From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa is warning eight school districts to reinstate mask mandates or potentially face lawsuits. ACLU of Iowa announced Friday that it has notified eight of 10 school districts involved in a federal lawsuit against Iowa’s ban on mask mandates that they are violating a recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling. Two of the 10 districts — Des Moines and Iowa City — kept their mask mandates after the ruling. The other eight — Ankeny, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Decorah, Denver, Johnston, Linn-Mar and Waterloo — have modified or dropped their mask mandates.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans have released three plans to cut taxes in Iowa and all share the common themes of phasing in a flat personal income tax and eliminating taxes on retirement income at a cost of billions of dollars to state revenue. Democrats and some progressive groups argue the changes would primarily help high-income residents and risk future budget problems, but Republicans respond that the state is simply taking in too much money and should return it to taxpayers. Gov. Kim Reynolds was first to release her plan, which also cuts taxes on corporations. The Senate’s plan also cuts corporate taxes but the House’s proposal does not.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected a black man’s argument that he was denied his right to an impartial jury because of a flawed process that excluded black people and resulted in only white jurors. It is the second time the state’s high court heard an appeal from Kenneth Lee Lilly, who was convicted by an all-white jury in a county with a 3% black population. He’s serving a 25-year sentence for helping a relative rob a southeast Iowa bank in 2016. He alleged that, by using voter and driver’s license registration lists to pick jury pools, Iowa is unfairly excluding a fair number of potential black jurors. The court says such systems are routinely used in many states and have not been proven to limit participation.
PLEASANT HILL, Iowa (AP) — Court documents indicate that an Iowa couple accused of starving a son who has special needs will take plea deals in the case. Richard Joe Ryan and Jennifer Ryan, of Pleasant Hill, were charged in April with first-degree kidnapping and neglecting a dependent. Investigators said the couple’s teenage son weighed only 78 pounds when he was taken to a hospital last year. KCCI-TV reports new court documents indicate Richard Ryan will be sentenced April 1 after agreeing to plead guilty to reduced charges. Court documents also show Jennifer Ryan will agree to a plea deal on April 1.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a Cedar Rapids teen charged with killing his parents has been pushed back to October. The Gazette reports that attorneys for 17-year-old Ethan Alexander Orton sought the delay, which a judge granted. Orton’s first-degree murder trial had been set to begin Tuesday. Orton is charged as an adult in the Oct. 14 killings of 42-year-old Casey Arthur Orton and 41-year-old Misty Scott-Slade. Police say the 17-year-old killed his parents with a knife and ax at their Cedar Rapids home and told investigators he did it “to take charge of his life.” He remains jailed on a $2 million cash-only bond.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is calling an end to the coronavirus public health emergency, a move that will limit the release of state public health data but reflects the governor’s long-held belief that it’s time to move on from pandemic restrictions. Reynolds said in a statement Thursday that the state cannot treat COVID-19 as a public health emergency indefinitely. Iowa Department of Public Health Director Kelly Garcia says the state will report COVID-19 data similar to other respiratory viruses by providing weekly updates on its website of positive tests, cases by county and deaths since March 2020. Information about how many Iowans are fully vaccinated also will be provided.
