(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is asking Iowa families who’re returning to the state after spring break elsewhere to check the guidelines set up to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. “Check the CDC’s website to see if you’re been traveling in an affected area,” Reynolds says. “If so, you should follow the CDC and Iowa Department of Public Health guidelines to self-isolate at home for 14 days before returning to your normal routine.”

Most every college or university in the state has shifted to online classes for the rest of the academic year. College students returning from break may face a new deadline for retrieving their items from university-owned housing if they have not yet done so. Reynolds posted a brief video online late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, outlining the closures she’s ordered. “As I’ve said, we all have a role to play and now is when our actions matter the most,” Reynolds says. “By working together, we can slow the spread of the virus and reduce its impact on Iowa and the nation. We can do this.”

Reynolds is scheduled to hold a news conference at 3 p.m. today (Thursday).

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — Pella’s three-day “Tulip Time” festival in early May has been cancelled. The annual festival, which started in 1935, has only been cancelled once before, back in 1946. Valerie Van Kooten is executive director of the Pella Historical Society and Museums. “It is disappointing,” she says, “and it was the product of a couple of weeks of meetings and talking and watching.”

She says after the warnings about group gatherings from the Centers for Disease Control and the Iowa Department of Public Health, cancelling was the right decision for Pella residents as well as the volunteers, visitors and vendors who would be involved in Tulip Time activities. Cindi Atkins, chair of the event’s steering committee, says with this advance notice, vendors may be able to cancel purchases of the food and other items they’d hoped to sell during Tulip Time. “That might potentially reduce the amount of money they will lose,” she says, “although it’s going to be a financial hardship for so many.”

She is encouraging residents in the Pella area to shop local and support the churches and non-profit groups in the area that depend on Tulip Time revenue. The annual springtime celebration of Dutch culture HAD been scheduled for May 7th, 8th and 9th this year. In 2017, a record-breaking crowd of 200-thousand visited Pella during the festival’s three-day run.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Sioux City Journal) — A Nebraska man who was fired upon by a Sioux City officer has been convicted of several charges. The Sioux City Journal reports that a judge found Douglas St. Cyr guilty of assault on a police officer, leaving the scene of an accident and guilty of several other crimes. The nonjury trial was held Nov. 5, and the judge filed the verdicts Monday. Police have said St. Cyr rammed the undercover officer’s car on July 31 and fled. The officer fired at St. Cyr but missed him and three other people in the car.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (The Gazette) — The civil service commission in Cedar Rapids has upheld the firing of a police officer who’d pleaded guilty to drunken driving. The Gazette reports that the commission Monday affirmed the firing of 29-year-old Austin Mensen. Police Chief Wayne Jerman fired Mensen on Sept. 24 last year. Anamosa police arrested Mensen early in the morning of May 27 last year, and he later pleaded guilty to drunken driving, second offense.

Mensen’s attorney says Mensen had diagnosed, work-related disabilities from responding to shootings. He says Mensen is weighing further action.

(Radio Iowa) — Students won’t be returning to Iowa City, Ames or Cedar Falls for the rest of the spring semester. The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have all announced plans to continue classes online for the rest of the spring semester. The schools had planned to continue online classes for two weeks after spring break ended — which would have brought the students back after April 3rd. But with the continued spread of the coronavirus — they are keeping classes online — and all three say they are canceling spring commencement.

The announcement by the schools came after the chair of the Board of Regents, Mike Richards, declared a State of Emergency. Richards said in a statement that there are current circumstances that pose an imminent threat to the health and safety of persons or property at our institutions.

(Radio Iowa) — State officials report the price of gasoline has fallen 18 cents in the past week. The average statewide price for regular unleaded was two-dollars a gallon on Wednesday. Iowa State University economist David Swenson says it’s due to the international price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. “What’s happened is the Saudis have increased the amount of oil that they’re selling worldwide,” Swenson says, “and they’re able to produce oil much cheaper than anywhere else in the world.”

Crude oil prices are significantly lower, down about 60 percent compared to a year ago. Swenson says it’s too early to see the full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on gas prices. “If we have people now actively not just social distancing, but moving more toward quarantine and staying in place that, too, is going to mean a lot less demand for fuel,” Swenson says.

While state officials calculated two-dollars-a-gallon as the statewide average on Wednesday, some stations in Iowa had significantly lower prices. GasBuddy — the Boston firm that tracks prices at more than 140-thousand U.S. outlets — reported a station in Elkader was selling gas for a buck-45 ($1.45) a gallon yesterday (Wednesday). Prices were in the one-60 ($1.60) range in the Sioux City and Cedar Rapids/Marion areas.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports Richard Swartz, of Corning, was arrested at his residence, Wednesday night, on numerous drug charges. At around 5:30-p.m., an off-duty Sheriff’s Deputy witnessed Swartz toss a bag out the window of his vehicle and onto a public sidewalk in front of a residence in Corning. Upon further investigation, marijuana and hydrocodone were discovered inside the bag.

At around 10:47-p.m., Adams County Deputies met with Swartz at his residence. Upon additional investigation, he was charged with two-counts Distribution of a Controlled Substance to a Minor and Possession of a Controlled Substance on real property, both Class-B felonies. He was also charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Distributing tobacco to a Minor, Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Littering.

JoAnn Runyan, Atlantic High School School to Work Coordinator, reports the Atlantic High School School Trades and Local Employer Recruiting Day scheduled to be held on April 2nd, has been postponed until further notice.

The Trades and Local Employer Recruiting Day is an opportunity for area businesses to showcase various employment opportunities to students in grades 9-12 in the Atlantic Community School District. Businesses are encouraged to recruit students for part-time jobs, summer jobs, apprenticeships, and full-time jobs.

Area employers still interested in participating in the Trades and Local Employer Recruiting Day should reach out to School to Work Coordinator JoAnn Runyan at jrunyan@atlanticiaschools.org.