The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 21-year old Travis Joe Barret, of Glenwood, was arrested Tuesday night at the Sheriff’s Office. Barret was taken into custody on a warrant for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. His bond was set at $300.,

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is plowing ahead with its plan to resume federal executions next week, for the first time in more than 15 years. That’s despite the coronavirus pandemic raging both inside and outside prisons and despite stagnating national support for the death penalty. Three people are scheduled to die by lethal injection in one week at an Indiana prison, beginning Monday. One of those set to be executed, is Dustin Honken, who was originally from Britt (IA), who was convicted in 2004 of murdering a family in a rural area outside of Mason City in 1993. Authorities say Honken was a meth king pin at the time and the man he murdered was another drug dealer who had become an informant. Honken shot the man, his wife and two children in the head.

The decision to go ahead with the executions has been criticized as a dangerous and political move by the Trump administration, at a time when there is great scrutiny on racial disparities in the death penalty and on larger criminal justice system.

(Radio Iowa) – The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate addressed a virtual gathering of about 250 Polk County Democrats last (Tuesday) night and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told the group the party’s agenda fits the moment.  “The country is thirsting for real and dramatic change,” Schumer says.

Schumer says Republicans are “on a different planet” on a variety of issues and he accused G-O-P leadership in the U.S. Senate of blocking votes on important bills, like one that would have forbidden insurance companies from dropping policies for people with pre-existing conditions. Schumer pointed to polls showing Iowa’s U.S. Senate race is competitive — and he said flipping control of the senate from Democrats to Republicans may rest on whether Democrat Theresa Greenfield defeats Republican Senator Joni Ernst this November. “We all know deep down that this truly may be the most important election of our lifetimes,” Schumer said. “It’ll be up to us to turn the page from this dark chapter in our history and let me tell you, I have never been as optimistic about our chances as I am today.”

Ernst and other Republicans have been referring to Greenfield as Schumer’s “hand-picked” candidate. Ernst told reporters yesterday (Tuesday) that she wants to debate Greenfield to hear what Schumer is telling Greenfield to say or not to say on key issues.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa summer school program has been been moved from in-person to online after several students screened for coronavirus symptoms registered fevers this week. The Hawk Eye reports that North Hill Elementary School in Burlington suspended it’s in-person summer school program on Tuesday after eight students showed up with temperatures of 100.4 degrees or higher. About 60 students attended the program, which began Monday.

Principal Mark Taylor says students were screened for symptoms and temperatures upon arrival to the building before getting out of the car. Officials say the district is working closely with Des Moines County Public Health to determine if or when the summer program can resume in-person instruction.