(Radio Iowa) – More than 21-hundred students will be graduating from Iowa State University this weekend and each of them will be given what’s being called a Graduation CY-lebration Box. Since the commencement ceremonies and convocations will all be virtual due to the pandemic, university registrar Jennifer Suchan says the boxes are a tradition that started with I-S-U’s spring graduation and will be repeated now in the fall. “Some of the items we are going to have in the box include the souvenir cardinal-and-gold tassel, their diploma cover or diploma tube as well as the commencement program,” Suchan says. “They’re getting a six-month free membership to the alumni association, as well as an Iowa State lapel pin.”

The boxes will also include an “I-State” window sticker, a musical greeting card from I-S-U President Wendy Wintersteen that plays “Pomp and Circumstance,” and other thoughtful treats.  “We want to be able to bring a bit of the ceremony to the students,” she says, “and really give them those mementos that they typically would walk away with that are just such an iconic part of a commencement experience for these students.”

Students are being asked to stop by the registrar’s office prior to graduation weekend to pick up their CY-lebration box — or if the student can’t be in Ames in person, the boxes will be mailed to them. For those who come in person, Suchan says students really appreciate the extra effort on behalf of the institution to make a personal connection. “They’re just absolutely thrilled when they’re able to pick up their honor cords and their box,” Suchan says. “They open the commencement program and quick flip it open and start looking for their name. It’s just a nice opportunity for the team just to be able to congratulate them on this momentous event in their life.”

I-S-U will be honoring the 2,171 graduates in two commencement videos that will be available for viewing at 10 a.m. Saturday on the virtual graduation website: https://virtual.graduation.iastate.edu/fall2020

Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Thursday), indicates 41 people have died from complications of COVID-19 since yesterday’s record 47 deaths, for a total of 2,312. There is one more death to report in Shelby County, where the total now stands at nine. The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing condition statewide are at 1,327, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 1,038, 15 more than on Wednesday. Three more long-term care facilities report COVID-19 outbreaks, bringing the total to 152. Those care facilities report 4,647 positive cases and 1,796 recovered. Cass County’s three LTC facilities have a total of 208 confirmed positive cases and 123 recovered.

Officials say there have been 3,331 new confirmed, Positive cases of the virus reported since yesterday, for a total since the pandemic began, of 222,278. Cass County has 12 new positive cases, for a total of 797. Mills County crossed the 1,000+ mark for positive cases, at 1,012. Pottawattamie County positive cases continue to grow exponentially, to 6,081 as of today.

Hospitalizations have fallen from 1,305 Wednesday to 1,269 today. There are: 271 patients in intensive care (2 more than Wed.); 193 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, down from 198 previously; and there are 142 people on a ventilator, Compared to 150 previously. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are 60 COVID patients in the hospital (down from 64 Wed.); 17 are in an ICU (two less than before); 10 people were admitted to a hospital, compared to six previously, and seve people are on a ventilator, one less than before.

The state’s data shows that 1,194,529 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus. Test results received yesterday amounted to 8,712, with 6,737 coming back Negative and 1,923 Positive. Iowa’s statewide 14-day positivity rate continues to decline, now at 18.6%. The Individual Positivity rate is also at 18.6%. Cass County’s Positivity rate remain at 20.3%. Taylor County has the highest rate in southwest Iowa, at 24.6%. Audubon County is the lowest, at 10.8%.  A total of 970,158 Iowans have tested negative for COVID-19.

The IDPH says 124,522 Iowans have recovered from the virus. 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, 797 cases {+12}; 497 recovered; 21 deaths
• Adair, 425 {+3}; 201; 8
• Adams, 164 {+3}; 84; 2
• Audubon, 293 {+8}; 166; 1
• Guthrie, 732 {+6); 410; 15
• Harrison County, 1,060 {+36}; 698; 28
• Madison County, 673 {+10}; 372; 4
• Mills County, 1,017 {+18}; 442; 7
• Montgomery, 449 {+13}; 203; 10
• Pottawattamie County, 6,109 {+184]; 3,457; 67
• Shelby County, 748 {+13}; 439; 9
• Union County,  750 {+16}; 283; 6

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The historically close race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat has gotten even closer. Democrat Rita Hart has cut Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ lead to eight votes out of more than 394,400 cast, with recount boards in all but one of the district’s 24 counties reporting the results of their recounts. On Wednesday, Hart netted 26 votes in Scott County and another vote in Jasper County after their recount boards adjourned. Clinton County’s recount board will meet on Saturday to finish reviewing about 5,000 absentee ballots.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is creating the nation’s largest tribal national park on a forested bluff overlooking the Missouri River and a historic site of its people. The tribe says the 444-acre park will allow it to tell the story of the Ioway people and provide a rustic getaway where people can hike, camp and bird-watch. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Ioway Tribal National Park will overlook a historic trading village once used by the Ioway people to barter for buffalo hides and pipestones with other tribes. That site includes three burial mounds that date back 3,000 years.

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa reported 47 additional deaths from COVID-19, Wednesday, the highest single-day toll. Deaths reported on an individual day can be effected by delays in completion of death certificates and other factors, but the data from the state Department of Public Health makes clear Iowa is continuing to see an increase in deaths from the virus. Johns Hopkins University says the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from nearly 16 deaths per day on Nov. 10 to 28 deaths per day on Nov. 24. In the month of November alone, 555 people in Iowa have died of COVID-19. The state data shows 3,365 additional positive cases were reported in the past 24 hours.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A University of Iowa fraternity has been suspended for hazing, with a report citing verbal abuse and and an incident where new members were required to drink dangerously high amounts of alcohol. The university says the violations were by the Acacia Fraternity. The Cedar Rapids Gazette obtained an investigative report through a public records request. The suspension lasts through 2024. One allegation said that in the spring semester, new members were ordered to stay in the fraternity house attic until they consumed alcohol that included 60 to 90 cans of beer, along with vodka and a gallon of a drink called Jungle Juice. Several new members got sick.