Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge blocked Iowa’s secretary of state Monday from enforcing an order that barred counties from sending absentee ballot applications to voters with their identification information already filled in. Judge Robert Hanson ruled in favor of state and national Democratic Party groups, who contended that Secretary of State Paul Pate exceeded his authority when he told counties that absentee ballot request forms must be blank when mailed to voters. Hanson ordered Pate to put enforcement of his directive on hold. Local elections officials said they were studying the ruling to determine the impact, including whether they could take steps to mail ballots to thousands of voters whose requests were previously invalidated based on Pate’s directive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Five Des Moines Black Liberation Movement protesters have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block Iowa State Patrol troopers from arresting them for trespassing if they return to the Iowa State Capitol or property surrounding it. The four women and man were among 17 people protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement at the Capitol on July 1. They were arrested after a scuffle broke with officers. They were told by troopers they couldn’t return, some for six months and others for a year. They claim the ban blocks their fundamental constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. A spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s office, which will represent the troopers, says they will respond in court.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa public health officials reported 356 new positive coronavirus cases on Monday, significantly lower than the daily average last week of more than 1,000 new cases and likely a reflection of lower testing over the weekend. There also were seven additional deaths. The state now has 92,901 positive cases since March and 1,388 deaths. The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks and was 17.64% on Sunday, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. That is the fifth-highest positivity rate in the nation.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The family of a Tyson Foods worker who died of the coronavirus in April has filed a lawsuit claiming his plant took few safety precautions before he and others became infected. Pedro Cano worked on the kill floor elbow-to-elbow with others at Tyson’s pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by his three adult children says that Cano developed COVID-19 symptoms April 2, days before Tyson announced that two dozen workers had tested positive and that production would be suspended. The lawsuit says Cano died April 14 at age 51. The plant resumed production with new safety measures a week after his death.

The Iowa State Patrol reports a central Iowa man died Monday, when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a vehicle that turned in front of him. 42-year old Joshua Wayne Levi Hollingsworth, of Indianola died at the scene of the crash in Warren County, at around 2:37-p.m., Monday.

Authorities say Hollingsworth was eastbound on Highway 92 at the intersection with County Road R-57, when 72-year old Dennis Alan Walker, of Red Oak, failed to yield the right of way. His 1973 Chevy custom pickup turned from westbound to southbound, in front of the 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle, causing the cycle to strike the pickup on the right front side.

Indianola Fire & EMS assisted at the Iowa State Patrol scene.

Council Bluffs Police said late Monday evening, an accident Monday afternoon resulted in the death of a man and injuries to a woman, both of whom are from Tennessee. Officers were called to the area of I-29 southbound at the 9th Avenue exit in Council Bluffs, at around 3-p.m., Monday.

A witness told police there was a group of 3 motorcycles southbound on I-29 in a row in the inside lane, when a light blue vehicle came from I-480 east onto I-29 south and attempted to merge to the inside lane. The suspect vehicle only let the 1^st motorcycle pass and then merged over striking the 2^nd motorcycle causing it to be pushed into the median and striking the guardrail.

The adult male driver and his adult female passenger on the motorcycle were transported to Nebraska Medicine where the man died from his injuries. The adult female passenger suffered non-life threatening injuries. No names have been being released at this time. The suspect vehicle was a small light blue vehicle that fled the area. If anyone was in the area and saw the accident or you have any information you are asked to call the Council Bluffs Police Traffic Unit at 712-328-4948.

Members of the Griswold School Board met during a special session Monday evening and approved separate mask mandates for inside the school and during activities. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said there have been two positive cases of COVID-19 in the Griswold School District. One case the district was notified of came in at around Noon on Friday that affected a student in quarantine, and one notification after school about an affected staff member. 35 students and two staff were essentially affected by the results, or a total of 37.

Henrichs said some of the students were previously exposed due to outside exposure. “If we had the mask mandate,” Henrichs said, “In theory, if it’s worn consistently and properly, our number of people impacted would potentially be zero.” He said the question is, “Do we want to keep our school open, and do we want to provide our kids as many opportunities as possible?”

After considerable discussion, Board Member Ryan Askeland made a motion to “Require all students, staff, and visitors to wear CDC approved face coverings while inside school facilities during the hours of 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during school days, when social distancing is not possible, extending to school transportation,

Griswold School Board mtg. 10/5/20 (Ric Hanson, photos)

regardless of the time of day or if school is in session including required mask breaks for a minimum of 5 minutes not to exceed 10 minutes each hour, while also allowing students one week or until October 14, to determine their virtual learning status.” The mandate goes into effect this Wednesday, October 7th, 2020 and continues through the end of the semester to be revisited at the December Board meeting.

The motion was seconded and approved by a vote of 6-to 1, with Scott Peterson the lone “nay” vote. The Board then continued with discussion on a mask mandate with regard to school-related activities for PARTICIPATING students and staff. Board member Scott Hansen motioned to require masks for activities, “Including both practices and competitions, when social distancing is not possible.” There is an exception however for football, due to mouth guard requirements.

That portion of the mask mandate is also effective as of Wednesday, October 7, 2020, and continuing through the end of the semester. It will be revisited at the December Board meeting. It was agreed also, “The district will follow the conference activity guidelines for spectators.” The motion passed unanimously.

In other business, the Griswold School Board approved a virtual format for Parent-Teacher Conferences, via Google Meet during the same time as previously scheduled, but the meetings will be booked so that sessions do not overlap or multiple parents are not conferencing at the same time. Parents who absolutely must have a face-to-face conference with a teacher, should contact the district and work out a time to do so.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Five Des Moines Black Liberation Movement protesters have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block Iowa State Patrol troopers from arresting them for trespassing if they return to the Iowa State Capitol or property surrounding it. The four women and man were among 17 people protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement at the Capitol on July 1.

They were arrested after a scuffle broke with officers. They were told by troopers they couldn’t return, some for six months and others for a year. They claim the ban blocks their fundamental constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. A spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s office, which will represent the troopers, says they will respond in court.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge blocked Iowa’s secretary of state Monday from enforcing an order that barred counties from sending absentee ballot applications to voters with their identification information already filled in. Judge Robert Hanson ruled in favor of state and national Democratic Party groups, who contended that Secretary of State Paul Pate exceeded his authority when he told counties that absentee ballot request forms must be blank when mailed to voters.

Hanson ordered Pate to put enforcement of his directive on hold. Local elections officials said they were studying the ruling to determine the impact, including whether they could take steps to mail ballots to thousands of voters whose requests were previously invalidated based on Pate’s directive.

(Radio Iowa/Missouri Net) – Farmers across western Iowa who planned to move their commodities by barge along the Missouri River this fall could be facing a slowdown. Colonel Bill Hannan, the Kansas City district commander for the U-S Army Corps of Engineers, says barge season may be threatened as work is still underway to repair damage to the navigation channel after three years of high water and widespread flooding.

“The river levels have returned to normal,” Hannan says. “They’re not low, they’re just normal service levels that we would see, but because of all that damage to navigation structures, it’s creating shallow spots in the navigation channel on the river.” Last year’s floods damaged up to 75-percent of the seven-thousand river training structures on the lower Missouri River. Repairs could cost 200-million dollars but the Corps of Engineers only allocated 20-million.

Hannan says he understands the importance of barge traffic with harvest season already underway. “We are doing absolutely everything we can to not let the barge traffic stop,” Hannan says, “because we know the agricultural community is really dependent to move their goods in the fall harvest here.”

Hannan says crews from the Corps and from private contractors are making repairs and guiding barges away from trouble spots. He says the Corps is working hard to find more money to restore the river’s navigation channel.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have confiscated a 9mm handgun discovered by Transportation Security Administration workers at the Des Moines International Airport. WHO-TV reports that the gun, loaded with five bullets including one in the chamber, was in the man’s carry-on luggage when it was discovered Saturday. Police took the gun.

The man, a resident of Guam, was issued a weapons citation. The TSA says four guns have been discovered at checkpoints at the airport this year. That’s down from 2018 and 2019, when TSA officers discovered 12 guns through security screenings.

Atlantic, IA —Cass County Public Health’s Care for Yourself Program is celebrating Breast Cancer month by raising awareness of resources available to women in Cass County and Southwest Iowa.The Care for Yourself program is part of the National and State Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program that helps reduce risks from breast and cervical cancer by offering free or low-cost cancer screenings to eligible individuals throughout the state of Iowa.

Victoria Means, Care for Yourself Program Coordinator, says “The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is nearly1 in 8 and every year over 2,000 women in Iowa are diagnosed with breast cancer.” Mean says also, “Just being a woman and growing older increases your risk, but having regular mammograms, in conjunction with breast self-exams and clinical exams, are critical for early diagnosis.”

The Care for Yourself program is a statewide program and can assist women from all of Iowa’s99 counties. Means says “We are able to assist women from any county in Iowa. Women who otherwise might not have access to life saving preventative care, could through the Care for Yourself program and many are able to see their regular primary care provider.”

Those interested in learning more about the Care for Yourself Program can contact Victoria Means, at Cass County Public Health, 712-243-7443.

Page County Deputies on patrol late Saturday night in the area of Nodaway Valley Park, came upon a parked vehicle not in the camping area. The vehicle drew their interest because the park, located about 1.5-miles northeast of Clarinda, is closed to persons not camping, at 10:30-p.m.

A Page County Deputy approached the vehicle and noticed the passenger compartment filled with smoke. When one of the occupants rolled down a window, the Deputy could smell the distinct odor of Marijuana smoke. The three male occupants then exited the vehicle when asked to do so by the Deputy. During the investigation 18-year old Ryan Robert Michael Wilson, of rural Clarinda, was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance/1st Offense.

Two 17-year old males, also from Clarinda, were taken into custody and released to parents. They were cited into Juvenile Court. Wilson was booked into the Page County Jail on $1,000 bond. He later bonded and was released pending further court proceedings.