DES MOINES – A law banning most abortions of Iowa will start next week. The Associated Press reports the bill signed by Governor Kim Reynolds in a special session last year goes into effect on Monday. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in June in favor of Republicans who had a previous effort to ban abortions in Iowa rejected. IOWA – State Auditor Rob Sand found that the Iowa Department of Education did not follow their own policies in renew the contract of the administrator of the new school voucher program. WHO-13 reports the audit found the original contract with Odyssey for Education Savings Accounts was amended in July of 2023 after the initial agreement was formed that April. The contract pays the company $2.7 million for administration and required Odyssey to have an office in Iowa, which was listed as the State Capitol. WINTERSET – An annual bike ride across the state is benefiting from seasonably cool to average temperatures. KCCI-TV reports an estimated riders converged on Winterset Tuesday for RAGBRAI. The tradition will continue through central Iowa today before pushing toward the Mississippi River by Saturday.

IOWA – The Iowa Delegation to the 2024 Democratic National Convention met virtually on Monday to discuss the 2024 Presidential Nomination and decided to unanimously endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, who also chairs the Iowa delegation to the convention, joined several members of the party across the nation rallying behind Harris following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 election. Republican members of Iowa’s congressional delegation have called on Biden to resign entirely from his position, but the 46th president intends on finishing his term. IOWA – A cooler, drier week provided farmers with nearly six full days of suitable fieldwork, according to the latest Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and USDA reported the state remained saturated as it relates to soil, with 11 percent of both topsoil and subsoil moisture levels reported as short. More than 95% of the state’s crops all rated fair or better, including corn, hay, oats, and soybeans. BURLINGTON – A Burlington man was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor. According to public court documents, Corey Lee Ritz, 48, engaged in a Facebook conversation with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old female. Ritz proceeded to graphically describe the kinds of sex acts he would like to perform if they met in person and suggested to the undercover agent they should include another minor in a proposed meeting. After completing his term of imprisonment, Ritz will be required to serve five years of supervised release.

IOWA – Following President Joe Biden’s announcement he no longer intends to run for a second term, Iowa’s Republican leadership joined those across the country in demanding he resign before the November election. The Des Moines Register reports Governor Kim Reynold and Representatives Zach Nunn, Ashley Hinson, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks were among those calling for Biden to end his career. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart disagreed, saying Biden has earned the right to finish the term as the party determines a new nominee leading into the August national party convention. DES MOINES – An Ankeny man is heading to Paris for the Paralympics. Justin Phongsavanh will compete for gold in the seated Javelin. The now Georgia native will join several current and former Iowans at the Summer games, including UNI Graduate Erin Kerkhoff. PHOENIX – An Olympics snub didn”t leave too much of a sour taste for the reigning NCAA Women’s Basketball player of the year. Former Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark was among the WBNA All-Stars who toppled the U.S. National Team over the weekend, according to KCRG-TV, winning 117-108. Clark says she’s looking forward to the upcoming break, not getting much after her historic senior season with the Hawkeyes, the WBNA Draft, and the professional season this summer.

DES MOINES— Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that Iowa’s critical IT systems were restored Friday afternoon and services to Iowans resumed as normal following a global outage caused by an automatic software update from CrowdStrike, which the state uses for malware and virus protection. IT staff are continuing to restore devices used by state employees. This work is anticipated to be completed during the weekend. The Iowa Department of Management’s Division of Information Technology operates a 24/7 security operations center. At approximately 12:30 a.m.  the security center identified the CrowdStrike error, and a temporary fix was applied at 1:04 a.m. At approximately 1:30 a.m., a formal fix from CrowdStrike was issued. The action by the security team limited the initial impact of the outage to approximately 1,400 servers and 3,300 workstations, or less than 20 percent of all devices across executive branch departments. SIOUX CITY – Friday marked the 35th anniversary of a plan crash near Sioux City. KCCI-TV reports United Airlines Flight 232 was traveling from Denver to Chicago and suffered catastrophic engine failure. The pilot attempted to land in Sioux City, but crashed, killing 112 people on board, with 184 surviving. The plane cartwheeled down the runaway upon touching down, leaving a mile long path of damage. IOWA – The tornado outbreak of 2024 remains on a record-breaking pace, which has included dozens of tornadoes causing extensive damage in several communities. WHO-13 reports there have been 112 recorded tornadoes so far this year, eight short of the all-time record in 2004. The average in a year in National Weather Service records is approximately 48, with the most in a month typically in June.

CASS COUNTY – An Atlantic man was pronounced dead Wednesday in an apparent drowning. KCCI-TV reports bystanders found 53-year-old Ysota Rekis underwater for a significant amount of time at Lake Anita State Park. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says those people attempted CPR, but Rekis was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. JESUP – A man was killed when a lawnmower rolled off of a trailer and pinned him to the ground. KCRG-TV reports the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office received a report Thursday afternoon in Jesup of the incident. Emergency crews were unable to save the man before freeing him from the situation. IOWA – The Iowa American Civil Liberties Union is requesting the Iowa Supreme Court re-hear the case on Iowa’s six-week abortion ban. A 4-3 decision in June directed a district court to lift an injunction that prevented the bill from being implementing and restricting nearly all abortions in the state, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are asking the court to put in place a higher legal standard for abortion laws. DES MOINES – A Des Moines man is charged for accusations of neglecting livestock. The Des Moines Register reports the Animal Rescue League of Iowa received a report of a thin horse pulling a carriage around downtown in June. Those who made the accusation said the horse had a visible ribcage due to malnourishment. Des Moines Police have charged the owner with livestock neglect.