Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (as of 10-a.m., Friday) shows deaths from COVID-19 are up again, but hospitalizations, and Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are down significantly. The IDPH says 84 more deaths have been reported since 10-a.m. Thursday, for a total of 2,603. One death was reported in each of Cass, Madison, Mills and Union Counties, and there have been three more deaths in Pottawattamie County (See data below). Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities report 1,096 deaths, and deaths attributed in-part to preexisting conditions number 1,360. There are 2,901 new Positive cases of COVID-19 statewide, for a total of 239,693. Officials say 30,473 of the Positive cases also had a preexisting condition.

Hospitalizations statewide fell from 1,124 Thursday, to 1,000 today. Health officials say 209 COVID patients are in an ICU, 124 were admitted, and 128 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in southwest/western Iowa (RMCC Region 4) report: 55 hospitalized; 18 are in an ICU; six were admitted, and seven COVID patients are on a ventilator.

Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are down, from 169 Thursday to 135 today. The IDPH says 5,158 patients/staff have tested positive; 2,257 have tested negative. Cass County has one less LTC facility outbreak, after the Griswold Care Center dropped-off the list. Currently, there are a total of 159 LTC residents and staff who have tested positive in two Cass County LTC’s and 92 recovered. Shelby County has 11 additional cases, for a total of 128, and 46 recovered. Harrison County dropped-off the outbreak list entirely. Pottawattamie County has nine more positive cases for a total of 249 among the care facilities, and 107 recovered.

Iowans who have recovered from the virus number 152,332, while 1,237,170 have been tested, to-date. The State’s positivity rate is down to 16.6%. Cass County’s positivity rate has declined to 15.9%. A total of 995, 238 negative results have been returned since the pandemic began.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 857 cases {+17}; 554 recovered; 25 deaths
• Adair, 459 {+6}; 267; 9
• Adams, 183 {+6}; 97; 2
• Audubon, 311 {+5}; 222; 2
• Guthrie, 788 {+17); 496; 15
• Harrison County, 1,141 {+29}; 783; 32
• Madison County, 733 {+16}; 452; 5
• Mills County, 1,118 {+28}; 584; 9
• Montgomery, 522 {+23}; 269; 11
• Pottawattamie County, 6,885 {+176]; 4,083; 74
• Shelby County, 807 {+9}; 496; 11
• Union County,  851 {+15}; 333; 7

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says her “Invest in Iowa” tax plan has been delayed by the pandemic, but not forgotten. Reynolds spoke during the Iowa Taxpayers Association’s online meeting Thursday, just before announcing the state’s plan to distribute the first batches of Covid-19 vaccine. “We’re going to get through it and things are looking better every day,” Reynolds said, “so I guess if nothing else I want all of your members to hear we’re in a good spot and we’re moving in the right direction and I look forward to 2021.”

In early 2020, Reynolds called for cutting state income taxes by 10 percent and raising the state sales tax to finance water quality projects and to replace property taxes spent on mental health care.  “While the pandemic cut our discussion short on those and other tax reforms, I want you to know they’ve just been delayed, not forgotten,” Reynolds says. “And the very fact that I can even say, that I can even mention the words ‘tax cuts’ in 2020, it is strictly because Iowa has kept its fiscal house in order.”

Due to one-point-two BILLION dollars in FEDERAL pandemic aid, the governor is overseeing a STATE budget surplus of at least 300 MILLION, with more than 700 MILLION in reserves. Reynolds says that shows the state budget is in a strong position — and there are opportunities “to deliver tax savings” to Iowans in 2021.  “We’re not facing massive budget shortfalls like many states are facing and all you have to do is look to the north or to the east, just look around the country,” she said, “and we’ve not experienced really any notable changes in tax revenue.”

Four legislators from key committees spoke to the tax group after the governor. Republican Representative Lee Hein of Monticello — chairman of the Ways and Means tax-writing Committee in the House — shared a note of caution about making a “huge tax cut” before assessing the full economic impact of the pandemic. “I keep chirping this unknown of where we’re at with all the things that went on in 2020,” Hein said, “but I truly believe that we need to be very prudent in how we move forward in the next year or so until we get a true handle on where the economy will take us.”

Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, predicts there won’t be room for tax cuts as legislators respond to the impact the pandemic has had on small businesses and individuals. “Financially it’s going to be very hard for us to make a lot of adjustments in taxes because we still have to keep the lights on,” Jochum said. “We still have to keep the school doors open.”

The 2021 legislative session begins January 11th.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Department of Education director Ann Lebo says school disruptions during the pandemic have had an impact on elementary students who’re learning to read. “Every year Iowa schools screen students in K-3 to ensure they are on track to be proficient readers by the end of third grade,” Lebo said. “This fall we saw a drop in literacy screening scores for each of grades K-3, but most significantly for first grade. Decreases range from 5 percentage points for kindergarten to 21% for first grade.”

Ann Lebo (File photo)

Lebo suggests with half the school year left, there’s still time to intervene with students in the early grades who’re having difficulty reading. “Meeting students where they’re at and helping them grow is challenging under normal conditions, but the continued passion and commitment of our educators and school leaders has shown that we can adapt and will continue to do so.”

A recent study found students who cannot read at grade level when they finish third grade are four times more likely to drop out and not finish high school. Test scores from LAST year showed only 35 percent of Iowa 4th graders were considered proficient readers, meaning they were able to read material at or above their grade level.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:25 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials say tens of thousands of health care workers, nursing home residents and staff will be the first people in Iowa to get COVID-19 vaccines, likely in the next few weeks. Vaccine_Brief_Vaccine_Dec3_2020 (2) Officials said Thursday that Iowa expects to receive 172,000 doses of vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna over the next month, assuming they receive emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. Iowa will use a portion of its initial allocation for health care workers, storing the vaccines at six health care sites across the state. The state will reserve the rest for a federal program that will use pharmacies to vaccinate residents and employees at skilled nursing facilities across the state.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Losing can have an up side. Just ask Rep. Abby Finkenauer, Sen. Doug Jones and Rep. Donna Shalala. The list goes on. So does the age-old practice of an incoming president offering losing politicians a place in a new White House. As Biden fills out his administration, his team is looking to recently defeated members of Congress. Finkenauer, of Iowa, is being considered for labor secretary. Jones, an Alabama senator who earlier prosecuted Klansmen for murder, is in the mix for attorney general. And Shalala, of Florida, is perhaps the most administration-ready, having already served eight years as secretary of health and human services under Bill Clinton.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for fatally stabbing another woman in April 2018 in Sioux City. Melissa Camargo-Flores was sentenced Thursday in the death of 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores. Prosecutors say 22-year-old Camargo-Flores, of Dakota City, waited outside Alvarez-Flores’ house and stabbed the victim as she left for work. Camargo-Flores was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in October to the lesser charge. The reason for the stabbing wasn’t made clear Thursday but police said Camargo-Flores told them she had been involved with Alvarez-Flores’ boyfriend. The two women were not related.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A former Cedar Rapids nurse has pleaded not guilty to federal charges after being accused of stealing the powerful painkiller fentanyl from a surgery clinic where she worked. Prosecutors say 52-year-old Sabrina Thalblum, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with two federal counts in the case. She has been released without bond while she awaits her Feb. 1 trial. Prosecutors say that for a year starting in 2018, she used fine gauge needles to withdraw the opioid from unopened vials of the drug, then used a needle to replace the missing painkiller with a clear substance. A settlement agreement filed in June with the Iowa Board of Nursing says Thalblum admitted to taking the fentanyl from the surgery center and to having a substance abuse problem.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for fatally stabbing another woman in April 2018 in Sioux City. Melissa Camargo-Flores was sentenced Thursday in the death of 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores. Prosecutors say 22-year-old Camargo-Flores, of Dakota City, waited outside Alvarez-Flores’ house and stabbed the victim as she left for work.

Camargo-Flores was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in October to the lesser charge. The reason for the stabbing wasn’t made clear Thursday but police said Camargo-Flores told them she had been involved with Alvarez-Flores’ boyfriend. The two women were not related.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Losing can have an up side. Just ask Rep. Abby Finkenauer, Sen. Doug Jones and Rep. Donna Shalala. The list goes on. So does the age-old practice of an incoming president offering losing politicians a place in a new White House. As Biden fills out his administration, his team is looking to recently defeated members of Congress.

FILE – In this Jan. 3, 2020 file photo, Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa, introduces Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden during a campaign event in Independence, Iowa. President-elect Joe Biden is eyeing several Democrats who lost congressional reelection races last month for key positions in his administration. They include outgoing Reps. Abby Finkenauer of Iowa and Donna Shalala of Florida and Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Finkenauer, of Iowa, is being considered for labor secretary. Jones, an Alabama senator who earlier prosecuted Klansmen for murder, is in the mix for attorney general. And Shalala, of Florida, is perhaps the most administration-ready, having already served eight years as secretary of health and human services under Bill Clinton.