The Gazette Daily News Podcast

This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, January 11th.

Our weather today will be mostly cloudy with a high near 31. Winds from the southwest, 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight should be mostly cloudy, with a low around 23.

An Iowa man was jailed early Saturday on charges accusing him of taking part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said officers assisted the FBI in arresting 41-year-old Doug Jensen on Friday night at his home on the south side of the city. Jensen was booked into the Polk County Jail early Saturday on five federal charges, including trespassing and disorderly conduct counts, according to news releases from the FBI’s field office in Omaha and the county sheriff’s office. Video posted online during the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday showed a man who appears to be Jensen, who is white, pursuing a Black officer up an interior flight of stairs. A mob of people trails several steps behind.

The number of patients being treated in Iowa hospitals for COVID-19 declined again Sunday but has yet to drop to the worst level of last summer’s surge. In a 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Sunday, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped from 549 to 541. Patients in intensive care also went down, from 110 to 105, as did the number of patients on ventilators — from 47 to 41. Although that continues a downward trajectory from an alarming record of 1,527 COVID-19 hospitalizations Nov. 18, it remains higher than the worst of last summer when there were 417 patients on May 7th. A post-holiday surge that has overwhelmed hospitals in some other states has not been seen in Iowa now more than two weeks after Christmas. However, the state Sunday confirmed 11 additional deaths caused by the coronavirus.

In basketball, the Hawkeyes toppled Minnesota, 86-71, for their fourth-straight win since losing to the Gophers on Christmas Day in Minneapolis. Jordan Bohannon had 19 points and a career-high 14 assists, while Luka Garza scored 33 points. Bohannon also had seven rebounds and zero turnovers in almost 36 minutes. Joe Wieskamp passed the 1,000-point career mark in the second half, the 50th Hawkeye to get there.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10.

Cloudy, calm, and fairly cold. That’s the weather we have on tap for this weekend. According to the National Weather Service, it is predicted to be a high of 26 in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday with cloudy skies. The low is predicted to be 20 degrees. On Sunday it will go from cloudy to mostly cloudy, with a high of 28 degrees. The low is then predicted to drop to 18 degrees.

In Washington D.C., politicians continued to issue proclamations in reaction to the mob incursion into the Capitol building on Wednesday. The siege on congress was conducted by people who attended a rally for President Donald Trump trying to hold out his election hopes by forcefully stopping the ratification of the electoral votes. That was not successful.

Perhaps most devastating to the president Friday was the decision by Twitter to ban him from the platform for the foreseeable future. Trump is also now banned on Facebook, Instagram, and his videos are on a short leash on YouTube. According to Twitter, this was to stop the President of the United States from inciting more violence. Trump’s rise to political prominence relied heavily on his presence on social media, particularly on Twitter.

Trump vowed that he would not be silenced, and told supporters he would be launching his own outlet. Until then, what will become of him in the meantime has yet to be decided.

Iowa on Friday reported 2,057 new coronavirus cases and 59 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

The new numbers, analyzed by the Gazette at 11 a.m. Friday, bring the state’s totals to 293,454 cases and 4,124 deaths since the start of the pandemic last March. Hospitalizations for the virus continue to hover around 600 people.

The daily positive case number is one to watch, as it can be an indicator of trouble to come. Cases have increased daily for almost two weeks now, reversing a trend where they had been dropping until right before the holiday.

Also growing in Iowa? Sports gambling.

Legal sports wagering in Iowa topped the $100 million plateau in December, marking the third month in a row for record-setting growth.

And industry officials expect betting activity will continue to grow, given the upcoming Super Bowl and NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament and a change in Iowa law that makes online wagering easier.

Sports wagering topped $104.8 million in December — making Iowa the eighth state to surpass $100 million in wagers in a single month. More than $78 million of those bets were placed online.

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?"

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, January 8.

It’s another similar weather forecast to other days this week, but there is a twist: There is no fog predicted for Friday morning. According to the National Weather Service there will be a high of 31 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. The skies will be cloudy and wind will be calm all day, with the temperature dropping Friday night to a low of 18.

The nation on Thursday began to process the chaos that had the day happened before, as supporters of the current President stormed the Capitol Wednesday in Washington D.C. in an attempt to stop the ratification of electors for an election he had already lost. The Iowa delegation issued statements mostly holding President Trump responsible for inciting the crowd, although the degree of his responsibility and the consequences of this action varied predictably by party.

Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst both issued statements labeling the President’s conduct as a failure in leadership, and that he should own up to his responsibility for what happened. They stopped short of calling for a specific punishment for the president, however. Newly elected congresswoman Ashley Hinson also condemned the violence, but said she was focused on moving forward. Fellow congressional freshman Mariannette Miller-Meeks accused Democrats of focusing on the events of Wednesday while not doing enough to chasten Black Lives Matter protesters over the summer.

Iowa’s lone Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne called for the President’s removal from office before the completion of his final 13 days through either impeachment or Trump’s cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment. Axne said Trump’s recent actions suggest it is not safe to leave him in power for even two weeks.

For his part, President Trump released a video condemning the mob’s actions on Wednesday, and said he was committed to a peaceful transition of power. It is unclear whether this will have any effect on what lawmakers were prepared to do anyway in the wake of Wednesday.

Back in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday lifted spectator limits for sporting and recreational events, including at high school events. The change takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

A previous order, put in place in December when COVID-19 cases were spiking, limited spectators to two per student-athlete. While that limit is lifted, spectators must continue to wear masks and maintain 6 feet between groupings, such as families.

The change comes after a month of improving numbers in both COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. However, Iowa’s cases have already begun to tick back up following the holidays, with its seven day average of cases increasing for 8 consecutive days.

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).

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, January 7.

We’ve got another day of basically the same weather on Thursday. According to the National Weather Service, we will see some patchy fog before 9:00 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area. Otherwise it will be cloudy with a high near 31 degrees.

We have finally, mostly, finished November’s election. Early Thursday morning, shortly before 3:00 a.m. Central time, a joint session of Congress ratified Joe Biden’s 306 to 232 Electoral College win over incumbent Donald Trump, making Biden the next president of the United States. This ended a day full of drama for a process that in every other presidential election is typically a formality.

Congress actually began to ratify the votes on Wednesday, but were interrupted after a mob of Trump supporters, coming from a rally where the president spoke, forced their way past barricades and occupied the Capitol building. The group of Trump loyalists had seized the building after weeks of Trump claiming that he had won the election in the landslide, and the win had been stolen away through fraudulent means. Lawmakers were evacuated as capitol police struggled to regain control.

No members of the Iowa delegation were injured during the incident. They joined fellow lawmakers in condemning the violence, which led to property damage, several arrests, and the deaths of 4 people.

Debate resumed a bit after 7:00 p.m. Central time. So everything went fine, right? Well, after a series of speeches by politicians condemning the events of the day, a group of Republicans who had planned to challenge votes in key states based on claims of fraudulent election results were undaunted by the earlier siege of the capitol, going ahead and challenging the results of the elections in Arizona and Pennsylvania. In both cases the challenges were defeated, but with additional debate the process dragged on for hours.

Afterward, President Trump, who had been suspended temporarily on Twitter and other social media platforms for the potential for him to incite more violence, indicated through a spokesperson that there would be a transition of power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence shared an elbow bump, and the day and a half that felt like a week was done.

Finally, Iowa on Wednesday surpassed 4,000 deaths from COVID-19, and the number of new virus cases is once again climbing.

The state reported 61 confirmed deaths from the virus in the 24 hours ending at 11 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state’s death toll since March to 4,060 people.

Iowa also reported 2,854 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — the highest number of new cases reported in a 24-hour period since Dec. 4, when 2,905 cases were recorded. The state’s seven-day average of new cases is 1,562.

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 Tuesday, January 5.

Another foggy morning is in store for you on Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, areas of dense fog will be present in Eastern Iowa before 11 a.m. After that, it will be cloudy, with a high of 31 degrees.

Two teenagers suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds Tuesday evening in what may have been a drive-by shooting, authorities said. Cedar Rapids police got a report at 6:16 p.m. of shots being fired in the 1000 block of 10th Street SW. A public safety spokesman said responding officers found the injured male teens, age 16 and 18, in the 1000 block of Ninth Street SW.

Police said that based on preliminary information, the shots may have come from a passing vehicle. An investigation into the incident is underway.

Iowa 1st Congressional District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson has joined 11 other House Republicans in calling for certification of Electoral College results confirming Joe Biden as president-elect. The vote favors Biden 306-232 over President Donald Trump, with 270 Electoral Votes required to win the presidency.

Sworn into office this week, Hinson joined GOP representatives in making the case that although upholding the results may frustrate their immediate political objectives, their oath to uphold the Constitution supersedes politics.

The position of these Republicans is in contrast to positions taken by a dozen or more Republican senators and 100-plus House members who have indicated they will challenge electors from states where Trump has disputed the Nov. 3 election results. The Electoral College process is set to conclude today when the results are tabulated by Congress. President Trump and his allies have indicated that they intend to take the unusual step of challenging this process.

Fluid Quip Technologies of Cedar Rapids has been purchased by an Omaha, Neb.-based company.

https://gpreinc.com/ (Green Plains Inc.) said Tuesday it acquired majority interest in https://fluidquiptechnologies.com/about/ (Fluid Quip), which develops new technologies and processes for the biofuels and biochemical industries, as part of a joint transaction with https://www.ospraie.com/ (Ospraie Management), according to a news release.

One of the goals of the purchase was to capitalize on high-protein animal feed, produced through a technology developed by Fluid Quip.

Maximized stillage co-products, or MSC, technology extracts protein from the whole stillage that remains after ethanol processing and makes a 50 percent protein feed for pets, fish, dairy cows, poultry and swine

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).

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

Tuesday’s forecast looks to be similar to Monday’s weather. According to the National Weather Service, there could be another round of patchy fog before 9 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area, so be careful on your morning commute. After this it will be a high of 29 degrees with sunny skies and a calm wind. It will become increasingly cloudy Tuesday night into Wednesday, and cloudy it is predicted to remain for several days after.

Iowa reported 42 more deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state’s death toll to 3,992 so far. Hospitalizations and new cases have continued to drop, which continues a good news trend in the state. One thing to watch out for is a high positivity rate, still, with approximately 44 percent of those tested for the novel coronavirus coming out positive on Monday. The boom in cases and hospitalizations that followed late last year coincided with Iowa having one of the highest positivity rates in the nation in October and November.

Police announced Monday that an 18-year-old woman who was shot on Dec. 22 in southwest Cedar Rapids was declared “legally deceased” four days later — on Dec. 26. The Cedar Rapids Police Department identified the woman as Marisa Doolin of Cedar Rapids.

Doolin was found at 3:25 p.m. Dec. 22 in a second-floor apartment at 2110 Westdale Dr. SW, police said. Investigators said she had sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound. No arrests have been made, police said, and an investigation is ongoing.

The police department also released the identity of the first recorded homicide in Cedar Rapids in 2021. Police identified Sunday’s fatal shooting victim who was declared dead at Mercy Medical Center as Jayson Lee Jones, 21, of Cedar Rapids.

According to police, Jones was shot at a residence at 818 11th Ave. SE. Jones was taken by private vehicle to the hospital at about 2:16 a.m., where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Police have not released details as to what happened leading up to the shooting, but an investigation is underway.

To celebrate the 2020 centennial of the Iowa state park system, the Department of Natural Resources planted at least 100,000 trees last year , nearly triple the number planted in a typical year. The milestone planting commemorated not only the 100th anniversary of the state park system, but also the centennial of the National Association of State Foresters. Members of the association participated in the 2020 Centennial Challenge to plant millions of trees across the United States. The native Iowa trees were supplied by the https://nursery.iowadnr.gov/ (State Forest Nursery) and planted in Iowa’s four state forests, dozens of wildlife management areas and 23 of its state parks, according to Emma Hanigan, urban forestry coordinator.

In addition to DNR funds, the plantings were aided by a grant from the Arbor Day Foundation. Hanigan estimated the grant covered the internal production costs of about 55,200 seedlings.

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).

This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, January 4th.

For our weather today, there will be some areas of fog before noon. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 33. Winds will be from the south 5 to 10 mph, then from the west in the afternoon. Tonight should be partly cloudy, with a low around 16.

A male victim in a shooting died shortly after his arrival at Mercy Medical Center early Sunday morning. At 2:16 a.m., Cedar Rapids police were dispatched to the hospital where the shooting victim had arrived by private vehicle. Soon after officers arrived, the victim was pronounced dead. His name is not being released pending notification of family. Police said the incident address was unknown and that there is an active investigation.

Three law enforcement agencies are investigating after a man was found dead Saturday at a rural Vinton home. Around 9 a.m., Benton County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a welfare check at the man’s home in the 5900 block of 28th Avenue. Deputies found the body of 84-year-old James Howard Bright. Bright’s death is being investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals ticked upward Sunday morning, the first time in four days in what has been a downward trajectory. The 577 hospitalizations reported Sunday were up from 572 a day earlier — but still just about 40 percent of the peak seen in mid-November. Nonetheless, it remains higher than the 417 patient peak set during last summer’s surge. Sunday marked the 11th day in a row where fewer than 5,000 individual test results were reported. The state’s five Test Iowa drive-through locations, as well as the State Hygienic Lab, were closed both Christmas and New Years’ days. Of the 2,638 individual tests in the 24-hour period that were reported, nearly 43 percent were positive.

Iowa State beat Oregon Saturday in the Fiesta Bowl, 34-17. With the win, Iowa State tied its best-ever season (in 2000) with a 9-3 record. Brock Purdy completed 20 of 29 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed nine times for 39 yards and a score. Running back Breece Hall had 136 yards and two touchdowns, tight end Charlie Kolar had five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, and receiver Xavier Hutchinson had four catches for 45 yards.

This is your weekend update for Jan. 2-3, 2021. Updates on COVID-19 hospitalizations (down by half since Dec. 1), the swearing-in of Iowa's newest congresswomen, and the Cyclones making history going to the Fiesta Bowl.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, January 1.

Happy 2021.

The New Year will come with a little bit of snow in Iowa. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a high of 28 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. A chance for snow in the morning will increase into the early afternoon. Total snowfall is expected to be a few inches. The temperature will drop to a low of 10 degrees Friday night, with snow tapering off into partly cloudy skies.

Iowa reported another 1,706 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday as well as 69 new, confirmed deaths, according to data analyzed by The Gazette.

The new numbers bring the year’s total number of known cases and deaths to 280,306 and 3,891 respectively. After dropping precipitously from the record high number of hospitalizations approaching 1,600 people in mid November, the state has been hovering at about 600 people hospitalized for several weeks since mid December. This number of hospitalizations is still much higher than the average for 2020 before the spike in October.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Thursday limited the financial damages that can be awarded for injuries and deaths caused by state police officers who are found to have used excessive force.

According to the Associated Press, the court ruled 6-1 that punitive damages are not available in cases in which state officers use excessive force in violation of constitutional rights. The court ruled that lawsuits brought by those injured or related to those killed by state police are instead subject to limits in the Iowa Tort Claims Act, which governs claims against state employees.

Four voters in Johnson and Scott counties say in affidavits they took the necessary steps to cast votes in the Nov. 3 election for Democrat Rita Hart, but say their ballots were rejected because of errors by election workers.

The affidavits were included as part of a petition Hart filed last week asking the U.S. House to count those votes, conduct a uniform hand recount of all ballots, and overturn the state’s certified election results that have Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks winning by six votes. Miller-Meeks is being seated provisionally in the congress on Sunday while the House considers Hart’s petition.

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 Thursday, December 31st.

Your last day of 2020 will be chilly, sunny, and calm. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high near 22 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with partly sunny skies. A calm wind will hover around 5 mph throughout the day. New Year’s Eve it will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 10 degrees, with wind chill values as low as zero.

Combine about 10 inches of snow falling with in an evening with some bad travel decisions and you get Tuesday night in Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says it handled nearly 100 crashes across the state during the storm from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.

KCCI-TV reported the patrol assisted with 91 crashes and helped 372 motorists Tuesday. That doesn’t include other crashes that were handled by local police. There could be more snow on Friday afternoon, but expect only a few inches.

The Marion Independent School District is seeking at least 386 signatures from registered voters to pursue a $31 million bond issue for facility projects.

The district’s school board earlier this month unanimously endorsed a $36 million facilities plan. It includes building an auditorium and outdoor activities complex at Marion Independent High School, making repairs to the high school, building an elementary school and renovating Francis-Marion Intermediate School, including a new secure entrance.

If enough signatures for a bond are collected it will go to a bond referendum on a future election date. This will require a 60 percent approval rate to pass.

The new Linn County Mental Health Access Center is hoping to be fully operational by early February.

The opening originally was scheduled for early this year, but remodeling of the center, at 501 13th St. NW, was delayed by the pandemic and then the Aug. 10 derecho. The center will work with law enforcement, schools and hospitals to provide a place — 24 hours a day, seven days a week — to help people in crisis as an alternative to placing them in jail cells or hospital rooms.

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks will be provisionally sworn in Sunday with the new Congress pending the outcome of an election challenge from Democratic opponent Rita Hart, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday.

Miller-Meeks was certified the winner in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District by just six votes out of more than 400,000 cast. A bipartisan canvassing board of top state officials voted unanimously Nov. 30 to certify the results following recounts in each of the district’s 24 counties.

Hart is contesting that there are ballots that have not yet been counted that could sway the extremely close election in her favor.

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.