(Radio Iowa) — A new state law will force the top election official in state government to get legislators’ permission to mail Iowans an absentee ballot request form.  Secretary of State Paul Pate mailed every Iowan a form this spring. A record number of Iowans filled it out, mailed it to their county auditor and got an absentee ballot for the June 2nd Primary. Some Republican lawmakers say Pate exceeded his authority. The new law forces Pate and all future secretaries of state to get permission from the Legislative Council for a mailing like that in the future. The new law also prohibits county election officials from reducing the number of polling places on Election Day by more than 35 percent. Some county auditors dramatically reduced precinct locations for the June Primary due to the pandemic.

(Radio Iowa) — A-A-R-P Iowa is calling for mandatory testing of all residents and staff in Iowa nursing homes after a case of COVID-19 has been identified. Brad Anderson is state director for A-A-R-P. “Today testing in nursing homes is encouraged, but frankly encouraged is not good enough,” Anderson says. “Testing needs to be mandatory and it needs to be tracked and reported in every single facility.” Anderson says Iowans should be outraged by an Iowa Capitol Dispatch report showing employees with COVID-19 symptoms kept working in a Dubuque nursing home. Ninety-five percent of residents at the home tested positive for the virus and 11 residents died. Anderson notes 52 percent of all the Iowans who’ve died of COVID-19 were nursing home residents. “We have had more discussions about summer baseball reopening than we have had about the crisis sweeping through our nursing homes,” Anderson says, “and that needs to change.”

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s aware of the situation at Dubuque Specialty Care. “And it’s just something that just shouldn’t happen,” Reynolds says. “I do want to reiterate in the context of this there are a lot of long-term care facilities that are doing a phenomenal job.” A week ago, Reynolds signed a law that gives businesses and health care facilities — including nursing homes — new legal immunity from most COVID-related lawsuits. “We want to make sure that we have doctors and nurses and care facilities that are willing to provide these critical services,” Reynolds says. “…but the bill also has appropriate exemptions that still permit some lawsuits for reckless or willful misconduct, so I think it strikes the balance that it needs to.”

State officials define a coronavirus outbreak at a nursing home as when three residents test positive for COVID-19. The state website shows 26 Iowa nursing homes currently have coronavirus outbreaks. At one point this spring, 42 long-term care facilities in Iowa reported COVID-19 outbreaks.

(Radio Iowa) – Arnolds Park Amusement Park in northeast Iowa’s Dickinson County is reopening today (Friday) after being closed nearly two weeks following a spike in local COVID-19 cases. The park’s marketing director Paul Plumb says staff felt comfortable reopening as new daily cases have come down and recoveries are rising. Plumb says the biggest new change is visitors will be required to wear masks. Plumb says, “Otherwise we’re still pushing social distancing, asking people to wash their hands regularly and stay that six feet apart.”

Before the park temporarily closed June 13th, all staff were wearing masks, while visitors were only recommended to wear them. At last report, Dickinson County had 232 positive cases of COVID-19 with more than 90 people considered recovered.

(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — Saturday marks 25 years since the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit. The former KIMT-TV anchorwoman was believed to have been abducted from the parking lot of her Mason City apartment complex early on the morning of June 27th, 1995. Her body was never found and the case remains unsolved. Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley says most people thought the mystery would have been solved by now.  Chief Brinkley says, “Our focus right now is still to make sure that we’re giving the case a periodic review and doing the things that we think are useful to that in terms of evaluating the evidence and some of those other things as time goes on.” Brinkley says information about the case continues to trickle in even 25 years later. “We get calls and we pass those all through to the investigators and they follow up on those,” he says. “The specifics of those, I don’t have any comment on, but we do continue to get periodic calls with people who are trying to help us with the investigation.”

Jodi Huisentruit (file photo)

Brinkley says there continues to be one person from the police department actively assigned to the case.  “We still have it assigned to an investigator full-time in their caseload, so as information comes in, as we have follow-up work we’re doing on the case, it is assigned to that investigator,” Brinkley says. “We have a DCI special agent that’s working with us as well on it. It does get regular review and regular follow-up.” Brinkley believes there are people they haven’t talked to yet that may have information that would be useful to the investigation.  “As we look at this case, I get that people have different positions about what they might know about this and may have different levels of trust or distrust in the police, or a relationship that did or didn’t happen back then that made their decision harder,” the chief says. “I think that’s where we’re resting a little bit of our hope and our encouragement for people is that if they’ve held back for whatever reason, personal or other, now would be a good time for them to come forward, contact the Mason City Police Department, contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and give us a chance to sit down with them, get that information, debrief them and kind of go from there.”

Brinkley encourages anyone who thinks they may have information about the case to contact the police department.  “Understand we’re in a different place in policing certainly today than we were 25 years ago,” he says. “Whatever might be holding them back, I would ask them to really think about that, consider that, and consider doing the right thing here for Jodi and her family, and helping us to work to continue to put this together.” If you have any information regarding Huisentruit’s disappearance, you can call the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636. Organizers of the website “FindJodi.com” are asking people to leave a porch light on or light a candle the next few days in memory of Huisentruit.

Red Oak Certified Reserve Police Officer Brad Baker says there will be a “Hero Cruise Night” in Red Oak, on July 11th, in coordination with Paul Baucom on the Red Oak Cruise Night.  The invite has also been extended to: The Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, Red Oak Rehab, the Good Samaritan Society, Arlington Place employees, local Fire/EMS, Dispatchers, Jailers, Police and Sheriff’s Officials, along with the Southwest Iowa Squadron of Heroes, to do a reverse parade.

Those Heroes will be lined up at 6:30-p.m. on the South side of the Red Oak High School, with the cruise coming through shortly afterward.  Cruisers can line up at Chautauqua Park and follow cruisers on the route beginning at 6:30-p.m, or do the route themselves.  As the vehicles come through the High School, everyone will be socially distanced. Those in their vehicles are being asked to stay in those vehicles, and to simply honk and wave.

Baker said the Hero Cruise Night is designed to show support for local first line workers for their efforts over the past few months, and always.  Questions or comments may be relayed to ROPD Chief Justin Rhamy, at 712-623-6500.