DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Democratic leaders at the Iowa Statehouse are calling for more public access to Iowa’s COVID-19 data. With the Iowa State Fair starting Thursday and school just around the corner, Democrats say Iowans need more information to make good decisions. The Iowa Department of Public Health reduced its reporting on COVID-19 testing, positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths from daily to weekly. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Police are on the hunt for a shooting suspect who they believe is hiding out of state. Officers say 21-year-old Andrew Harris pulled the trigger and injured three people on July 31. Harris is wanted for attempted murder. One victim remains in intensive care. He was shot four times in the back and suffered a ruptured lung, and is paralyzed from the neck down. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa parents, teachers and others are holding a sit-in demanding masks be required in schools and local municipalities be allowed to make their own decisions on mask mandates. The Safe at School Sit-in will be held at the Iowa Capitol West Terrace today. CLEAR LAKE, IA (IRN) – An investigation is underway as to how an Oldsmobile Firenza ended up in Clear Lake under 9-10 ft. of water, and who was the owner of the vehicle. Police estimate the vehicle may have been underwater for up to 25 years. They believe the car was likely on the water during ice fishing season and sunk. At the time the car was towed out, the vehicle was unoccupied, with all windows rolled up. IOWA (IRN) – A preseason college football poll has Iowa State and Iowa in the top 25. The USA Today/American Football Coaches Association poll released Tuesday puts Iowa State in the number eight spot, which is the school’s highest preseason ranking in the poll since USA Today started administering it in 1991. The Iowa Hawkeyes are number 18.

MASON CITY, Iowa – A 21-year-old Mason City man was arrested this morning after he allegedly crashed a van into a house with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit. He was found walking near the scene and admitted to drinking hard liquor. His blood-alcohol level following the crash was .250. The legal limit is .08. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 26-year-old supporter of former President Donald Trump has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for shooting into a car carrying Black girls after an Iowa Trump rally, injuring a teenager. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Blank Children’s Hospital will temporarily suspend all elective surgeries due to a high number of patients. An increase in RSV and other illnesses has kept the hospital at capacity or close to capacity every day for several weeks. IOWA (IRN) – Iowa has started tossing out tens of thousands of expiring COVID vaccine doses as demand for the shots continues to sag. The state has discarded over 81,000 doses of the vaccine so far. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has announced the implementation of a shot clock in high school basketball. They will implement a 35-second shot clock during the 2022-2023 season.

HAMILTON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Investigators in Hamilton County are trying to figure out what caused a home to explode. It happened Sunday night about eight miles east of Webster City. The home was unoccupied and no one was hurt. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The body of a woman was found in the parking lot of a business in Des Moines Sunday morning. Police are investigating. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Dairy Queen employee in Mason City arrived at work to open the business on Saturday, only to find a man inside the building. The man threatened the employee with a knife. The employee was able to get away and leave the business before calling police. The intruder escaped. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition after a car veered off eastbound I-235 in Des Moines and ran down a steep embankment late Sunday. The Nissan SUV came to rest in a residential neighborhood after crashing over a chain-link fence and clipping another SUV. Police say it looks like it was a medical emergency, and no one else was injured. CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Several inches of rain has fallen in a very short period of time late Sunday night in eastern Iowa. Floyd and Chickasaw Counties were particularly hard hit. Many streets and intersections in Charles City were closed due to flooding.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A 47-year-old Waterloo man has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison over a shootout in the parking lot of a liquor store that the judge called “not unlike the Wild West.” Charles Antony Ware was sentenced for being a felon illegally in possession of a firearm. The judge described Ware’s criminal history as “fairly nonstop.” DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – In response to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Polk County says all individuals should wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. The announcement follows a decision officials had already made concerning masks in Polk County government buildings. That requirement takes effect Monday, Aug. 9. TOKYO, JAPAN (IRN) – 25-year-old Urbandale native Karissa Schweizer ran to a 12th-place finish in the women’s 10,000-meter final at the Olympics on Saturday. It was the former Dowling Catholic standout’s first Olympics. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Betty Lou Varnum, who hosted the long-running children’s show “The House With the Magic Window” on WOI-TV, died Wednesday. She was 90. Varnum’s obituary says she was born in an orphanage in Chicago on May 3, 1931.

ANAMOSA, IA (IRN) – Inmate Thomas Woodard admitted in Jones County court to killing two prison employees, Correctional Officer Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte. Investigators say Woodard and another inmate, Michael Dutcher, were trying to escape March 23rd. Woodard admits he used a hammer, taken from a maintenance shop, to kill McFarland and Schulte. IOWA (IRN) – People in 90 of Iowa’s 99 counties should wear masks indoors due to increasing rates of COVID-19 activity, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A massive project to improve internet service in West Des Moines is temporarily leaving some residents without electricity, gas, water or cable service. Construction crews are accidentally cutting lines. A Mediacom spokesperson says sometimes “mistakes happen.” SEATTLE, WA (IRN) – Former Iowa State basketball player Michael Jacobson has signed as a tight end with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. Jacobson was signed on Friday to their 90-man roster. Jacobson was listed as a 6-foot-9, 240 pound forward while playing basketball at Iowa State University from 2018-20. He last played football for Waukee High School in 2014 when he helped lead the Warriors to the state semifinals. As a senior, he caught 26 passes and six touchdowns.