Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa election officials will begin mailing out absentee ballots Monday (today), and it’s the first day voters can go to their county auditor’s offices or a satellite locations to vote early in person. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says as of Friday that 632,549 voters have requested an absentee ballot. Democrats requested more than 335,000 ballots, Republicans requested nearly 187,000 and no-party voters asked for about 108,000 ballots. County officials are saying the pace is far ahead of previous elections. In Polk County, for example, Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said he received 111,462 ballot requests as of Oct. 1, compared with 45,191 requests at the same time in 2016. Election Day is Nov. 3.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa continues to have one of the nation’s highest rates of coronavirus infections, and the state reported 684 new cases and four new deaths on Sunday. The state said Sunday that as of 10 a.m. there had been 92,545 cases of COVID-19 and 1,381 deaths related to the virus in Iowa since the pandemic began. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from 15.34% on Sept. 19 to 18.17% on Saturday. That was the fifth-highest positivity rate in the nation on Saturday.

IRETON, Iowa (AP) — A body was found inside a burned vehicle in a northwest Iowa cornfield. The Sioux County Sheriff’s office said the burning vehicle was reported around 9 p.m. Friday in a cornfield about 1.5 miles north of the northwest Iowa town of Ireton. The 2007 Jeep Commander was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. The sheriff’s office said the body was found inside the Jeep after the fire was extinguished. An autopsy will be performed on the body. Authorities didn’t immediately release the name of the victim.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is allowing bars in Iowa’s two largest college towns to reopen next week after a five-week closure helped stop coronavirus outbreaks among young adults. Reynolds signed an order allowing bars to reopen Monday in Johnson and Story counties as long as they follow social-distancing rules. Breweries, wineries and distilleries are allowed to reopen almost immediately, on Friday at 5 p.m. The venues are often packed with University of Iowa and Iowa State University students. The order says all customers must consume their food and drinks while seated at a bar, booth or table, and must be at least 6 feet apart.