of the Iowa State Education Association’s local unions representing teachers and staff in an Iowa school district have voted to recertify with the union, while more than a dozen union locals representing county and city employees in Iowa have been decertified. A state law passed in 2017 requires a majority of public sector employees to vote “yes” to retain their local union every year. Iowa State Education Association president Mike Beranek says thousands of Iowa educators are loudly and firmly telling Republican lawmakers that public employees want collective bargaining rights and have overcome the obstacle of having any person who doesn’t vote counted as a no.

Results for all public sector union votes are posted on the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board website. It shows unions will no longer represent 15 bargaining units for city and county employees, while more than 150 other union locals were recertified for the next round of contract negotiations.

The recertification votes failed in the following bargaining units: City of Algona AFSCAME Council 61 (police), Calhoun County CWA Local 7173, Cerro Gordo County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Cerro Gordo County Board of Health PPME Local 2003, Dallas County EMS Professionals, Henry County PPME Local 2003, Ida County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Independence Municipal Utility IBEW Local 55, Jackson County Detention Center Employees Association, Jackson County Employees Association, Lee County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Pocahontas County CWA Local 7173 (Roads), Pottawattamie County Teamsters Local 554 (Detention Officers), Ringgold County PPME Local 2003 (Roads), Scott County Library System Teamsters Local 238.

(Greenfield) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors met Wednesday morning in their Board Room at the Courthouse, in Greenfield. During their session, Auditor Mandy Berg discussed some recent webinars she attended, with regard to the S.3011 Bill – re: The State, Local, Tribal & Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure & Disaster Relief Act (COVID relief). The bill was passed in the Senate and was sent to the House for review and later action.

The funds can be used just as if the County had lost revenue, for such things as building repairs, roads and infrastructure and public safety, for example. The Board discussed, but made no concrete plans for the money, once it’s received. Board Chair Steve Shelley said if the funds could be used “100-percent to relieve taxpayer’s costs, it would be what we’re here for.”

The Board will take the information home and study it. The Board thanked Berg for attending those informational sessions. Afterward, Berg presented the FY21 Annual Urban Report with regard to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the Debt Service Fund.

The report showed each TIF taxing district, showing the values for each district and the TIF revenue received for each district. The number of Taxing Districts next year, she said, will increase from eight to 21. Adair County Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen presented his Annual Report. He said it wasn’t too bad of a year overall, but he did have to send a couple of notices out to property owners, asking them to get their noxious weeds under control. The problem areas are basically the same as last year, he said. And, County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented the front page of plans for the W20 Jackson 16×10 Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert (RCB) Project on a Farm-To-Market road. After the Board Chair signed the page, which allows the County to solicit bids, Kauffman said the scheduled bid letting will be held March 15, 2022.

Kauffman also provided a report on the Secondary Roads Dept. activities. He said some things that were planned for this week, had been rained-out.

(Radio Iowa) – The telehealth company Twenty-eight is expanding into Iowa, offering a new option for reproductive health. Co-founder Amy Fan wants to focus on traditionally underserved women, like those who are lower-income, live in rural areas and women of color. More than half of Iowa’s counties are labeled “contraceptive deserts” and Fan says reducing that number can help address other health disparities. “Black and Latinx women, unfortunately, have a much higher maternal mortality rate than white women in the U.S.,” Fan says, “and I think it’s really stemming from access and providing culturally competent access as well.” Twenty-eight says it aims to help the estimated 170-thousand Iowa women in need of some sort of birth control.

Although there are active groups in Iowa to provide birth control to this population, Fan says another option can only help. “I really hope that the more telehealth players there are, the more options women have,” Fan says, “and at the end of the day, the better access will be.” She says there are still additional steps Iowa needs to take in increasing affordability.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)