(Radio Iowa) – Lawmakers hit pause on the 2020 Iowa legislative session eight weeks ago and leadership has set June 3rd as the date for returning to the capitol for votes. The primary duty of the legislature is to establish a state budget, but lawmakers face uncertain state tax collections in the midst of a pandemic. The governor and top legislative leaders have asked a state panel to provide a better prediction of the tax-related consequences of COVID-19 closures and job losses. House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says he and other Republicans hope to confine state spending plans to projected revenue, rather than dip into the state’s emergency cash reserves.

“Trying to make sure we’re leaving ourselves some room,” Grassley says. “Not spending every penny that’s available to us.” Grassley says the goal is to complete the work of the 2020 legislature over a three-day period. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, agrees that the legislature should stick to a short, agreed-upon agenda, and adjourn quickly. “The legislature is a risk group,” Bolkcom says. “We have a lot of members that are 65 years of age and older. We have members with pre-existing conditions that are vulnerable and the virus is deadly.”

Grassley says lawmakers will be able to spread out in the House and Senate, as only lawmakers will be allowed on the floor. “We are taking a lot of precautions that are going to be very unprecedented that’s never been seen I would say, well, at least not in my time in the legislature to make sure that we’re giving as many opportunities for folks to feel comfortable,” Grassley says. Legislative staff and anyone from the public will have their temperature checked BEFORE they’ll be allowed in the building.

The legislature’s business — from committee meetings to full debates — will be conducted in the House and Senate chambers, and the public may watch a live-stream of all proceedings.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds says only 4,000 people have gotten results under Iowa’s $26 million coronavirus testing contract but that will increase now that the equipment has been validated. Reynolds said the the State Hygienic Lab has determined that the machines purchased for the TestIowa program are 95% accurate in detecting the virus in samples and 99.7% accurate in determining its absence. She says the validation will allow TestIowa to soon process 3,000 tests per day as originally envisioned. She said it would also allow the tests to be processed faster and the state to broaden the criteria of who can qualify for a test.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 16,700 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week in the wake of efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 16,735 new claims filed between May 3 and May 9. That was drop from the previous week, when nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims. The new report came in the same week the state began to allow the reopening of some businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Nationally, nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

MERRILL, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man found shot to death this week in a northwestern Iowa home. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says 51-year-old Kevin Leroy Juzek died from shotgun wounds to the abdomen and chest. The Sioux City Journal says Juzek’s death has been ruled a homicide. Deputies were called to a Merrill home late Monday morning for a report of a domestic dispute, and arriving deputies found Juzek dead inside the home. The sheriff’s office says another man in the home, 81-year-old Thomas Jordan Knapp, was arrested and is being held at the county jail as a suspect in the case. So far, Knapp has been charged only with domestic assault.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Federal regulators have reached settlements with two agricultural storage and supply businesses to resolve alleged violations of clean air regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release Thursday that it inspected Midland Marketing Co-op Inc. and Troy Elevator Inc. in response to accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia that injured workers. Anhydrous ammonia is corrosive to the skin, eyes and lungs. Exposure may result in injury or death. Midland owns a facility in Palco, Kansas. Troy Elevator owns facilities in Bloomfield and Blakesburg, Iowa.

Officials with the Pottawattamie County Public Health Department today (Thursday), reported 25 new positive cases of COVID-19. PCPH says 20 of the new cases are residents of Council Bluffs, four are from Carter Lake, and one is from Oakland. Four of the cases are children (age 0-to 18), nine individuals are 18-to 40 years old, nine are 41-to 60 years old, one ranges in age from 61-to 80, and two are elderly adults (persons age 80 or older). Those individuals were tested between May 2nd and May 13th.

The total of COVID-19 cases in Pottawattamie County is now 131. Officials say as of the latest report, 77 individuals were self-isolating, one was hospitalized, 50 have recovered, one has moved out of state, and there have been two deaths. Based on Pottawattamie County Public Health contact tracing investigations, officials say 46 of the Pottawattamie County COVID-19 cases, are the result of community spread.

(Radio Iowa) — Thousands of COVID-19 tests would have to be conducted before Iowa meets the goal set by the president’s coronavirus task force of testing ALL nursing home residents and staff in the next two weeks. Governor Reynolds says 26-thousand of the coronavirus tests conducted in the state since March were connected to long term care facilities.

“Since May 1st, more than 9000 tests have been sent to 94 facilities to test staff and residents,” Reynolds says. “Strike teams have been deployed to five counties to test more than 1300 long term employees across 40 facilities.” Reynolds says there’s been SOME testing of residents and staff in 95 percent of Iowa’s 444 nursing homes this spring. The most recent federal data shows more than 23-thousand Iowans are residents of a certified nursing facility.

According to Iowa Workforce Development 55-thousand Iowans work in nursing and residential care facilities. If all are tested this month, that would be a total of 78-thousand tests. After nearly 10 weeks of testing, the state just hit a total of 89-thousand tests processed. State officials have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at nearly eight percent of the state’s nursing homes and 57 percent of the Iowans who have died of the virus were residents of a long term care facility.

Police in LeMars, late Monday morning, arrested a Wisconsin man on a felony charge related to the enticement of a minor, following a traffic stop for an equipment violation. According to the news release, during the traffic stop, 24-year old Sean Matthew Williams, of Edgerton, WI., was questioned about the presence of a minor occupant in the vehicle. Police determined Williams had allegedly enticed the minor to meet him, after they conversed on social media.

Williams was arrested and charged with Enticement of a Minor (A Class-D Felony), dissemination of Obscene Materials to a minor, having no driver’s license, and no insurance. The LeMars Police Department was assisted by the Iowa DCI. The case remains under investigation.

MERRILL, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man found shot to death this week in a northwestern Iowa home. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says 51-year-old Kevin Leroy Juzek died from shotgun wounds to the abdomen and chest. The Sioux City Journal says Juzek’s death has been ruled a homicide. Deputies were called to a Merrill home late Monday morning for a report of a domestic dispute, and arriving deputies found Juzek dead inside the home.

The sheriff’s office says another man in the home, 81-year-old Thomas Jordan Knapp, was arrested and is being held at the county jail as a suspect in the case. So far, Knapp has been charged only with domestic assault.

(Radio Iowa) — The coronavirus pandemic forced the court system to pause and created a backlog of cases and hearings for attorneys. Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden tells K-C-R-G T-V that they are gearing up to take on the extra cases and learn what the new norm will be. “The justice system is treading water but right now we’re waiting for the tidal wave of the backlog of cases to hit our shores,” Vander Sanden says.

Vander Sanden says there are hundreds of cases on his office’s plate right now. Many of those cases will be decided without a jury but he said about two or three percent of criminal cases will still need one. That’s means a lot more people would need to be in the courtroom. “We can’t ask people to come to the courthouse unless we can ensure their health and their safety,” he says. The date currently set to restart civil and criminal non-jury trials is sometime in June, with criminal jury trials expecting to start the following month.

The Iowa Supreme Court is currently working with several legal professionals to start rolling out a plan. Sixth Judicial District chief judge Patrick Grady, tells K-C-R-G T-V he expects it to be a slow restart. “My guess is we will start doing maybe one at a time to see how we do with structuring some social distancing,” Grady says. He says they will also possibly see how it works to wear masks. Grady said these plans have been in the works since the courts partially closed in March.

Attorney Peter Riley says they will have to figure out how to deal with the new situation to still allow for a fair trial. “The system is going to be changed to allow for more things to be done not in person,” Riley says. “But again, you can’t really try a trial where you have witnesses that have to be examined, particularly if you have the jury that has to listen to the evidence. ”

All the final details on getting the court system back up and running are still being worked out.