The Sioux City Community School District’s Weekly COVID-19 report shows only one new positive case among teachers and staff and no students. The district also released information about total cases and quarantines and those numbers show 19 students and 17 teachers and staff were out with the illness. Nine staff members were in quarantine and 245 students. The school district started the first two weeks of 2021 in virtual learning and will go back to five days of face-to-face learning next week.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reports the deaths of six more Iowans due to COVID-19 complications and more than 1,300 positive cases in 24 hours.
Siouxland District Health added 25 new cases for Woodbury County. The number of deaths has remained the same for the past few days at 175 in all. The two-week test positivity rate has fallen to 14.1% That’s down more than one-percent from the day before.
Woodbury County health officials say the COVID-19 vaccine is limited. They are telling people to be patient as health care workers are receiving their shots.
Dakota County set up a waiting list for the vaccine for anyone 65-years or older
A man who killed his one-time girlfriend in a Sioux City hotel room before setting it on fire has been
sentenced to 75 years in prison. The Sioux City Journal reports 31-year-old Jordan Henry was sentenced Friday in Woodbury County District Court to 50 years for second-degree murder and 25-years for arson in connection with the death of 40-year-old Elizabeth Bockholt, of Hinton almost two-years ago.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem blames an inadequate education in American civics as the root cause of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In a column, she makes no mention of President Donald Trump’s role in the attack that sent Congress into hiding. The Republican governor is a close ally of the president and campaigned for him across the country. The governor calls the storming of the Capitol appalling and “horrible to watch." But she did not address Trump’s false allegations for weeks that the election had been stolen nor his rhetoric at a rally in Washington right before his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead.
Nebraska lawmakers are reserving the right to not meet as scheduled on Tuesday due to the expected armed protests at state capitols around the country. State lawmakers adjourned for the week Friday and won’t return “until the call of the speaker.” Normally, lawmakers return to the Capitol on a specified day. Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers says the move gives lawmakers some flexibility in case they need to meet later. The move comes after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent Congress from certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden. Protests are also expected at state capitols, although one that took place outside Nebraska’s Capitol earlier this month was peaceful.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Sen. Mike Rounds says he believes the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is moot, signaling that he wanted the Senate to drop the trial after Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration. Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, told The Associated Press that Trump “tarnished his place in history” by misleading his supporters and encouraging the mob that stormed the Capitol. But the senator argues the purpose of impeachment is to remove a president. Since Trump will soon leave office, Rounds says the impeachment trial may not be allowed by the Constitution.
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Mike Faith is encouraging cooperation between Native Americans and state government after a year of tension with Gov. Kristi Noem over measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In his State of the Tribes address to South Dakota lawmakers on Thursday, Faith struck a positive tone, emphasizing areas in which the government and tribes can find common ground, including law enforcement, addiction treatment and the common experience of deaths due to the pandemic. The address at the beginning of the legislative session is delivered by one of the elected tribal leaders every year.