IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The mother of an 18-year-old University of Iowa student who froze to death on the university’s campus is suing the school for negligence. The lawsuit contends Gerald Michael Belz, of Cedar Rapids, was unable to get into his residence hall on the night of Jan. 29, 2019, when wind chills were 51 degrees below zero. The lawsuit says the university locked all exterior doors to Burge Hall to prevent pipes from freezing but did not alert residents to the change in normal procedures.

Belz was found unresponsive the next day. His death was ruled an accident. The university declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The refusal of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to require Iowans to wear masks in public has prompted at least three cities and a county to impose their own local ordinances to address the coronavirus outbreak. It’s setting up what could be a legal battle over whether local officials have the authority to impose the mandates.

Local government control also has become an issue as a few school boards have said they may refuse to abide by Reynolds’ demands to open schools if they feel it’s unsafe. Some local mask ordinances are set to take effect on Monday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company reported an 87% jump in its second-quarter profit as the value of its investment portfolio increased with the stock market. But it took a $10 billion write down on the value of its aircraft parts manufacturing business because of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Berkshire Hathaway cut the value of its Precision Castparts unit because of how much the virus has hurt air travel and businesses that support that airline industry.

The ongoing pandemic hurt most of Berkshire’s businesses, but the results still topped Wall Street expectations. Berkshire held nearly $147 billion cash at the end of the quarter.

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

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

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The IDPH Coronavirus dashboard Saturday morning, indicted there were 10 new, confirmed positive cases of the virus in Cass County since Friday, for a total of 61, and two more have recovered, for a total of 40. Adair County has one more case, for a total of 28. Montgomery County has five new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 59. There are 11 more cases in Pottawattamie County (1,297 total), and one new case in Shelby County, for a total of 180. Recoveries in Shelby County have increased from 141 on Friday to 150 this morning. Pottawattamie lists 36 recoveries since Friday, for a total of 941. There were no new reports of deaths in our immediate listening area.

Statewide, though, 13 more people have died from COVID-19, for a total of 925. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 496 of the 925.  Of the 514,451 tests that have been taken, 48,112 tested positive (an increase of 383 from Friday), 36,850 have recovered, and 4,424 tested negative, for a total of 463,499 since the virus outbreak began. The IDPH says 229 people are hospitalized with the virus (compared to 223 Friday), 58 are in an ICU (compared to 65 on Friday), 33 people were admitted to a hospital since 10-a.m. Friday (the same as yesterday), and 22 were on a ventilator. The IDPH reports that 40.68% of in-patient beds are open.

Southwest/Western Iowa hospitals are reporting a total of 15 patients (compared to 12 yesterday), 4 are in an ICU (compared to 5 Friday), 3 were admitted since 10-a.m. Friday (Compared to 2 the previous day), and there was one person on a ventilator (0 in the previous report).  Long-Term Care facility outbreaks remain at 26. At those facilities, 814 patients/staff tested positive for COVID-19, and 422 have recovered from the virus.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in the 1979 murder of an 18-year-old high school student. Jerry Burns was arrested in Dec. 19 2018, 39 years to the day after Michelle Martinko was found dead in her parents’ car outside a shopping mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She had been stabbed to death. Burns was convicted of first-degree murder in February and was sentenced on Friday. Cedar Rapids police have said they arrested Burns after DNA taken from a restaurant straw he had used matched DNA from the crime scene.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a man killed by a Polk County sheriff’s deputy two years ago alleges in a federal lawsuit that the office is “covering up” the killing by refusing to release footage and records. The Des Moines Register reports that the family of Isaiah Hayes, of Ashland, Wisconsin, filed the lawsuit on June 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. It says the county has refused to release body camera or dash camera footage which shows the shooting of the 25-year-old Hayes in 2018. The lawsuit alleges the county is withholding the video because it would show Deputy Ryan Phillips “shooting Isaiah in the back while Isaiah did not pose a threat.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man has suffered life-threatening injuries in an explosion at a home just outside the Cedar Rapids city limits. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says the explosion occurred around 2 p.m. Thursday as 24-year-old Joshua Thomas, of Marion, was working on the property. Officials say Thomas suffered severe burns from the blast and was taken by a medical helicopter from the scene of the explosion to an Iowa City hospital. Officials say Thomas was the only person on the property at the time of the explosion. Fire investigators were working to pinpoint the cause of the explosion, but Sheriff Brian Gardner said officials had narrowed down that it was fueled by natural gas or propane.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University says a program to administer coronavirus tests to students as they move back to campus has found 66 testing positive. That’s about 2.2% of the 3,037 students that have moved in to residence halls and campus apartments and taken tests. About half of the students testing positive chose to return home to complete isolation. The university has isolation rooms set up for positive cases and quarantine rooms for those who are notified of exposure through contact tracing. The tests are one part of the university’s coronavirus mitigation plan.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says two male suspects wanted in connection with several ATM thefts in northwestern Iowa and Nebraska, are now suspected of being involved in an incident that took place early Friday morning, in Farragut. Authorities say they received a report Friday, of a theft that occurred at the First Heritage Bank, in Farragut.

Bank security still-frame images of the ATM theft (Fremont County S/O photos)

On security video of the incident, Deputies observed that between the hours of 1-a.m. and 4-a.m. Friday, two men entered the First Heritage Bank entryway, and using tools, accessed the ATM, removing an unspecified amount of money.

Deputies contacted the FBI, Omaha Field Office to assist with the investigation. Anyone with information please contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424, or the FBI, Omaha Field Office, Great Plains Violent Crimes Task Force, at 402-493-8688.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa are warning Iowans to be aware of a “grandparent scam.” Several Iowa communities throughout the state have recently reported efforts by criminal groups to swindle predominately elderly Iowans through the use of this particular scam. This scam is not new – the Attorney General’s Office has been warning Iowans about the grandparent scam since at least 2008. However, it is presenting a new twist.

The scam involves a phone call to the victim from someone posing as a grandchild. The imposter tells the victim they have been in an accident, hospitalized, jailed, or are even in a foreign country, and they need their grandparent to send money to help them. Local law enforcement authorities have reported a new scam strategy involving couriers who are being sent to the grandparent’s residence to retrieve the money.

Other tricks these scammers employ often involve the use of factual details about the victim’s grandchild obtained from social media accounts. The scammer might also team up with another scammer who pretends to be an attorney, doctor or police officer, backing up the scammer’s claims.

This scam highlights the dangers of sharing personal information, wiring money, providing prepaid money card numbers or bank account information to strangers by telephone. These transactions, which generally transfer funds abroad, are often nearly impossible to trace.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa and the Federal Trade Commission recommend these tips when someone calls or sends a message claiming to be a grandchild desperate for money:

1.    Verify the person’s identity. Ask questions that a stranger couldn’t possibly answer.
2.    Resist the urge to act quickly or secretly. In a situation where someone is asking for money right now using fear, excitement, or sympathy, it’s probably a scam.
3.    Contact a trusted family member. Call a genuine phone number for your grandchild, or another family member or friend to check out the story even if you’ve been told to keep it a secret.
4.    Report the scam to local law enforcement authorities. Scammers attack several residents and communities, so get assistance for yourself and help others avoid scam efforts.
5.    Don’t answer the door unless you know and trust the visitor.
6.    Don’t send money. Don’t give out personal information, cash, wire money or send a check or money order by overnight delivery or courier.
7.    File a complaint. In additional to notifying local law enforcement authorities, scam calls can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa.
8.    Learn more about family emergency scams. For more information, read the FTC’s Family Emergency Scams or visit the Attorney General’s Office of Iowa website: www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/for-consumers/general-consumer-information/phone-scams/grandparent-scam

See the resources below to file a complaint:

Office of the Attorney General of Iowa
Consumer Protection Division
Hoover State Office Building
1305 E. Walnut Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0106
Email: consumer@ag.iowa.gov
Phones: 515-281-5926 or 888-777-4590 (outside of the Des Moines metro area)
Fax: 515-281-6771
Website: www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov

Federal Trade Commission
Email: ftc.gov/complaint
Phone: 1-877-FTC-HELP
Website: www.consumer.ftc.gov/

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University says a program to administer coronavirus tests to students as they move back to campus has found 66 testing positive. That’s about 2.2% of the 3,037 students that have moved in to residence halls and campus apartments and taken tests. About half of the students testing positive chose to return home to complete isolation. The university has isolation rooms set up for positive cases and quarantine rooms for those who are notified of exposure through contact tracing. The tests are one part of the university’s coronavirus mitigation plan.