From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the state of Iowa to immediately halt enforcement of a law that prevents school boards from ordering masks to be worn to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Judge Robert Pratt said in an order signed Monday that the law passed in May substantially increases the risk of several children with health conditions of contracting COVID-19. Several parents with children that have various medical conditions sued the state. Pratt says he has looked at data on the effectiveness of masks to reduce spread of the virus and agrees with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics on mask wearing in schools. Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state will appeal.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The owners of a popular central Iowa park known for winter sledding and tubing have announced that Polk County plans to buy the park. The Des Moines Register reported the development Monday, saying Polk County will buy Sleepy Hollow Sports Park in Des Moines and take over winter sports operations at the park in 2023, with owners Rick and Mary Flatt running its camping operations and special events such as concerts and Halloween attractions that year. Polk County will take over all operations in 2024. The 76-acre facility opened in 1994 on Des Moines’ east side.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating after a woman was killed at a Des Moines home. Police say in a news release that someone called police around 8:30 p.m. Sunday to report a disturbance at the home and expressed concerns about a woman at the residence. Arriving officers found the body of 42-year-old Amber Burton, of Des Moines, and say she had been killed. Police did not say how she died. Detectives interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence, but police did not immediately report any arrests in the case. Burton’s death marked Des Moines’ seventh homicide this year.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Congressional Democrats have set out to pass ambitious bills with historic expansions of the social safety net and long-sought new programs. But that’s not how many politically vulnerable Democrats are selling them at home. For them, Washington’s spending boom has become a chance to deliver the goods, and win headlines and perhaps bipartisan support in their districts. Iowa rep. Cindy Axne was slow to get behind a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and was unhappy none of the money was targeted for a home state industry, ethanol and biodiesel. In the weeks since, she’s won assurances from congressional leaders that a separate multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint will include money for the renewable fuels. And now she’s on board.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Hospitals in Iowa’s second-largest city are limiting elective procedures because of increased numbers of patients driven partly by a surge in COVID-19 admissions. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that both UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital and Mercy Medical Center confirmed Friday their facilities are preserving capacity because of high patient counts in recent weeks. Cedar Rapids hospitals had not delayed or postponed elective surgeries and procedures since last fall. St. Luke’s is limiting surgeries that require a hospital stay to 10 per day. Mercy officials confirmed that it also is temporarily reducing the number of elective procedures that require hospital stays after surgery.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state court judge has declined to halt enforcement of an Iowa law that prohibits school boards from enacting mask requirements, saying there is no evidence that any school board would immediately impose a mask mandate if the law wasn’t in effect. The ruling came Friday in a lawsuit filed by Frances Parr of Council Bluffs. She is the mother of twin boys. She sued the state, Gov. Kim Reynolds and several state officials last month in Polk County District Court. She sought an order halting enforcement of the law, arguing the law Reynolds signed in May violates her constitutional rights.
