(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.

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.

(Updated) A collision between two semi-tractor trailers took place early Thursday morning in Adair County, resulted in minor injuries. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ryan DeVault told KJAN News the accident happened at around 4:17-a.m. On Interstate 80 at mile marker 80.

(As said: The first semi was a 2020 Freightliner owned by K&B Transportation, from South Sioux City, Nebraska, which was illegally parked along the shoulder of I-80, facing westbound, near the rest area entrance. The second semi was a 2013 Freightliner registered to Salia Holdings, Inc., and driven by 33-year old Raphael Morris, from Detroit, MI. Morris was driving in the right lane of I-80 westbound and approaching the illegally parked semi, when the truck blew front/steer tire, causing him to lose control. Morris’ trailer sideswiped the trailer of the first semi. Following the impact, both semi’s caught fire.  Morris’ semi came to rest in the median, while the first semi remained on the shoulder. Both drivers were able to escape their vehicles. Minor suffered minor cuts and abrasions, and was treated at the scene.)

DeVault said both trucks sustained major fire damage and were considered a total loss. I-80 was shut down for about 2-to 3-hours and traffic detoured off I-80 around the wreck. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Adair and Casey Fire Departments, Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Managenent Agency, Adair County Ambulance and the Adair County Sheriff’s Department along with the Iowa Department of Transportation.