(Radio Iowa) — SEVENTEEN Democratic presidential candidates will be in Iowa — at the same time, in the same place — this coming Sunday. Former Vice President and perceived front-runner Joe Biden will NOT be at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids June 9th, but most of the competitors for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination will be.

The Iowa Caucuses are eight months from today (Monday, June 3rd).

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — All students in the Council Bluffs school district will receive free meals beginning this fall. Lisa Stewart, director of nutrition services for the district, told the board of education this week that the entire school district now qualifies for Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that allows students to eat free breakfast and lunch.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly all the Democratic presidential hopefuls have yet to hire staff or spend money in the nation’s biggest state, California, which also offers the largest number of delegates. Most of the attention is being focused on the four states that vote first for a party nominee _ Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. A Los Angeles-based strategist, Michael Trujillo, says in the wake of the state party’s convention that California will end up being pretty wide open in the primary race.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 26-year-old man died after collapsing near the end of a race in Des Moines. Des Moines fire officials say the man collapsed Saturday during the EMC DAM to DSM race after apparently suffering a cardiac arrest. The man’s name has not been released. A total of 3,464 runners finished the race which starts at Saylorville Dam and ends in downtown Des Moines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 13-year-old boy has drowned in a large pond in north Des Moines. Police say Van Cin Lian of Des Moines went into the pond Saturday afternoon with two other boys. At some point he went underwater and didn’t resurface. Dive teams from several agencies responded and used a drone in an attempt to find the boy. Divers recovered his body about 6 p.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 13-year-old boy has drowned in a large pond in north Des Moines. Police say Van Cin Lian, of Des Moines, went into the pond Saturday afternoon with two other boys. At some point he went underwater and didn’t resurface.

Dive teams from several agencies responded and used a drone in an attempt to find the boy. Divers recovered his body about 6 p.m.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — All students in the Council Bluffs school district will receive free meals beginning this fall.

Lisa Stewart, director of nutrition services for the district, told the board of education last week that the entire school district now qualifies for Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that allows students to eat free breakfast and lunch.

The Daily Nonpareil reports families in elementary schools could save up to $700 a year, with families of high school students saving up to $900 a year.

Stewart said the students qualified because of a state decision in March 2018 to accept certain classifications of Medicaid enrollees as automatically qualified for free lunches. She says the change was not caused by a sudden decline in the area’s economy.