Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is sharply criticizing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for not calling the Legislature into an emergency session to approve spending to help people suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Sand, a Democrat, in his annual budget review says Iowa will lose bars, restaurants and possibly hospitals due to economic hardship. He says Reynolds, a Republican, could have called the GOP-run legislature to spend some of the $1 billion the state has accumulated to help. A Reynolds spokesman says Iowa is ranked as the most fiscally responsible and resilient state in the country.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It’s unclear why Iowa will receive fewer doses of coronavirus vaccine than initially promised by the federal government. But the state is moving ahead with plans to relax restrictions beginning Thursday even while reporting nearly 100 additional deaths. The Iowa Department of Public Health says the state is now expecting 138,300 doses of vaccine by Dec. 27 while earlier estimates were for 172,000 doses. Distributions were also being lowered to other states. The agency says it has known the expected doses were “planning numbers that will continue to change. Iowa reported an additional 97 deaths on Thursday as the state’s death toll increased to 3,451.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ruled that the federal government must pay landowners on the lower Missouri River for flooding damage caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to protect endangered species. Judge Nancy Firestone, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled this week that the Corps caused increased flooding by changing habitat on the river to comply with the Endangered Species Act. She says that violated constitutional protections against taking property without compensation. The ruling affects property owners from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis, although not all landowners will qualify for payments. The ruling doesn’t cover all flood-related damages.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) — The former manager of a northwest Iowa credit union has pleaded not guilty in a nearly $1.5 million embezzlement scheme. Janine Keim is charged with embezzlement and making false statements. She entered her plea Wednesday in federal court in Sioux City. Prosecutors say Keim and at least one other employee at Consumers Credit Union in Denison embezzled $1.48 million between May 2012 and March 2018. She also allegedly filed false reports to conceal the missing money. The business is now called Cobalt Credit Union. The credit union’s former head teller, Brenda Jensen, of Denison, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in October to embezzlement.

DES MOINES – The Iowa DNR and Travel Iowa invite Iowans to participate in the 2021 First Day Hike Challenge to ring in the New Year through the digital State Park Passport. The challenge takes the place of traditional guided hikes due to COVID-19. “We are looking for ways to encourage both outdoor fun and social distancing,” said Todd Coffelt, Bureau Chief of Parks, Forests and Preserves. “First Day Hikes are a popular tradition in state parks, and the passport is a great way for people to enjoy winter hikes on their own or with their families.”

With the First Day Hike Challenge, park visitors can check into any of the more than 50 participating state parks on the passport from Friday, Jan. 1 through the end of Sunday, Jan. 3. Every check-in will qualify for a prize drawing of a 2-night stay at a 2-bedroom cabin at Lake Darling State Park near Brighton. Restrictions will apply on the cabin stay, with reservation fees and other business rules applying.

Visitors can go to as many parks as they wish during the weekend — every check-in counts as a contest entry.  Additionally, visitors will find trail suggestions and directions from park staff under the “More Info” tab for each park entry on the passport.

Last year, more than 4,300 people participated in hikes on New Year’s Day across Iowa. Hikers can expect to be surrounded by the quiet beauty of nature in winter, and experience spectacular views, beautiful settings and the cultural treasures offered by Iowa’s State Parks. Participants should dress for the weather, including warm, sturdy boots for winter conditions.

For more details on First Day Hikes in Iowa’s State Parks, and to find links to sign up for the Parks Passport, visit www.iowadnr.gov/firstdayhikes.

(IDPH Press Release; Des Moines, IA) On December 16, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) received updated planning numbers for COVID-19 vaccine allocations from the CDC. As we have said all along, these are planning numbers that will continue to change.

IDPH is working through the distribution details with the revised vaccine allocation from CDC. Vaccine distribution will continue to follow the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations that health care personnel and long-term care (including assisted living) residents and staff remain the first priority for vaccination.

Despite these revisions, IDPH is committed to initiating the national pharmacy program for long-term care facilities the week of December 28 as planned, though the original timeline for completion will be impacted. The Infectious Disease Advisory Council (IDAC), will convene within the next 48 hours to discuss how changes in allocation numbers will affect the prioritization of and timeline for healthcare personnel receiving the vaccine.

Expected Approximate Vaccine Allocation, for Planning Purposes Only. These numbers are subject to change:

Additional Pfizer Doses

The FDA and CDC have shared information acknowledging extra doses of vaccine are available in the Pfizer vaccine vial. IDPH is awaiting formal guidance and direction from FDA and CDC.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is joining a coalition of 38 attorneys general in suing Google. The antitrust case alleges Google illegally maintains its monopoly power over general search engines and related advertising markets through a series of anticompetitive exclusionary contracts and conduct. Miller spoke on a conference call today (Thursday) and says the Google case is very much like the suit against Microsoft some 20 years ago.

“The Microsoft case centered on maintenance and monopoly. And this case centers on maintenance and monopoly — and that’s really important,” Miller says. The lawsuit by the states is consistent with the lawsuit filed by the U-S Department of Justice in October which alleged that Google improperly maintains its monopoly power in general search and search advertising through the use of exclusionary agreements.

“We’re filing the motion to consolidate the case so that will have the cases consolidated in the District of Columbia and litigated together — the Justice Department and the 47 states and the District of Columbia, plus two territories — that this will be a unified effort,” according to Miller.

Miller says there’s one key thing he sees in the suit. “This case is among other things about power. Google has immense power in the technology world, in the world of the United States in the year 2020. And it’s about it’s about the use of that power,” he says. The lawsuit says Google has deprived consumers of competition that could lead to greater choice, innovation, and better privacy protections. Furthermore, Google has exploited its market position to accumulate and leverage data to the detriment of consumers.

“They do maximize their profits that that power grants to them. Including from power of network effects — which makes it in my view a little easier to get to the monopoly and a little easier to maintain that monopoly,” Miller says. “And so, these are questions that are on people’s minds, and rightly so. And I think it’s really important that this case be ligated.” The attorneys general argue that more competition in the general search engine market would benefit consumers, for example, through improved privacy protections and more targeted results and opportunities for consumers.

Iowa is also part of a lawsuit announced December 9th against Facebook, alleging the company broke the law by acquiring potential rivals and cutting smaller competitors off from its platform and services.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who was 16 in 1994 when he fatally shot a 15-year-old classmate after the two argued over a girl has been granted parole. The Ottumwa Courier reports that the Iowa Board of Parole has decided to release Michael Patrick Leon Coffman after a hearing Wednesday. Coffman, who is now 42, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Jeremy Allen at Ottumwa High School and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who kill can’t automatically be sentenced to life with no chance of parole. That led Coffman’s sentence to be changed in 2017 to allow for the possibility of parole.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra of Hull is joining a group of 26 other incoming Republican House members in calling for an investigation of “fraudulent activities” surrounding the 2020 presidential election. Feenstra says he signed a letter to House Speaker and Democrat Nancy Pelosi requesting the probe be launched.

Feenstra says, “What we signed onto is a letter that simply says that we want Pelosi to at least investigate how the elections were done.” Members of the nation’s Electoral College met earlier this week and cast a majority of votes for President-elect Joe Biden, but Feenstra says he and the other Republicans will wait until Congress counts those votes early next month.

“Now, Congress as a body meets on January 6th and I think that’s when it will be decided on where we go from here,” Feenstra says. “I’m just simply saying, hey, let’s wait until January 6th and see how this plays out.” Feenstra says there are still questions looming about the presidential election that need to be answered.

“I just think that we need to have a migrating path of where things are,” he says. “I think in the next three weeks, we’ll get to flush things out and we’ll know exactly where everything stands.” The letter follows multiple failed court challenges to election results in several battleground states.

Feenstra beat Democrat J-D Scholten of Sioux City in the general election after defeating incumbent Steve King in the G-O-P primary.

(Radio Iowa) – We’re starting to see some of the monumental costs of the coronavirus on Iowa’s health care industry. This year’s pandemic will cost the state’s medical facilities 433-million dollars in revenue this year, according to a report from the Iowa Hospital Association. Overall, the report says Iowa’s hospitals lost more than one-point-two-billion dollars during the pandemic, but that figure was offset by federal relief.

The study shows half of Iowa’s hospitals were operating in the red at the end of October. Hospitals are also seeing an 11% drop in outpatient visits and a 24% decline in inpatient surgeries, along with the operating margins falling 29%.

More at https://www.ihaonline.org/

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ruled that the federal government must pay landowners on the lower Missouri River for flooding damage caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to protect endangered species. Judge Nancy Firestone, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled this week that the Corps caused increased flooding by changing habitat on the river to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

FILE – In this Oct. 22, 2019 file photo, a home is surrounded by Missouri River floodwaters in Bartlett, Iowa. A judge has ruled that the federal government must pay landowners on the lower Missouri River for flooding damage caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to protect endangered species. Judge Nancy Firestone, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled this week that the Corps caused increased flooding by changing habitat on the river to comply with the Endangered Species Act. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik File)

She says that violated constitutional protections against taking property without compensation. The ruling affects property owners from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis, although not all landowners will qualify for payments. The ruling doesn’t cover all flood-related damages.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Third District Representative Cindy Axne says the relaxing of COVID-19 prevention measures is confusing during a time when people should be working to slow the spread of the virus. Governor Kim Reynolds amended her emergency order so starting today bars and restaurants can resume normal operating hours — and she is allowing higher attendance levels at events. The Democrat Congresswoman, Axne, says the governor is sending a confusing message by regularly lifting and putting in place different mitigation efforts.  “I think relaxing statewide restrictions on social gatherings now sends the wrong message to Iowans,” Axnes says, “that the December holiday season presents something like a lesser risk than Thanksgiving did and in no way, shape or form does it.”

Congress is working to get a COVID-19 stimulus package passed before its deadline of tomorrow (Friday) at midnight. Axne says she sees widespread support from Congress to provide more rental assistance to those struggling because of the pandemic. “Making sure we keep people in their homes during these difficult times and especially here in places like Iowa where it’s the middle of winter, we’ve gotta keep people with a roof over their head,” Axne says.

Axne says she also sees support for an extension of unemployment insurance and an additional round of the paycheck protection program that helps small businesses. Axne is the only member of Iowa’s House delegation to win re-election last month.

(By Clay Masters, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Unemployment claims dropped last week after a big spike in the previous week. Continuing weekly unemployment claims dropped by more than 37-hundred in the past week after a jump of nearly 54-hundred the week before. Iowa Workforce Development said in its weekly report that this is the time of the year where claims tend to go up as seasonal businesses lay off workers.

The report says nearly 58 percent of those who filed unemployment claims last week said their claims were NOT COVID-19 related — which is down from the prior week when 59 percent said the claims were not related to COVID-19.

New unemployment claims last week were down around 32-hundred.