The Le Mars School District in Northwest Iowa will stop letting religious groups hold events on school grounds.
The move was prompted by a letter from a nonprofit that promotes the separation of church and state.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation learned about a National Day of Prayer event held outside the Le Mars middle and high school building in May.
Sammi Lawrence, an attorney with the Foundation, says the event violated the First Amendment.
“Public schools just aren’t supposed to favor religion and they’re not really supposed to encourage students one way or the other when it comes to things like prayer or what they believe,” Lawrence said.
The district responded saying they informed the ministry that held the event they can no longer lead prayer activities with students on school property. They also said they will make sure prayer events on school grounds are student-led.
*Additionally, National Guard troops from Nebraska and Iowa could be called up to help with federal immigration enforcement.
According to a memo from the Department of Defense, which was obtained by NPR, up to 500 guard members could be deployed from Nebraska, Iowa and five other states.
In May, the Department of Homeland Security asked for 20,000 National Guard members to assist ICE in its operations ranging from "night raids" and "rural interdictions" to guard duty at detention facilities, NPR reported.
The Pentagon has already approved some 700 guard members to assist in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
However, the memo said the troops deployed from Nebraska and other states as part of a second phase would only be used in non-law enforcement activities, such as clerical duties at detention facilities and transportation and logistical support.
*Additionally, Minnesota State Patrol officials say they made a mistake in identifying a man who died during the second day of RAGBRAI.
They now report that Mark Spoo, of Golden, Colorado, collapsed on Monday morning in Jackson County, Minnesota.
Initially, they believed the cyclist who died was another man from Texas, due to someone misreading a bike tag.
Spoo, 62, received professional medical help from other riders shortly after collapsing., and later died at a hospital in Spirit Lake.
An obituary states that Spoo first fell in love with RAGBRAI in 2007. After an eight-year hiatus due to health issues, he returned this year to ride one single day from Milford to Estherville.
It goes on to say that Spoo died of a heart attack and it was fitting that his last ride of his life would be on RAGBRAI.
Estherville police identified another cyclist who died there on Tuesday. He was 63-year-old Thomas McCarthy of Florida. The state medical examiner is doing an autopsy to find out how McCarthy died.
A finalist for the Sioux City city manager position said Friday that he hopes his previous experiences could help Sioux City move forward.
Craig Clark, Executive Director of Austin Port Authority, Minnesota, was the second finalist to be interviewed.
Clark said he would spend his first 90 days meeting with constituents, stakeholders and departments and immersing himself into the community.
“Most important asset without question is the staff. We can’t do the job that we need to deliver for the community without having a competent and well compensated staff," Clark said.
One of the other two finalists, Andrew Barden, City Administrator of Winterset Iowa, will have his interview after Clark in the late afternoon Friday. Eric Swanson, interim city manager of Phoenix, Oregon, had his interview on Thursday.
The interview process included open forums for city residents to pose questions.
The Sioux City Council members are working to pinpoint the successor for former longtime city manager Bob Padmore, who retired in April.
*In other news, Ames is the first city in Iowa to gain the national “Charging Smart” designation for accelerating the use of electric vehicles.
It comes from the Energy Ready program, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Local governments that meet certain criteria to make their community EV-friendly can earn bronze, silver, or gold designations.
Ames received silver, for installing 11 electric charging stations and with plans to add more. The city is also shifting its municipal vehicles to electric and offers a rebate for installing charging stations at home.
