The Gazette Daily News Podcast

This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, February 15th.

A wind chill warning remains in effect for the area until noon. The high should be near 1 today, with wind chill values as low as -30. Winds will be 10 to 15 mph from the north, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight's low will be around -12. Double-digit positive temperatures aren't expected until Wednesday.

Iowa City police are investigating a shooting death. Officers were called to the 600 block of South Governor Street at 7:54 p.m. Friday in response to a report of a shooting. Officers found a man dead and witnesses said three men had entered the residence, shot the victim and fled. Police said they know the identity of the shooting victim, but his name is being withheld until his family can be notified and an autopsy is complete.

The U.S. Senate on Saturday acquitted Donald Trump of inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol, concluding a historic impeachment trial. The vote was 57-43, short of the two-thirds needed for conviction. Seven Republicans broke from their party to find Trump guilty. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted for Trump's acquittal.

In men's basketball, Joe Wieskamp scored 21 points to lead Iowa's balanced offense in an 88-58 win over Michigan State on Saturday. The Hawkeyes had three players score in double figures and Luka Garza wasn't one of them. Garza had a season-low eight points, but his teammates more than made up for it. Jack Nunge matched a career high with 18 points and Connor McCaffery had 16 points.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday February 13 and Sunday February 14.

Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend. Sadly, I have to start with something you’re not going to love, and that’s the weather forecast.

According to the National Weather Service, overnight snow is likely to continue falling Saturday morning, with the majority coming before 1 p.m. This could add about a half inch of snow to whatever fell the night before. There will be a high near 3 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with wind chill values as low as -25. On Saturday night it will get even colder, with a low of -12 degrees.

Sunday the predicted high temperature is 2 degrees below zero. There will be a break from snow, however, with mostly cloudy skies. The low Sunday night is predicted to be -14 degrees.

As I mentioned yesterday, this will likely be the low point before we snap out of it. By next weekend you will be able to break out some tropical drinks to celebrate highs in the low 30s.

Another federal allocation of COVID-19 vaccines, expected to begin reaching the state this week, will offer Iowans another opportunity to access shots at certain retail pharmacies, officials say.

The Federal Retail Pharmacy program is the collaboration between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and retail pharmacies in each state. This is in addition to the vaccine allocated to states. In Iowa, CDC officials selected Hy-Vee and CPESN, a network of mostly independently owned pharmacies. A portion of the CPESN network received vaccines in a soft launch of the program this week. You can find participating pharmacies at https://collaboration.cpesn.com/finder (collaboration.cpesn.com/finder).

Legislative proposals to bar transgender Iowa students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity appear unlikely to advance in the Iowa House.

Republicans in the Iowa Senate recently advanced such a bill, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89andba=SF224 (Senate File 224), through its first step in the legislative process. But Rep. Dustin Hite, chairman of the Iowa House Education Committee, said Friday he has no plans to give the bill — or ones like it — a hearing in the House. According to Hite, who appeared on the Iowa Press PBS show Friday night, although he understands the concerns of those who sponsored the senate bill, care must be taken not to “come across as hateful” to a specific group of people.

A final ballot has been sent throughout the Marion Independent School District for a new nickname, a successor to “Indians.” The finalists are Mavericks, Red Storm and Red Wolves. All students in grades 3-12 will get a vote, along with all parents and staff in the district. The deadline for voting is Feb. 20, and a new nickname is likely to be revealed the following week.

Marion’s board of education https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/iowa-prep-sports/marion-will-drop-indians-mascot-after-the-2020-21-school-year-20201013 (voted Oct. 12 to change the school’s nickname). The change was motivated by a letter received from the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa — also known as Meskwaki Nation.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, February 12.

Friday’s weather may end up being the coldest in an already frigid week. Also, there could be a significant amount of new snow. The one piece of good news? It is going to get warmer next week, so hang in there.

According to the National Weather Service, the high on Friday will be 0 degrees. Wind chill values will continue to be in the negatives, with wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph gusting as high as 20 mph. On Friday morning into the afternoon hours, the light snow from the night before could continue, with a half inch of snow accumulation or less predicted. On Friday night, with a low of around -4 degrees, the real snow will arrive, with overnight accumulation of up to 3 inches possible. Please plan accordingly, as travel will only become more difficult as the day goes on, and the conditions outside will be lethal with extended exposure.

I’ll leave you with a positive thought: multiple 10-day forecast models I have looked at indicate it will be at least 30 degrees warmer in just a week’s time.

One day after an Iowa House education committee advanced a bill to eliminate tenure at Iowa’s public universities, an Iowa Senate subcommittee did the same — questioning the authenticity of tenure review and linking tenure with concerns about the suppression of conservative views politicization in higher education.

Whatever flaws the tenure system may have, Republican lawmakers made clear in their remarks that the main thing they are trying to fight for is right for conservative ideas, and conservative people, to flourish on campus. Democrats, and lobbyists for the universities, argued that eliminating tenure would hurt the ability of universities to attract professors, particularly in research fields. Both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are research universities.

Whether this is just posturing to threaten universities against suppressing conservative ideas, or if it is actual legislation that Republicans want to pass, will be determined when the vote comes before the whole bodies in the Senate and House.

A huge part of the University of Iowa’s research mission is its research hospital, but several hospitals on Thursday objected to a plan for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to expand its footprint into North Liberty. The reason, in this case, is not strictly ideological. Mercy Hospital in Iowa City argued that the $230 million expansion proposal was using public funds to expand for commercial, rather than academic purposes, and area hospitals will be forced to compete. UIHC administrators, plus other small hospitals, argued that the mammoth research hospital needs to get even bigger because it takes referrals from all 99 counties, and increasing its capacity increases its capacity to help Iowans all over the state. UIHC administrators also told that the construction of the project will not use taxpayer dollars.

The State Health Facilities Board — the government body that oversees the regulatory Certificate of Need process required to move forward with a development of this scale — is https://idph.iowa.gov/Portals/1/userfiles/50/Apps%20on%20File%202021-02-04.pdf (expected to review UIHC’s application) Wednesday. The goal of the process is to help prevent duplication of expensive medical services and to keep overall health care costs down.

Although Eastern Iowa is sitting under a layer of snow ranging from 8 to 20 inches — well above normal — that doesn’t necessarily translate to flood risks.

The risk of flooding on the Cedar and Iowa rivers this spring is at or below normal, according to the National Weather Service’s https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=DVNandissuedby=DVNandproduct=ESF (first prediction of the season).

The Cedar River at Cedar Rapids has a 5 percent likelihood of reaching major flood stage of 16 feet this spring, compared with the 7 percent historical...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, February 11.

There will be a chance for snow Thursday night. According to the National Weather Service the high will be 6 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with wind chill values as low a -20. The new snow will likely come primarily after 5 p.m., with the wind picking up a bit as well. The accumulation for Thursday night is predicted to be less than a half inch of snow, with more significant snowfall predicted for Friday night.

Days after state officials met with White House staff to better understand why Iowa ranks “lower than expected” in getting allocations of the coveted COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday her administration continues its efforts to accelerate the rate of inoculations.

Iowa remains among the roughly half dozen states with the lowest vaccination rates in the nation. Approximately 9 percent of adult Iowans have received at least the first of two shots, according to federal data. The state is currently focusing on at risk groups and those above the age of 65.

Reynolds blamed Iowa’s poor inoculation rate on a smaller allotment of vaccine doses than other states. Iowa is also in the middle of the pack in utilizing the vaccines they have received, which she said was due to rural counties struggling with rollout, as well as bad weather.

Iowa senators pushed forward a number of hot-button issues in the legislative process Wednesday — with bills on topics ranging from restricting abortion, making daylight saving time permanent in Iowa and trying to halt drivers from using electronic devices while driving.

Republicans on the Senate State Government Committee voted 10-5 to approve a resolution intended to allow Iowa voters to approve language that the Iowa Constitution does not guarantee the right for abortion. The vote, with language similar to what already passed the Iowa House, will go before the full senate. It would need to pass again in a different session before going to Iowa voters for a referendum.

The daylight saving time and texting-while driving bills also passed forward unanimously for a full senate vote.

The House approved a legislative package that aims to address a workforce shortage by increasing the access and affordability of child care through a combination of grants and tax credits.

The bills, passed with bipartisan support, are part of an effort the House began last year but was disrupted by COVID-19.

Currently to qualify for childcare assistance, parents must be working or going to school for 28 hours a week and have an income less than 145 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $31,494 for a family of three. The bill is intended to remove the cliff problem where a family that increases its income by a parent getting more work then loses access to childcare assistance. The legislation is intended to gradually pull support back as a family’s income increases.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, February 10.

There will be a chance for snow on Wednesday and Thursday, but accumulation shouldn’t be too bad. Also, it will be very cold. But you already knew that.

According to the National Weather Service there will be a 30 percent chance of snow Wednesday morning in the Cedar Rapids area, with the highest probability for snow before 9 a.m. Besides that, it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 8. Wind chill values will be 20 degrees below zero. Wednesday night it will be mostly cloudy with a low of -3 degrees.

The Associated Press reported that Iowa public health officials selected Microsoft to create an online COVID-19 vaccination scheduling system as part of an effort to improve Iowa’s standing as one of the worst vaccinated states in the nation per capita.

The Iowa Department of Public Health posted notice online Monday that it intends to award the contract to Microsoft. The agency also has indicated that later this week it will select a separate contractor to develop and run a vaccine call center.

The Iowa Senate voted 32-17 Tuesday to approve a 2.2 percent increase in base funding for K-12 schools next fiscal year along with extra money to fund transportation and other equity issues along with one-time money to deal with issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with most things in politics these days, the vote was almost entirely along party lines. Republicans said it was sustainable and fair, while Democrats said the bill was meanspirited and underfunded schools. One item of specific contention was over how the bill treats the Des Moines School District, which was one of the most prominent districts in the state to initially defy the directive by Republicans, including Gov. Kim Reynolds, to offer in person instruction despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill excludes the Des Moines district from receiving COVID-19 funding, which Republicans insist is just being fair and not punishing the district for not doing what they wanted.

Thousands of students who enrolled in one of Iowa’s public universities in the fall — despite the raging pandemic promising a vastly different collegiate experience — did not return for the spring semester, according to new campus census numbers made public Tuesday.

The numbers showed that the state’s three Regent Universities: the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa, were down in enrollment from fall anywhere from 7 to 9 percent. University administrators conceded that it is likely the challenging environment presented by the COVID-19 pandemic that is the culprit. They said that much is the instruction that was done virtually this semester should return to in person in the fall.

The challenges come as slumping enrollment trends tied to Midwestern demographics are colliding with an Iowa legislature that is skeptical of university operations for both budgetary and ideological reasons. In short, 2021 looks to continue to be a difficult year for Iowa’s universities on many fronts.

It is hard to believe, but as of Wednesday it has been 6 months since the Aug. 10 derecho that ripped through Linn and Johnson County. Check out Wednesday’s edition of the Gazette, or head over to the Gazette.com, to get caught up on how recovery efforts are going.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, February 9.

It will be very cold again Tuesday, but at least there shouldn’t be more snow. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a high near 5 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area Tuesday with mostly cloudy skies. Wind chills again will be in the 30 degree below zero range. This chilly weather should remain for at least the next week, before we hopefully grind our way to some slightly warmer temperatures.

State officials say January in Iowa was marked by above-normal precipitation and above-average temperatures — an unusual feature for a month that usually is the driest of the year.

Technical staff from state and federal agencies that compile a monthly water summary report that temperatures in January averaged 4 degrees above normal for the month, with 1.27 inches of precipitation — a total that was 0.35 of an inch above normal. However, abnormal dryness and drought conditions remained generally unchanged through January. Under the snow, the shallow soils are dry enough that there is the potential for drought issues later this spring, according to Tim Hall, coordinator of hydrology resources for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds did not directly consult her own public health department before https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/hospitalizations-continue-to-decline-as-covid-19-restrictions-are-lifted-in-iowa-20210207 (lifting Iowa’s remaining COVID-19 mitigation strategies)-- including a partial face mask mandate and social distancing guidelines -- just in time for Superbowl Sunday.

During a weekly briefing on the state’s pandemic response, Democratic lawmakers asked Iowa Department of Public Health Director Kelly Garcia whether Reynolds consulted the agency before the governor on Friday https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-covid-restrictions-lifted-mask-mandate-gatherings-gov-kim-reynolds-20210205 (lifted the state’s remaining pandemic mitigation strategies).

Garcia told the legislators the department was not consulted on the decision — that the governor made that decision on her own. The Governor’s Office replied that Gov. Reynolds merely followed past precedent in reducing restrictions as hospital rates have gone down.

The governor’s decision has led to alarmed feedback from Democratic lawmakers and from the mayors of Iowa’s largest cities, including Cedar Rapids, who pledged to stick to their mask mandates. Several area restaurants told the Gazette Monday that they plan to keep their safety restrictions in place for the time being.

The state has reached a $350,000 settlement agreement with a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics patient who sued two years ago after she said hip surgery left her with “femoral nerve palsy” — a sort of nerve dysfunction causing “weakness, numbness, and tingling pain.”

The UI Physicians group will pay the full amount to Erin Jacobson, of Linn County, pending approval from the State Appeal Board. That board, so far this budget year, has agreed to pay from its general fund nearly $2.8 million for settlements or judgments associated with the state Board of Regents, including UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Research published one year ago in the scientific “Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery” found femoral nerve palsy — which it describes as a “serious neurological complication” — can follow total hip arthroplasty, the same procedure Jacobson underwent, if retractors are wrongly positioned.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon...

This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, February 8th.

For weather in the Cedar Rapids area today, snow is again likely, mainly after 3 p.m., but with an accumulation of less than a half-inch. Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 5 and wind chill values as low as -15. Tonight should be cloudy during the early evening, then with gradual clearing, and a low around -9, with wind chill values as low as -20.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart says the city’s mask mandate remains in effect despite Gov. Kim Reynolds’ move on Friday to lift restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. Hart told The Gazette that city, Linn County and hospital officials will continue to communicate to the public that they believe it still is important to keep COVID-19 mitigation measures in place despite the governor’s decision to end those restrictions and its partial mask mandate starting yesterday, the day of the Super Bowl.

Two firefighters were seriously injured early Sunday at a Cedar Rapids apartment fire when a hose line failed, causing blunt force trauma. One firefighter was struck in the head and knocked unconscious, and another was struck in the chest and knocked down. Both were provided immediate emergency medical care and transported to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital. The firefighter with a head injury was transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Though their injuries are serious, they did not appear to be life-threatening. At 1:19 a.m., the Cedar Rapids Fire Department was dispatched to a report of smoke alarms activated by smoke in an apartment’s kitchen at Westdale Court Apartments, 3919 20th Ave. SW. By 2:30 a.m., the fire had compromised the structural integrity of the floors, and firefighters moved to an exterior position. The destroyed apartment complex sustained major fire, smoke and heat damage. No apartment residents were injured, though five of the eight units were occupied at the time of the fire. The American Red Cross is helping the displaced residents.

In men's basketball, Iowa’s 67-65 loss to the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall left it in sixth place at 7-5 after it was 6-1 five games ago. Indiana sophomore guard Armaan Franklin hit a step-back jumper over Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp with 1.6 seconds left for the game-winner. Iowa not only saw a double-digit first-half lead vanish, it pulled back ahead 45-35 with 14 1/2 minutes left after a 14-0 run, only for that to dissolve.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, February 6 and Sunday, February 7.

We are looking at a bitterly, bitterly, cold weekend to come, with a bit more snow on the way as well. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a high of 6 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday, with wind chill values dropping to 20 degrees below zero. There will also be a high chance for snow, with the majority of the snow predicted to fall before 5 p.m. Saturday. Up to 2 inches of snow could fall by the end of the day. The low temperature Saturday night will be 16 degrees below zero, with the wind chill dropping to 30 degrees below zero.

On Sunday we will see the temperature pop back up to a high of 3 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. Don’t get too excited, though, as the wind chill will still remain at 30 degrees below zero. The low on Sunday will be -4 degrees.

The cold will remain for at least the rest of the week, but one piece of good news is no significant snow is in the forecast, at the moment, after Saturday’s snowfall is completed.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday lifted Iowa’s partial face mask mandate, public health restrictions on businesses and limits on public gatherings.

The update to Reynolds’ https://governor.iowa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Public%20Health%20Proclamation%20-%202021.02.05.pdf (COVID-19 public health emergency declaration) drew immediate fire from Democrats, with one saying the move was “both reckless and tragic.”

Starting Sunday, the day of the Super Bowl:

• Iowans will no longer be required to wear face coverings in public when around other people for at least 15 minutes.

• Businesses will not be required to limit the number of customers or keep them socially distanced.

• No limits will be placed on the number of people who can gather in public.

In the updated proclamation, Reynolds encourages vulnerable Iowans — those 65 years or older, or with serious health conditions — to “limit their activities outside of their home,” including trips to businesses and other establishments where other people gather.

Reynolds also encouraged Iowans to continue limiting their in-person interactions with vulnerable people and to “exercise particular care and caution” when in public.

This loosening of restrictions comes as Iowa remains among the least vaccinated population by capita in the nation. Mandatory in-person school options, ordered by the Iowa legislature, are set to begin on February 15.

But Iowans don’t just stop on gambling with their health, they also enjoy gambling on sports. Iowa gamblers were all in on sports wagers in January, driving betting activity to a monthly record $149.5 million.

With college and professional football playoffs in full swing, sportsbooks are flourishing without in-person registration requirements. Legal sports wagering in Iowa topped the $100 million plateau in January for the second straight month, and it was the fourth month in a row for record-setting growth.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, February 5.

It will be quite cold Friday, and there will be blowing snow to deal with... but at least there won’t be any new snow to deal with. I’m doing my best to find positives here.

According to the National Weather Service, winds of 15 to 20 mph gusting as high as 30 mph will lead to areas of blowing snow in Eastern Iowa before 4 p.m. It will be mostly sunny, with a high near 15 degrees, although the wind chill with the powerful winds is predicted to drop to 15 degrees below zero. On Friday night the low will be negative one degree, with winds thankfully settling down just slightly.

Travel was a nightmare throughout Thursday after a winter storm created blizzard like conditions. A pileup near Newton closed Interstate 80, motorostists reported being stranded on Highway 151, and traffic on Highway 30 was brought to a standstill by several accidents. Road conditions should improve on Friday, but please limit travel where possible and plan for the unexpected shifting of road conditions that come with blowing snow.

University of Iowa Health Care vaccinated nearly 1,000 Johnson County residents aged 65 and older Wednesday, among the first members of the community to receive the COVID-19 shot as the health care system moves its vaccination effort beyond front line health care workers to focus on the broader general public.

The Iowa City-based health system used up all doses it was allocated this week for the large-scale vaccination effort, an indication to UIHC officials that the event Wednesday was a successful test run of mass clinics they hope to establish throughout Johnson County and beyond.

Iowa continues to have the third-worst vaccination rate per capita in the nation as the state reached a milestone Thursday of more than 5,000 people killed by the virus.

Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters Thursday that Iowa has been improving its vaccination efforts, which she argued have been slowed in part by lack of available vaccine. Reynolds did concede the state needs to improve its vaccination process.

Reynolds said in response to the confusion and negative feedback in Iowa surrounding the vaccine rollout, the state is setting up a call center and website. The governor said the intent would be for these to be a one-stop shop for COVID-19 vaccination information. These will also be used to allow eligible Iowans to schedule appointments to receive the vaccine, which could still be limited by vaccine availability.

At a time demanding “stability anchored by insightful leadership,” the University of Iowa opted to skip a lengthy and costly search for a new provost by appointing the interim provost to the position permanently. Kevin Kregel, serving as interim provost since July, will become provost and executive vice president Feb. 15, the university announced Thursday.

Kregel last summer took on the provost job temporarily until a successor to Montserrat Fuentes could be hired. Fuentes resigned after one year on the job.

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes.

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=121774andename=Alexaandlang=en (Alexa) enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, February 4.

Your Thursday weather forecast looks, in a word, nasty. According to the National Weather Service, rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning in the Cedar Rapids area will turn into snow and rain after 8:00 a.m., before turning into full fledged snow after 9:00 a.m. The high will technically be 34 degrees, but that will be in the morning, as the temperature plummets to 18 degrees by Thursday afternoon. It will also be windy, with wind speeds of 10-20 mph blowing the predicted one to three inches of snow that falls during the day. Thursday night, expect it to get colder and windier.

On Wednesday the Iowa Department of Public Health announced the limited availability of coronavirus vaccines at Walgreens and CVS stores in Linn and Johnson counties, along with a select number of other counties, for approximately 32,000 Iowans age 65 and older.

Unused vaccines that initially were allocated for the Long-Term Care Pharmacy Partnership Program have been redistributed to “a limited number” of Walgreens and CVS stores. The department indicated that this would be a one time surplus.

Appointments are limited to the number of vaccines available at each location, the department noted. Registration can be made online. If you are interested we have links to where you can register for this batch of the vaccine in the story on the front page of the thegazette.com.

A Wisconsin man accused of stabbing his girlfriend multiple times in the face and neck last September was apprehended Wednesday in the Cedar Rapids area.

Canyon Thixton, 37, of Portage, had been wanted on an attempted murder charge. Cedar Rapids police and the U.S. Marshals Services arrested Thixton shortly before 9 a.m. at a residence in the 3200 block of Kenrich Drive SW in Cedar Rapids, where he had been living under an alias and staying with a woman whose name has not been released.

Thixton was arrested on a warrant out of Portage charging him with attempted first-degree homicide.

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said he anticipates a smooth Senate confirmation of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as President Joe Biden’s pick to again head the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Pretty soon, I think he will be Secretary Vilsack again,” Grassley told reporters Wednesday.

Grassley introduced Vilsack at his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Vilsack served as the head of the Department of Agriculture for both of President Barack Obama’s terms in office.

For the second straight year, the NCAA Division III winter championships have been canceled.

https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-iii-cancels-2021-winter-championships?fbclid=IwAR0TFHq5YuDZTgNL7-X10iJ9Uy6qAfyqTD0DUMGV6X6ipbpj1xewx-nre_s (According to a news release) Wednesday night, the NCAA D-III Administrative Committee approved the recommendation from the D-III Championships Committee to cancel all 2021 winter championships, citing low participation numbers. Winter championships were canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com).