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Iowa early News Headlines: Saturday, 7/11/20

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July 11th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa has registered its largest daily jump in coronavirus cases since May, leading health officials to warn people to take the threat more seriously and to stop congregating in crowded places such as bars. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped Friday by 744, which is the most since the state had 796 new cases on May 26. The number of COVID-19 deaths rose by three, to 742. Among the counties with the largest jumps was Scott County, on Iowa’s eastern border. Edward Rivers, director of the Scott County Health Department, says the increase correlated with the state lifting its final restrictions on bars, restaurants, casinos and mass gatherings in early June.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman says the Iowa Department of Public Safety will hand over internal misconduct records to a federal grand jury investigating a trooper after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena in court. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the department must comply with the subpoena, which seeks internal investigation records related to an officer who is under scrutiny for possible civil rights violations. The department had asked the courts to quash the subpoena, saying that it would have a chilling effect on internal investigations. A federal judge and the appeals court upheld the subpoena, saying the department failed to show it was unreasonable. The ruling doesn’t identify the officer under investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department plans to appeal a judge’s ruling that would halt the first federal execution in nearly two decades. The halt was ordered after family members of the victims raised concerns they would be at high risk for the coronavirus if they had to travel to attend. They actually oppose the execution and say they wanted to be present to counter any contention that it was happening on their behalf. The Justice Department filed its notice to appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. A federal judge had ordered that Daniel Lee’s execution must not move forward as scheduled on Monday. Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 killings of a gun dealer, his daughter and her 8-year-old daughter.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa. (AP) — The trial of a man charged in the killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts has been delayed. Cristhian Bahena Rivera was supposed to be tried in September, but the first-degree murder case was reset Friday to January because of of the pandemic and changing orders from the Iowa Supreme Court on when jury trials can resume. Investigators say Rivera, 25, stalked Tibbetts while she was out for a run in Brooklyn, Iowa, and stabbed her to death. Tibbetts, 20, disappeared on July 18, 2018. After a massive police and volunteer effort to find her, authorities say, Bahena Rivera led them to her body.