(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines police leaders are considering adjustments to how officers use force and manage crowds after large demonstrations were held this summer protesting police violence and racial injustice. Police Chief Dana Wingert says the goal is to manage crowds while respecting free speech rights, but city council member Josh Mandelbaum says it should be more clear that police want to avoid making arrests.”To specifically say a goal of the policy is to minimize enforcement action,” Mandelbaum says, “and a goal or objective is to obtain voluntary compliance.”

Mandelbaum pushed the department to specifically rule out the use of “kettling,” where police block protesters into a confined area. Wingert says the policy states demonstrators should always have a way out, although it does not mention kettling by name. The department’s policy instructs officers to use force only when it’s “objectively reasonable” to bring a situation under control. Mandelbaum said the department should instruct officers to react differently to someone who’s not responding to their orders at all compared to someone resisting them verbally or violently. Chief Wingert said those situations are covered, even if they’re not spelled out. “The reasonableness standard applies to all force,” Wingert says. “You’d have a 100-page policy if you tried to break down every incident where someone could get arrested.”

Des Moines police policy does not allow the use of chokeholds and officers are required to intervene if they witness a colleague using unreasonable force.

(By Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The recount of more than 400-thousand ballots cast in Iowa’s second congressional district race has begun. Democrat Rita Hart asked for the recount after preliminary results last week showed her trailing Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks by just 47 votes. There have already been recounts in two of the counties, after human error produced incorrect vote counts in Lucas and Jasper Counties from Election Night. Now, all 24 counties in the district will conduct recounts. The first is underway in Scott County.

The secretary of state certifies statewide election results on November 30th, so that’s the deadline for getting this recount completed. This second congressional district contest is the closest federal race in the country. Each of the 24 counties in the district will have a “Recount Board” that consists of one person picked by Hart’s campaign, one person picked by Miller-Meeks and a third member who’s acceptable to both campaigns. This three-person board does the recount — and decides whether it’s done by hand or whether the ballots are counted by machine.

The board is only tabulating the second district race and will NOT review ballots that local election officials disqualified previously, like provisional ballots cast by someone who never showed up to confirm they were an eligible voter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator, says he is quarantining after being exposed to the coronavirus. Grassley is 87. He did not say how he was exposed. He said he would follow doctor’s orders and “immediately quarantine” and work virtually as he waits for results of a test. The Iowa Republican is the president pro tempore of the Senate, meaning he presides over the Senate in the absence of Vice President Mike Pence and is third in the line of presidential succession.

Members of the Audubon School District’s Board of Education met Monday evening. They held a work session prior to the regular meeting, and a Public Hearing on the proposed issuance of about $4.2-million in bonds. Superintendent Eric Trager said there were no members of the public present, and no written comments, so they walked through the process with the Board.

The next step is the bid day for the building project is on December 8th.

In other business, Eric Trager says the Audubon School Board re-elected Mark Nissen as Board President and Christy Konkler as Vice President. He said also, because students in the District are doing an excellent job of masking-up when asked, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, there’s no need for a mandate within the school district.

Officials with Connections Area Agency on Aging say there are in need of Secret Santa’s for their Secret Santa for Seniors program.  When the program was started last year, the goal was to reach socially isolated seniors that may not receive any holiday gifts. Little did they know how great the need would be in 2020.   This year is especially difficult for older friends and neighbors as the pandemic continues, and older adults try to avoid the coronavirus.  Social distancing and safety measures may limit contact with friends and family during the holidays, leaving many lonely and socially isolated. Connections officials say they need Secret Santa’s to help bring some holiday joy and make the 2020 Secret Santa for Seniors Program a success.

To keep our seniors and staff safe during the current pandemic, they are requesting gift cards (specified by each senior) to be purchased this year and dropped off or mailed to one of the Connections office locations by December 4th.  Additional gift cards are requested due to the number of requests that have been made to the program. To be matched with a local senior, please call or email Tasha Jones at: 800-432-9209 or tjones@connectionsaaa.org.

For more information about the Secret Santa for Seniors  program, please contact Connections Area Agency on Aging at 800.432.9209 or at www.connectionsaaa.org.

Connections Area Agency is one of six Area Agencies on Aging in Iowa, and part of a nationwide network. With a mission of enhancing the quality of life for elders in 20 counties through education, planning and coordination of services, Connections Area Agency on Aging is the premier agency for assisting elders, caregivers, and their families to access the information and services needed for independence and life transitions. Offices are located in Council Bluffs, Creston and Sioux City. For more information, contact Connections AAA at 800-432-9209 or at www.connectionsaaa.org

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday (Today), received an annual report and funding request from West Central Community Action (WCCA) Executive Director Wendy Mueller. She told the Board their funding request this year is the same as last year: $4,000. The request was taken under advisement and will be acted on during the Board’s Budget Sessions.

The report, which covers the time frame of Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020, shows funds are used to further support WCCA’s Federal Programs, and funding for programs that provide financial assistance to their clients, but does not provide for program delivery or administrative costs. The goal, according to Mueller, is to maintain a reserve fund for operating capital. The reserve, she says, allows them to cash flow their operations until their Federal and State funding partnerts reimburse WCCA for the work completed on their grants and contracts.

WCCA served 566 households and 1,189 individuals in Cass County during FY 2020. More than $929,265 in direct client services were provided to the County. Administrative and delivery costs incurred by WCCA for Cass County, amounted to $292,636, and over $1.22-million dollars in services were provided by WCCA for Cass County.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has surpassed 2,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, as the number of residents succumbing to the virus continues to rapidly increase. Iowa marked 1,000 deaths from the virus on Aug. 19, five months into the pandemic. But it took less than three months for the state to reach 2,000 deaths, and 3,000 will be reached far quicker under current trends. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the state has been averaging more than 20 deaths per day over the last week. That’s triple the rate from just two months ago.