COLD AND FLU SEASON IS UPON US
Now that cold weather has arrived, so has the cold and flu season.
Floyd Valley Healthcare Nurse Practitioner Cara Miens says she’s seeing a variety of cold and respiratory illnesses.
The affects of the flu vary from year to year. Miens describes what this year’s flu strain does.
Most people treat themselves at home, and the virus goes away in a week to ten days.
How can people best protect themselves from the effects of the flu or covid?
Miens says there also is some RSV getting around this winter…
…as well as some stomach illness, too.
Miens describes how best to care for the most vulnerable, the very young and very old.
Generally, Mines says get a flu shot, and wash your hands frequently so as not to spread any illness.
GOODWILL OPENS SOON IN SIOUX CENTER
Goodwill of the Great Plains will be opening its newest retail store in Sioux Center soon. They’ve planned a hiring event for Thursday, Jan. 16 from 11 am to 6 pm at their site at 1481 2nd Ave SW in Sioux Center. Applicants can see the new building and talk to team members about full and part-time employment opportunities.
Goodwill’s mission as a 501c3 non-profit organization is to build independence through employment, training and community support will make a difference in the Sioux Center community.
HOMELESS PROJECT IN SIOUX CITY
The Iowa Finance Authority has awarded Sioux City nearly $4 million dollars to assist in the development of 17 rental homes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The funding is through the National Housing Trust Fund program. Jill Wanderscheid of Sioux City’s neighborhood services says the city will use the grant funds for the development of Midtown Terrace, which will include a total of 24-units and will be a rowhouse-style development. The site includes parking and a greenspace.
The project is located near the former Casa Del Rey restaurant which is being remodeled into a grocery store.
The agreement will go before the city council on Monday for approval. Construction will begin later this year and be completed in 2026.
RETIRED PHOTOJOURNALIST RECALLS 1975 SNOWSTORM
Fifty years ago today, a massive snowstorm brought chaos to wide sections of Iowa. Called the “Storm of the Century,” the blizzard claimed 58 lives in the Midwest, including 15 people in Iowa. Ed Porter was a photographer for the Sioux City Journal back then. He recalls flying overhead to photograph snow drifts up to 20 feet tall that were shaped by 16 inches of snowfall and powerful winds.
Porter says the wicked storm was one of the highlights of his long career.
Governor Robert Ray declared 40 counties in northwest and western Iowa disaster areas. An estimated 100-thousand head of livestock died, and thousands of people were stranded in their cars and homes.
KEY LAWMAKERS CALL FOR REJECTION OF NEW UI SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS
The chair of the new House Higher Education Committee is calling the Board of Regents to block the University of Iowa’s plan for a new School of Social and Cultural Analysis. Representative Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, says it’s merely a name change that would let the university’s Gender Studies programming continue. U-I officials proposed closing the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department and the Department of American Studies last month and then creating a new School of Social and Cultural Analysis. Collins initially praised the proposal, saying the university was responding to the agenda of the House Higher Education Committee before the panel holds its first meeting. Now, the chairman of the SENATE Education Committee and Representative Collins are both calling on the Board of Regents to reject the plan. U-I officials have said the new School of Social and Cultural Analysis is part of a multi-year plan to restructure the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to better serve students and faculty.
NON-PROFIT TO REPRESENT IOWA POLLSTER SUED BY TRUMP
A nonprofit group will represent Ann Selzer and her polling company free of charge against a lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump. The suit, filed last month, alleges Selzer’s Iowa Poll in the Des Moines Register — which showed Trump trailing in Iowa by three points — was a form of election interference. Adam Steinbaugh is an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the group representing Selzer. He says the point of the lawsuit is to force Selzer to go through the hassle of paying legal fees and defending against a baseless lawsuit. Trump won Iowa by 13 points and Trump’s lawsuit alleges Selzer and the Des Moines Register created a false narrative about the presidential race in Iowa and it accuses the paper and the pollster of violating Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act.
