(Radio Iowa) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled residents should be able to vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling and two initiatives to regulate casinos. The ruling supports a petition from the group “Keep the Money in Nebraska” and others. The C-E-O of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe, Lance Morgan, says they want to bring the gambling into the state and there is support. “We’ve done the polling and the vast majority of Nebraskans support it. I think anybody who knows anything down in Omaha knows the Council Bluffs (Iowa) casinos are full of Nebraskans.” Morgan says. “So gaming is here — there’s gaming in every state that touches Nebraska.”

Nebraska’s Secretary of State had refused to put the measures on the November ballot, saying there were multiple conflicting issues. The Supreme Court’s split decision overrules the Secretary of State and Morgan says they will now campaign to get the measures passed. “And my guess is we’ll face some challenges — both socially oriented challenges — and then challenges probably funded by Iowa casinos I suppose,” Morgan says. “We will fight for our share of the airways and see if we can get people to join us.”

The Nebraska Supreme Court in a separate ruling rejected putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to legalize medical marijuana.

(Radio Iowa) – State medical director Dr. Caitlin Pedati says having students move around a classroom every few minutes creates more opportunities for the coronavirus to spread.  “The advice that we’ve provided is that rather have people interaction more and create more person to person interactions, really you want to have fewer person to person interactions,” she says.

The Iowa Starting Line website indicated a few Iowa school districts are asking students to get up and move around every 12 to 14 minutes, moves that could avoid quarantining students who were — for at least 15 minutes — within six feet of someone who tests positive for Covid. “I wouldn’t suggest that as an approach,” Pedati says. Some schools are doing the exact opposite of encouraging periodic movement and, instead, are keeping students and teachers together in pods throughout the day to prevent the potential spread of the virus through a school building.
“We’ve got a virus that moves from person to person and so minimizing person to person interactions is how you can minimize the transfer of this virus,” Pedati says.

Waukee administrators say they’re recommending students stand up and move up to five times an hour to promote healthy habits, but all students in a classroom will still be asked to quarantine if one tests positive for the virus. The Des Moines Register reports Woodbury-Central School District officials are evaluating whether shuffling students around every 12 to 14 minutes would prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Two, out-of-state men were arrested on drug charges Thursday night, in Creston. According to Creston Police, 19-year old Brandon Montrell Thompson, of Kansas City, MO., and 18-year old Josiah Ahmad Reed, of Sheffield, AL., were arrested at the Union County Jail. Both were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. Thompson posted bond and was released. Reed was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, 34-year old Skylar Allen Rufenacht, of Creston, was arrested today (Friday), at around 4:50-a.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury/1st offense. Rufenacht was being held without bond in the Union County Jail, until seen by the magistrate.

Creston Police said also, a man reported the passenger side mirror on his vehicle was damaged sometime between 12-a.m. and 7-a.m., Thursday. The vehicle had been parked in a lot behind a business located near the 200 block of N. Elm Street. The damage was estimated at $100.

AMES, Iowa – Sept. 11, 2020 – The Iowa Department of Transportation has recently released an update to the Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan to reflect today’s operating environment and current needs of Iowa’s public transportation system. The Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan update has been under development over the last 18 months, including researching the historical trends in demographics and passenger transportation usage, forecasting future projected needs within the public transit system, and devising strategies to address any challenges.

Some of the key findings identified within the Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan include the following.

• A number of challenges exist which inhibit the public transit system from achieving its potential, including use of older transit vehicles, having a limited pool of qualified transit vehicle drivers, perceptions of overcrowding on transit vehicles, and rapidly changing technologies such as on-demand ride hailing apps and automated vehicles.
• Iowa’s rural transit regions continue to see a decrease in population and an increase in the age of riders while urban transit regions are experiencing population growth and an increase in population density. This presents unique challenges for ensuring all Iowans have adequate means of getting to work, to medical appointments, or any other destinations.
• Based on recent studies, there is a net positive return-on-investment for public transit, indicating that net economic benefits are realized for every dollar invested in providing public transit services.
• There is a current need to address accessibility of the public transit system for all riders while supporting workforce development by connecting employees with jobs. Recent pandemic responses also show a need to support essential segments of the economy by ensuring a reliable transportation system continues to operate regardless of disruptions.

With the completion of this Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan, the planning process transitions into implementation. During this phase, the Iowa DOT will expand on the partnerships it has formed with key stakeholders in order to help guide investments among all of Iowa’s 35 public transit systems and support Iowa’s vision of rightsizing the system.

As this Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan is implemented through various projects and activities outlined in the strategies section, the impact of these efforts will be measured and used to refine our approach to public transit and inform future Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan updates. If you are interested in learning more about Iowa’s Public Transit Long Range Plan and related information, please visit https://iowadot.gov/iowainmotion/Modal-Iowa Public Transit Long Range Plan.

News reports say new information is expected to be released this (Friday) morning regarding a missing Page County man. According to a Missing Persons Case Network Facebook post, a silver alert has been canceled for 80-year-old Donald Eugene “Gene” Ripley, as he was found dead. Ripley had been missing since early last Thursday morning, when he left Uvalde, Texas, and had not been seen since.

Ripley was last seen driving a red Chrysler Town and Country Minivan. The license plate was last read in Denton County, Texas, approximately 28 hours after he left Uvalde. Texas authorities issued a silver alert following the initial report of his disappearance.