(Radio Iowa) — Dozens of young people working in Iowa on presidential campaigns were planning a “Friendship 2020” dodgeball tournament Saturday. After the mass shooting in El Paso, the teams representing El Paso native Beto O’Rourke immediately withdrew — and all the other teams decided not to play out of respect for the shooting victims.

Amanda Wager, the tournament’s main organizer, says this is another example of how important the Iowa Caucus experience can be — even if people don’t work on the same campaign. “I think it just instills a sense of community and a lasting friendship,” Wager says.

The dodgeball tournament had been scheduled in Des Moines on a day when nearly all the candidates were in the state of Nevada. With a packed campaign calendar over the next few months, Wager says rescheduling the tournament is too difficult.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two people died when a vehicle going the wrong way on U.S. Highway 30 in Cedar Rapids hit another vehicle. The collision occurred around 11:40 p.m. Sunday, shortly after police were notified about an eastbound vehicle traveling in a westbound highway lane. Police say the collision killed both drivers. Their names haven’t been released.

(Radio Iowa) — The State Board of Education has given final approval to a change that  requires all NEW school buses to have seatbelts in them — but that wasn’t the only change made to the rules. Department of Education Transportation Director, Max Christensen, says another change is the doubling the number of the retractable stop signs on buses.”We currently have one stop sing that is basically positioned where the driver is located. The second stop sign will be located on the left rear corner of the school bus,” according to Christensen.

He says the additional stop signs will be required on new buses. It’s a step they hope will cut down on the number of people who drive through when the stop signs are out on a stopped bus. “We estimate there’s about 700 per day here in Iowa,” he says, “and we feel that having that second stop arm on that back corner of the school bus, the vehicles coming up from behind will be more able to see that that bus is stopped and see that stop sign,” Christensen says.

The stopped signs are required to have flashing lights on them. Another rule change requires that the two yearly inspections include ALL vehicles used for student transportation. Christensen says they are now limited to inspecting only vehicles used as school buses — not those driven to and from activities and sports. They inspection fee be raised from 40 to 50 dollars on July 1st. The National Transportation Safety Board recently released its findings on the fatal 2017 Riverside School District bus fire near Oakland which killed the driver and the student. Christensen says the recommendations in that report won’t directly impact the state. “All of those recommendations went to the manufacturers — so that will be more on them than the state agency,” Christensen says.

He says they will see the changes as they are implemented in new buses. He says the manufacturers have been asked to strengthen their firewalls so that the firewall is stronger between the engine and the passenger compartment. Christensen says more students than you might think ride school buses every year in Iowa. “Believe it or not — about 240-thousand a day — twice a day,” Christensen says.

The rule changes for buses are expected to go into effect in October, after being checked by the Legislative Rules Committee.

(Radio Iowa) — A report from 24-7 Wall Street names the northwest Iowa community of Le Mars as the best place in the state to live. Le Mars Mayor Dick Kirchoff says he’s pleased to see others recognize Le Mars as a friendly, desirable community. Mayor Kirchoff says, “They were talking about the affordability category, the economy category, the quality of life in this town, the population, the number of entertainment and culture venues, restaurants and everything that we have here.”

The report says goods and services in Le Mars typically cost 15-percent less than the national average. It also says housing in Le Mars is particularly inexpensive, with the average household spending about $4,000 less than the average annual housing cost nationwide.  “This really puts the frosting on the cake in regard to what we’ve been trying to do and talk about,” he says. “We want to make this town a destination city.”

Kirchoff believes the recognition for Le Mars may help with the community’s economic development, attracting businesses and families. “The new people that are coming in here for jobs, particularly in our industries, quality of life is a very, very important factor, taking care of their families,” Kirchoff says. “It’s a big asset, what they’re looking at. We’ve been very fortunate to keep our quality of life program going very strong.”

The report shows Le Mars has a population of just under 10-thousand, and rising. It’s home to a Blue Bunny manufacturing plant which churns out more ice cream from a single company than any other city, earning Le Mars the nickname “The Ice Cream Capital of the World.”

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:20 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds’ refusal to specify why she forced the head of the Iowa Department of Human Services to resign has prompted accusations that she’s violating a 2017 law requiring the state to disclose why it has fired employees or officials. Then Gov. Terry Branstad sought the bill, which Republicans included in a larger collective bargaining measure that reduced public worker union rights. But after asking DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven to resign, Reynolds has declined to specify the reason.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state board has approved a measure expanding the number of medical conditions that can legally be treated by medical marijuana in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board voted Friday to allow those with chronic pain to have legal access to medical marijuana. The board denied allowing generalized anxiety disorder and opioid dependency as qualifying conditions.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former eastern Nebraska postmaster has been sentenced to probation for embezzling from the Fort Calhoun Post Office. Federal prosecutors say 54-year-old Steven Whitesel, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced Friday in Omaha’s federal court to four years’ probation, 160 hours of community service and ordered to pay nearly $70,000 in restitution. Prosecutors say Whitesel submitted false mileage reimbursement requests to illegally collect nearly $70,000.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Swarms of mayflies have emerged from under water along the Missouri River and are caking drivers’ windshields. The Omaha World-Herald reports mayflies spend 99% of their lives in water, but they rise above when they become winged adults to take part in a mating swarm. They quickly die after that. Dominator Fuel in Rock Port, Missouri, sold out of windshield wiper fluid in light of the mayflies’ arrival. Urban entomologist Jody Green says mayfly hatches are a yearly event.