The Creston Police Department, Friday (today), said officers investigated four incidents, Thursday. Two women, one from Creston and the other from Afton, reported to Police someone had stolen the license plates off their vehicles. Both plates, HUP 779 and CNT 268, are registered in Union County. A woman in Creston reported to Police that sometime overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning, someone tried to break into her vehicle in the 600 block of N. Mulberry Street. Damage was estimated at $250.

And, a woman residing in the 300 block of S. Lincoln Street, in Creston, reported Thursday morning, that sometime between 7-and 10-p.m. Wednesday, the rear window of her 2009 KIA Borrego had been broken out. The damage was estimated at $250.

(Radio Iowa) – The two opponents in a congressional race that’s still a toss up are both in Washington, D.C., participating in orientation sessions for new House members. Marinnette Miller-Meeks, the Republican, is ahead of Democrat Rita Hart by 47 votes in the latest count. Hart has asked for a district-wide recount. University of Iowa election law professor Derek Muller says this might be the closest congressional race in 30 years in the United States. “It’s a real rollercoaster for both campaigns right now when the margins are so close, so razor thin.”

Today (Friday), election officials in Lucas County will do a hand recount of ballots from a precinct in Russell where a tabulation error was discovered earlier this week. Data plugged into the system from a pre-election test wound up being reported rather than the actual results. Preliminary results early November 4th showed Miller-Meeks leading, then a counting error in Jasper County was corrected LAST Friday, putting Hart in the lead — but as Jasper and Lucas County recounts progressed, Miller-Meeks crept ahead. “When we think about narrow elections, oftentimes they’re decided by hundreds of votes, so the notion of an election right now with 47 votes separating the candidates, that’s fewer than two votes per county which is just a remarkable margin,” he says.

There are a few other undecided races for congressional seats, in New York and California, where officials are still counting votes for the first time.

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 10 percent of schools in the state have shifted from in-person to online classes. Iowa Department of Education director Ann Lebo says her agency approved 19 different waiver requests since Tuesday from public and private schools seeking to move partially or entirely to online classes. “Because requesting a waiver is just one option for schools and there are many adjustments schools can make without needing additional approval from the department, we continue to encourage schools to contact us to help them work through solutions,” Lebo says. “We know that sports and activities play an important role in our schools and communities. We are also working with districts on options that allow them to do what is best for the families they serve.”

The agency is hosting a webinar today (Friday) for school administrators to discuss their options. Lebo says 43 public districts and non-public schools have shifted some or all grades online. That’s what happened in Sioux City yesterday (Thursday). After several 7th graders at West Middle School in Sioux City tested positive for Covid or were showing symptoms of the virus, all 7th graders were shifted to online classes Wednesday. After parents notified local media of the situation, school officials announced late Thursday afternoon that the entire middle school would shift to emergency virtual learning this (Friday) morning. School Board Member Monique Scarlett would like to see classes shift entirely online for several weeks. “We know these holidays are going to bring even more of an increase if people are not practicing social distancing and wearing their mask appropriately,” she says. “At family gatherings, that’s going to be tough to do.”

Scarlett has been pushing for the district to shift ALL grades to a hybrid model, structured so fewer students are in buildings and they spend two days at school every week and the other three days at home. “I believe that if we are proactive, then things that are transpiring now will not continue to happen,” she says. Scarlett says the Sioux City district is in reactionary mode now, scrambling to figure out how to reassign teachers and ensure kids have access to the internet at home.

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Democrat trailing by 47 votes in the nation’s tightest congressional race says her campaign will request a full recount in the southeastern Iowa district. Rita Hart’s campaign noted Thursday that her contest against Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks has been marked by two tabulation errors that, when discovered, flipped the lead between back and forth in recent days. Hart campaign manager Zach Meunier says voters “deserve to know categorically that their ballots have been accurately counted” and the campaign will request recounts in all 24 counties in the district. The candidates are vying to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. David Loebsack.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Republican congresswoman-elect who flipped an Iowa seat in last week’s election says she has tested positive for the coronavirus. Ashley Hinson, a state representative and former television news anchor, said Thursday that she learned of her positive test Wednesday night. Her campaign says in a statement that the 37-year-old Hinson feels great and is quarantining at her home in Marion, near Cedar Rapids. It says Hinson plans to speak with reporters on a conference call Friday and will attend an orientation for incoming members of Congress virtually. Hinson unseated first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo and other cities and towns in the state’s northeast.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — The coronavirus continues to spread broadly across Iowa and state officials say nearly 10% of the state’s schools have sought a waiver to temporarily educate students remotely instead of in classrooms. Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo says 43 districts and nonpublic schools are operating with temporary waivers from the state requirement that they be in class at least 50% of the time. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals increased to 1,208 patients Thursday. Gov. Kim Reynolds says that’s 21% of all patients hospitalized in Iowa. The department reported 30 additional deaths.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Polk County jury has convicted a Des Moines man of first-degree murder in the killing of his mother. Station WHO-TV reports that 33-year-old Christopher Thompson was convicted last week in the death of 50-year-old Paula Thompson, whose body was found March 13 in her home. Officers were called to the Des Moines home for a welfare check and found the woman dead. Police later determined she had been beaten to death with a crowbar days earlier after arguing with her son. Christopher Thompson later turned himself in to police. He is being held in the Polk County Jail until his sentencing on Dec. 18, when he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.