News reports say new information is expected to be released this (Friday) morning regarding a missing Page County man. According to a Missing Persons Case Network Facebook post, a silver alert has been canceled for 80-year-old Donald Eugene “Gene” Ripley, as he was found dead. Ripley had been missing since early last Thursday morning, when he left Uvalde, Texas, and had not been seen since.

Ripley was last seen driving a red Chrysler Town and Country Minivan. The license plate was last read in Denton County, Texas, approximately 28 hours after he left Uvalde. Texas authorities issued a silver alert following the initial report of his disappearance.

(Radio Iowa) – Shenandoah residents will pause at midday today (Friday) to mark a significant moment in our nation’s history. “A Day to Remember” is the theme of the city’s annual Patriot’s Day commemoration, honoring those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11th of 2001. As in previous years, the event will start with a familiar sound.

That’s the Shenandoah Fire Department’s sounding of the “Four-Fives,” honoring firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives responding to emergencies that day.  Distinguished local residents have provided keynote addresses in past ceremonies — including one directly touched by the 9/11 attacks. In 2018, Kim Leininger of Essex was the speaker. Leininger was the aunt of Douglas Ketcham, a New York stockbroker with Cantor Fitzgerald, who was working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower when a hijacked plane crashed into it. Leininger relayed the story of Douglas’ final moments. “When he called that morning, he said he didn’t know what had happened, but his room was filled with smoke and he was under his desk, calling on his cell phone. He said the door to the fire escape was locked, and no one could get out,” Leininger says. “He said he loved us, but he didn’t know what might happen. That was the last we ever heard from him.”

In 2019, Page County Veterans Affairs executive director Janet Olsen recalled how victims awoke on that warm, sunny day in 2001, not knowing of their fates. “Most of us got up this morning and didn’t have a whole lot of things to worry about,” said Olsen. “Me, personally, it was what flavor of Pop Tart am I going to eat? So, a gorgeous beautiful day. But, let me tell you something, the day that this happened on 9/11, there were 2,752 people just like us, American citizens, who had the same dilemma, whether they wanted blueberry or strawberry. They woke up, they took care of their families, and they went to work — and we lost them.”

Shenandoah Mayor Dick Hunt is this year’s keynote speaker. Shenandoah High School’s Marching Mustangs will play the National Anthem. The Shenandoah American Legion’s Color Guard will also participate in the 12:10 p.m. ceremony at Bogart Park.

(Radio Iowa) – With 53 days left until Election Day, a handful of prominent Republicans are traveling the state in a red bus, rallying with Iowans who support President Trump. Matt Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union. “They tell us in the swamp that we support a liar. Have you ever met a politician that has told more truth?” Schlapp said and the crowd responded: “No.”

Schlapp spoke to about 100 people gathered in a Trump campaign office in Des Moines late Thursday afternoon. Eric Branstad, senior advisor to Trump’s campaign in Iowa, urged the crowd to volunteer to make phone calls — and vote early so they can drive voters to the polls on Election Day. “I need everyone to do everything they can for the next several weeks to get there,” Branstad said.

Matt Whitaker, an Ankeny native, served three months as Trump’s Attorney General. He touted Trump’s law and order message and criticized N-F-L players who kneel during the National Anthem. “I’m not watching this. Are you watching this?” Whitaker asked and the crowd yelled: “No!” Whitaker continued: “I will not give a dollar to my money to any organization that supports a radical, socialist agenda.”

By the end of today (Friday), Whitaker and others on the Trump bus will have made stops in a dozen Iowa cities this week. Those stops include: Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Newton, Des Moines, Ottumwa, Washington, Coralville and Davenport.

(Radio Iowa) – Students in Des Moines Public Schools will continue with virtual classes as the school board wrestles with its response to a judge’s ruling AND the state’s refusal to waive a requirement that students spend at least half their time in a classroom. Des Moines School Board members held a two-and-a-half-hour work meeting last (Thursday) night.

Board member Kalyn Cody says Covid case counts in Polk County haven’t declined enough and he wants the district to continue classes online for at least nine weeks — until the first quarter ends. “Our conditions are not favorable for opening our doors,” he said. “Everywhere else in the world has figured this out.” Board member Kimberly Martorano says the board simply cannot hope the governor is bluffing about forcing students to make up time spent online rather in the classroom — and extending the school year would cost the district at least a million dollars per day.  “I think we owe it to our students and our families to get into compliance and to do it safely,” she said. “…It’s very scary to know that the lives of our students and our staff are in our hands right now.”

Terre  Caldwell-Johnson is among the board members who met with officials from the Iowa Departments of Education and Public Health earlier in the day. “I think we have a state and governor that has extended an olive branch…We need to maximize that opportunity to our benefit,” Caldwell Johnson said. “…So instead of putting up road blocks, I’m willing to build bridges and I’m willing to move mountains to bring our kids back.”

Other board members say the state’s largest school district may not have enough teachers if students return to classrooms, since some teachers may decline to be inside school buildings for health reasons. Superintendent Thomas Ahart says in addition to finding teachers, transporting kids to schools is a challenge in the district. “What we’re finding is we have bus drivers who are literally afraid for the health and their life,” Ahart said, “and we’re losing bus drivers faster than we can hire and train new drivers.”

Twenty percent of ALL the school bus drivers in Iowa are over the age of 70 and well over half of all Iowa school bus drivers are over 60.

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

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has urged Des Moines school officials to give up their effort to educate all students remotely because of the coronavirus after two judges decided the state can impose its rules on school districts. Reynolds on Thursday said the state’s largest district is alone in refusing to develop a plan for in-person instruction. She says judges in Polk and Johnson counties ruled that the state can require local districts to hold in-person classes, even if there are increased health risks from the coronavirus. Iowa on Thursday reported 819 confirmed new coronavirus cases and 20 additional deaths.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A sprawling former industrial site on the edge of downtown Des Moines would be transferred to city ownership and prepared for future development under a plan set for a vote next week. The City Council will vote Monday on whether to join a consent decree that if approved by the U.S. District Court would eventually lead to the transfer of the 43-acre Dico property to the city. For 25 years, the site has been vacant, frustrating city boosters who have been embarrassed about the deteriorating, rusting buildings so close to an area being transformed with new housing and offices. Development proposals have been complicated by soil contamination left after manufacturing and other uses at the site.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Bettendorf police have identified an officer who shot a man to death as a seven-year veteran of the eastern Iowa department. Police on Thursday identified the officer who fired the shots on Sept. 3 as Patrick Mesick. Police say 53-year-old Timothy Alan Clevenger, of Silvis, died after being shot by Mesick. The shooting happened after officers were called to a Bettendorf home and saw that Clevenger was holding a sharp-edged weapon near children. Mesick has been interviewed by state investigators and remains on paid administrative leave.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) — The city of Maquoketa and Jackson County in eastern Iowa will pay $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a man killed during his arrest last year. An attorney for the family of 22-year-old Drew Edwards said in a news release Wednesday that the payment will settle a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations and excessive police force against Edwards. Edwards died on June 15, 2019, after being repeatedly shocked with a stun gun and suffocated as a Maquoketa police officer and a Jackson County Sheriff’s deputy sat on his head, neck and body for over 10 minutes. The officers had been trying to arrest Edwards for simple assault following a domestic dispute.