IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Some Iowa City elementary students are urging the school district to recognize Muslim holidays, and board members say they’re willing to consider the request. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports several students proposed the idea at a school board meeting last week. They suggested the district schedule days off for the Muslim holidays of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.

Fifth-grader Reem Kirja says she wants other students to know both holidays are times for families to get together, similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Board member Ruthina Malone says the board can explore the feasibility of accommodating major holidays celebrated by Jewish and Muslim students.

The board has time to decide, as neither Eid Al-Fitr nor Eid Al-Adha fall on a school day until the 2020-2021 school year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Roman Catholic bishop of the Des Moines Diocese has turned 75 and submitted his required resignation to Pope Francis. Bishop Richard Pates, who took the post in 2008, announced his intended retirement in the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Mirror. He says “the past 10 years in the Des Moines Diocese have flown by.”

It’s unclear when the Vatican will announce Pates’ successor. The diocese serves people in 23 counties in Iowa’s southwestern quadrant.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a male body was found inside a car after Sioux City firefighters extinguished a fire that blackened it. The fire was reported about 5:45 p.m. Sunday inside a car parked outside a residence. The person’s name hasn’t been released. An autopsy has been scheduled.

Police and fire officials are investigating the blaze and the person’s death.

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

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jonathan Narcisse, who ran twice for Iowa governor and who fought for social justice, has died at the age of 54. His mother, Gaynelle Narcisse, says he died Saturday evening at a Des Moines hospital after a heart attack. Narcisse was a member of the Des Moines school board, 2007-09, and ran for governor in 2010 and 2014 as the Iowa Party candidate.

He was editor-in-chief of the Iowa Bystander, a Des Moines-based newspaper founded in 1894, and publisher of two statewide Latino publications. He also ran The Communicator, a central Iowa weekly that Narcisse helped reorganize into a publication about good news in Iowa. Narcisse was inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame in 2009.

State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad says the loss of Narcisse will “create a serious void in Iowa.”

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

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden officials are looking for Des Moines’ help to protect the garden’s valuable indoor collection of exotic plants. The officials say the facility’s 39-year-old heating and cooling system barely functions and needs replacing. The nonprofit wants the city to cover half the $3 million cost to replace the HVAC system, although the lease agreement says the city is not responsible for maintenance.

Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders told The Des Moines Register that it might be in the city’s interest to work with the nonprofit. He says that if the nonprofit has to raise contributions for the full $3 million, that could harm the garden’s programming. He says turning the property back over to the city would be worse.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man died after a fire at his Cedar Rapids apartment. A city news release says the fire was reported around 9:40 a.m. Saturday at the Shamrock Apartments. The release says neighbors alerted by smoke alarms saw smoke escaping from the apartment’s front door, so they gained access and used extinguishers to knock down the flames.

Arriving firefighters and medics then took over, and the man was taken to a local hospital before being transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Officials say the man died there Saturday afternoon. The release says he’s been identified as 57-year-old Thomas Jones. The fire is being investigated.

A traffic stop Sunday night in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a Missouri man. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 26-year old Richard Cody Kays, of Ellsinore, MO., was arrested at around 10:10-p.m. at the intersection of Highways 71 and 34. Kays was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was also cited for Matter of Conveyance of a loaded firearm. His bond was set at $1,000.

A Maryland Congressman who’s actively campaigning for president is starting this President’s Day with an 8 a.m. meeting in Bloomfield with local Democrats. By tonight, John Delaney will have visited 41 of Iowa’s 99 counties. “I’m a big believer in life that you have to do the work,” Delaney says, “and the one thing I know for sure after meeting with Iowans in close to 40 counties is that they do the work on this.”

Iowans who haven’t seen Delaney in person may have seen him on television. He’s spent a million dollars on ads airing on Des Moines and Cedar Rapids stations. His core message to Iowans is that it’s time to ditch “hyperpartisan” politics. “I think they know our politics is broken,” Delaney says. “I think Democrats here in Iowa really know it’s broken.”

Delaney cites last week’s indictment that accuses Russia of sowing discord among Democrats with online ads in August of 2016 that accused Hillary Clinton of voter fraud in Iowa’s Caucuses. “What’s more concerning is everyone believes they’re going to do it again,” Delaney says. “…It’s almost like a ship pulls up next to our shores and aims a weapon at us. If a president doesn’t order the military to do something about it, it’s a disloyal act. And I think the president’s failure to direct the intelligence community and the FBI to actually try to do something about this is disloyal to the country and it’s very, very troubling.”

Delaney arrived in Iowa Saturday morning, as the nation was reeling from another mass shooting. Delaney says it’s “disgraceful” congress hasn’t even been able to limit the sale of “bump stocks” — the device used by the man who killed 57 people in Las Vegas last fall. “Tragedy after tragedy and no response from the federal government, particularly on issues that there’s broad agreement on,” Delaney says. “…The majority of American people, including a majority of Republicans and a majority of NRA members believe we should have universal background checks and we can’t get it done in the congress.”

Delaney says the Florida high schoolers who survived last week’s shooting and have become outspoken proponents for gun safety measures may prod congress to act.
“They’re going to soon be engaged in the democracy, right? All of them are getting ready to vote for the first time…If every high school in the country sets up a club to advocate for this issue, you know, we have about three million kids graduating from high school every year,” Delaney says. “It’s a big impact.”

Delaney made his comments during an interview with Radio Iowa. He met with Madison County Democrats in Winterset Saturday night. He was in Chariton, Knoxville and Albia Sunday. Today (Monday), Delaney has a midday stop scheduled in Corydon and he’ll meet with Warren County Democrats tonight in Indianola.

(Radio Iowa)