Cedar Rapids, Linn County | featured news

DES MOINES — It almost was a clean sweep.The Iowa House approved 12 bills in less than an hour Wednesday with all but one winning unanimous support.The lone “controversial” bill, House File 783, has been proposed a number of times without being approved.

The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center announced plans to phase out its convalescent plasma donation program later this month.As COVID-19-related hospitalizations continue to decline, so has the demand for convalescent plasma, the experimental treatment option for patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two people riding a motorcycle were seriously injured Tuesday night the motorcycle struck a sport utility vehicle on Interstate 380 North.

DES MOINES — Majority GOP senators passed “back-the-blue” bills Wednesday to toughen protest-related penalties in the wake of last summer’s racial injustice unrest and impose financial sanctions against local governments that take action to “defund” law enforcement.

More than 300,000 people in Iowa have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health.The state reported that as of 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, 305,794 people had completed a vaccination series. An additional 329,613 had received their first dose of two.

Roger Mudd, a longtime CBS News political correspondent who reported on the Pentagon’s profligate spending, whose interview with Ted Kennedy ended the senator’s White House prospects and who briefly shared the anchor job at his onetime rival, NBC News, died March 9 at his home in McLean, Va. He was 93.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday, expected to provide updates about COVID-19 vaccines and cases in the state. Watch the live stream in the player above, broadcast by Iowa PBS. 

AMANA — Whirlpool Corp. is administering vaccines to 1,170 of its employees this week.The company, which employs about 3,000 at its Amana facility, received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines Monday and plans to finish the first wave of vaccinations Thursday.

Where can you get a COVID-19 vaccine in Iowa?

WASHINGTON — The House approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Wednesday, sending it to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The milestone political victory would provide $1,400 checks for most Americans and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses.