The Cass County Libraries and Healthy Cass County are teaming up to ask the county to help write history. “Living History: Cass County and COVID-19” is a project to ask residents in Cass County communities to take a moment to reflect on their experiences during this time.

“Living History: Cass County and COVID-19” aims to capture personal accounts from people in Cass County about what they are experiencing, thinking, and feeling during this global pandemic. Atlantic Librarian Michelle Andersen says “We are excited to see what people will share about this time.” Massena Librarian Jennifer Erickson says “We want to get people of all ages participating in this project.”

Cass County residents are asked to share memories via written accounts, photos, or drawings. Entries can be mailed, dropped off, or emailed to any Cass County library, or to Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 805 W. 10th Street, Atlantic IA 50022. Officials say they hope that this project will not only lead to an important and interesting record of Cass County history, but also create a space where community members learn about and better understand each other’s experiences.

Additionally, it is hoped the project gives those who participate an opportunity to process and share feelings about their experience. Entries will be shared on a blog page managed by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce found at https://www.atlanticiowa.com/, and through local news stations. The project team also hopes to print memory books to be kept in each Cass County library.

Not sure what to include in your entry? Here are a few prompts to get you thinking:

• Describe your experience living during the COVID-19 pandemic: what changes have you experienced?
• What are you missing?
• What seems most important to you now?
• What is something that brings you joy?
• Is there something you thought you would miss but now can live without?
• How are you coping?
• What fears do you have (if any)?
• How do you feel about the situation?
• What hopes do you have for the future?
• How is the COVID-19 pandemic similar or different to events you’ve experienced in the past?
• What has COVID-19 made you wonder about?
• What else should others to remember about this time?

The project committee will be accepting entries through the end of October. They ask for assistance in making sure everyone in the county is invited to participate. For more information on local wellness events or resources, follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Polk County judge says he will decide next week whether to allow the Des Moines school district to temporarily move completely to online classes rather than comply with a state order intended to ensure children return to at least partial in-person classes. The judge says he hopes to reach a decision on the temporary injunction by Tuesday, when school is supposed to resume for the 33,000 students in the Des Moines district.

The district has filed a lawsuit, saying Iowa law gives local school board control over how children are educated and that it’s not safe to hold in-person classes at a time when hundreds of confirmed coronavirus cases are reported every day in Iowa. A similar case is also proceeding in Johnson County.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Polk County sheriff’s office released dashcam footage and other information Friday about the fatal shooting of a Wisconsin man by one of its deputies in 2018. It wasn’t immediately clear from the video released Friday if 25-year-old Isaiah Hayes was shot in the back, as his family contends. The sheriff’s office disclosed details in an online video that includes dashboard camera footage of deputies chasing the Ashland, Wisconsin, man through central Iowa.

They also released previously undisclosed documents and radio communications. The sheriff’s office says Deputy Ryan Phillips saw Hayes run from a stolen car near Altoona, Iowa. Phillips reported that Hayes had a weapon and that Phillips fired when Hayes refused orders to drop it.

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa hog farmer has been sentenced to life in prison in the death of his wife, who was impaled in the back with a corn rake. Iowa District Court Judge Thomas Bitter issued the required sentence of life without parole Friday for 44-year-old Todd M. Mullis. He was convicted in September 2019 in the death of his wife, 39-year-old Amy Mullis, on the couple’s farm near Earlville.

Mullis has maintained his innocence. Prosecutors say Mullis was furious that his wife was having an affair and feared he’d lose their farm if she divorced him. The sentencing hearing was postponed four times because of restrictions related to the coronavirus.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have made a second arrest in the murder of a man who was shot to death in a neighborhood near Drake University. Police said Friday they charged 27-year-old Michael Jermaine Jacobs of Des Moines with first-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old Sean Newman of Des Moines. Whitney Ann Davis, 33, of Des Moines was charged a day earlier with first-degree murder in the case.

Police said in a news release Friday that the evidence indicates that Jacobs was the person who shot and killed Newman on Wednesday.Detectives are continuing the investigation, but no additional arrests are expected.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Police in suburban Des Moines say an 18-year-old man has been arrested for the shooting death of a pregnant teenager earlier this month at an Ankeny hotel. Police say in a news release that Donault Logan, of Des Moines, turned himself in shortly before noon Friday to Ankeny police outside of the Polk County Jail.

Logan faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, the killing of a fetus under Iowa law and several other counts in the Aug. 3 death of 17-year-old Mia Holmes, of Ankeny. Logan was Holmes’ boyfriend and has said the shooting was an accident that happened when he was removing the gun from a bag and it fired, hitting Holmes.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Authorities identified the man shot to death by a Bettendorf police officer 53-year-old Timothy Alan Clevenger, of Silvis. Clevenger was killed in the Thursday afternoon shooting after officers responded to a Bettendorf home. Officers say Clevenger was holding a sharp-edged weapon near children, putting them in danger, when he was shot. The Quad-City Times reported Friday that county records listed Clevenger as the owner of the home where the shooting occurred.

It was registered as a child-development home. Police say they won’t identify the officer who shot Clevenger until state investigators formally interview the officer. The officer is on administrative leave.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a teen motorcyclist who led police on a high speed chase in Polk County died after crashing the bike. The Iowa State Patrol says the crash happened Thursday afternoon, killing 18-year-old Matthew James Harris, of Mitchellville. Investigators say he sped off when Pleasant Hill police tried to stop him. The patrol says Harris lost control of the bike near an intersection and was thrown from bike, sustaining fatal injuries. Police say was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

DES MOINES – Iowans will begin receiving absentee ballot request forms from the Secretary of State’s Office this weekend. Secretary Paul Pate is sending the forms statewide to active registered voters ahead of the November general election to encourage social distancing at polling places during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Pate, “Iowans have options about how they choose to cast their vote. You can vote from home, you can vote in-person at your county auditor’s office, or at the polls on Election Day. The key is we want every eligible Iowan to participate and to be safe while voting.”

The forms include pre-paid, first class mail postage and an envelope to return the request form to the voter’s county auditor. Secretary Pate’s statewide mailing of absentee ballot request forms in the June primary resulted in record-high voter participation of more than 530,000 Iowans.

Many voters have already received absentee request forms for the November general election from county auditors, political parties and other groups. You only need to send in one form, unless you returned a mailing sent by your county auditor in Linn and Woodbury counties. Judicial rulings have invalidated forms that were pre-filled by those auditors. A hearing on a similar mailing sent by the Johnson County auditor is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9.

The mailing from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office includes information about how to vote absentee or on Election Day. County auditors will begin mailing ballots on October 5. Ballot request forms must be received no later than Saturday, October 24 at 5 p.m. Iowans can track that status of their absentee ballot at this link.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Police have found that the June shooting death of an Illinois man by an eastern Iowa officer during civil unrest in Davenport was justified. The Quad-City Times reports that Scott County Attorney Mike Walton announced the finding Thursday in the June 1 shooting death of 23-year-old Marquis Tousant, of Rock Island, Illinois. Walton says an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation found that Tousant was among those who opened fire on an unmarked Davenport police pickup truck that was patrolling the area, seriously injuring an officer driving the truck.

Walton says another officer in the truck, Lt. Greg Behning, returned fire, killing Tousant.