(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says the Biden Administration needs to focus on the supply chain issues that have ships backed up waiting to unload and businesses not getting what they need. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says she saw issues first hand during a tour of Oak Street Manufacturing in Monticello Monday. “They told me they had to raise their prices more this year than in the last 25 years combined — that’s because the cost of the materials they use has skyrocketed,” Hinson says. “And then on top of that, the supply chain bottleneck has seriously impacted their operations. You talk about a cost differential here — they told me they typically spend about four thousand dollars on a shipping container — last month they spent 29-thousand-500 dollars.”

The company makes furniture primarily for restaurants. Hinson says the extra federal unemployment payments are one of the issues. “We paid people to stay home for far too long and that obviously has had ripple effects. And so when you see proposals coming out of Democrats in Congress like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to continue those unemployment benefits — I can tell you that’s the fastest way to continue to have these supply problems long-term,” according to Hinson. She says forcing workers to get vaccinated is also an issue. “Vaccine mandates are torpedoing the workforce as well. All of these things I think are problematic in terms of policy coming out of the administration. I think getting those barriers out of the way is step one,” she says.

Hinson says the administration is spending too much time trying to pass the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package. “The Biden Administration is not focused on fixing that supply chain, they seem more focused on spending money right now. So, we need to work together on this and work all the way up and down the chain, state, federal, and local to make sure we are fixing this problem,” Hinson says.

Hinson made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.

Des Moines, Iowa —New data released by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Friday shows an increase in positive COVID-19 tests, but a continued decline in hospitalizations. IDPH data shows 6,675 positive virus tests in the last seven days, up from 6,485 at the last report on Wednesday. That brings the total number of positive tests to 517,544 since the start of the pandemic. Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate dropped slightly from 8.3% to 8.2%.

There are 526 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa, down from 557 on Wednesday. The number of patients listed in intensive care dropped from 142 to 138. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, IDPH reports 72.1% are not vaccinated, while 82.6% of those listed in intensive care with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. The number of Iowa long-term care facilities reporting a virus outbreak increased from 25 to 29.

There have been 3,613,995 vaccine doses administered in Iowa, with 67.3% of those 18 and older fully vaccinated. Of those 12 and older, 69.6% of Iowans have had at least one vaccine dose. IDPH releases new COVID-19 data each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on this website.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) — Officials with Des Moines-based Hy-Vee, Friday, warned its customers that some onions sold at Hy-Vee stores between Aug. 13 and Sept. 1, 2021 are part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall. The only affected products sold at Hy-Vee stores were three-pound bags of yellow onions, the company said in a news release.

In a statement, Hy-Vee said “The affected onions are no longer available at any Hy-Vee stores; however, consumers may have product remaining in storage or freezers, or in canned or frozen goods produced with the affected onions. Out of an abundance of caution, Hy-Vee advises consumers to discard any affected product or return the product to their local Hy-Vee store for a full refund.”

Hy-Vee said it was notified by its supplier Capitol City Fruit that in August the grocer had received a shipment of onions that are part of the recall. Anyone with questions may contact Hy-Vee Customer Care representatives 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-772-4098.

(New Virginia, Iowa) – A passenger in a car was struck and killed by a pickup Friday night in Interstate 35, in central Iowa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 69-year-old Steven Kohli, of Iowa City, got out to check out the damage to the 2017 Lincoln MKC he was riding in, after the car struck a deer on I-35 southbound, at mile marker 45.

The man was struck by a 2018 Dodge RAM 2500, driven by 69-year-old Terrence Sack, of Pequot Lake, MN. The Patrol says Sack attempted to drive around the car on the right side, due to vehicles on the left. Steven Kohli died at the scene. The accident happened at around 7:25-p.m.