(Radio Iowa) — Many Iowans have held off on their summer travel plans due to COVID-19, pushing things back to fall. While some airlines are offering heavily discounted fares in hopes of luring travelers back, Iowans planning a fall fling will find plenty of changes, especially with scheduling. Kyle Potter, editor for the website ThriftyTravler.com, says airlines have cut the number of flights dramatically. “Where you might have had a handful of different flight options every day — early morning, mid-morning, a few throughout the afternoon and evening — now that’s usually down to just one or two flights a day no matter where you’re looking to go,” Potter says. “In some cases, you might need to make a connection.”

Potter says it doesn’t hurt to make plans in advance because airlines say they’ll let passengers change flights without paying a big fee. They can also cancel the flight or get a voucher for the value of the ticket, so he says there’s little risk involved in planning ahead. “If you do book a flight far in advance, odds are it’s going to change between now and whenever you get on the plane,” Potter says. “So certainly it may make sense to be a little bit more nimble, wait until the last minute or definitely expect that the ticket that you booked may not be the flight that you take.”

Another change with the pandemic, masks are now mandatory on all flights. On August 9th, domestic air travel topped 800-thousand passengers, the highest number since March 17th. Still, that’s still down 69-percent from a year ago. Potter says the federal CARES Act is helping airlines cover payroll expenses through September.

(Radio Iowa) – Everyone who sees the damage from last week’s derecho is coming to the same conclusion — it is one of the worst natural disasters ever in the electrical industry. Hundreds of crews have traveled from across the U-S and Canada to help restore power in the wake of the storm that caused extensive damage to the electrical grid and left hundreds of thousands in the dark.

Alliant Energy’s Joel Schmidt has spoken with many of the utility crewmembers. “Comments we’re hearing from contractors, frontline, tree-trimmers, people that are working in emergency ops centers that have come from long distances: worst I have ever seen, unbelievable, toughest conditions by far,” he says.

Schmidt says some homes are so damaged it’s still unsafe to restore their electricity. As of this (Friday) morning, more than 14,000 customers across the state were still without power.

(reporting by Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

One person suffered a laceration to their arm and shoulder pain, during a single vehicle accident early this (Friday) morning, in Montgomery County. According to dispatch reports, the accident happened at around 5:27-a.m. west of Elliott, near 110th and Avenue F. The female accident victim was said to be unable to get out of her vehicle. Griswold Rescue responded to the scene. Additional details are currently not available.