Le Mars Public Works Department Announces Street Closure
(Le Mars) –– The Le Mars Street Dept. is closing a portion of 4th Ave. N.W. starting today, March 26th 2020. This portion of street will be on 4th Ave.
N.W. just on the south side of 1st St. N.W. This will take about seven days with cure time with weather permitting.
Iowa Department Of Public Health Now Reports 179 COVID19 Cases in Iowa
(Des Moines) — The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been notified of 34 additional positive cases of Iowans with COVID-19, for a total of 179 positive cases. There have been a total of 2,975 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.
Sioux County is now reporting its second case of coronavirus, while Monona County has confirmed its first positive case of coronavirus.
Reynolds Now Orders Retail Stores To Close
(Des Moines) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, during her daily news briefing held Thursday afternoon, has now ordered retail stores, including clothing stores, book stores, and furniture stores to join the ranks of restaurants and bars to be closed until at least April 7th. The list also includes: shoe stores, jewelry stores, luggage stores, perfume and beauty supply stores, florists, home furnishing stores, and other retail stores. Schools are still to be closed until at least April 13th, and quite possibly may be extended. As a means to save on essential medical supplies such as gowns, gloves, and medical masks, the governor has ordered all elective surgeries to be canceled until April 7th. Floyd Valley Healthcare of Le Mars had already implemented such policies.
Senator Ernst Comments On Passage Of CARES Act
(Washington) — The largest emergency aid package in U-S history, worth two-point-two trillion dollars, unanimously passed the U-S Senate last (Wednesday) night. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says the Senate “stepped up in this time of crisis and delivered critical relief.” The package is dubbed the CARES Act, for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security. Ernst, a
Republican from Red Oak, says it includes 12-hundred dollar checks for individuals.
In addition to the individual checks, the package includes 130-billion dollars to hospitals and 367-billion in loans and grants to businesses. The U-S House is expected to take up the measure on Friday.
Ernst is urging House members to quickly approve the measure so the massive and complicated process of sending out hundreds of billions of dollars can begin to jump-start the economy in the midst of the pandemic. She says it will be an enormous undertaking involving multiple federal departments.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley issued a statement last night: “This health crisis is quickly becoming an economic crisis. This bipartisan legislation rapidly delivers recovery checks to help individuals and families cover their
immediate expenses. It also helps businesses of all sizes keep employees on the payroll throughout the crisis and ensures that those who are furloughed or laid off have access to beefed up unemployment insurance. The bill also provides a much-needed infusion of cash to our health care professionals who are fighting the pandemic on the front lines.”
King Says House Will Pass The COVID-19 Relief Bill
(Kiron) — The U-S House of Representatives are expected to vote on the $2.2 trillion dollar COVID-19 Relief Bill on Friday. The Senate finally passed the measure on Wednesday after some contentious debate and stone-walling.
Initially, the measure was voted down in the Senate on Monday when the bill was split on party lines. Iowa 4th District Republican Congressman Steve King says he is certain the expensive relief bill will pass the House on Friday. What he is not certain about is whether the vote can be conducted by
a voice vote, or if a roll-call vote will be called, requiring Congressional members to return to Washington.
King says the bill contains nearly 900 pages. Although King says he supports the bill, however, he is troubled by the portion dealing with additional payments to unemployed workers. The Republican Congressman wants to make certain people
have an incentive to return to work.
King says Congress needs to act on this measure quickly, and he says there isn’t enough time to conduct much debate on the bill’s merits.
Congressman Steve King says the nation’s economy has been hit hard by the spread of the coronavirus. Although he remains optimistic, King says it may be several months before the economy can bounce back to the levels prior to the pandemic.
King says he believes the economy will pick up in the Midwestern states first, and then go to the coastal communities.
The Iowa Republican Congressman says government relief checks to individuals and family members may be issued and sent within a matter of weeks.
King says rather than making one large payment, he would have favored incremental payments spread over the course of several months, and hopefully having a better idea of knowing how much money would be required for the coronavirus relief package.
Dordt University Decides To Cancel On-campus Spring Semester Classes
(Sioux Center) — The Dordt University leadership team has made the decision that classes will not resume on-campus instruction on Monday, April 13.
Rather, as of today, Dordt will extend online instruction to the end of the spring semester.
