The Gazette Daily News Podcast

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 26th and 27th.

Your weekend forecast is a mix of what we’ve had this past week, and the weather we will have in the week to come. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high of 85 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area, with mostly sunny skies and breezy wind on Saturday. On Saturday night it will become mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. On Sunday it will be cloudy and noticeably cooler, with a high temperature near 71 degrees. There also will be a chance of rain both Sunday and Sunday night. Next week it is predicted to be even cooler.

Bars in Johnson and Story counties will have been closed for more than five weeks if they are allowed to reopen when an extended emergency health proclamation issued Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds expires next week.

The latest order, a response to the coronavirus pandemic, is set to go until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 4.

Reynolds https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/iowa-coronavirus-bars-closed-gov-kim-reynolds-covid-19-johnson-linn-story-county-20200827 (began a series of bar closure orders Aug. 27), initially affecting bars in six counties where new COVID-19 cases were surging.

But while she rescinded her order early for bars in four counties — Black Hawk, Dallas, Linn and Polk — the governor has continued to make bars in the communities around the University of Iowa and Iowa State University stay closed.

Four female members of the Hawkeye swimming and diving team Friday filed a Title IX complaint in U.S. District Court challenging the University of Iowa’s announcement last month that it’s cutting their program — along with three men’s sports — at the end of this academic year. Administrators have said that the sports were cut due to budget deficits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting normal operations.

The swimmers filing the federal complaint — Sage Ohlensehlen, Christian Kaufman, Alexa Puccini and Kelsey Drake — are asking for an immediate and permanent reinstatement of their sport, noting time is of the essence as some athletes have left or are looking to leave UI. The Title IX complaint contends the UI has failed to comply with three aspects of Title IX, including the mandate to provide female athletes with athletic opportunities at a rate “substantially proportionate” to the campus’ undergraduate full-time enrollment.

Lawmakers approved emergency authority Friday allowing election officials to get a leg up in coping with an expected crush of absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election.

Expecting many more voters than usual to cast ballots absentee rather than go in-person to the polls during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Legislative Council granted Republican Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate the authority to establish a procedure for election officials around the state to begin preparing absentee ballots for counting early.

Under the emergency directive, county auditors will be able to mail absentee ballots to residents of health and long-term care facilities who request them; allow all identification cards that have expired in 2020 to be considered current and valid for in-person absentee balloting and at Election Day polling places; and to allow absentee ballots to be opened — but not counted — during the weekend before the Nov. 3 election.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 25th.

Your Friday weather forecast is again looking clear and sunny. According to the National Weather Service, it should be sunny with a high near 82 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area Friday. For a low it will drop to 63 degrees with increasingly cloudy skies. It might get a bit breezy during the day, with a 10-15 mph wind sometimes gusting as high as 25 mph.

Iowa saw its fourth-highest jump of confirmed coronavirus cases in a single day on Thursday according to data analyzed by The Gazette.

Across the state, 1,242 new virus cases were reported in the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. With 7,544 tests being registered, the state’s positivity rate is 16.46 percent. This coincided with other data this week showing increased hospitalizations for the disease, once again surpassing 300 needing treatment

Iowa’s total number of deaths from the disease passed 1,300, reaching 1,303 by the end of the day Thursday. Deaths per day has dropped since spiking into double digits in late August and early September.

The city of Iowa City is one step closer to hiring its next police chief.

The city’s civil service commission on Thursday unanimously certified the hiring of Lt. Dustin Liston of the El Paso (Texas) Police Department. Last week, City Manager Geoff Fruin named Liston as his pick to be the next police chief.

In his letter recommending the hiring of Liston, Fruin cited Liston’s experience working with a diverse population in a college community. Liston has experience with community policing programs and demonstrated a willingness to lead the department through a period of change, Fruin said.

A former Cedar Rapids schools custodian was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl over a one-year period and faces up to 40 years in prison.

Michael Lynn Beard, 53, pleaded to four counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

He admitted, during the hearing, to at least four separate sexual acts with the girl between June 11, 2018, and July 28, 2019, at a residence in Cedar Rapids.

Beard had been a custodian in a dozen schools in the Cedar Rapids district since August 1992. He most recently worked at Madison Elementary School before being terminated last September, about a month after he was charged, according to the district.

Cedar Rapids emergency responders were dispatched Thursday, a bit after 3 p.m., to a fatal single-vehicle accident on U.S. Interstate 380 northbound just north of 29th Street NE. According to police, a full-size sport utility vehicle lost control on the interstate, struck a pole, rolled over, and ended up in the ditch nearby. Officers and firefighters arrived on the scene to find an adult male had been ejected from the vehicle in the process.

The man sustained life-threatening injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 24th.

Your Thursday weather forecast is looking clear and sunny. According to the National Weather Service, it should be partly sunny with a high near 80 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area Thursday. For a low it will drop to 60 degrees with partly cloudy skies.

Lucas Jones portrayed himself Wednesday as a sacrificial lamb, asserting during a city hearing that the timing of his termination from the Cedar Rapids Police Department — one day before city leaders met with Black Lives Matter protesters to discuss police reform — was meant to appease the public.

The police department “hung me out to dry,” he told the Cedar Rapids Civil Service Commission during the second day of testimony in his appeal to rejoin the force.

The department said Jones was fired June 18 after an internal investigation found he had violated policies during an Oct. 30, 2016 traffic stop and lied about it. Jones became a lightning rod in 2016 after conducting a traffic stop two days after that violation, where he and motorist Jerime Mitchell got into a physical altercation and Jones shot Mitchell, paralyzing him. A grand jury declined to pursue charges on the shooting at the time.

The three-day hearing, held virtually due to COVID-19 safety concerns, wrapped up Wednesday night and attorneys were asked to submit their closing arguments in writing to the Civil Service Commission, whose three members are appointed by the mayor. The panel did not give a time frame for ruling.

The resurrection of Big Ten football this October, with a truncated schedule and no fan revenue, could shave tens of millions off a projected $75 million University of Iowa athletics deficit during this pandemic-plagued year.

But downgrading the massive losses to between $40 million and $60 million will not save the four sports UI Athletics last month announced will disappear at the end of this academic year, UI Athletic Director Gary Barta told the Iowa Board of Regents on Wednesday.

Barta said the cuts will remain despite a fundraising and social media push by supporters of the four sports: swimming, diving, men’s tennis, and men’s gymnastics.

Iowa City’s Bo James bar is among six businesses cited for violating the Iowa governor’s Aug. 27 order closing bars in six Iowa counties.

Iowa’s Alcoholic Beverages Division announced the citations Wednesday. The establishments cited included two in Waterloo near the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Bo James is accused of failing to comply with the order by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds a day after she issued it. The order, in addition to closing bars, mandated social distancing in businesses like restaurants, requiring them to quit selling alcohol after 10 p.m.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Iowa are beginning to trend upward again. The number of patients rose from 285 to 301 within the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to data analyzed by The Gazette. The number of patients has increased by 30 in the past two days.

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This is Nathan Ford with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, Sept. 23.

It will be partly sunny today in Cedar Rapids with a high near 79, according to the National Weather Service.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/cedar-rapids-officials-signal-openness-to-lobbying-for-marijuana-law-change-20200922 (Cedar Rapids city officials signaled a willingness to lobby for legislative action reclassifying marijuana possession to a lesser misdemeanor) as a local Black Lives Matter group pushes for police and justice reforms. Police Chief Wayne Jerman, reporting to the City Council on the status of Advocates for Social Justice’s demands, said he favors lessening the charge of marijuana possession to a simple misdemeanor instead of a serious misdemeanor. This would permit violators be issued a citation instead of being taken into custody. However, Jerman said the Iowa Legislature is responsible for determining the category and severity of drug charges. While the advocates recognize the council doesn’t have the legal authority to decriminalize marijuana, their demand asks that officers write only citations for low-level offenses or let violators go completely.

The first day of testimony in Lucas Jones’ appeal of his firing from the Cedar Rapids Police Department https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/lucas-jones-begins-appeal-to-keep-his-cedar-rapids-police-job-20200922 (included video of a traffic stop he conducted just two days before a more infamous one that has been invoked in protests and a suit against the city). Video of that Oct. 30, 2016, traffic stop gave little clarity when shown at the hearing, but it plays a crucial role in the department’s case for ousting the officer. A former patrol sergeant, Jones was fired from the force on June 18 after officials said an investigation into that traffic stop revealed Jones violated policy when he switched off his body-worn microphone. The video, which was played for the Civil Service Commission, started with muffled, difficult-to-decipher audio that abruptly cut off during the interaction. Jones can be seen reaching into his left hip pocket before the audio cuts off, leading the department to suspect he had deliberately turned it off. His microphone wasn’t working two days later either, during a traffic stop of motorist Jerime Mitchell, who Jones shot and paralyzed in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2016.

The city’s long efforts to see a rebirth of the “Banjo Block,” a centrally located downtown property that has sat mostly vacant for years, https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/cedar-rapids-city-council-backs-plans-to-develop-banjo-block-20200922 (took a major step forward Tuesday when the Cedar Rapids City Council backed plans from an Indiana developer to build a five-story complex there). The council approved a term sheet for Indianapolis-based TWG Development to build a $51 million mixed-use facility on the block at Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street SE, which is adjacent to the Cedar Rapids Public Library and Greene Square. The block is dubbed “Banjo” for Banjo Refrigeration, a business that long operated there. The approximately 200,000 square-foot project would feature 244 apartments, primarily one- and two-bedroom units; 1,176 square feet of ground-level commercial space, 147 parking stalls and amenities including a pool, fitness center, bike shop, community room and rooftop patio. Construction is expected to begin March 1 and end March 31, 2023....

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This is Nathan Ford with the Gazette digital news desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, Sept. 22.

It will be mostly sunny today with a high near 81 in Cedar Rapids, according to the National Weather Service.

If U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell begins the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee to full a Supreme Court vacancy before the November election — as he has said he will do — https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/sen-chuck-grassley-ready-for-supreme-court-confirmation-process-20200921 (Sen. Chuck Grassley. R-Iowa, said Monday he will fulfill his “responsibility to evaluate the nominee on the merits, just as I always have.)” Grassley, who as Judiciary Committee chairman in 2016, incurred the wrath of Democrats when he refused to hold hearings on the-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. He cited the so-called Biden Rule that stemmed from a speech then-Sen. Joe Biden made in 1992 saying that the Senate should not fill a high court vacancy until after the presidential election. Grassley said earlier this year that’s still his position. However, in a statement Monday, Grassley said there are significant differences between the current situation and the 2016 vacancy.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/cedar-rapids-schools-first-day-derecho-coronavirus-20200921 (It was the first day of school in Cedar Rapids yesterday), about a month after the Cedar Rapids Community School District's original start date of Aug. 24. Classes were delayed after the Aug. 10 derecho damaged every school building in the Cedar Rapids system. The district received forgiveness of required instructional days from the Iowa Department of Education, and will maintain the last day of school this academic year as June 1, 2021. Like every other school district in the nation, Cedar Rapids is also coping with the coronavirus pandemic. Over 50 percent of Cedar Rapids students are enrolled in in-person learning, 26 percent are enrolled in temporary remote learning and almost 8 percent, or 1,000 students, chose the Cedar Rapids Virtual Academy. High school students will start the year online only. The district's high school buildings — Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington, as well as Taft Middle School — are under construction to repair damage caused by the derecho. The buildings are expected to be open for students by Jan. 4.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/covid-19-cases-among-young-people-and-education-workers-continue-to-rise-in-iowa-20200921 (COVID-19 cases among young people and those working in the education field continued to rise Monday), according to Iowa Department of Public Health data analyzed by The Gazette. As of 11 a.m. Monday, Iowa reported 90 new positive cases among young people age 17 and under, bringing the total number of infected children to 6,430. There were 78 new cases among people working in the education field for a total of 3,158 positive cases. As a whole, Iowa reported 649 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m., and one person died. The state's death toll is now 1,266.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/iowa-dci-id-black-man-body-burning-ditch-grinnell-20200921 (Grinnell College canceled classes Monday) in light of the death of Michael Williams, a 44-year old Black Grinnell man whose body was found last week in a burning ditch in rural central Iowa. Authorities were called around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday for a fire in a ditch near Kellogg. Officials responded and quickly extinguished the flames, then found...

This is John McGlothlen from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 21st.

It should prove to be a mostly sunny day today, with a high near 78. According to the National Weather Service, there will be 5 to 10 mph winds from the south, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 53.

As students head back to Iowa schools, the number of https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-covid-cases-school-children-education-20200920 (children age 17 and under who tested positive for COVID-19 has grown by 411) in the last three days, according to public health data released Sunday morning. The increase brings the statewide total for that age group to 6,380. While younger children appear to be less vulnerable to complications from the infection, public health officials have expressed concern they could spread the disease to people who are — such as teachers and older family members. The number of people in education as an occupation who have tested positive grew by 254 in same three days, for a total of 3,080. Iowa surpassed having 80,000 total COVID-19 cases in the last six months with the addition of 874 new cases in the 24-hour period that ended at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Iowa City police are seeking the public’s help to identify anyone involved in https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/iowa-city-police-woman-shot-20200920 (a shooting that injured a woman Sunday) morning. At about 9:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard near the 1100 block of Oakcrest Street, according to a news release. There they found a female victim with a gunshot wound. She was taken to a hospital for treatment. Police said there is no indication the public is at risk.

Local leaders spoke at a vigil Saturday to honor Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Dozens of community members attended the socially distanced vigil held behind the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids. See photos from the vigil at https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/photos-local-leaders-speak-at-a-vigil-for-supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-in-cedar-rapids-20200919 (thegazette.com)

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for the weekend of September 19th and September 20th.

The cool and sunny weather trend of the past week will carry on into the weekend. According to the National Weather Service, on Saturday there will be a high of 66 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with mostly sunny skies. The low on Saturday night will be 48 degrees with partly cloudy skies.

On Sunday it will be sunny, with a high near 73 degrees. It will be breezy Sunday, however, with wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph gusting as high as 25 mph.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday from complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 87 years old. A famed women's rights and civil liberty litigator before joining the supreme court in 1993, Ginsburg battled cancer while remaining an active supreme court judge and influential public figure since her first diagnosis in 1999.

Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley likely would be expected to vote in favor of a replacement for Ginsburg, should this person be considered this year while President Donald Trump can still make the nomination regardless of who wins in November. Grassley is on the record saying he would advise against bringing forth a nominee during this election year, but he also noted at the time that he no longer is at the head of the senate judiciary committee. That position is now held by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Grassley said he would abide by the decisions of Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Friday that Trump’s nominee would receive a vote on the senate floor.

Bars in Johnson and Story counties — home to Iowa’s two largest universities — must remain closed another two weeks to help address the continuing high number of new COVID-19 cases there, Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered Friday. Just days before her initial closure order was to expire at midnight Sunday, the governor ordered bars, breweries, nightclubs and similar establishments in the two counties around the University of Iowa and Iowa State University to remain shuttered until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 27.

Reynolds initially ordered bars to close in six counties where coronavirus cases were surging. They included the university communities of Iowa City, Ames and Cedar Falls where students were observed crowding bars just before fall classes started, showing little regard for social distancing and wearing masks except to get past bouncers at the doors. Reynolds lifted the closures for bars in the four other counties earlier this week.

The Iowa City Community School District will shift from online to a hybrid learning model that includes in-person instruction on Sept. 28. The district started classes online Sept. 8 after receiving a two-week waiver from in-person classes from the Iowa Department of Education.The waiver came because COVID-19 case numbers were climbing in Johnson County, mainly because of students returning to the University of Iowa. With the positivity rates dropping, the district has indicated a willingness to return to limited in-person instruction.

Two teens have been arrested in the shooting death of https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/cedar-rapids-shooting-victim-identified-malik-sheets-20200619 (20-year-old Malik Sheets, who was gunned down at a party in northeast Cedar Rapids) exactly three months ago. Christian D. Emedi, 17, and Marshawn L. Jefferies, 16, face charges of first-degree murder and obstructing prosecution, according to police. Emedi is at the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center on unrelated charges and was served with charges Friday in slaying of Sheets, police said. Jefferies was taken into custody in Davenport and transported to the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 18th.

Your Friday weather forecast will again be pleasant, although we are venturing into mildly chilly terrain. According to the National Weather Service, it will be mostly sunny in the Cedar Rapids area Friday with a high near 67 degrees. It will stay mostly clear for Friday night football, with a low perfect for football, at 44 degrees. Windspeeds will hover between 5 and 10 mph all day.

Four University of Iowa sororities have been sanctioned for violating COVID-19 student agreements. These infractions can include failing to cover faces and socially distance during gatherings. The university is requiring the groups to publicly apologize, raise coronavirus awareness, and host protective-equipment drives.

Additionally, two UI fraternities are being investigated for COVID-19 infractions.

The sorority violations involved events during “https://fsl.uiowa.edu/join/how-to-join-fraternities-5/ (primary recruitment)” — which occurred over the Sept. 4-7 and Sept. 11-13 weekends and were supposed to “all take place virtually in order to ensure the health and safety of all members,” according to the UI Panhellenic Council website.

Iowa City Manager Geoff Fruin is recommending the city hire Lt. Dustin Liston, currently with the El Paso (Texas) Police Department, to lead the department as Iowa City’s next police chief through what will likely be a period of change.

Fruin noted that Liston, who once interned at the Iowa City Police Department, hails from a city in El Paso that boasts both diversity and a vibrant college community, with El Paso Community College, the University of Texas El Paso, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Fruin said this mix along with Liston’s other work experience lead him to believe Liston could help Iowa City transition to a community policing model in an increasingly diverse city.

Coralville is getting its first professional hockey team.

An announcement was made Thursday afternoon that an agreement has been made to bring a club in the minor league ECHL to the new Xtream Arena. The expansion team hopes to begin play in the 2021-22 season.

The newly minted Xtream Arena will seat 5,100 fans for hockey and 6,600 for concerts. The owner of the expansion club is Deacon Sports and Entertainment of Canada, which already owns the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL.

Also coming to the Corridor? More medical marijuana.

A state licensed medical marijuana dispensary may open in Iowa City, which would be the first in the Corridor. The Iowa Department of Public Health announced Thursday it plans to award two new medical marijuana dispensary licenses — one to the Iowa Cannabis Company East in Iowa City and one to the Cannabis Patient Network in Council Bluffs.

The firms have until Friday to accept. Otherwise, the state could choose among five other applications — including two for Cedar Rapids and two others for the Iowa City area — that met the state’s minimum criteria.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 17th.

There is some pleasant weather coming up for your Thursday. According to the National Weather Service, it will be sunny with a high near 71 degrees. Wind speed will stay between 5 and 10 mph. The low temperature will be near 50 degrees.

There was some potentially bad news for Eastern Iowa employment late Wednesday night. With the COVID-19 pandemic deeply cutting into commercial aerospace business for the past six months, Raytheon Technologies, parent company of Collins Aerospace, intends to cut more than 15,000 jobs. This cut is set to include 12 percent of Collins Aerospace’s costs. Greg Hayes, the CEO of Raytheon, made the announcement at an investors meeting Wednesday, specifically noting there would be cuts at Collins.

Although the number of actual jobs in Eastern Iowa that would be affected by these latest cuts were not available on Wednesday, Collins Aerospace has about 10,000 employees in Iowa, based in Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Decorah, Bellevue and Manchester.

The Big Ten has reversed its decision on having no football this fall.

After previously canceling the season due to COVID-19 concerns, the Big Ten will resume football with games beginning Oct. 24. The league doesn’t have a schedule to unveil yet, but during a Zoom video conference call Wednesday, University of Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez said there will be eight games with a ninth coming at the end of the season with a seeded schedule of games between the Big Ten West and East Divisions.

The schedule will have two crossover games between East-West teams and will be determined later this week. The Big Ten has decided no public sale of tickets, but is looking into how to accommodate players’ families for home and away games.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signaled Wednesday her administration will try taking a more-targeted enforcement approach in dealing with “bad-actor” businesses that violate COVID-19 restrictions rather than taking countywide, shotgun action to shut down bars, taverns and other establishments. She said on Wednesday as restrictions closing bars in 4 of 6 counties were lifted.

On Tuesday, Reynolds issued a revised emergency order that keeps bars around the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Iowa State University in Ames closed until at least Sunday, but allowed those around Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Des Moines to reopen at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Iowa City Police Department is investigating the deaths of two people in southeast Iowa City.

Officers found two bodies — a man and a woman — inside a home in the 100 block of Aniston Street around 8:35 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Authorities said the deaths of the two people — who were not identified — are considered suspicious and are being investigated. No further information on the incident was released on Wednesday.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for September 16th.

Your Wednesday weather forecast is boring in the best possible way. According to the National Weather Service it should be mostly sunny in the Cedar Rapids area with a high of 82 degrees. The wind speed will hover between 5 and 10 mph.

Bars around the University of Iowa and Iowa State University must remain closed for now, but those around Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Des Moines are free to reopen Wednesday evening, Gov. Kim Reynolds declared Tuesday.

The governor revised https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/iowa-coronavirus-bars-closed-gov-kim-reynolds-covid-19-johnson-linn-story-county-20200827 (an order she issued Aug. 27) that closed bars and other similar establishments in six Iowa counties that in late August saw alarming spikes in new COVID-19 cases as college students returned to campuses for fall. Cases in Iowa, while still high for the state’s per capita rate, have been declining since then.

Reynolds’ order initially required bars in six counties to close until this Sunday. But her revision allows bars in Black Hawk, Dallas, Linn and Polk counties to reopen earlier than that, starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Bars in Johnson County and Story County — home to the UI and ISU, respectively — must stay closed through Sunday unless Reynolds changes her order.

The Iowa City Community School District is considering returning to the hybrid learning model Sept. 28, after three weeks of online instruction as cases of the coronavirus trend down in Johnson County.

The district received a second two-week waiver for online instruction last week from the Iowa Department of Education. At the time the district received the waiver, the 14-day positivity rate for Johnson County was above 15 percent. On Tuesday, the positivity rate was 13.45 percent.

The district is anticipating the 14-day positivity rate will drop below 10 percent by Friday, and at that point feel safe returning to hybrid learning of 50 percent in-person and 50 percent online. The decision will be officially announced to families Friday.

About 700 ImOn customers and hundreds of Mediacom customers are still without internet or landline service in the Cedar Rapids area more than four weeks after the Aug. 10 derecho smashed through Iowa. The companies had to wait for a massive amount of trees to be cleared and power lines rebuilt before they could fix their own lines, and they are now returning service by going to individual houses.

There are persistent whispers that Big Ten Football might return this fall. https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2020/09/15/big-ten-football-announcement-expected-tuesday/5799010002/ (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) reported Tuesday afternoon that a proposal has been approved for football this fall. The Journal Sentinel reported that the latest proposal to the Big Ten’s Council of Presidents and Chancellors included an Oct. 17 start with eight games in a nine-week window. As of Tuesday night, however, no official word had come from the Big Ten on players returning to the field after the decision was made to postpone the season due to the possibility of lingering health risks associated with COVID-19.