Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

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.

UNDATED (AP) — 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.

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.”

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 5:30-p.m. Saturday, of Marlin Mainquist, from Villisca. Manquist was taken into custody for Public Intoxication at the Casey’s Store in Stanton. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Saturday, released the identities of the subjects involved in the officer-involved shooting on Monday, August 4th, in Fort Dodge. Authorities say 39-year old Melissa Halda, of Fort Dodge, was identified as the deceased subject. An autopsy was completed on Halda by the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner. Webster County Sheriff’s Office Deputy, Brett Knippel, has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation per Webster County policy.

Authorities says at around 7:10-p.m., Monday, the Webster County Telecommunications Center received a 911 call from a resident in the 1500 block of 20th Avenue South in Fort Dodge, reporting that a female was armed with large knives and was acting erratically. Deputies from the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and a Fort Dodge police officer initially responded. During the interaction with law enforcement, Halda was shot and killed.

A man from Adair County suffered minor injuries to his back, Saturday afternoon, during an accident in Creston. The Creston Police Department says 56-year old Michael Maynes, of Greenfield, was attempting to park his 1997 Chevy pickup on Chestnut Street, just north of the intersection with Carpenter Street, when he fell out of the vehicle. The pickup was still in drive when it went forward and struck the left front of a parked 2016 Chevy Silverado pickup, registered to Russell McPike, of Grant City, MO.

The accident happened at around 12:10-p.m.  Maynes refused medical attention at the scene. Damage from the collision amounted to $1,500. No citations were issued.

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.