(Radio Iowa) — A moment of prayer and solidarity in downtown Des Moines on Sunday night diffused a tense situation. A few hundred protesters gathered outside the Des Moines Police station, kneeling in silence to honor George Floyd, the black man who died a week ago in Minneapolis police custody. Then they began chanting at police on the other side of barricades to do the same. W-H-O Television’s livestream showed a black officer and a white officer behind the barricades kneeling in prayer, drawing a positive roar from the crowd.

People in the crowd yelled that they’d leave if every officer on the scene knelt. For two minutes, police in riot gear joined the protesters, symbolically taking a knee, to cheers.

The crowd then left. Peaceful protests were staged over the weekend in places like Sioux City, Iowa City and Waterloo. Michael O’Connor, a Native American activist who joined a march in Sioux City, says this could be a historic turning point.  “We need to organize and not just organize against, but organize with those community organization organizations and community responders,” O’Connor says. “A lot of questions really need to be asked and a lot of questions need to be answered.”

Jada Allen of West Des Moines joined a Saturday afternoon march. Allen says she’s tired of being viewed as a threat because she’s black. “I can’t go outside and live my life, that I have to be alert all the time,” she says. “And if I get pulled over I have to make sure that I’m saying: ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir’ and that I know that my life can be taken.” Waterloo police joined a march that ended at the Black Hawk County courthouse Friday night. Joel Fitzgerald, Senior — Waterloo’s new police chief — spoke with K-C-R-G T-V.

“Sometimes we have to do a temperature check in our agencies,” he told KCRG, “and make sure that we’re consistent with what the community would like to see out of their police department.” A rally for change is scheduled for tonight (Monday) on the Iowa Capitol grounds.

(Radio Iowa) – Thousands of Iowans must get their absentee ballot mailed today (Monday) — or vote in person tomorrow (Tuesday). Today (Monday) is the postmark deadline for the absentee ballots in tomorrow’s (Tuesday) Primary Election. Due to the pandemic, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate sent an absentee ballot request form to every voter — and early voting in the Democratic and Republican Party primaries will set a record.

“People have listened and they heard. They got the message: ‘Let’s vote safe. Let’s vote from home right now,'” Pate says. “For those who still want that choice of still coming into the polling locations, they’ll be there to accommodate them. I will say to them: ‘Let’s be patient, though, and remember: it may take a little more than five minutes to get your voting done.'”

More than 486-thousand absentee ballots were requested for tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) primary. By Friday, 69 percent of those ballots had been received in a county auditor’s office. The Cass County Auditor’s Office said Saturday, that they had over 400 ballots that have still not been returned. They urged registered county voters to mail those ballots back today, to ensure they are received on time, and that your voice is heard!

Atlantic Fire Department personnel were called to the scene of a residential structure fire Sunday afternoon. The call about visible flames at 60091 Boston Road went out at around 5:40-p.m. Fire Chief Tom Cappel said the house was fully engulfed in flames by the time they arrived, minutes later.

The flames were easily visible from Chicago Road, which is about one-mile south of the burning residence. Smoke was visible for as much as three-miles away. Marne Fire was requested to bring their tanker truck to the scene.

Cappel says the cause of the blaze remains under investigation, with the State Fire Marshal’s Office assisting in the investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four relatively unknown Iowa Democrats are competing in a primary Tuesday to take on Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. The endeavor was once viewed as a long shot. But Ernst’s slip in approval and the rallying of Iowa and national Democrats behind one of the four has the race receiving a second look.

FILE – In this May 19, 2020, file photo, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks with reporters after a Senate Republican weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. Four relatively unknown Iowa Democrats are competing in a primary Tuesday to take on Ernst. The endeavor was once viewed as a long shot. But Ernst’s slip in approval and the rallying of Iowa and national Democrats behind one of the four has the race receiving a second look. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

For now, Ernst still is in a strong position heading into the fall. But as Democrats are increasingly bullish about their prospects in places such as Arizona and Colorado, the Iowa race is getting renewed attention as a potential battleground that could help the party regain the Senate majority.