DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Regents has approved $65.4 million in cuts to the state’s public universities in the latest blow to their budgets. The Des Moines Register reports that the board unanimously approved a $1.5 billion general operating budget for the schools Tuesday afternoon that includes $727.9 million for the University of Iowa, $629.9 million for Iowa State University and $170 million for the University of Northern Iowa. The reductions are on top of an $8 million cut in state funding approved by the Legislature last month.

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Two U.S. representatives have introduced legislation that would ban greyhound racing in the U.S. The bill introduced Wednesday comes after a group that has fought against dog racing said it has videos showing racing greyhounds being trained with live rabbits in at least three Midwestern states.

The group, GREY2K USA, sent videos of the live lure training to officials in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, where it says an animal rights investigator shot the footage this year.

The videos also were sent to Iowa, Arkansas, Florida and West Virginia, states where GREY2K says the dogs were bred, where they raced or where their owners were licensed.

(Radio Iowa) — The executive director of the Iowa High School Music Association wants to set the record straight after false information has circulated about events being cancelled due to COVID-19. Despite some necessary changes, Alan Greiner says every effort is being made to continue holding the competitions which have become an annual focal point for young musicians across Iowa.

“The IHSMA State Marching Band Festival has been cancelled as far as the traditional in-person festival that happens in eight different regions,” Greiner says. “We have moved that festival to an online format.” He says the decision to shift the marching band event to virtual comes out of concern for the health and safety of students and staff. It follows an earlier decision to move the All-State Music Festival audition process online.

“That’s a regional festival where we bring multiple schools together into a single location in small enclosed spaces for students to audition for an adjudicator,” Greiner says, “who is typically somebody who’s experienced and would be in the high-risk category for the virus.” The music association is also issuing Return to Learn guidance for schools to aid them in making sure the classroom environment is as safe as possible.

“It’s based upon some research that’s being done at the national level,” Greiner says. “The results from that are very preliminary at this point, it’s a six-month study, but they realized the importance of getting some preliminary information out so schools could start to make decisions based upon the most recent information that’s available to them.” Auditions for the All-State Music Festival will be held online in late October, with the virtual festival scheduled for November 19-21. The date for the State Marching Band Festival has yet to be announced.

(Radio Iowa) — A Wisconsin woman is dead after being struck and killed by a tractor at Clear Lake State Park on Tuesday afternoon. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department says they responded to a medical call at State Park Beach at about 4:15 PM. An unattended tractor owned by the State of Iowa rolled down a hill towards the beach area and struck a female sitting near the beach.

The woman, identified as 21-year-old Mercedes Kohlhardt of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was pronounced dead at the scene due to injuries sustained from the accident. The Sheriff’s Department says the incident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) — Two people were hurt in a home explosion and fire Tuesday afternoon in northeast Iowa. The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible explosion and fire at a home northeast of Cascade. Firefighters believe the explosion was due to a gasoline leak in a 1965 Ford Mustang in the garage. The car had already been taken out of the garage but lingering fumes apparently entered the basement of the home where they were likely ignited by a pilot light.

Two people inside the home were injured and were taken to a Dubuque hospital with what authorities described as non-life-threatening injuries. The home sustained significant damage due to the fire, estimated at more than $250,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Education says it will rule next week on appeals filed by at least two districts opposed to fully opening schools to in-person classes when the new school year begins in the coming weeks. Earlier this month, Gov. Kim Reynolds overrode local school districts that wanted to hold online classes. She instead is requiring students to spend at least half of their education time in classrooms this upcoming school year, even as the state’s coronavirus cases have surged this summer.

News of the upcoming ruling came as the state’s online virus tracker shows nine more COVID-19 deaths and more than 450 new cases confirmed on Wednesday from the day before.

Atlantic, IA —Cass County Health System officials announced updated visitor limitations for all obstetrics patients will begin on Monday, August 3. This measure is being enacted to protect the health of patients, staff, volunteers, and visitors and to proactively limit the spread of COVID-19.

Expectant mothers will designate two support persons at the beginning of her hospital stay. The designated support persons can both be with the mother at the same time. The two designated support persons cannot change during the length of the patient’s hospital stay; the two support persons will be the only visitors permitted. The two support persons must be 18 years of age or older, in good health, and must pass screening at CCHS entrances.

Other visitor limitations remain in effect:

• All visitors must be 18 years of age or older and in good health.
• Outpatients may have one visitor with them.
• Inpatients may have one visitor at a time.

All visitors will be screened at the entrance before being allowed to proceed. Visitors must wear a mask and practice social distancing in waiting rooms. If there are too many visitors in the waiting room to appropriately social distance, then staff will ask visitors to please wait in their vehicles or return at a later time.

All visitors, family members, and friends are still encouraged to use technology to keep in contact with their loved ones.