Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa casino officials worry they will lose business when several Nebraska casinos open now that voters in that state have approved gambling. Iowa officials said they worry that when casinos are built in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, they could hurt Iowa gaming revenues, especially in Council Bluffs, where four casinos currently operate. Other Iowa border towns with casinos include Sioux City, Onawa and Sloan. Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association said the development of casinos in Nebraska could be another blow to Iowa casinos already reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa has surged from 100,000 to more than 150,000 in less than a month. The state said Sunday that 3,977 more cases of the virus had been reported to give Iowa 152,368 cases of COVID-19. The state topped 100,000 cases on Oct. 12. The state said 13 more deaths were reported Sunday to give Iowa 1,842 deaths. Officials said 81 of the state’s 99 counties had a 14-day positivity rate at or above 15%. Seventeen other counties had positivity rates between 10% and 15%. Ringgold County in southwest Iowa was the only county with a positivity rate below 10% at 8.8%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has tried to erect a protective shield around nursing homes, but coronavirus cases are surging within facilities in states hard hit by the latest wave of COVID-19. An analysis of federal data from 20 states for The Associated Press finds that new weekly cases among residents rose nearly four-fold from the end of May to late October, from about 1,100 to nearly 4,300. Resident deaths more than doubled, from 318 a week to 699. That’s according to University of Chicago health researchers. The administration says nursing home outbreaks involve complex dynamics and the government has provided billions of dollars to help nursing homes as well as thousands of fast-test machines.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Council Bluffs man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for two sexual assaults. Forty-year-old Richard Siemer Jr. was sentenced after he pled guilty to second-degree sexual abuse and third-degree sexual abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors. Assistant Pottawattamie County Attorney Malina Dobson said these latest crimes are the fourth and fifth sexual assault convictions on Siemer’s record. Dobson said the most recent offenses occurred in July and August 2019 after Siemer befriended women whom he worked with and invited them to his apartment and attacked them. Siemer will have to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.