From the Associated Press at 3:20 a.m.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa district court judge is considering whether to halt enforcement of a state law that prohibits school boards from imposing mask requirements. Attorneys argued Thursday over whether the Republican legislature and governor violated the constitutional rights of Frances Parr and her two sons when they signed the ban on mask mandates in schools into law. Parr’s lawyer says she and her sons are harmed by not being able to send them to school safely since masks aren’t required and that the COVID-19 delta variant is spreading rapidly. A state lawyer says the legislature has the authority to make such a decision and Parr doesn’t have standing to challenge it in court.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa will use federal coronavirus relief funds to pay for a $3.7 million national ad campaign that promotes the state as a destination for visitors and workers. The 30-second ad funded by the American Rescue Plan is part of a larger “This Is Iowa” promotional campaign. It will air on cable television, online on social media sites and through streaming services this week. Gov. Kim Reynolds says the ad campaign supports state efforts to attract new residents and train existing workers to fill a growing number of high-demand job openings. The American Rescue Plan was designed to help states recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A New Mexico man has been sentenced in Iowa to two years’ probation and fined $5,000 for flying a single-engine plane in 2018 without a license, which was discovered when he was forced to make an emergency landing. Federal prosecutors for Iowa say 44-year-old Keith Alexander Thomas, of Portales, New Mexico, was sentenced in Cedar Rapids federal court on Wednesday after he pleased guilty in April to a single count of operating as an airman without a airman certificate. Prosecutors say Thomas had agreed to fly the newly-purchased Cessna from Wisconsin to New Mexico, even though he didn’t have a pilot’s license. Prosecutors say the plane went into engine failure over Iowa, and Thomas made an emergency landing in Waterloo. No one was hurt.
HUXLEY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says a Van Meter couple have died in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 35 near Huxley in central Iowa. The patrol says the crash happened Tuesday afternoon when a semitrailer crashed into the back of another semi that had slowed for traffic congestion, causing the chain-reaction crash. Four semitrailers, a van and pickup truck were all caught up in the crash. The patrol says 81-year old Gordon Martens and 79-year old Nora Martens, both of Van Meter, were in the pickup and died in the crash. The patrol says another person sustained serious injuries and was taken to a hospital.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal and state lawyers will meet next week to negotiate a settlement for money that North Dakota claims it spent policing protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. North Dakota filed a lawsuit two years ago seeking to recover more than $38 million in damages from the months-long pipeline protests almost five years ago. The state argues the Corps of Engineers allowed and sometimes encouraged protesters to illegally camp without a federal permit. The Corps has said protesters weren’t evicted due to free speech reasons. The Corps has argued it has “limited authority” to enforce rules on land it manages.
WALFORD, Iowa (AP) — The Linn County Sheriff’s department says a man and woman died in a crash shortly after a deputy stopped pursuing a vehicle. The department said officers received a call Wednesday about a domestic dispute involving a woman trying to jump out of vehicle. A deputy saw the vehicle speeding and tried to stop it but the vehicle fled. The deputy eventually stopped the pursuit and about a minute later saw debris flying. The department says the vehicle hit a dump truck in Walford. The man and woman were thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Their names have not been released. The dump truck driver was not injured.
