(Radio Iowa) – The final holiday of one of the strangest summers in memory is just ahead. Mark Peterson, spokesman for Triple-A-Iowa, expects a boost in vacation traffic on Iowa’s roads for the three-day weekend, but he notes it likely won’t be bumper-to-bumper due to the pandemic. “Labor Day is the last big hurrah for the summer travel season,” Peterson says. “It won’t be as crowded as it has been in the past but we’ll still probably find some increased travel through the coming weekend.”

Road trips will be cheaper than Labor Day of 2019, as gasoline prices in Iowa are averaging two-dollars and 11-cents a gallon. That’s down from an average of two-40 a gallon a year ago.  “Low gas prices will continue and will probably make going out affordable for a lot of the travelers,” he says. “It appears drivers will pay some of the lowest Labor Day prices in four years. National average is about $2.23 a gallon which is about 35-cents less than it was last Labor Day.”

Triple-A reports Iowa’s most expensive gas is in Iowa City at $2.27 a gallon, while it’s cheapest in Council Bluffs at $2.01.

(Radio Iowa) – Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill says he will not appeal a judge’s decision that nullified thousands of absentee ballot request forms Gill’s office mailed out that included the voter’s I-D number. Gill says he strongly disagrees with Republicans who say that endangered election security. “Everything I did was to make sure that the voters of Woodbury County could participate in the election safely and securely,” Gill says.

A judge issued a temporary injunction last Friday, invalidating the forms Gill mailed to Woodbury County voters Gill estimates it will cost about 30-thousand dollars to send a letter to voters in Woodbury County and a letter explaining they must fill out a new, blank form to request an absentee ballot. A hearing on the G-O-P’s lawsuit against Johnson County’s auditor over absentee ballot request forms is scheduled next week.

Linn County’s Auditor also sent forms that included the voter’s name and voter I-D number. A judge has already issued an injunction invalidating the 50-thousand forms he mailed out.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — As Iowa sees some of the highest rates of coronavirus cases in the nation, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she’ll wait to determine whether her move to close bars in six counties causes spread of the virus to slow before considering additional steps. Reynolds says the soaring number of confirmed virus cases is largely due to infection among young people, especially those in the college towns of Iowa City and Ames. That trend prompted her last week to order the closure of bars. Now, she says it’s best to wait to see if those moves will cause numbers to drop. If not, she will consider additional actions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa is suggesting government statistics on coronavirus infections and deaths have been inflated. Ernst, who is facing an unexpectedly tough reelection fight, is echoing a discredited conspiracy theory. Ernst made the comment after a man at a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa, said he believes the numbers of cases and deaths are being exaggerated. Experts refute that and some data suggests the toll is higher than the official count. Ernst said she, too, is “so skeptical” of the official numbers. In a statement later Wednesday, she referred to the government-reported death toll as fact.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police are investigating the shooting death of a man at an apartment complex near Drake University. Officers were called to the complex Wednesday afternoon. They found a 36-year-old man dead from apparent gunshot wounds. The man was identified Wednesday night as Sean Newman. Police say they believe the shooter and the victim knew each other and there is no danger to the public. No other details were released. The death is Des Moines’ 16th homicide of the year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A longtime special education teacher with Des Moines Public Schools has died of complications from the coronavirus. District spokesman Phil Roeder said the teacher at the Ruby Van Meter School for intellectually disabled students fell ill after an out-of-state trip and died this week. He did not release the teacher’s name or gender for privacy reasons. The death is believed to be among the first of an Iowa educator during the pandemic. A 73-year-old gym teacher at Iowa City Regina High School died in April, and the state’s coronavirus website lists only one known death of an educator. Roeder said the teacher had not been in the classroom for several months.