AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SCHOOL-FUNDING-SPORTS

AP: Flush with COVID-19 aid, schools steer funding to sports

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A growing number of school districts in the U.S. are using federal pandemic funding on athletics projects. One school district in Iowa is spending $100,000 on a weight room renovation, while another in Wisconsin is spending $1.6 million on new synthetic turf fields. School officials argue the projects support students’ physical and mental health, but critics tell The Associated Press the spending clashes with the intent of the pandemic relief. Education experts say the funding should go toward tutoring and other costs to help students recover learning loss. Some critics blame state and federal officials for failing to make sure the money is used appropriately.

OFFICER SHOOTS WOMAN

Police say officer shot woman who advanced on him with knife

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say an officer shot a knife-wielding woman who advanced on him and refused commands to drop the blade. Police say in a news release that the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in a business district west of downtown after a man called 911 to report that a woman tried to stab him as he was walking in the 1400 block of Walnut Street. The officer who arrived to help reported that the woman advanced on him while ignoring his commands to drop the knife, leading him to shoot her. She was taken to a hospital, where she was being treated for her wounds. Police have not released her name or medical condition.

SHREWSBURY STABBING

Abandonment of corpse charged dropped in stabbing death

SHREWSBURY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped a charge of abandoning a corpse against a Missouri woman arrested in connection with the 2018 stabbing death of a man behind a Shrewsbury Walmart. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the case against Abigail Miller, of Webster Groves, has been dismissed after prosecutors determined that they could not prove all of the elements required for a conviction. Miller was charged in the death of 33-year-old Justin Hughes. Police say Hughes and Miller met up with a third person, Robin Holland, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, behind the store in July 2018 to do drugs when an argument broke out and Holland repeatedly stabbed Hughes. The 31-year-old Holland was convicted in August of manslaughter and other counts and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

REDISTRICTING-IOWA

GOP lawmakers vote down Iowa’s 1st redistricting plan

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has rejected the first set of redistricting maps drawn by a state agency, raising concerns that majority Republicans may opt to insert politics into Iowa’s nonpartisan process. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency drew the maps, which proposed revising Iowa’s four congressional districts to include two that lean toward Republicans, one that favors Democrats and one that both parties could win. The Senate rejected the plan Tuesday on a party-line vote, with all 32 Republicans voting no and the 18 Democrats voting yes. The LSA has 35 days to draw a second set of maps, which must be voted on with no amendments. If that is rejected the LSA has another 35 days to draw a third map, which lawmakers could amend.

IOWA GOVERNOR-IMMIGRATION

Reynolds joining Republican governors for Texas border tour

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will travel to Texas to join nine other Republican governors for a Wednesday tour of the border with Mexico. The cost of the trip will be shared between Iowa taxpayers and a nonprofit Republican governor’s group. Reynolds spokesman Alex Murphy said the trip is an official visit and taxpayers will pay about $500 in lodging for Reynolds and staff accompanying her. The Republican Governors Public Policy Committee will fund the transportation to Texas. Murphy didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether Reynolds is flying and, if so, whether she’s taking a private airplane and who owns the aircraft. Reynolds will join with governors from Texas, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma.

DAVENPORT STRANGLING-SENTENCE

Man gets life term for killing of 74-year-old Davenport man

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A judge sentenced a man to life in prison for strangling a 74-year-old Davenport man to death in 2020. The Quad-City Times reports that Judge Mark Fowler sentenced 20-year-old Charlie Gary, of Davenport, to the life term for the January 2020 death of Robert Long. Gary was convicted in August of first-degree murder as well as burglary, robbery and abuse of corpse. Prosecutors say the killing happened after Gary, who had done odd jobs for Long, asked the older man if he wanted his driveway shoveled. Long declined and Gary forced his way into the house and strangled Long.

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