The Iowa Department of Education has denied an application from the Iowa City Community School District to start the year fully online. Earlier this summer, school leaders announced plans to do so, but a new state law says schools must give at least 50% of their instruction in person or else get a waiver from the state. The district will discuss options at next Tuesday’s school board meeting. Iowa City school leaders already pushed back the start of the school year to Tuesday, September 8.
Cedar Rapids Community Schools may follow suit; officials there are considering sliding the start of school one week to August 31. This change in the schedule would require approval from the school board on Monday. They say the additional time is needed to adapt to state guidance in light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Linn County.
At yesterday’s news conference, Gov. Kim Reynolds reiterated why her office and the Iowa Department of Education are taking the stands they are…because it’s mandated by state law.
The University of Iowa has released plans to host 10,000 to 15,000 fans at Iowa football games this fall, *if* there are games and *if* fans are permitted to attend.The Big Ten Conference will ultimately make the final decision on if fans will be permitted. If fans are allowed inside Kinnick Stadium, games will be sold as single game tickets and not season tickets, there will be six feet social distancing guidelines, and fans must wear face coverings.
One person was seriously hurt as the result of a house explosion at 5902 Roger Road NW in Cedar Rapids yesterday afternoon. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said deputies found 24-year-old Joshua Thomas of Marion seriously burned. Thomas was flown to a hospital with life threatening injuries. Thomas was working on the property when the explosion occurred in the residence. Sheriff Gardner says early investigation points to some kind of gas explosion. Fire crews had to ship in water from about a half mile away because there are no hydrants in that immediate area.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a wanted person. A nationwide warrant of arrest has been issued for 29-year-old Scott Lee Czappa, who had recently been living in Elgin. Investigation suggests Czappa sexually abused a minor female. Officials say he may have left the area to return to a home in Wisconsin, and may be driving an SUV painted to look like a police car with a Wisconsin license plate.
An Iowa appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a law passed last year that does not require Medicaid to pay for sex reassignment surgeries for transgender residents. The Iowa Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court finding that the legal challenge was speculative because the two transgender residents who sued hadn’t yet been denied Medicaid coverage for surgeries. The lawsuit claimed the law violated the inalienable rights to liberty, safety and happiness and equal protection sections of the Iowa Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa says it’s reviewing the ruling.
Vice President Mike Pence will be visiting Des Moines next Thursday. He will be delivering remarks on the Trump administration’s pro-growth agenda along with rejection of socialist ideals and the support of law enforcement. Following that, he will go to the Heritage Action Town Hall to launch a campaign titled “Fight for America.” Finally, he will attend the Iowa GOP state dinner before heading back to Washington D.C.
Fewer COVID-19 tests are being done of late in Iowa, and Gov. Kim Reynolds yesterday made it clear why the numbers are down. She said it was not due to lack supplies or imposed limits, but that more people were tested just after the Independence Day holiday, and that numbers are now leveling off. Various Test Iowa sites have been moving to new locations within cities, since the original sites were tied to schools or college campuses that will soon be reopening.
A man arrested in connection with the shooting death of a Waterloo teen has been returned to Iowa to face charges…and he, too, has a gunshot wound. 35-year-old Andre Lamar Collier arrived at the Black Hawk County Jail Wednesday, a week after he was detained in Texas on charges of flight to avoid prosecution and being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the July 20 death of 15-year-old Cortez Harrison. Investigators said Harrison was shot several times, and officers found numerous spent shell casings in the alley. Witnesses told police that Collier was firing a handgun, and they said Collier was also hit by gunfire in the incident.
A federal judge in Iowa has dismissed a lawsuit California Rep. Devin Nunes filed against a major media organization that alleged he was defamed in a magazine story about his family’s Iowa dairy farm. Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, filed the $77.5 million lawsuit in September 2019 in federal court in Iowa against Esquire publisher Hearst Magazines and former reporter Ryan Lizza. It alleged a September 2018 story about the farm caused “injury to his good name and professional reputation.” Judge C.J. Williams says Nunes failed to prove that the article contained false and defamatory statements about him.
