(Radio Iowa) – The University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University will start fall classes earlier and be done by Thanksgiving in an effort to avoid any problems with the coronavirus. I-S-U Extension vice president, John Lawrence, leads the fall planning committee. He says students tend to mix with others when they go home and that increases their risk for exposure. “Visit friends and family and interact with people and then come back in where they were before and then two to three weeks after finals we send them home again. We thought that was just a risk we thought that we could avoid,” Lawrence says.

He says they also have a plan for testing and tracing to keep up on any possible COVID-19 cases. “We’ll be testing all faculty and staff and then the students living in our residence halls. Were standing up our own contact tracing team here on campus — it will work closely with Story County Public Health — but allow us to much more quickly track down people who may’ve come in contact with someone who has the systems or tested positive,” according to Lawrence. He says they will also take other measures to help cut the spread. He says they are cutting the size of classes to give students more room and will expect all faculty, staff and students to wear face coverings.

The three state schools finished the spring semester with online courses. Lawrence says I-S-U will have a mix of class types in the fall. “There’ll be some things that will be online — particularly our large lectures will be online — and we will supplement those with discussion groups and recitation and so on,” according to Lawrence. “Some of our moderate size, mid-size lectures will move up into those larger classrooms. So they will have an in-person component. But they may also have an online piece.”

Lawrence says there are still a lot of things to work out. “Part of our ongoing work in this is trying to identify what are some of those trigger points where we may tighten up restrictions — or even the other way if things are going well — what are restrictions we might loosen up. So not only looking at different trigger points, but different actions that we can take,” Lawrence says.

The schedule calls for fall classes to begin on August 17th and the semester will end the day before Thanksgiving. Classes will be held on Labor Day. The University of Northern Iowa will follow the same calendar. The announcement from the school says they will have a mix of face-to-face, hybrid and online instruction during the fall, and will also reduce the number of students in each classroom. Students and professors will be expected to wear cloth face coverings. The University of Iowa has not yet released its plans for fall classes.

Two men were arrested on separate charges Wednesday, in Creston. Authorities say 32-year old Corry Donald Johnston, of Creston, was arrested on an Adams County warrant for Driving While License Denied or Revoked, and Failure to Appear. He was transported to the Adams County Jail and held without bond until seen by the Magistrate.

And, 40-year old Aaron James Riepe, of Creston, was arrested on charges of Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, along with Assault Causing Serious Injury. He was being held in the Union County Jail and he posted a $5,300 cash or surety bond, and then released.

(Updated 10:45-a.m., 6/11/20) – The Iowa Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard as of mid-day today (Thursday), shows nine more people have died from the virus over the past 24-hours, for a total of 638. Of the 207,057 tests that have been completed, 22,785 Iowans tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 331 since Wednesday. Negative test results amount to 183,872. The number of Iowans who have recovered from the virus was up 475 to 13,827.

RMCC data show Iowans who are hospitalized with COVID-19 number 242, three less than yesterday. Officials say 75 are in an ICU (two more than Wednesday), 20 were admitted over the past 24-hours, and 48 were on ventilators. In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA): 8 people are hospitalized (2 more than Wed.), 3 are in an ICU (up 1 from Wed.), two persons were admitted to the hospital, and 2 are on ventilators.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are down to 36. The number of LTC staff/patient testing positive for COVID-19 was up slightly, to 1,376. Those who have recovered are up just a bit, to 808, and there were no changes to the LTC facility-related deaths, which stands at 312.

Here’s the latest county-by-county breakdown, with the number of positive cases, and (The number recovered):

• Cass: 13 (12)
• Adair: 10 (9)
• Adams: 7 (4)
• Audubon: 14 (10) (1 new positive case since Wed.)
• Guthrie: 55 (38)
• Montgomery: 9 (6)
• Pottawattamie: 441 (228)
• Shelby: 43 (35) ( 1 new positive case since Wed.)

(Radio Iowa) — Thirty Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted to impose new limits on the power of the state’s top election official to adjust election rules during an emergency. Secretary of State Paul Pate expanded the days of “early voting” for the June Primary AND mailed absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter to boost voting by mail during the pandemic. Senator Roby Smith, a Republican from Davenport, says one person shouldn’t have that much authority.

“There needs to be checks and balances on elected officials. I learned that way back in third grade,” Smith says. “And right now, an elected secretary of state can do whatever he wants during an emergency when it comes to election law…that is not good.” Two Republicans joined all the Democrats in the Senate to oppose the bill. Senator Todd Taylor, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says due to COVID-19 concerns, the unprecedented steps Pate took this spring may be needed for the fall election, too.

“You are suppressing the vote by taking away an option in these unprecedented times to expand access,” Taylor says. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says the bill is an embarrassment. “God help us,” Jochum said. “This is nothing more than trying to rig an election.” Senator Smith chastised Democrats and those in the media who’s criticized his plan. It no longer allows county officials to verify a voter’s identity on an absentee ballot if the voter fails to put an I-D number on the return envelope.

“This bill is about security. Right now, there’s no voter ID when it comes to absentee ballots. All you’ve got to do is put your name on it, sign it, send it in. No drivers license number? No voter ID number? This says that you need to fill it out, voter!” Smith says. “…Just like if I sent an application to the bank for a loan, filled my name out, signed it and sent it in and I forgot to put my Social Security number on it — not a single bank in this country would ever fill in the Social Security number for you.”

The most common mistake on an absentee ballot is forgetting to sign it. The bill gives voters six more days to go into the county auditor’s office and put their signature on the ballot. It also forbids COUNTY officials from reducing the number of Election Day polling places by more than 35 percent. The legislation now goes to the Republican-led House.