(Radio Iowa) — City and county leaders in Iowa are working to address some issues being raised by protesters who demand racial justice. Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker is calling on police officers across the state to not use tear gas against peaceful protesters. At a Black Lives Matter rally in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, Walker said Iowans who are expected to remain peaceful should be free from harm as they exercise their rights. Walker says, “I’ll be sending a formal letter this week to all police chiefs in the state of Iowa making this request that they ban the use of chemical agents against peaceful protesters.”

Tear gas causes skin irritation, tearing up, coughing and difficulty breathing, and in severe cases can cause respiratory failure. The effects can be especially dangerous amid the COVID-19 crisis, as the coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets. Some in Cedar Rapids are calling for other reforms — a citizens’ review board of police and a ban on the use of chokeholds, among other things. Rally organizer Leslie Neely laid out some of the demands at the event. “We are demanding decriminalizing minor marijuana crimes and other low level offenses,” Neely said, to cheers from the crowd. “Our current drug laws and policing practice, disproportionately impact communities of color.”

Organizers also urged protesters to continue taking action through November, by holding elected officials accountable up and down the ballot. The Des Moines City Council will consider a proposal today (Monday) that would ban racial profiling by city police. Passing the ordinance was one of the demands made by Black Lives Matter organizers who led a march to Mayor Frank Cownie’s home last week. After the protest, Cownie told reporters he expects the ordinance to pass. “We know this isn’t the end, but we have to have a place to start and let’s say, all right, we’re gonna do it,” Cownie says. “So, we’re gonna put that ordinance on the table on Monday.”

Some community activists want the council to add onto the current proposal. They’re calling for mandatory data collection and a ban on pretextual stops where a minor violation is used to look for something more serious like drug possession. The council meeting will take place remotely because city buildings are still closed due to the coronavirus. During Saturday’s march in Des Moines which reached the state capitol steps, Lori Young of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement called on Des Moines leaders to pass a ban on racial profiling by police officers. “We want a strong racial profiling ban that has some teeth to it,” Young says. “Don’t come to us with no mess, no watered-down ordinance.”

The city’s Human Rights Commission first shared a draft of the ordinance with the Des Moines City Council more than a year and a half ago. Saturday’s demonstration marked the ninth straight day of marches in Des Moines.

(By Kate Payne and Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — A 13-year-old boy drowned Saturday afternoon near Le Mars at a private pond while attending a birthday party. The boy was reported as missing, and rescuers used a boat from the Iowa DNR equipped with a sonar system to help locate the boy at the Kellen Ponderosa. He was found about two hours after he was first reported missing in about 15 feet deep of water. The child was transported to the Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars, where medical personnel declared the boy had deceased.

The name of the victim has not yet been released. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the drowning incident.

Police in Creston say there were five arrests that took place over the past four days. Saturday night, 42-year old Jennifer Schaecher, of Greenfield, was arrested at the Creston WalMart, for Theft in the 5th Degree. She was cited for the offense and released from the scene on a Promise to Appear. Friday evening. 41-year old Cassandra Davis, of Thayer, and 25-year old River Pecha-Nichols, of Atlantic, were arrested at the Creston Walmart, for Theft in the 5th Degree. Davis and Pecha-Nichols were also cited for the offense and released from the scene.

Friday afternoon, 49-year old Michael Williams, of Creston, was served with a Union County warrant for Probation Violation, on the original charge of Domestic Abuse/Impeding Air Flow. Williams was being held in the Union County Jail at the time the warrant was served. He remains there while awaiting a bond hearing. Thursday morning, 52-year old Jeffrey Lusk was arrested in Creston on a Union County warrant for failure to appear on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. He remains in the jail on a $2,000 bond.

Creston Police said also, M&M Motors in Creston reported Saturday morning, that sometime overnight Friday into Saturday morning, someone slashed all four tires on a vehicle in their lot. The damage was estimated at $2,200.

(Radio Iowa) — Senate Republicans are proposing new restrictions on state and local election officials after changes made for last week’s primary elections led to record turnout from early voting with absentee ballots. Democrats like Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque call the G-O-P move voter suppression. “What are you afraid of, that more people in this state might engage in a constitutional right to cast a vote?” Jochum asked rhetorically.

Secretary of State Paul Pate sent absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state, urging early voting through the mail during the pandemic rather than in-person voting on Primary Day. The bill that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee late Friday night would forbid Pate AND county auditors from mailing out absentee ballot request forms in the future. Senator Roby Smith, a Republican from Davenport, says he has certified letters outlining instances of voter fraud.  “I welcome the debate. I can defend this until the cow’s come home…because I want to protect the ballot box,” Smith said.

Senator Marinnette Miller-Meek of Ottumwa won last week’s second congressional district primary. She disputes the idea Pate’s mailing of absentee ballot request forms spurred turnout. “Perhaps on the Republican side…there was a record Republican turnout because you had congressional candidates who were in very spirited primaries and who were directing people and in video and in direct mail to vote by mail,” Miller-Meeks says, ” instructed how to vote by mail, reached out to them to vote by mail.”  Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says Republicans have devised a potpourri of voter limitations. “Now our president thinks this country is riddled with crooks and cheats and naves,” Bisignano said. “…You’re picking up his theme. Let’s just choke down these absentees.”

The bill also stipulates that no more than 35 percent of precincts may be closed on Election Day. Last Tuesday many county auditors dramatically reduced and consolidated voting sites for the primary. Republicans say that was unfair to Iowans who had to travel great distances to vote last Tuesday. The bill’s next stop is debate in the full Senate. County auditors issued a joint statement, saying they are baffled legislators would want to cripple actions taken for last Tuesday’s election that led to such success.