SPM News

West High School Counselor Bernie Scolaro talked to SPM's Sheila Brummer about her personal battle with COVID-19 and thoughts on school safety. Scolaro has worked at West High School for more than 20 years and also spent time at Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools and at Catholic Charities as a counselor. She is the current Vice President of the Siouxland Uniserv Unit for teachers and is the Past President of the Sioux City Education Association.

Vaccine distribution plans will be discussed Monday afternoon by Siouxland public health officials. Siouxland District Health Department and Dakota County Health Department will hold a press conference Monday afternoon at the Security Institute at Western Iowa Tech, to provide information related to COVID19 vaccine plans. That press conference is set for 1:30 p.m. Monday. Siouxland District Health says there have been 88 cases added to the total case count in the last 24 hours. Woodbury County

Two members of the Sioux City Community School Board say the district needs to be more transparent when it comes to releasing information about COVID-19 so they can make informed decisions during the pandemic. A weekly report is expected tomorrow. One of the two members, Dan Greenwell, talked to SPM’s Sheila Brummer about concerns he shares with board member Taylor Goodvin. Full statement from the Sioux City Community School District: The Sioux City Community School District is working

The debate continues on K-12 education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa’s Governor wants to keep students in class. A recent survey teachers in the Sioux City Community School district showed only 10% wanted to continue with in-person learning. Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer explores the issue with a couple of long-time educator, union leader and school administrator. Bernie Scolaro, a school counselor at West High School in Sioux City, caught COVID-19 in early November. She spent

President-elect Joe Biden is tapping former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for a second stint as the U.S. Agriculture secretary. Vilsack served eight years as the agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama and has been a longtime supporter of Biden Iowa public health officials have posted another 99 coronavirus related deaths, raising the state’s death toll to 3,120. The state this week modified the methodology for counting COVID-19 deaths. That change added 399 deaths to the total this week.

Today, President-elect Joe Biden has tapped former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for a second stint as the U.S. Agriculture secretary. Vilsack served eight years as Agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama. Vilsack has been a longtime supporter of Biden and he campaigning for the former vice president on farm and rural issues in the 2020 presidential campaign. The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting an additional 99 COVID-19 deaths and an additional 2,246 confirmed cases. Some of the

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said today she will extend the state's mask requirements and limitations on some indoor and outdoor gatherings for another week. Last month, Reynolds issued a mask requirement for when people are indoors and within 6 feet of people from outside of their household for 15 minutes or more, limited the size of indoor and outdoor gatherings; and restricted bar hours. Also at yesterday’s news conference, Reynolds said she wants to keep students in class during the COVID-19

Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced she is extending the state’s partial indoor mask requirement and other current COVID-19 restrictions for another week. Under the current public health proclamation, Iowans are required to wear a mask in public areas indoors. That’s if they are unable to socially distance from those outside of their household for more than 15 minutes. Indoor gatherings are limited to 15 people, while outdoor gatherings are limited to 30. Restaurants and bars must also issue last

Iowa’s governor says she wants to keep students in class during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I would encourage parents to talk to educators, talk to school board and let’s get kids back in school.” Governor Kim Reynolds made her statements during a news conference this morning. Reynolds says scientific evidence shows children up to the age of 10 are less likely to become infected and most positive cases in schools are from staff members who were likely infected from outside the classroom. Reynolds

Iowa started tracking the COVID-19 deaths of people who were diagnosed with the virus but not tested, a change that could add hundreds more deaths to the state's count. Iowa now accepts clinical diagnoses from doctors and not just positive virus tests when attributing a death to coronavirus. The change removed 433 deaths from the system but added 610, providing an initial net gain of 177 deaths and raising the state's toll to more than 2,900. Some of the removed cases could be added back in.