More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s colleges and universities are plotting courses for the fall semester in this pandemic era, with shifting schedules and a host of new rules. While programs like Zoom helped deliver classes to remote students this spring, at least one Iowa school is turning to a different technology for fall. Tim Laurent, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Mercy University, explains their newest acquisition: “The Meeting Owl allows a 360-degree picture. It also allows a 360-degree microphone and speakers,” Laurent says. “The owl can be in the middle of a classroom and the students who are remote can actually see everything as if they are there.”

The Cedar Rapids institution has purchased 65 of the devices, one for every classroom, along with T-V monitors and stands. The 12-inch-tall Meeting Owl actually resembles an owl, with eyes and a beak. Laurent says they will enable Mount Mercy to offer in-person and blended/hybrid classes, as well as the ability to pivot to fully remote, if necessary. “We’ve been using that in some programs in our MBA program for a year and that is giving us great flexibility,” Laurent says. “We’re saying to faculty, ‘Hey, be flexible as you might not have as much space in the classroom,’ and this is our way of making it work.”

According to Laurent, the university’s hybrid model should allow for flexible instruction, as some students will attend class on one day while others take part virtually.  “Not only our local students but the national response from students is, ‘We want face-to-face,’ and so as we are putting our classes — our hybrid — together, it has face-to-face,” Laurent says. “They should be pretty quick to adapt to the remote learning as well. That’s what all the students had to do this last spring.”

Mount Mercy administrators decided not to shift fall dates, but instead will have classrooms mapped out to keep everyone distanced, while faculty, staff and the 18-hundred students will need to wear cloth face masks, face shields or both.

(More info. at mtmercy.edu/safe-return)

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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On Wednesday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency. The proclamation, effective at 8-a.m. today (Friday, June 12) continues to ease restrictions on businesses and extends other public measures until Thursday, June 25, 2020. It still encourages all vulnerable Iowans to continue to limit their activities outside of the home. The full proclamation is available here, with and a summary of substantial information is shown below:
REOPENING OF ESTABLISHMENTS
Establishments that were previously ordered to be closed statewide may reopen or remain open, but only to the extent that the facility takes reasonable measures under the circumstances to ensure social distancing, increased hygiene practices, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 consistent with Guidance issued by the Iowa Department of Public Health.
MASS GATHERINGS
Social, community, recreations, leisure, or sporting events of more than 10 people may be held, if the following requirements are met:
(1) Social distancing: The gathering organizer must ensure at least six feet of physical distance between each group or individual attending alone.
(2) Other social distancing, hygiene, and public health measures: The gathering organizer shall also implement reasonable measures under the circumstances of each gathering to ensure
social distancing of gathering participants, increased hygiene practices, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 consistent with guidance issued by the Iowa Department of Public Health and, for any food service, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.
(3) Non-school sporting and recreational events: Practices, games, and competitions for baseball, softball, and individual sports, such as running, biking, swimming, tennis, and golf, are
not prohibited by this section even where athletes may have some contact within six feet, provided that the organizer of such activities and events implements reasonable measures under the
circumstances of each gathering to ensure reasonable social distancing, increased hygiene practices, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19
consistent with guidance issued by the Iowa Department of Public Health.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa legislature has unanimously passed a police reform bill — responding to the police misconduct the nation saw when a bystander in Minneapolis videotaped the death of George Floyd. Representative Ras Smith  of Waterloo calls the legislature’s gesture of unity historic. “I’m hopeful because in this time in Iowa, we stepped up to make real change,” Smith said. “…As a body, by default, we’ve committed here today to shouldering a burden, to ensure that George Floyd, or the scores before him, doesn’t take place in our state — not on our watch.”

Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, of Des Moines, says the moment came because legislators are listening to a new generation of “game-changers” who have been protesting. “My beloved brothers and sisters — and I mean all of you — not only are you part of history, you are rectifying history,” Abdul-Samad said. House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, of Missouri Valley, turned to the Black Lives Matter protesters in the gallery watching last (Thursday) night’s debate and said three words: “We hear you.” “Is this the solution to every problem that we have, to every injustice? No,” Windschitl said, “but it’s a damned good start.”

The legislation forbids choke holds in nearly every situation and lets the state attorney general investigate deaths caused by police. Once the bill is signed into law –as the governor says she’ll do — police officers with a proven record of misconduct may not be rehired in Iowa. The House and Senate debated the bill at the same time. For the first time in her tenure, Governor Kim Reynolds walked into both chambers and stood to listen. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the times require government solutions and this bill is a starting point. “Tonight, we are showing our state and the world that the Iowa Legislature listens to Iowans,”Whitver said, “and we are willing to lead on tough issues.”

Whitver emphasized the bill’s requirement that Iowa law enforcement officers have annual training sessions in “de-escalation” techniques and the prevention of bias. It took less than two-and-a-half hours for the bill to be formally introduced and passed by the House and Senate. The bill wasn’t really debated. Instead, legislators rose to share their perspectives. Seventy-three-year-old Ruth Ann Gaines, a state representative from Des Moines, says the first time she really understood racism was as an eight-year-old, after she heard Emmett Till’s mother speak about her son’s lynching. “I’ve lived a long life in the civil rights movement,” she says. “I’ve sat here year after year listening to debate which I thought showed indifference to what my cause was, so today I am jubilant, I am happy, I am surprised and I am really glad to be a part of it.”

Dozens of Des Moines Black Lives Matter protesters who’d been in the capitol building all day were part of the moment, too. They sat or stood silently in the viewing galleries, many with a fist in the air, as lawmakers spoke, then cast their votes for the bill. Governor Reynolds, in a written statement, says the bill is the result of listening and making a commitment for meaningful change.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Meat production has rebounded from its low point during the coronavirus pandemic when dozens of plants were closed, but experts say consumer prices are likely to remain high. They also say it will take months to work through the backlog of millions of pigs and cattle that was created this spring, creating headaches for producers. The U.S. Agriculture Department says beef, pork and poultry plants were operating at more than 95% of last year’s levels earlier this week. That was up from about 60% in April at the height of plant closures and slowdowns at the height of the plant closures and slowdowns.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The government agency that regulates liquor sales in Iowa says it has backed off a major price increase for some products that it proposed to reduce heavy drinking.Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division spokesman Tyler Ackerson confirmed that distributors were notified last week of a price increase that was planned for July 1.But he said the notice created negative “feedback from suppliers and other stakeholders” and that the agency has dropped the plan indefinitely.Ackerson said distributors were concerned about the economic impact, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. The planned increase had already been delayed from May 1 to July 1.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has swiftly passed a bill that responds to the demands of protesters marching against racial injustice, including restrictions on officers using choke holds and making it more difficult for problem officers to move to other departments. The bill surfaced Thursday and was debated simultaneously in the House and Senate before passing both chambers unanimously. Gov. Kim Reynolds watched the debate and vote in the House and then watched the Senate finish debate and vote.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The State of Iowa is moving ahead with a $10.3 million purchase to stockpile ventilators for coronavirus patients, even as demand for the breathing machines has dropped and 767 are currently available at hospitals statewide. The head of a distribution company hired to supply ventilators to the state says the decision to buy now is smart because new waves of the virus could still potentially overwhelm hospitals in the coming months. Records show that on March 30, Iowa’s executive branch signed a contract to purchase 500 ventilators for $10.3 million. About 2 ½ months later, a spokeswoman says Iowa has only received five of them and expects to receive the rest over the next several months as production ramps up.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds, today (Thursday), released the following statement after the Iowa House and Senate voted to pass House File 2647, legislation to reform policing in the state of Iowa and allow for more oversight and accountability:

“In Iowa, we know how to sit down at the table, listen to each other and work together to move forward. Over the past several days, leaders of the Iowa legislature came together with shared goals and a commitment for action.

“This was truly a bipartisan effort with all of us working side by side. I want to thank Rep. Ako Abu-Samad, Rep. Ras Smith, Majority Leader Jack Whitver, Minority Leader Janet Peterson, Speaker Pat Grassley, and Minority Leader Todd Pritchard for working together to bring meaningful change.”

“These problems didn’t arise overnight and they won’t be fixed in a day. We are just getting started, but our work together shows Iowa is willing to have the tough conversations and to look past our differences to find common ground and a brighter future for all Iowans.”

The bill, once signed by the Governor, would prohibit law enforcement and reserve officers who have been fired for serious misconduct from being re-hired. Serious misconduct is specifically defined as including repeated use of excessive force. It bans chokeholds as a use of force except in very specific, limited circumstances. The bill also changes Iowa law to require de-escalation and bias instruction while training at the Law Enforcement Academy.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The government agency that regulates liquor sales in Iowa says it has backed off a major price increase for some products that it proposed to reduce heavy drinking.Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division spokesman Tyler Ackerson confirmed that distributors were notified last week of a price increase that was planned for July 1.But he said the notice created negative “feedback from suppliers and other stakeholders” and that the agency has dropped the plan indefinitely.

Ackerson said distributors were concerned about the economic impact, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. The planned increase had already been delayed from May 1 to July 1.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has sued Des Moines police alleging they violated her civil rights when they sprayed her with a chemical irritant during a civil rights protest last month. The Des Moines Register reports that the lawsuit filed Wednesday by 24-year-old Essence Welch names the city of Des Moines, its police chief and an unnamed officer.

It alleges she was hit with what she believes was pepper spray on May 30. The city attorney says they have had yet to review the lawsuit and would later respond to the court filings.