SPM News

With everything going on in the world it’s hard to believe the 4 th of July holiday is almost here. This year, one of summer’s biggest attractions isn’t happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this week’s edition of “The Exchange” we talk to the co-founder of Saturday in the Park. Dave Bernstein provides an update on the postponed festival and his thoughts of almost 30-years of music and merriment. Plus, hear highlights from last year’s extravaganza, where 25,000 joined forces for the party

The number of deaths in the Sioux City metro area due to COVID-19 reached 80 on Wednesday after local health officials reported the death of an older man in Woodbury County. There are a dozen new cases in Woodbury County for 3,172. Dakota County reported three news cases, for 1,783 in all. There are 124 positive cases in Union County. The Iowa Department of Public Health shows five more deaths in a 24-hour period and more than 300 positive test results. There have been 717 deaths statewide and

Dozens of people held a peaceful protest through downtown Sioux City after unrest in the county of Ethiopia. Siouxland Public Media’s Mark Munger reports. Members of Sioux City’s Oromo community carried signs saying “Oromo Lives Matter” today to bring attention to the violence against Oromo people in Ethiopia. Protestors there took to the streets following the killing of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular, political, Oromo singer. Local protestor Falmata Gishe: We’re basically just asking the US

504 063020 An Iowa judge has temporarily blocked the enforcement of a new abortion law. The law requires women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion while a legal challenge is argued in the courts. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the law yesterday. The law was set to take effect tomorrow, but Judge Mitchell Turner issued a temporary injunction preventing it from taking effect until a lawsuit is resolved. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland sued the governor, The Iowa Board of Medicine

504 063020 Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa school officials who mandate that everyone in a school building must wear face masks need to now seriously consider how to implement that policy. State guidelines released last week for reopening Iowa’s K-through-12 schools said face coverings could be allowed, but it will not be a statewide mandate. Newly posted guidelines from the Iowa Department of Education have a list of considerations about face masks. During a news conference this morning, the

432 063020 New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have added Iowa to a list of states covered by an advisory that requires travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his counter parts New Jersey and Connecticut, announced a travel advisory last week that requires individuals from states with “increased prevalence of COVID-19” to quarantine. The advisory applies to states with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or a test positivity rate

063020 404 Gov. Kim Reynolds says today Iowa is changing the way it counts who has recovered from COVID-19. The state now shows more people recovering from the virus. Starting today, the state began considering Iowans to have recovered from COVID-19 28 days after a positive test, or two incubation periods of the coronavirus, unless the state receives information that the person is still hospitalized or has not recovered. Prior to the change, Iowa had a recovery rate of about 62%, Reynolds said.

063020 304 Another five people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa, and there have been an additional 213 confirmed cases, the state reported today. The state was reporting 712 COVID-19-related deaths, an increase of five since the state's tally yesterday, according its Coronavirus.Iowa.gov website. Today there are 28,941 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 213 since yesterday. Six more cases of the virus were recorded in Woodbury County today. There have been 43 deaths attributed to COVID

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in at least a half dozen counties in Iowa, and one of them is Woodbury County. As of today, another three people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa, and there have been an additional 298 confirmed cases, the state reported. Iowa has reported 28,735 cases. Woodbury County has 14 new cases of COVID- 19 today, for a total 3,147 cases, and 43 deaths. Nebraska has seen an increase of 375 new COVID-19 cases since Friday night. Health officials say the number of reported

062920 404 After trending downward since early May, COVID-19 cases have leveled off in the past two weeks. And at least a half dozen counties are seeing case numbers rise Another three people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa since yesterday, and there have been an additional 298 confirmed cases. According to the state's coronavirus website, Iowa has reported 28,735 cases. Woodbury County has 14 new cases of Covid-19 today, for a total 3,147, and 43 deaths. Dickinson County had two more cases for