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Welcome to the Wild, Wacky World of Sports During COVID
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Monday, August 31, 2020
 

STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

COVID GRAPHS BY PAUL RIES

Prep sports is back despite the coronavirus pandemic. Well, sort of.

The Wood River High School Wolverines took the field at Homer Stadium Friday night but not against Twin Falls’ Canyon Ridge, as planned.

Friday Night Lights turned into Friday Night Frights as the game was cancelled due to COVID. But the game did go on, albeit with Wood River versus Wood River.

Fans were kept in pods, socially distanced throughout the stadium.

No sooner did the game on the gridiron end than the Wolverines soccer team began warming up for Saturday night’s game against the Sun Valley Community School Cutthroats, who were defending their state championship.

Nationwide, families from California, Illinois and other states are moving lock, stock and barrel to 37 states like Iowa and Florida that have delayed or permitted football so their sons play high school football. Many hope it will pay off with offers of college scholarships. In some cases, recruiters have offered them inducements to relocate.

Fourteen states—most in the Midwest and Mountain regions—have decided to allow fall sports seasons to proceed as usual.

One high school game in Utah was stopped by officials until fans put on masks and adhered to social distancing guidelines. A few others schools had to cancel their kick-off games after having too many players in quarantine, according to NBC News.

BINGO!!!

Bingo has returned to The Senior Connection in Hailey. Yup, you can start marking your cards at 1:15 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 8 and 22. Reservations are required at 208-788-3468 and masks and hand washing are required, as well.

BUILDING DESK SHIELDS

Luke Mickelson, who started a bed making project a few years ago to ensure that each child has a bed to call his or her own, spent Saturday building 200 safety screens for the Kimberly School District.

Mickelson, whose nonprofit is called Sleep in Heavenly Peace, led volunteers in building shields that can be put in between school desks. The see-through screens extend from the floor to about three feet above the desks.

FRATS SUSPENDED FOR VIOLATING STUDENT COVID PLEDGE

Boise State University suspended three fraternities following reports of large gatherings in violation of the school’s coronavirus policies. Eighteen students were also suspended.

IDAHO’S ECONOMY REBUILDS

Idaho’s economy is operating at 89 percent of where it was in early March before the statewide shutdown, according to a Back-to-Normal Index compiled by Moody’s Analytics and CNN Business. That makes it one of the 15 top performers in the United States, which is operating at 78 percent of where it was six months ago.

Members of the National Association of Business Economists don’t expect economic activity to return to its pre-pandemic level across the nation until 2022.

Montana and Wyoming, which weren’t hit as hard, are operating at 90 percent. Washington State is at 85 percent, Oregon at 77 percent and Utah at 81 percent. California and Nevada are at 75 percent.

South Dakota and Maine are the highest at 93 percent. States that were quicker to end shelter-in-place rules, such as Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Texas, have paid an economic price.

The index was comprised of 37 national and seven state-level indicators, such as retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and rail traffic.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE FROM STURGIS?

Sixty-one percent of all the counties in the United States have been visited by someone who attended the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, according to an analysis of anonymous cell phone data from Camber Systems, a firm that aggregates cell phone activity for health researchers.

So far, state health departments have reported 103 cases resulting from the rally showing up in states like Montana, Wyoming and Washington, according to NBC News.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST ON CAMPUS

8:30 a.m. is a big deal on the University of Arizona campus. That’s when COVID investigators go to work collecting sewage samples from dorms twice a week. After all, said one researcher, it is the time they figure most students have gotten out of bed and gone to the bathroom.

The university claims it has stopped a coronavirus outbreak before it started by detecting traces of the virus in the sewage, then employing tests to find two asymptomatic students who were quarantined before they could spread the virus further.

Wastewater testing is sensitive enough to detect the virus up to a week before a person develops symptoms, according to NBC News.

NO LONGER FINGER LICKING GOOD

Kentucky Fried Chicken has pushed the pause button on its 64-year-old “finger lickin’ good” slogan, saying it’s not the best idea during the coronavirus pandemic.

AS CITY SLICKERS HEAD OUR WAY….

Remember when it was toilet paper that was in short supply? Now, Americans are loading up on mace-branded pepper sprays as they escape the cities for nature.  Heck, we’ve even seen hikers packing pepper spray on the trail to Pioneer Cabin.

Demand for RV rentals is also surging, according to USA Today, as Americans look for protective “bubbles.”. And sales of frozen pizza—the pandemic go-to—are up 15 percent over last year. Also hot: large containers of yogurt and candy bars, as Americans no longer need single-serve for the office or have the advantage of vending machines at work.

COVID UPDATE

Idaho COVID numbers are coming down from highs in the 500s, 600s and even 700s.

Friday the state recorded 262 new cases for 31,384 total. Saturday, it had 293 cases. And Sunday there were 190 new cases reported statewide bringing the total to 31,867 cases. Some health districts did not report on Sunday, though.

Blaine County recorded four new cases over the weekend for 605 total.

Meanwhile, the state recorded six new deaths over the weekend for 353 total.


 

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