IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man who allegedly caused a deadly wrong-way crash on Interstate 80 has been declared competent to stand trial. A judge ruled Monday that legal proceedings can continue against 32-year-old Stephen Lucore, of Iowa City. Lucore is charged with first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, serious injury by vehicle and four counts of willful injury. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty. Authorities say Lucore intentionally drove his car the wrong way on the westbound lanes of I-80 west, of Tiffin.

He collided head-on with a car that had three passengers: 31-year-old David Sawyer, of Frisco, Texas; 64-year-old Robert Sawyer of Nocona, Texas; and 58-year-old Mercedes Quevas. A third vehicle driven by Michael F. Griffin of Memphis, Tennessee, then hit both cars. Robert Sawyer died from injuries sustained in the crash.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating a suspicious death in a home that caught fire in northwestern Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that the home that burned Sunday was owned by David Davenport, a longtime realtor and developer who died of a stroke Friday at the age of 66.

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew declined to offer additional information about the investigation. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is also looking into the matter. Sergeant Bluff and Sioux City firefighters responded to the fire at 8:30 a.m. on the outskirts of the Sioux City.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Fall 2019 Iowa Youth Straw Poll takes place in schools across Iowa today (Tuesday). More than 300 schools have registered to take part in the Straw Poll, which will measure students’ preferred candidates in the Presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House races.

Live results will be posted on the Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov, and are available at this link (some results have already come in). An alphabetical list of the schools participating in the Youth Straw Poll is available at Elections101.org/BeAVoter. Some of the area districts include: Adair Casey/Guthrie Center High School; Atlantic Community Schools & Atlantic High School / CCEOC; CAM High School; The Clarinda Middle School & High School; and the Griswold High School, to name just a few.

The goal of the Iowa Youth Straw Poll is to engage students in a fun, hands-on learning experience that will inspire them toward civic engagement. The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is a facet of “Elections 101”, a free online curriculum developed by Secretary Pate and written by Iowa teachers for Iowa students. The Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Council for the Social Studies support the curriculum and the Youth Straw Poll.

Students, teachers, and media are encouraged to post pictures on social media of the students voting, using the #BeAVoter hashtag.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Public Health says number of lung illnesses linked to vaping is now up to forty-three – with 20 new cases were reported within the last month. Department medical director, Caitlin Pedati, says the exact cause of the illnesses is still unclear.

“We have not yet identified one single cause to explain all of these illnesses, which is why we continue to want the public to be aware of them and why we continue to ask our healthcare providers to report to us when they’re seeing cases like this,” Pedati says.

Doctor Pedati says there may not be one single cause. ” Probably what we’re detecting is probably a range of illnesses that are related to what can happen when people inhale or use a variety of products,” according to Pedati.

The majority of cases have involved vaping products containing T-H-C, the main psychoactive component in marijuana. There have been more than 16-thousand illnesses and 34 deaths linked to vaping reported nationwide. No deaths have been reported in Iowa.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Flooding along the Missouri River has stretched on for seven months in places and could endure through the winter, which could leave some Upper Midwest farmland and even some homes encased in ice. The icy flooding is possible due to a still-high river, saturated ground, broken levees and a forecast for a wetter-than normal winter.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an Iowa family’s attempt at a gender reveal party for a soon-to-be-born baby went horribly wrong when a homemade device that was meant to discharge colored powder instead exploded like a pipe bomb, killing a 56-year-old relative. The Marion County Sheriff’s office says Pamela Kreimeyer died instantly when debris struck her head Saturday before flying another 432 feet and landing in a nearby field in rural Knoxville. Kreimeyer was 45 feet from the device when it exploded.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Police have charged a Louisiana man with murder in the death of a man whose body was found in an eastern Iowa home. Burlington police say officers on Monday charged 19-year-old Moshun Dee Reed, of Shreveport, with first-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old Tito Randall Kingsby, of Burlington. Police found Kingsby’s body after being called to a Burlington home Sunday afternoon.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Charges have been reduced to a simple misdemeanor for two cybersecurity workers who were arrested after breaking into an Iowa courthouse last month as part of a security test conducted by state court administrators. Court records show County Attorney Charles Sinnard asked a district court judge Friday to reduce the charge from felony burglary to a trespass charge. The judge approved the change and set a Nov. 6 hearing for both men.

Five persons interested in becoming members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education appeared during a forum Monday night in the Atlantic Middle School Auditorium. Three seats are up for election on November 5th. One of the candidates was an incumbent, Jenny Williams, who has served for the past four-years. The others included: Mark C. Foegen, a combat Veteran of the U-S Marine Corps and owner of the Fireside Lounge; Nicholas Hunt, a businessman and farmer who has served on several committees; Laura McLean, who has kids in the district and has a Masters Degree in Non-Profit Administration, and Benjamin Winford, who has lived in the area for five-year after moving with his family from Denver, CO., and has worked for the District under Russell Peck.

Atlantic School Board candidates (Left to right): Mark C. Foegen; Nicholas Hunt; Laura McLean; Jenny Williams, and Benjamin Winford.

Questions the candidates were asked included their opinions on the Direction the District is Heading, how do we stem the loss of teachers, and what do they see as the main problem with communications from the administration on down? With regard to the Direction the District is taking, Nick Hunt said the “School culture needs to be improved” by setting the tone at the top, by building trust. Benjamin Winford said he too is concerned about at times, a lack of communication from the top down, and more questions need to be asked on issues, rather than having them being “rubber stamped.”

Incumbent Jenny Williams mentioned some successes, including a pilot program that started five-years at Washington Elementary that has caught the eye of the Dept. of Education in Washington, D-C., because of its success. Williams said a negative, is the “disconnect” on the Board, with people not willing to talk to the Board because they don’t think the Board will listen. She suggested having the Board meetings be videotaped so the public can see what’s going on.

Mark Foegen said there “Is a lack of communication” between the teachers and administration. He said we need to pay more attention to the teachers, and suggested their be liaisons advocating for Junior and Senior students and teachers from each school. Laura McLean said the District has many positive things going for it, like the Aviation Program and other new initiatives. She said teacher turnover, along with attracting and retaining teachers is a problem, but addressing communication and the compensation  structure will foster a better culture within the district.

All but one of the candidates had children or grandchildren in the district, and all but one owns property in the district. Each of the candidates favored regular pay increases for teachers, based on the Cost of Living (COLA), but within the District’ Budget, as it relates to enrollment numbers and other factors, such as early retirement savings, etc.  And as far as what they would favor seeing off-limits if it should come to budget cuts, said STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), should not be touched, while Winford would also prefer not to have the arts and music programs left alone, if possible.

The forum was sponsored by a local media outlet.