Are you an "essential worker" who needs to be on the job? Do you run a "non-essential" business" that's required to close and isn't eligible for a government bailout? When you leave your home is it for "essential travel" or are you engaging in "non-essential activity?" "Essential" versus "non-essential" may be the single most significant word-pairing that's come out of the COVID-19 panic and its associated shutdowns, lockdowns, and shakedowns.

MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA (April 24, 2020) — Iowa Wesleyan University hosted a virtual Awards Day on April 23, 2020 at 11AM on various social-media platforms. The humanities division nominated students in the following categories: English Students of the Year, Music Student of the Year, and Art/Digital Media Design Student of the Year.

JOHNSTON, IOWA (April 24, 2020) — Iowa PBS announced that Producer Director Paul Yeager is the new host of Market to Market, Iowa PBS's weekly, nationally-syndicated agribusiness program. Market to Market's news and in-depth analysis on the $1 trillion business of agriculture is seen by viewers across Iowa and 20 other states. 

WASHINGTON DC (April 24, 2020) — Representative Dave Loebsack released the following statement on April 23 after the House passed the fourth bill designed to help combat COVID-19 and its effect on our economy. “The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act” contains relief for small businesses, funding for hospitals and testing, and protects the livelihood of Iowans.

PELLA, IOWA (April 23, 2020) — Central's annual Scholarship Celebration was scheduled for Thursday, April 23, but was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event gives student scholarship recipients the opportunity to personally thank and share dinner with donors who help make their Central education possible. More than 700 students would have been recognized this year in PH Kuyper Gymnasium.

The following students from your area were:

LENEXA, KANSAS (April 23, 2020) — Today, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a total of $300,000 to 10 Iowa school districts to replace 15 older diesel school-buses.

WASHINGTON DC (April 23, 2020) — A bipartisan group of senators is today urging the Treasury Department to extend the safe harbor provisions for both the energy-production tax-credit and the energy investment-tax credit to accommodate the significant development slowdowns resulting from the COVID-19 public health crisis.

DES MOINES, IOWA (April 23, 2020) — In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Attorney General Tom Miller and a bipartisan coalition of 34 attorneys-general recommended actions to help homeowners in letters sent Thursday to the Federal Housing Finance Administration and the Department of Housing a

IOWA CITY, IOWA (04/23/2020) — Dexter Golinghorst of Walcott, Iowa (52773) was among the students to be presented one of the University of Iowa's most prestigious awards at a virtual edition of the annual Finkbine Dinner presented on the Hancher-Finkbine website earlier this month.

DES MOINES, IOWA (April 23, 2020) — The number of initial claims in Iowa, filed between Sunday, April 12, and Saturday, April 18, was 27,912. There were 26,192 initial claims by individuals who work and live in Iowa, and 1,720 claims by individuals who work in Iowa and live in another state.

The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 151,846.

Unemployment insurance benefits payments totaled $48,091,551.28 for the same week.

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