DES MOINES, Iowa — More Iowans are lining up for COVID-19 tests. Demand for testing jumped more than 60% from the end of July. With TestIowa sites closed for good, private labs are filling the gap. Dr. Casey Rice with MercyOne tells KCCI testing is still critical. He said it’s important to know if you’re infected so you can isolate and health experts can know what type of variants are circling in the community.

Rice also said getting tested at the first sign of symptoms can lead to much more effective treatment. While state testing is closed, you can order or pick up a free at-home testing kit through TestIowa. Rice said if you’re doing an at-home test it’s important to closely follow the instructions.

Most of MercyOne’s current COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. Rice said the vaccine is the most effective way for people to avoid test lines and the hospital.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2020 Annual Drinking water Compliance Report shows Iowa’s public water systems have 98-point-nine percent compliance. The D-N-R’s Corey McCoid says the number of systems meeting all health-based standards was the highest in 25 years. “This is all based on what would be the finished water that the water plants produce in the local communities or other water supplies. Some of those would be based on groundwater or wells, and some of them would be based on surface water,” McCoid says.

He says most of the larger cities in the state get their water supply from surface water. McCoid says they keep a close eye on the product they produce. “A lot of communities are doing testing on a daily basis. And then for compliance purposes that may be monthly, it may be quarterly. Or for some of the contaminants that we don’t sample as often, it may be over a six-year period,” according to McCoid. It just depends on what we are looking for. Some more of your acute contaminants may be sampled on a much higher frequency than some of the other contaminants.”

He says some of the key contaminants haven’t changed. “Bacteria is always one of the first ones that we take a look at — as well as your nitrates and nitrites in Iowa,” he says. McCoid says the history he has seen shows Iowa ranks highly across the country. “I would say we are in the top ten percent of states across the country for compliance numbers. I haven’t seen the recent statistics — but I know that is how we have been categorized in the past,” McCoid says.

You can see the full report on the Iowa D-N-R website.

(Radio Iowa) – With wildfires raging on the West Coast and a busy hurricane season developing on the East Coast, the American Red Cross is calling on Iowans to sign up for difficult — and rewarding — volunteer positions. Josh Murray, spokesman for the agency’s Iowa chapter, says they need people of all ages who work in a range of professions to handle disasters large and small. “Pretty much whatever skills and interests you have, we can find a position for you,” Murray says. “We have ones that are going to be on the front line to help at shelters, help deliver food and get relief supplies to people, health services, mental health services. We also need people who are either working from home or working in an office to help answer some phone calls.”

Select disaster response volunteers reach out via computer to victims of house fires, for example, but he says it’s hoped more of that type of assistance will be done in-person soon. “If you have just an hour or two a week, we can get something for that. If you’re able to deploy and go help on the West Coast or the Southeast during one of these big disasters and can be gone for a week to ten days, we have that opportunity, too,” Murray says. “We can really find something that fits your interests, your availability, and your skill set.”

The Red Cross Disaster Action Teams are the first line of care, comfort and compassion for those affected by a disaster, he says, and the volunteers find the work fulfilling. “They come in and they want to just get their toe in it and see how it is, and then they realize, ‘Oh, wow, this is great!’ You feel good about yourself and see the impact you’re making,” Murray says. “Ninety percent of the work that we do is carried out by volunteers, so we couldn’t do anything we do without our volunteers and they see that impact they’re making when they serve.”

Learn more about how you can help the Red Cross chapter in your area at: www.redcross.org/iowa.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Officials in northwest Iowa report a body was recovered Saturday evening, in the Big Sioux River. A fisherman had reported seeing the body in the water around 6 p.m.  An autopsy is expected to determine the person’s cause of death and identity. It’s not clear how long the body had been in the river before it was discovered.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A shooting over the weekend in Sioux City left one person dead and one person taken into custody. Police said the shooting was reported shortly before 9:45 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of 21st Street.  Authorities did not immediately release many details about the shooting. The names of the victim and the suspect were also not immediately released.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says it’s unclear what interim regulations will be enforced as the Biden Administration drafts new Clean Water Act rules. Miller-Meeks, a Republican, favors keeping Trump Administration rules which eliminated federal oversight on about half of the streams and wetlands subject to Obama era regulations.

“We’re in a position where there’s tremendous uncertainty and there is not a segment of the economy or an individual who it does not impact,” Miller-Meeks says. “and if we want to continue in Iowa to have family farms and small farms and stay away from corporate farming, you know one of the ways to do that is to make concrete regulation so that farmers know what they’re able to do.” Last week Miller-Meeks toured a farm and other facilities where she says Clean Water Act regulations have been burdensome.

“For the hydroelectric dam at Lake Red Rock, it took nine years for the permitting process,” Miller-Meeks says. “…We’re not against regulation. We’re against regulation that doesn’t have a purpose and it doesn’t serve to keep us safe or provide quality or help to promote our economy.” The 400-million dollar hydropower project on the Red Rock Dam was completed a year ago. It could take up to three years for the E-P-A to develop and implement new national water use rules and lawsuits are challenging the rules implement during the final year of the Trump Administration.

Environmental groups say the Trump Administration’s rewrite of water regulations has allowed developers to build in sensitive wetland areas. Critics of large-scale agriculture say fertilizer run-off is endangering water quality and federal action is needed.

A pursuit that began early this (Monday) morning resulted in the arrest of at least one person at gunpoint. According to dispatch reports, the incident began in Shelby County and apparently ended at or near the Cass County line. Additional details are currently not available.

Also, there are reports out of Fremont County of a fatal accident involving a motorcycle and a truck. There were no other details as of the time of this report. We will update you as information becomes available. (This story was updated below…..)

(Radio Iowa) – Don Everly — who lived in Shenandoah as a child and became part of the influential Everly Brothers — has died at the age of 84. Don Everly was born in Kentucky in 1937. The Everly family moved to Shenandoah in 1945 to perform on the radio and their Shenandoah home has been turned into a museum. The Everly Brothers set out on their own in 1956.

Their first hit was “Bye Bye Love in 1957. That was followed by a number one hit — “Wake Up, Little Suzie” — in the same year. Rolling Stone has called the Everly Brothers the most important duo in rock history.

Don Everly (approx. 1958)

Paul McCartney wrote the Everly Brother’s 1984 hit “On the Wings of a Nightingale” and Paul Simon featured their harmony on his 1986 “Graceland” album. Don Everly’s younger brother, Phil, died in California in 2014.