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Iowa early News Headlines: Tuesday, Aug. 18 2020

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August 18th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed only a portion of an emergency declaration to supply federal money to help Iowa recover from an unusual wind storm that struck a week ago. Trump tweeted on Monday that he had approved the full disaster request Gov. Kim Reynolds sent in on Sunday. Her request says the state sustained $3.99 billion in damage with much of that damage from hurricane-force wind gusts exceeding 100 mph that destroyed or extensively damaged 8,200 homes and 13 million acres of corn, about a third of the state’s crop land. Trump has approved the public portion that helps clear debris and fix public buildings and utilities but has not yet approved the individual assistance portion covering damaged homes and farms. Trump is expected to visit the state Tuesday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s coronavirus website has made the pandemic look less severe than it is because of a software error that artificially lowers the number of new confirmed cases. Dana Jones, an Iowa City nurse practitioner, said Monday that the Iowa Department of Public Health has inadvertently been reporting fewer new infections and a smaller percentage of daily positive tests than is truly the case. The department acknowledged the glitch in an email to Jones Friday and said the department is working on a fix. Iowa’s overall number of more than 52,600 who have tested positive since March is not affected.

UNDATED (AP) — Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez says this year’s handful of presidential caucuses should be the last the party ever holds. He didn’t specifically name Iowa, which for decades has led off the nominating calendar, but his position would represent a seismic shift in the party’s traditions. It also underscores the pressure on the caucus structure that has intensified since Iowa’s count dragged out for days to open the 2020 nominating fight eventually won by Joe Biden. Perez’s term ends after the November election, and he said final decisions will have to be made by his successor.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say two people killed in a plane crash in central Missouri over the weekend were a couple from Iowa. Officials in Osage Beach, Missouri, said in a news release that the plane crashed Sunday afternoon near Grand Glaize Airport, killing Scott and Amy Lowe of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The Lowes were the only people aboard the small plane. Osage Beach is about 160 miles southeast of Kansas City, Missouri, near the Lake of the Ozarks. Authorities have not indicated what may have caused the single-engine plane to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation.