The number of COVID-19 cases in Nebraska has increased in each of the past ten weeks, and the total nearly doubled over the past two weeks as the highly contagious delta variant of the virus continues to spread.
Nebraska reported around 5,000 new cases last week to the CDC.
That’s up from the previous week and nearly double the cases recorded the week before.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has risen over the past two weeks from 190 new cases per day on Aug. 15 to more than 715 new cases per day on Sunday.
The South Dakota National Guard is being called on to help with the state’s COVID-19 response.
Units are being deployed to help with testing in the Rapid City area and other spots in the Black Hills.
Over the past two weeks, the average number of infections has tripled statewide. Johns Hopkins University researchers say that one in every 570 South Dakotans has tested positive in the past week. The western part of the state has been the hardest hit by the virus. Meade County, which hosted the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, leads the state in new cases per capita.
South Dakota’s attorney general was ticketed for going 57 in a 35 mph zone just days before he pleaded no contest to traffic charges for a car crash that killed a pedestrian last year.
Jason Ravnsborg, the state’s top law enforcement officer, received a ticket late Sunday, Aug. 22 in Hughes County, where he lives.
He was charged with a second-degree misdemeanor and fined $177.50.
He hasn't paid the fine or admitted guilt.
On Thursday, the Republican attorney general pleaded no contest to a pair of 2nd-degree misdemeanors for a crash last year that killed a man walking on a rural highway.
Sixty-eight of Iowa’s 150 lawmakers did not miss a vote during the 2021 Legislative session.
The Sioux City Journal reports, on average, lawmakers missed 6 percent of the floor votes taken in the House and Senate, according to the Club for Growth, which assembled a Missed Vote Iowa score card.
In the Senate, 26 of 50 members took all 270 votes and in the House, 42 of 100 representatives were present for 366 votes. That’s typical according to one long-term lawmaker.
Several Sioux City legislators appear on the perfect-attendance list. They are Representatives, Democrats Steve Hanson and Chris Hall, Republican Jacob Bossman, and Democratic Senator Jackie Smith. Republican Senator Jim Carlin missed 10 percent of votes.
Sioux City School Board member Ron Colling tells the Sioux City Journal he will not run for a second term.
Three of the seven seats are up for reelection. Jeremy Saint and Perla Alarcon-Flory are still undecided about running again.
The deadline to file is 5 p.m. on September 16th.
