IOWA CITY, Iowa (The Gazette) — Iowa’s three public universities have announced grading options as the COVID-19 pandemic forces students into online education instead of classroom instruction. University of Iowa and Iowa State University undergraduate students are being allowed to take the letter grades their instructors record or choose a pass/nonpass option. The Gazette reports that the new option could help students who, for example, don’t do as well as they believe they could have without the coronavirus-related disruptions.

The University of Northern Iowa already has a credit/no credit option but has modified and expanded its use. The pass or not-pass marks won’t factor into a student’s grade-point average.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials say Nebraska’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 81. The Nebraska Health and Human Services Department says 1,584 tests have come back negative. Officials also report that Nebraska’s initial claims for unemployment benefits skyrocketed with the rest of the nation’s amid the coronavirus pandemic. The claims rose to nearly 16,000 last week from a little less than 800 the week before. In other coronavirus news, election officials say they still plan to hold the state’s May 12 primary election as scheduled.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says it appears city and county officials in Iowa do NOT have authority to issue LOCAL “shelter in place” orders. Linn County officials have been discussing such a move and Iowa City’s mayor has asked the governor to issue either a statewide or regional “stay home” order. Iowa City is in Johnson County, the epicenter of the COVID outbreak in Iowa, where 49 cases of the virus have been confirmed. The governor says she’s asked officials in Johnson and Linn Counties to consider all the angles. “Like the social distancing and some of the policies that we’ve put in place — Are we communicating those in a manner that we should? Are there additional measures that should be taken?” Reynolds says. “We need to look at the (personal protective equipment) and the workforce capacity and how that is impacted in what we’re doing.”

Iowa City’s mayor has declared a  “We’re reaching to communities on a daily level to walk through the metrics that we’re using,” Reynolds says, “to talk them through why we don’t think it’s necessary to issue a ‘shelter in place’ at this point.” Reynolds has expanded the list of businesses that must close to include flower shops, furniture stores and retailers that sell shoes and clothes.

Her closure order does NOT apply to grocery stores, pharmacies and discount stores that sell clothing, furniture AND flowers as well as groceries, toilet paper and other daily necessities.

(Radio Iowa) — The STATE grant program unveiled this week for many small businesses is NOT available to Iowans who work alone, as the only employee in their business. Iowa Workforce Development Authority director Beth Townsend says new FEDERAL benefits will be available. “The stimulus bill would provide unemployment benefits to the sole proprietors, to the self-employed, to those who are independent contractors (and) to our non-profits who do not normally qualify,” Townsend says.

In addition to regular unemployment benefits, those workers will also qualify for the extra 600 dollars a week that are to be provided temporarily to unemployed Americans. Governor Reynolds says once the U.S. House passes the stimulus package today (Friday), which is expected, and unemployment checks start being delivered, her team will evaluate if there are still gaps that a state initiative could address. “These are people that are impacted based on decisions that we made at the state level and we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can, in conjunction with our federal partners, to get them back up and going and get our economy cranking again.”

On Thursday, state officials announced nearly 41-thousand Iowans applied for unemployment benefits last week. The governor calls that unprecedented, but not unexpected in the midst of this pandemic. “In these uncertain times, we are taking extraordinary measures to preserve our way of life,” Reynolds says. “And this is not a typical downturn and I believe that once COVID is under control that will Iowa will make a strong comeback.”

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering the closure of more nonessential businesses to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Reynolds announced Thursday that she had expanded an earlier closure order to include stores selling furniture, books, clothing, shoes, jewelry and other items. The business closures already included bars, dine-in restaurants, theaters, casinos and gyms and will last until at least April 7. Schools will remain closed at least until April 13. Reynolds also ordered dentists to halt all but emergency work and directed hospitals not to perform any nonessential surgeries and procedures.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Hospitals and nursing homes are desperately searching for hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus outbreak and the ethanol industry is ready to step in to provide the alcohol, a key ingredient. Federal regulators are preventing them from providing millions of gallons of alcohol that could be transformed into the germ-killing mixture. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration insists that the alcohol at ethanol plants meet stringent production standards designed to protect medicine and food quality. In addition the alcohol must be mixed with a bitter additive to make it undrinkable. The ethanol industry is asking for waivers during the coronavirus emergency.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lottery jackpots are going to shrink as the coronavirus pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday night that it would cut minimum jackpots in half, from $40 million to $20 million, after there is a winner of the current big prize. The jackpot also could grow more slowly, with minimum increases of $2 million instead of the normal $10 million after each twice-weekly drawing. The other national lottery game in the United States, Mega Millions, is considering a similar move. The move by Powerball won’t affect the current $160 million jackpot.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Police say one man died and another was wounded in a Marshalltown shooting. Officers and medics sent to a residence around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday found two men ages 22 and 27 suffering from gunshot wounds. Police say the 22-year-old died at the scene and the 27-year-old was taken to a hospital. Their names haven’t been released. State detectives have been called in to help with the investigation. No arrests have been reported.