Chamber Of Commerce To Announce “Citizen Of The Year”, “Business Of The Year”, and “Main Street Volunteer Of The Year” During Virtual Video Presentation
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce annual recognition program will be held virtually this year. Today, Thursday, January 28, the video presentations of Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year and Main Street Volunteer of the Year will be revealed. Three community videos are also included in the program. Boss of the Quarter, Employees of the month and
retiring Chamber Board members will be recognized. Make time to enjoy the virtual Le Mars Chamber of Commerce annual recognition program. Go to http://recognition.lemarschamber.org. This program will be available through February.
Reynolds Announces More COVID-19 Vaccines Will Arrive In Iowa
(Des Moines) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is urging Iowans to be patient while the state receives COVID-19 vaccine dosages. During her news conference held Wednesday morning, the governor announced that the state was given assurances from federal government officials that additional vaccine doses
would be forthcoming.
Reynolds also announced that Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical company will be given fast-track approval for their COVID-19 vaccine, and their vaccine will be made available to the public within a few weeks.
The governor reflected on the speed of the development of the various vaccines now being made available, as well as the distribution of those vaccines. Reynolds says, already, 200,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed to Iowans.
Reynolds says, in due time, the supply of COVID vaccines to be made available for Iowans will catch up to the demand for the vaccines.
Reynolds says she was given assurances the vaccination of residents of Iowa’s long-term care facilities have been running on schedule with round one should be completed by the end of this week, and round two will conclude in late February.
Iowa Pharmacies Stand Ready To Assist With Vaccinations
(Des Moines) — Governor Reynolds says plenty of providers stand ready to distribute the vaccines when they become available. She says several local pharmacies will assist with the vaccination of Iowans, including within rural areas. Lindsey Ludwig is the Executive Director with the Community Pharmacy
Enhanced Service Network of Iowa which consists of more than 120 community pharmacies across Iowa appeared on the governor’s news conference to explain the strategy to be used to make certain everyone from the largest cities to the rural regions will be vaccinated. Ludwig says the community pharmacist
is trusted and in many cases is usually the health care provider for many smaller communities.
Ludwig went on to tell of some specific instances where pharmacists have helped in east-central Iowa.
Ludwig says Iowans have many questions when it comes to the vaccine and procedure for vaccination against COVID-19.
The CPESN official says local pharmacists are trying to obtain important information regarding the vaccine and the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, and they are sharing that information with their patients and communities.
Ludwig suggests people visit with their local pharmacist to stay informed as to when the vaccine will be made available.
Consitutional Amendment On Abortion Passes Iowa House
(Des Moines, IA) — Fifty-five members of the expanded Republican majority in the Iowa House have endorsed a proposed amendment to the state constitution on abortion. If ultimately approved by voters, Iowa’s Constitution would be amended to say it does not recognize, grant, or secure
a right to abortion. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says it’s needed to respond to court rulings that struck down abortion restrictions. Democrats like Representative Christina Bohannan of Iowa City say the amendment could lead to an abortion ban in Iowa if the U-S Supreme Court’s new conservative majority sends the issue back to the states. All
the Democrats in the House and three Republicans voted against the proposed amendment.
Governor Denies Special Treatment For Company Of Campaign Donors
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds says any allegation that her administration played favorites in setting up a COVID-19 testing site in West Des Moines to screen workers at a company owned by major donors to her campaign is unjustified. Reynolds says there are criteria set up for companies to qualify. Reynolds says if a company called and wanted to try to facilitate a way to get their employees tested so they could ensure them that
they were working in a safe environment, that’s what companies were doing.
Governor Reynolds says the state set up rapid testing at more than 60 Iowa companies, including meatpacking and manufacturing plants.
Federal Judge Sets February 10th Status Hearing For Dakota Access Pipeline
(Bismarck, ND) — A federal judge in North Dakota has set a February 10th date for a status hearing on the Dakota Access pipeline. U-S District Judge James Boasberg ruled the U-S Army Corps of Engineers has to outline its plans after an appeals court confirmed the pipeline is operating without an important permit. Opponents want the pipeline shut down immediately. The
District of Columbia Circuit of the U-S Court of Appeals issued an opinion Tuesday upholding Boasberg’s ruling ordering the full environmental impact review. The federal permit that is missing would have granted an easement for the pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe.
Iowa Native Cloris Leachman Dies
(Los Angeles, CA) — Iowa native and award-winning actress Cloris Leachman has died. Leachman — who was 94 — grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Roosevelt High School. She was a Miss America contest runner-up and won an Oscar for her performance in “The Last Picture Show.” She may be best known
for playing Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.'” Leachman won eight Emmys and eventually had her own sitcom. She died at her home in Los Angeles, California.
Reynolds Says Online Map Will Help Iowans Schedule COVID Shots
(Des Moines, IA) — An interactive map is being added to the state website with information about COVID-19, to show Iowans waiting to be vaccinated where they can schedule a shot. Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowans are asking many questions about the vaccination process, “but nothing is more important
to them about knowing when enough vaccine will be available and how they’ll be able to get it.” The governor indicated the map will be available later this week. She says you click on a county where you live or work and provider locations will be listed. State officials say they are considering ways to help Iowans who don’t have internet access or the skills to navigate
the online system. The state’s allocation of first doses of vaccine is expected to increase by 63-hundred doses or 16 percent next week.
1104 New COVID-19 Cases in Iowa, 8 Additional Deaths
(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting just over 11-hundred new positive COVID tests Wednesday, increasing the state’s total to 315-thousand-170 cases. Eight more Iowans died of coronavirus complications which brings the death toll to 45-hundred. There are 408 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa. Eighty-one of those
patients are in intensive care and 37 are on ventilators. Eight counties have a 14-day average positivity rate of at least 15 percent. Wednesday’s numbers came from three-thousand-758 tests.
Donna Reed Day’ in Iowa in Honor of Late Denison Native’s 100th Birthday
(Denison, IA) — Governor Reynolds proclaimed Wednesday as “Donna Reed Day” in honor of what would have been the 100th birthday of the Oscar-winning actress from Denison. Reed died in 1986 from cancer. — but continues to be remembered through the Donna Reed Foundation in her hometown. Reed Foundation vice president, Pat Fleshner, says she was Donnabelle Mullenger
when she graduated high school in 1938, and her parents couldn’t afford to pay for her college. She took the train to Los Angeles to see an aunt and enrolled in L-A City College. Donna was only 17 and eventually she got noticed, signed a contract with M-G-M and changed her name to Donna Reed.
She won an Academy Award in the 1954 movie “From Here to Eternity” and co-founded her own TV production company, which produced “The Donna Reed Show” from 1958 through 1966. She is perhaps best remembered from her appearance with Jimmy Stewart in the holiday classic, “A Wonderful Life.” Reed was one
of the first women to run her own production company. Reed donated her Oscar to Denison and that eventually led to the non-profit foundation.
