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

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say police in Coralville shot and injured a man who pointed a rifle at officers during a standoff. Coralville Chief Shane Kron said in a news release officers were called Thursday to check on a possibly suicidal man. Officers tried for about an hour to convince the man to accept help. Kron says the man eventually emerged from the home’s garage and pointed a rifle at officers. One officer fired two rounds, striking the man. He was taken to an Iowa City hospital. His condition was not available late Thursday afternoon. No further information was released. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will investigate the shooting.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Bettendorf police officer shot and killed a man who had threatened a child inside a home. The confrontation happened Thursday when officers responded to a report of someone who was bleeding holding a knife to the throat of a 4-year-old child. Bettendorf officer Keith Kimball said in a news release the man was holding a sharp-edged weapon when one of the officers shot him. The man died at the scene. Several children were in the home. No one else was injured. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says she’ll try to rule next week on whether to block Gov. Kim Reynolds’ mandate for schools to return to in-person learning, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Mary Chicchelly heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Iowa City school district and the Iowa State Education Association. She said that, barring “unforeseen circumstances,” she would issue a written ruling next week. Lawyers for the Iowa City district and the teachers’ union asked her to impose a temporary injunction that would allow local school boards to decide when it’s safe to reopen classrooms to students and teachers. Many school districts begin classes on Tuesday in Iowa, where the virus is spreading faster than almost any other state.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem got some extra air time on Fox News last week during the Republican National Convention, after the state ran a $819,000 taxpayer-funded ad promoting tourism. Purchasing the Fox News ad while millions of people tuned into the RNC was Noem’s idea, her spokesman Ian Fury said. In the 30-second ad narrated by the Republican governor, she describes how the state is “open for opportunity,” alluding to how she has leveraged her decision to forego coronavirus restrictions to attract tourists and businesses to the state.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation is investigating a fatal, Officer-involved shooting in Bettendorf. The incident happened at around Noon on Thursday, after Officers responded to 1111 – 16 ½ Street, in Bettendorf, for a report of a person bleeding and a subject holding a knife to the throat of a 4-year-old child.

Multiple police officers responded to the residence at which point police announced their presence and made entry. Upon entry into the house an officer engaged a 53-year old white male who was holding a sharp edged weapon, putting others in imminent danger. There were multiple young children present when this occurred. A Bettendorf officer discharged his weapon at the subject and subsequently, the subject was struck once and was pronounced dead at the scene.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say police in Coralville shot and injured a man who pointed a rifle at officers during a standoff. Coralville Chief Shane Kron said in a news release officers were called Thursday to check on a possibly suicidal man. Officers tried for about an hour to convince the man to accept help. Kron says the man eventually emerged from the home’s garage and pointed a rifle at officers. One officer fired two rounds, striking the man.

He was taken to an Iowa City hospital. His condition was not available late Thursday afternoon. No further information was released. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will investigate the shooting.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development is now accepting applications for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program. The program pays an additional 300 dollars each week to those who certify they have lost their jobs or have seen their employment cut back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The funds for the program come through FEMA after it was created by President Trump’s executive order.

Iowa is the seventh state to be paying the lost wages benefit. To be eligible you must receive at least 100 dollars in unemployment benefits each week. Those who self-certified when they filed their initial claim and are eligible will automatically get the 300 dollars added to their weekly benefit amount.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says she’ll try to rule next week on whether to block Gov. Kim Reynolds’ mandate for schools to return to in-person learning, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Mary Chicchelly heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Iowa City school district and the Iowa State Education Association. She said that, barring “unforeseen circumstances,” she would issue a written ruling next week.

Lawyers for the Iowa City district and the teachers’ union asked her to impose a temporary injunction that would allow local school boards to decide when it’s safe to reopen classrooms to students and teachers. Many school districts begin classes on Tuesday in Iowa, where the virus is spreading faster than almost any other state.

(Radio Iowa) — Teaching is challenging enough without a pandemic shaking up how the classroom operates. As Iowa’s schools reopen, many districts are focused on keeping staff and students safe from COVID-19, but it’s taking a toll on teachers’ mental health. Jennifer Ulie-Wells is the executive director of “Please, Pass the Love,” a Des Moines-based non-profit that focuses on mental health in schools. She’s doing training for teachers across Iowa.

“They’re already feeling the stress and the burnout the way that they would at the end of a school year,” Ulie-Wells says. “So that’s not a recipe for success, and we know that that is probably not going to end well.” Jessie Todd, an instructional mentor at the Johnston Community School District, says she’s worried about teacher burnout. Todd normally works to support new, inexperienced teachers, but this summer she worked on the staff well-being support team.

She says she’s pushing teachers to use the district’s free counseling service. “We’re just making it really available, like, ‘Hey, it’s on the new teacher website and look, it’s in your building,’ and every instructional coach has the phone number, right on their door, just putting it there.” Still, getting teachers to seek emotional and mental support can be difficult as there’s often a stigma associated with getting help, according to Chris Wilson, the student well-being coordinator for the Johnston school district.

“One thing that I’ve really talked to a lot of people about, and then I think for myself personally, is feeling overwhelmed and stressed and anxious right now is your body’s normal, natural response to what’s going on,” Wilson says. “It doesn’t mean you have a mental health condition.” Some teachers report feeling overwhelmed as they navigate between preparing for socially distant in-person instruction and online classes. Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, says conflicts between state and local control of schools has been really hard on teachers.

“They are very concerned about the safety and health of their students as well as themselves,” Beranek says, “and seeing that their own local school board can’t make the decisions for their community is very concerning to them.” Last month, the I-S-E-A sued the state over its requirements for schools to go online. Sarah Valle, a choir teacher at the Davenport Community Schools, says her district had initially been looking at starting the school year mostly online, but state requirements mean Valle will have to return full-time to the classroom. Valle, who has taught for 13 years, worries about an outbreak and says this stress has made her not want to go back at all this year.

“If it were feasible for me to not teach this year, I would do it,” Valle says. “Not because I don’t love it, but I’m just that scared.” Valle says it’s not feasible for her to take a leave, so she says she’s relying on friends and family for emotional support as she heads back into school this month.

(reporting By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

DES MOINES– Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a proclamation, as required by Iowa law, directing that the general election on November 3, 2020, include the question whether to call a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Iowa Constitution.

Iowa’s constitution requires that every ten years, the people of Iowa vote in the general election whether to call a constitutional convention. If a majority approves of calling a constitutional convention, the next General Assembly would be required to enact a process for electing delegates to the convention and for submitting any constitutional amendments proposed by the convention for ratification by the people of Iowa.

The full text of the proclamation is available here.