(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Lottery is opening the doors back up today (Thursday) to allow you to cash winning tickets in person. Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer says they’ve been working to make it safe. “We have additional protective glass or plexiglass up at the customer service counters in all of our offices. We have hand sanitizing stations just inside the front door to all of our offices and we hope everyone will use them,” Neubauer says. “We’ve installed floor decals to reminding everyone about keeping the six-foot distant to maintain social distancing.”

She says they are taking other precautions as well. “Our staffers will wear masks when interacting with the public and we strongly encourage visitors to our offices to also wear masks. We will wipe down and sanitize the areas after each prize claim appointment. And visitors can again use hand sanitizing stations as they leave our offices,” she says. Neubauer says this is phase three of the ticket claim adjustments. They started by requiring winners to mail-in tickets or leave them at a secure drop box outside the lottery offices. The second phase instituted a curbside process where Lottery employees would come to the parking lot to get tickets from customers.

“In the first couple of weeks after we implemented curbside prize claims — we just saw an influx of folks bringing us winning tickets — we processed hundreds of claims those first couple of weeks,” according to Neubauer. “It turns out a lot of folks had chosen to simply hold onto those tickets rather than mailing or shipping them to us or using a secure dropbox.” Neubauer says they are asking those in a group who have won a prize to send just one person to collect. She says moving the prize redemption’s back inside will have them ready for any winter weather. “I don’t want to think about it myself, but I know here in Iowa we’ve got a month left of warmish weather. We sometimes have had snow before Halloween, so I know we are moving in the right direction,” Neubauer says.

Iowa Lottery prizes up to 600 dollars in the lotto, InstaPlay and instant-scratch games may be redeemed at any lottery retailer location in the state if sufficient funds are available. Pull-tab prizes of up to 600 dollars must be redeemed at the same location where the ticket was purchased. Prizes of more than 250-thousand dollars must be claimed in person at the Iowa Lottery headquarters office in Clive.

Police in Red Oak, Wednesday night, arrested 28-year-old Nathan Allen Aldrich, of Red Oak, for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was taken into custody at around 11:10-p.m. in the 700 block of 8th Street, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail. Aldrichs’ bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says President Trump’s nominee for a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court will be a role model for women and their daughters. “I’m so thankful that now other women will see that we have had one extraordinary female Supreme Court Justice in Ruth Bader Ginsburg being followed by another truly extraordinary female in Amy Coney Barrett,” Ernst said yesterday.

Ernst joined six other Republican Senators — all women — at a news conference in Washington, D.C. yesterday (Wednesday) to talk about Barrett. Ernst has previously focused her public remarks on the Senate’s confirmation process. Tuesday, Ernst’s comments suggested Barrett’s advancement to the Supreme Court justice was imminent.

“This is what a mom can do. I tell my daughter that all the time,” Ernst said. “…A mom can be a combat veteran…A mom can serve in the United States Senate and, most certainly, a mom can be a supreme court justice.” Barrett, who is currently a federal judge, is the mother of seven children. Ernst has described Ginsburg as a trailblazer for working moms.

“She broke so many barriers that women through all ages have faced whether it was her faith, whether it was that she was a working mother,” Ernst said, “and going on to serve on the Supreme Court.” Senator Ernst’s daughter, Libby, is a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:25 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines school board approved a plan to return to in-classroom learning, but it included metrics for allowable coronavirus infection rates that the district doesn’t currently meet. That makes it unclear if students will actually return to school as planned. The board voted 6-1 on Wednesday night to gradually implement a hybrid learning plan, starting with prekindergarten on Oct. 12. Students can choose to remain in all remote learning or opt for 50% instruction in classrooms. Despite approving a plan to return to classrooms, the board set several metrics for coronavirus infection rates as well as student and staff absences. If school were to begin immediately, the district would not be in compliance with at least one of those standards.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iowa in the past day topped 1,000 with 18 more deaths. In the 24 hours since 10 a.m. Tuesday, the state reported 1,048 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 88,555. The 18 additional deaths reported Wednesday brought the total to 1,324. The state also reported that an increase in people being treated at hospitals for the virus has continued, with the 390 people now hospitalized. A White House coronavirus task force report dated Sunday found that Iowa last week had the nation’s sixth-highest rate of coronavirus infections per 100,000 people. The task force again recommended the state institute a statewide mask requirement. Gov. Kim Reynolds has said such a requirement is unnecessary.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified the man and woman who were killed after gunfire broke out this weekend inside a private club in Waterloo, Iowa. The Waterloo Police Department said in a news release Wednesday that they are 22-year-old Da’Curious (Dacarious) T. Burkett of Waterloo and 28-year-old Takeya M. Hogan-Camp of West Des Moines, Iowa. Police say at least two individuals began shooting at each other at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday. Six other people were also were treated for gunshot wounds and four were hurt by broken glass or other debris while fleeing.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Calls to defund police departments have not had widespread success across the U.S. While a handful of left-leaning cities have proposed structural reforms, most cuts to law enforcement agencies have been modest so far. Those cuts are being driven as much by shrinking government revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic as from the calls to rethink public safety. Defunding police became a rallying cry for activists after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and has become a topic in the presidential race. But the boldest proposals have mostly been pushed aside for now in favor of more incremental changes.

(Des Moines, IA) – Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) officials have used the state’s safe haven procedure for the 45th time since the law went into effect. A baby girl, born Sept. 13, was released to the custody of DHS. Specific details are withheld in order to protect the identity of the parents and the children. Through Iowa’s Safe Haven law, parents, or their authorized representative, can leave infants age 30 days or younger at a hospital or health care facility without fear of prosecution for abandonment.

Janee Harvey, DHS Division Administrator of Adult, Children and Family Services, says “The purpose of this law is to protect the lives of newborns who are in danger of abandonment. We want to ensure Iowans know that Safe Haven is an available option if they cannot care for their newborn safely. We recognize that these decisions are often made in the midst of crisis and the protocols are built accordingly.”

Safe Haven prioritizes the health and physical safety of the infant(s), as well as the anonymity of the parent or authorized individual who relinquishes custody of the child.

The Safe Haven law was approved in the wake of a high-profile case in 2001 involving a teen mother in eastern Iowa who killed her home-delivered newborn. Infants who are safe haven babies are placed with currently-approved foster or adoptive families. All states have Safe Haven laws, although provisions differ.

If you are interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent, please visit
www.iowafosterandadoption.org.

For more information on the Safe Haven procedure: http://dhs.iowa.gov/safe-haven.

DES MOINES, IA – Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03), Wednesday, announced $14,491,169 in new federal grants to cover repair and reconstruction expenses of federal roads and highways that were damaged in 2019 floods across Iowa. The new grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will cover repair costs for damage along major routes like I-29, I-680, and US-34 – as well as federal roads maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Axne says “After last year’s flooding, many of Iowa’s road and highways were damaged – adding additional strain onto our already aging infrastructure. These grants will help restore these roadways and allow traffic to resume at a pre-disaster level and help us keep Iowa on track to a full recovery.”

The grants were awarded as follows:

• $13,978,130 for project sites across Iowa managed by the Iowa Department of Transportation
• $513,039 for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for projects along the Missouri River