Siouxland Public Media News

The final day for voting in Iowa’s city and school elections is tomorrow. Polls are open on Election Day tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters should bring one of the accepted forms of ID. Iowans who aren’t yet registered to vote can register at their polling place on Election Day. Iowa also has a new deadline for absentee voting. Absentee ballots must be received by a voter’s county auditor by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. It’s now too late to return a ballot by mail. Voters who...

Nebraska’s latest unemployment rate of 2% was the nation’s lowest and beat a record for the state September's level is the lowest since Nebraska began keeping records of unemployment data in 1976. It's also tied with the nationwide record low set by Hawaii in January 2020 and Connecticut in August 2020. Utah was number two at 2.4% and the national rate for September almost 5%. Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4%. The total number of unemployed Iowans dropped by nearly 2,000 to...

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency has released its second proposal for new political boundaries. That's after Republicans in the state Senate rejected the agency's first plan. Under the second plan, Democrat Cindy Axne and Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks would be pushed into the same congressional district. The proposal also would keep the Democratic counties of Johnson and Linn in separate districts, unlike a previous plan rejected by Republicans this month. The proposal would...

The state of Iowa updated COVID-19 statistics on Wednesday. The Iowa Department of Public Health added 100 additional deaths due to COVID-19 bringing the total to 6,848 since the start of the pandemic. The deaths happened in almost two months starting in the middle of August. In the past seven days there were almost 6,500 positive test results. The state positivity rate fell to 8.3%. Last week it was 9%. The positivity rate across Siouxland has fallen with Woodbury County at 13%. However,...

On November 2 nd, voters in Sioux City will head to the polls to cast their ballot for city council. An hour-long edition of The Exchange presents highlights from a League of Women Voters candidate forum held on October 14 th at City Hall for the four people seeking one of three open seats. The candidates include incumbents, attorney Dan Moore and Alex Watters, Director of Talent and Community Engagement at Morningside University. Two political newcomers are also running Ike Rayford, an...

The deadline for requesting a ballot for the city/county election in Woodbury County is today at 5 p.m. During last week’s League of Women Voter Candidate Forum for City Council, Woodbury County Auditor and Election Commissioner Pat Gill talked about the changes made by the Iowa Legislature. “What I am seeing is this is going to have a huge negative impact on the turnout for this election.” Gill says 5,000 people voted absentee during the last city/county election two-years ago. Last week,...

A local disability rights organization is looking at taking legal action against Sioux City Community Schools if modifications are not made to the district’s virtual academy. The district launched the VIBE Academy this school year to offer a virtual option for students. The Executive Director of Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland, Don Dew told Siouxland Public Media last month the program does not allow for some students with disabilities to take part. “What they are doing is...

The Iowa Department of Public Health added 94 additional deaths due to complications of COVID-19, including one more in Woodbury County. The deaths happened between late August and early October for a total of 6,748 since the start of the pandemic. The number of positive tests in the last seven days continues to fall, down 8% since Monday. Iowa’s test positivity rate dropped to 9.2%. However, the positivity rate in Woodbury County is 17% with most cases in younger people according to...

Friday, October 15th, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day . An event planned for 7 p.m. at Sioux City's Miracle Field includes an opportunity for people and families to light a candle. Katie Kruse of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, is the organizer and member of the non-profit No Foot Too Small . She shares her personal story and mission with Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer. To preregister for the event click here . No Foot Too Small was founded out of a desire to draw...

The Vangarde Arts Harvest Blues Fest takes place this weekend with a performance Saturday night from Australian blues master Michael Charles . Charles took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer about his upcoming Sioux City appearance and how his music transcends the blues genre. * Special thanks to Jane Rogers, publicist for Michael Charles. Biography: Michael Charles musical pilgrimage started over six decades ago in his birth place Melbourne,...

The statewide COVID-19 infection rate continues to decline since its recent peak in mid-September, but the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports certain counties in rural Iowa — where vaccination rates lag behind the state average — have new daily cases comparable to their pandemic peak last year. Adams County has the largest number of infections per capita in the state, even though its rate of infection has dropped 21% in the past two weeks, according to New York Times data . Its two-week total of...

The Iowa State Auditor’s office on Tuesday released a reaudit of the Sioux City Community School District that did not show any major wrongdoing. The report covers a period from June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2019, and recommends the school board approve and document pay raises. Dan Greenwell requested the reaudit through a petition drive before he joined the school board. He felt the district operated with weak financial controls and expressed concern Superintendent Paul Gausman handed out...

Nebraska’s four Native American tribes took part in a special celebration at the state Capitol in Lincoln today for Indigenous Peoples Day. One of the speakers at the event was the Chairwoman of the Winnebago Tribe Victoria Kitcheyan . "We have an opportunity to educate our friends, neighbors, and relatives in the teaching of the Ho-Chunk People, The Ponca People, Omaha Nation, and Santee Sioux Tribe." Flags honoring Nebraska’s four Native American tribes were presented by tribal leaders for...

Information from the Iowa Department of Public Health shows a continuing downward trend in new cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19. There were more than 8,300 new positive test results added in one week, down about 600 from the previous week. The statewide positivity rate is 9.5%, with people 18 and under making up about a quarter of the new cases. However, that age group makes up only 3% of hospitalizations in the state. The positivity rate in Woodbury County is 16%. There are 566...

A federal judge Friday extended an order that will prevent state officials from enforcing a law that prohibits school districts from implementing mask requirements until a federal lawsuit challenging the law can be heard. Several parents and advocacy groups had sued to overturn the law, saying students who are at risk because of health conditions were not being protected against COVID-19. Judge Robert Pratt had earlier issued a temporary restraining order preventing Gov. Kim Reynolds and...

New COVID-19 infections continued to fall last week in Woodbury County, hitting the lowest level in over a month.

Morningside University received a $2.3 million dollar grant from the United States Department of Education to offer education programs to help Iowa’s growing immigrant population. “What we can do is provide pathways for current teachers to earn and English as a second language endorse that will improve their instruction and help English-language learners.” Dr. Kelly Chaney is the Dean of the Sharon Walker School of Education at Morningside. University officials say Iowa’s Latinx population...

Iowa Democratic leaders want Republican leaders to promise they won’t draw their own political boundaries. State Senate Republicans rejected the first set of redistricting maps that were drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. The LSA will have a second set of maps done by October 21 st . That would likely give lawmakers enough time to get to a third set of maps—which they can amend- by the December first deadline. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls says Democrats are very...

On Saturday night the Clay County Heritage is hosting an event called “An Evening with Teddy Roosevelt” at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer, Iowa. Roosevelt reprisor Joe Wiegand bring the 26 th president to life. Wiegand, has given performances across the country and currently lives in Medora, North Dakota where he works for the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation . For more information on Joe Wiegand click here . News release from Clay County Heritage : Clay County...

News 304 100721 A judge has denied a 17-year-old’s request to be tried as a juvenile in a fatal downtown Sioux City shooting in the spring. The trial is set for November 2 nd . Seventeen-year-old Dwight Evans will be tried as an adult on charges of first-degree murder, going armed with intent and two drug counts, the Sioux City Journal reported . Evans had plead not guilty to the charges earlier this year. District Judge Jeffrey Poulson said in his ruling Tuesday that Evans’ extensive...