Michaela Ramm

The 2021 Iowa City Go Red for Women Luncheon is scheduled to take place on Friday -- the first time the event has been held in-person in nearly two years.

Witwer Children’s Therapy is doubling the footprint of its Cedar Rapids clinic at 3245 Williams Parkway SW after providers say they’ve seen an increase in demand for services since COVID-19 started.

Ethan Alexander Orton, the 17-year-old Cedar Rapids resident accused of killing both his parents on Oct. 14, has entered not guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder.

Police had responded to a call for a disturbance on the evening of Nov. 27, and found the victim had sustained bruises, broken ribs and a punctured lung. The individual had to receive emergency medical care and be hospitalized, according to a criminal complaint.

As of this month, Sue Mincks has officially flown 1,000 times as a flight paramedic at the LifeGuard Air Ambulance at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital. She joined the crew in 2005.

About a dozen long-term care facilities across Eastern Iowa have hired apprentices to fill open CNA positions. The program, facilitated through Kirkwood Community College, hopes to entice long-term employees locally by providing funding for their coursework and exam costs.

New COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have increased again this week as Iowans prepare to gathering with family and loved ones for Thanksgiving celebrations this week.

Iowa’s already strained health care system could be in for a rough winter after officials with the University of Iowa Health Care say flu cases have rapidly increased in the past two weeks, raising the possibility that the state could face “twindemic” spikes of flu and COVID-19.

In 1910, turkeys were completely wiped out in Iowa. But after experts introduced turkeys from Missouri, the wild bird population adapted so well that the population has boomed in Iowa.

As Iowans prepare to gather with loved ones for the Thanksgiving holiday, virus transmission rates are at the highest levels. Iowa hospital officials are encouraging people to get the COVID-19 booster shot and take other steps to prevent infections among vulnerable Iowans.

A nonprofit has formed to restore and preserve a two-story schoolhouse and auditorium built in 1899 in the unincorporated community of Sharon Center in southwest Johnson County.

Iowa’s four Catholic Dioceses launched a campaign this week to encourage Iowans to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The effort was launched after conversations about vaccine hesitancy between the Diocese of Davenport and the University of Iowa.

Local vaccine providers say they are still seeing high demand for COVID-19 vaccine appointments for children aged 5 to 11 years in the two weeks since federal health officials approved the two-dose Pfizer vaccine for this age group. Health care providers say children who receive the first shot this week will be fully vaccinated by the end-of-year holidays.

New infections increase for fourth week in a row; available ICU beds hit all-time low

Mercy Medical Center says 98.1 percent of all staff are compliant with its COVID-19 vaccine requirement as of Monday, the final day for employees to be fully vaccinated or have an exemption. Hospital officials say “a small percentage” of staff requested and were approved for a religious or medical exemption.