DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -€” The Iowa Supreme Court has halted a ban on the use of a video-conferencing system that allows doctors to distribute abortion-inducing pills to women in rural areas of the state. The stay means Planned Parenthood of the Heartland can continue using the system until the high court makes a final ruling on whether the Iowa Board of Medicine had the authority to adopt the ban last year.

ELDON, Iowa (AP)€” – The rural Iowa house that helped inspire the famous “American Gothic” painting is empty and could be up for rent. The home in the southeast Iowa town of Eldon has had the same tenant for the past four years. But Monday marked Beth Howard’s last day in the house. The 700-square-foot home was made famous by Grant Wood, a native Iowa artist who spotted the house while traveling through the area. He used it as the backdrop to his 1930 painting of a farmer holding a pitchfork next to his daughter.

NEW YORK (AP) – Health officials say Iowa is among 12 states that now have respiratory illnesses caused by an uncommon virus -€” enterovirus 68. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say all are children. The virus can cause mild to severe illness, with the worst cases needing life support for breathing difficulties. Kids with asthma have been especially vulnerable. No deaths have been reported.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -€” Gov. Terry Branstad wants the state to partner with private industry to establish better professional training and job placement programs in Iowa. A plan released by his campaign says Branstad -€” a Republican who is running for a sixth term -€” wants to set up a partnership that he would call the Center for Human Capital Enrichment. The program would seek input from businesses about how to best set up training programs and would try to establish a better job placement system.