Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa officer who has faced protests for shooting an unarmed Black man in 2016 says he’s being unfairly terminated for giving a break to a driver two days earlier. The Cedar Rapids Police Department fired Sgt. Lucas Jones last month, saying only that he had violated department policy. Protesters had been calling for his dismissal over the 2016 shooting of Jerime Mitchell after a traffic stop. A termination letter released this week shows that Jones was not fired for misconduct related to Mitchell’s shooting. Instead, it shows that the city is faulting him for refusing to arrest a Black woman who was driving with a suspended license two days earlier. Jones is vowing to appeal his termination.
UNDATED (AP) — State health officials say the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases identified in Iowa continues to increase with 676 new positive cases reported Thursday. The new cases brought the state’s total known positive cases to 29,966. The number of deaths remained at 717. Iowa Department of Public Health data indicates positive case numbers had been in decline since peaking in early May but began a slow climb again around mid-June. That’s about two weeks after Gov. Kim Reynolds reopened bars and restaurants and relaxed other restrictions on social activities. She has acknowledged recently that increased cases are tied to young adults.
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa state prisons officials say an inmate at a state prison in Fort Dodge has tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Iowa Department of Corrections says in a news release that the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility inmate is a male adult under the age of 40 and has been in medical isolation since first notifying staff that he was not feeling well on Tuesday. Prisons officials say he experiencing mild symptoms and will receive medical care as necessary as he recovers. Prisons officials say the unit where the inmate was housed has been placed on quarantine status, and additional testing at the prison is underway.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s executive branch is getting a grim gift from a company that has long made uniforms for meatpacking workers: a free supply of 500 body bags. Dickson Industries is donating the body bags as the state prepares for a worst-case scenario in which the coronavirus or another health emergency would overwhelm hospitals and medical examiners. The Des Moines-based company makes garments and products for the food processing, medical and other industries, including coats and insulated jackets for meatpacking workers. A state spokesman says the body bags will be kept in a state stockpile, just like 500 ventilators the state is purchasing.