Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 28

Thursday begins a run of days where it looks like there will be at least a chance for showers every day for the next week. In the case of Thursday, the chance is not very high. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance for rain showers all day on Thursday, although the chance for precipitation never will exceed 50 percent all day. Otherwise it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 57 degrees.

West Des Moines-based retailer Hy-Vee said Wednesday it will ask “up to 500 additional employees” to move from corporate-level jobs to retail positions at its stores, effectively laying them off.

Hy-Vee in March eliminated 121 corporate-level positions, with 102 of those employees offered retail positions at its stores.

In addition to eliminating the corporate jobs, the company said it will be “pausing several projects — such as the new warehouse in Cumming, Iowa — to be resumed at a later date.”

The company cited the current challenging business climate as a reason for the change.Hy-Vee said business is being challenged by rising inflation, increasing fuel and construction costs, and supply chain disruptions.

An 18-year-old man is accused of strangling a woman on the University of Iowa campus until she lost consciousness and then stealing her earrings, valued at $20,000.

Ali Alfred Younes of Iowa City was arrested Tuesday on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree theft.

A criminal complaint states that Younes was seen on video Monday night walking in the opposite direction from the woman on the Iowa Memorial Union footbridge.

He turned around and jogged to catch up with the woman as she headed toward the Art Building West. He grabbed her from behind and tackled her to the ground. He rolled her over and strangled her until she passed out, then forcibly removed her earrings, according to the complaint.

Younes was located by police using a combination of security camera footage and a description of the assailant given by the woman. He was arrested at his girlfriend’s house, where police conducted a search warrant and found the stolen earrings. The complaint states Younes admitted to police he stole the earrings because he believed the woman was dead.

New COVID-19 cases and virus-related hospitalizations continued their upward momentum this week in Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,716 new coronavirus infections in the past seven days. That’s an increase from the 1,063 new cases reported last week. That also compares to the 478 cases reported four weeks ago.

Johnson County had the highest seven-day positivity rate in the state in the past week — 247 positive tests per 100,000 residents.

COVID-19 cases have increased across Iowa in recent weeks as a result of a new strain of the coronavirus that has arrived in force across the United States.

Called BA. 2, it’s a new subvariant of omicron that has a short incubation period and a high rate of transmission, according to Dr. Dan Diekema, epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Fortunately, he said, the rate of increase in the community is not as steep as it was during the omicron surge, which peaked in mid-January.