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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have certified a Republican candidate as a six-vote winner for an open seat in the U.S. House, in what is shaping up to be the closest congressional election in decades. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks finished ahead of Democrat Rita Hart in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District after a recount saw her 47-vote lead steadily dwindle to single digits. The state Board of Canvass voted Monday afternoon to certify Miller-Meeks as the winner over Hart by a final count of 196,964 to 196,958. The board also certified President Donald Trump as the winner of the state’s six electoral votes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa coronavirus deaths continued to increase in the past two weeks as the state ends November posting 687 deaths. That’s a 34% increase from the 512 deaths reported in October. Iowa reported 28 additional deaths on Monday, pushing the state total to 2,403. There were 1,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. Hospitalizations continued to fall but some health care officials are expressing concern that they may rise again if Thanksgiving gatherings caused additional virus spread as expected.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, is back in the Senate on Monday after testing positive for coronavirus two weeks ago. Grassley, 87, isolated after finding out he had been exposed to the virus and tested positive shortly after that. He said in a statement that he never had any symptoms and had been cleared to return to the office by his doctors. He says the disease affects people differently. He added, “More than a thousand Americans are dying every day and many more are hospitalized. That means we all have to do our part to help protect our friends, family and fellow Americans.”

Glenwood, Iowa – – The burning ban that has been in place for all of Mills County, Iowa will be lifted tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. (Tuesday, December 1, 2020).  Larry Hurst, Director of Emergency Management in Mills County, says “Due to abnormally warm temperatures and several months of below normal precipitation, Mills County had placed a burn ban in effect in September to mitigate against the potential for widespread, devastating fires throughout the County.”

During this period the Local Fire Departments in Mills County and the E-911 Communications Center had in place an automatic mutual aid protocol that gave firefighters an edge in their response times with the necessary equipment and personnel. “During this timeframe their performance made for a safer Fall Harvest”, said Hurst.

Even though the ban is being lifted this Agency strongly urges landowners that have a requirement to conduct controlled burns of a larger scale, to contact their local Fire Chief to discuss methods and weather considerations as an item of preparation prior to conducting burn. Of note, Mills County does have a Controlled Burn Ordinance (2008) for un-incorporated area of County that requires a property owner to contact the Mills County Communications Center at 712.527.4871 prior to conducting a prescribed burn.

Hurst also urged property owners that lived within the City limits of the seven jurisdictions within County to become familiar with ordinances dealing with burning as applicable before they light fires of any type.

Crossroads of Western Iowa is set to present “Project Hope,” a series of free mental health support sessions and Q&A’s for those impacted by Covid-19. The 2-hour sessions will run throughout December and January with recordings available for those unable to attend live. While all sessions are free and open to the public, they will touch on issues of particular importance to three groups: first responders, essential workers, and students.

Project Hope will help the community cope with the changes brought on by Covid-19, whether that is staying connected while socially distant, overcoming compassion fatigue, dealing with vicarious trauma and the loss of normalcy, or taking ownership of your time and building resiliency during a time everything feels out of control.By coming together to ask questions and discuss positive mental health habits, everyone will be reminded that what we are currently facing is a shared experience and we can help each other and ourselves through it.

Project Hope’s world-renowned speakers have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Dr. Oz Show, TODAY, Rachael Ray, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC World News Tonight, TLC, TEDx, and more. A full list of speakers, including their bios and presentation descriptions, is available online. Anyone interested may register online at https://www.explorecrossroads.com/home/projecthope/

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A former northwest Iowa sheriff’s deputy has pleaded not guilty to stealing prescription drugs from the department’s evidence rooms and homes he was searching while on duty, and committing burglaries at five Plymouth County pharmacies. Forty-one-year-old Aaron Leusink, of Le Mars, entered his written plea Monday to more than 10 charges, including first-degree burglary and felonious misconduct in office.

Leusink, a former Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputy, was arrested in September. He is accused of taking prescription drugs from homes he was searching and pills that were evidence in other cases. Agents searching Leusink’s home in April found more than 1,600 prescription medication pills and several opened evidence bags.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have certified a Republican candidate as a six-vote winner for an open seat in the U.S. House, in what is shaping up to be the closest congressional election in decades. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks finished ahead of Democrat Rita Hart in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District after a recount saw her 47-vote lead steadily dwindle to single digits.

The state Board of Canvass voted Monday afternoon to certify Miller-Meeks as the winner over Hart by a final count of 196,964 to 196,958. The board also certified President Donald Trump as the winner of the state’s six electoral votes.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids woman is suing the city’s police department after her 13-year-old Black son was attacked by a police dog and arrested before he was released without charges. The open records lawsuit is asking that the police department be ordered to provide records, body camera recordings and audio and video arising from the incident involving the teenager.

His mother, TonyaMarie Adams, said her son went to spend the night at a friend’s house two nights after a derecho seriously damaged Cedar Rapids. The lawsuit say the teen fell asleep in the friend’s backyard and awoke to the dog attacking him and police yelling at him.