(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest single-day concert event draws 100-thousand people to the state capitol lawn every year, except this year, as the pandemic cancelled the Des Moines Symphony’s Yankee Doodle Pops — and most ever other live show in all genres. Conductor Joseph Giunta says these times are extremely disappointing and challenging for performers and for music lovers, so they’ve decided to offer a series of three livestreamed concerts this fall. “The important thing is that we want to make as much available online as we can,” Giunta says. “Nothing is ever going to take the place of live music and live experiences that we have brought the community for over 80 years.”

Des Moines Symphony Conductor Joseph Giunta

The orchestra usually includes 90 to 100 musicians, but will be whittled down to 35 for the livestream performances at the Temple for Performing Arts in Des Moines. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the musicians will be spaced six feet apart and there will be -no- audience in front of them. Giunta admits, he wishes he could bottle the “magic” a live audience provides and sprinkle it on the performers. “An audience gives us that extra inch of enthusiasm and excitement and professionalism,” Giunta says, “and without the audience, it’s going to be — to be perfectly honest with you — eerie.”

The maestro says it’s a three-legged stool: the music, the performers and the audience, and when one of those elements is missing, they run the risk of being average, at best. Now in his 31st year as music director and conductor of the Des Moines Symphony, Giunta says he’s striving to make the livestream shows a spectacle. He assures, it won’t be a simple wide shot showing the whole group performing from a distance. “We’ve hired a television film crew so that we’re looking at these things as more creative and exciting visual — as well as aural — experiences,” Giunta says. “The film crew we’ve hired is going to be pretty special, I hope, in making these things exciting and creative for audiences.”

In addition to the livestream concerts, Iowa’s largest orchestra is also offering special interviews, behind-the-scenes videos, classes, and virtual social events. Still, he’s hoping the live performances, which begin October 1st, will lure in a wide audience via the internet. “These things are going to go out all over the world, so the number of people, the number of hits that we can get on our website and through livestreaming is absolutely overwhelming,” Giunta says. “We’re looking forward to seeing how much interest we can generate.”

While the situation with COVID-19 often changes from day-to-day, Giunta says they’re working toward the goal of returning to in-person concerts with the orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve Pops Concert on December 31st, 2020.

Learn more at https://dmsymphony.org/

Montgomery County Public Health officials have confirmed information we’ve been passing along to you this week on KJAN, with regard to COVID-19 cases. In their weekly report issued today (Friday), MCPH Administrator Samantha Beeson says there was an additional death associated with COVID-19 this past week, bringing the total to four. The person was over the age of 80.

And, there were 13 new, positive cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County spanning the period of August 1st through the 7th. The demographics say: 2 cases are persons 0-17 years of age; 7 are age 18-to 40; and 4 are age 41-to 60.

The total number of confirmed cases in Montgomery County stand at 54, with 37 recovered and 4 who have died. Beeson says “Cases are continuing to increase, not only in Montgomery County, but surrounding counties. It is still so important to practice social distancing, and when social distancing cannot be practiced, it is recommended to wear a mask. It is also important to stay home when [you are] feeling ill.”

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that passed the legislature with overwhelming BIPARTISAN support has become a flashpoint in the debate over how schools should start this month. The bill, which is now law, says Iowa schools should develop plans for rigorous online courses — but the law goes on to say that unless Governor Reynolds grants an exception, a school shall not take action to provide instruction primarily through remote-learning.

“We might have to go online temporarily and we need to be ready to do that,” Reynolds says, “but I believe we all should do everything we can to get our kids back in school.” Democrats like Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames say the law gives the governor authority to grant exceptions, she’s just choosing to override local decision makers.

“She could have given local school boards the authority to say: ‘Our local conditions warrant us going 100% online.’ She did not do that,” Quirmbach says. “…They’re playing defense. They’ve made a bad decision. They’ve gotten a lot of bad feedback on it.” Quirmbach says as school officials and parents criticize the new guidelines for when schools may shift to online instruction, the governor’s trying to shift the blame onto the legislature by citing this new law.

“If she were confident that she had made the right decision, she would just simply stand up and take credit for it,” Quirmbach says. Republican Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says the criticism is off base. “It seems like all that’s going on right now is just political rhetoric, attacking the governor,” Grassley says. “Why don’t we focus that same amount of energy on how we’re going to make sure we can return to school and educate our kids in a responsible manner?” Grassley says, “Because I will tell you out here in rural Iowa…there’s an expectation from the parents to have their kids back at school.”

Republican Senator Amy Sinclair says the governor is following the plain text of the law. “I don’t know why this is being used other than to make political hay,” Sinclair says. “…We should all be working together — school districts, legislators, governor’s office, executive branch, departments — we should all be working together to find the best way to educate Iowa’s children.” Sinclair, who is from Allerton, is chair of the Senate Education Committee.

(Radio Iowa) – The COVID-19 pandemic has made a mess out of many Iowans’ retirement plans. A study by an investment advising firm shows the average Iowans’ retirement savings balance dropped from 423-thousand dollars in January to 367-thousand at the end of March. That’s a 13-percent drop over three months. Michelle Brownstein, vice president of Private Client Services at Personal Capital, says several factors are at play.

“One may be cost of living, so if someone lives in a more expensive area, they may not be saving as much for retirement,” Brownstein says. “There may also be population differences. If there is a slightly older population in a particular area, they may’ve saved a bit more than areas that skew a little bit younger from a demographic standpoint.” The firm’s report shows Iowa ranks 12th out of the 50 states for the highest retirement savings average.

As of June 30th, the average retirement balance for Iowans was a little over 415-thousand dollars, according to the report. Still, Brownstein says it’s more important to compare how your -own- account looks versus how Iowa ranks against other states. “Are you personally on track to reach your goals?” Brownstein says. “If, for example, I lived somewhere really expensive or really inexpensive, to maintain my lifestyle in retirement is going to take a different amount of money once I get there to keep my lifestyle in the same format that I’ve become accustomed to.”

Looking at your 401k balance daily can “drive you nuts,” she says, and it may be smarter to only check in occasionally, as it should be an investment plan designed for decades, not day-to-day. “The trick is to make sure that you have a great long-term strategy in place that you can stick to,” Brownstein says. “It’s tempting when there’s volatility in the market or just heightened uncertainty in a given period to want to make changes, to try and control things that you don’t actually have control over. You and I don’t control the market, as much as we might want to.”

What you -can- control are things like the amount of risk you’re comfortable with, the goals you’re setting for retirement, and your individual savings patterns over time. The Personal Capital survey found 89-percent of respondants said they’re worried about the financial impact COVID-19 is having on their retirement.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a man killed by a Polk County sheriff’s deputy two years ago alleges in a federal lawsuit that the office is “covering up” the killing by refusing to release footage and records. The Des Moines Register reports that the family of Isaiah Hayes, of Ashland, Wisconsin, filed the lawsuit on June 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

It says the county has refused to release body camera or dash camera footage which shows the shooting of the 25-year-old Hayes in 2018. The lawsuit alleges the county is withholding the video because it would show Deputy Ryan Phillips “shooting Isaiah in the back while Isaiah did not pose a threat.”

(Radio Iowa) – A consumer alert is being issued for Iowans to avoid certain types of face masks that are being sold using deceptive claims and which may not offer protection from COVID-19. Lynn Hicks, a spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s office, says they’re asking stores to remove masks from shelves that are labeled as K-N-95 Stereo Protective Masks. “What that ‘KN’ indicates is that it has not met U.S. safety standards,” Hicks says. “It’s manufactured in China and despite the name, many of those masks do not offer 95% protection.”

This is the mask the AG has concerns about.

The masks are advertised as “protective,” which Hicks says is misleading. The packaging also contains confusing and nonsensical content, such as “use funny meltblown filter material,” and “children under three have low vital capacity and are not recommended.” Some masks are priced at $12.99 for a pack of two, while other K-N-95 masks on Amazon sell for about $3 each.  “We’ve gotten some complaints about price gouging and just to make sure people understand, the price gouging rule is still in effect during the public health emergency,” Hicks says. “If people see things that they think are out of line, they can certainly report it to our office and we will check it out.”

The masks were being sold in at least five stores, including Iowa-based Hy-Vee, which Hicks says has agreed to remove the masks from shelves. While most Iowans don’t need the N-95 level of mask, for those who do, this is an important purchase. Hicks says, “If you’re a medical professional who really needs what’s known as an N-95 mask or if you are going to be around people who have COVID, then it could be dangerous.”

He notes, the CDC does -not- recommend the general public wear N-95 respirator masks, as they’re considered critical supplies reserved for health care workers and other first responders.