The Gazette Daily News Podcast

The Gazette Daily News Podcast

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The Gazette Daily News Podcast episodes

  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 24
    This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, June 24th.
    The weather should be pretty nice Wednesday, with a chance for rain throughout the day. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high of 79 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Wednesday. There will be a 30 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2:00 p.m., and then a 20 percent chance in the early morning hours on Thursday. Otherwise, it should be mostly sunny, with a light wind growing calmer throughout the day.
    Recent heavy rain has caused some Eastern Iowa cities to prep for some minor flooding. In Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River is predicted to crest at 16.3 feet sometime Thursday night, which puts it just above moderate flood stage. The city is already engaging flood mitigation efforts, such as closing roads, parks, and trails in low lying areas and plugging storm sewers in these areas as well.
    Iowa’s deaths from the coronavirus continue to approach a plateau near 700 deaths, as the total number of casualties reached 689 from disease on Wednesday. While death totals are hovering close to zero every day, Johnson County has had a recent spike in cases, reporting double digits in new cases for each of the last 7 days for only the second time. This spike has resulted in 147 new cases in the county so far.
    Although day to day life in Iowa is returning to something more approaching normalcy, the after effects of COVID-19 at its peak in the state are still being felt. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, for example, has projected itself to be short $120 million from its expected revenue through this point in the year due to the costs of dealing with the virus as well as the ordered delay of medical procedures. After about 4,000 University of Iowa Health Care https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/university-of-iowa-hospital-staff-fights-pay-cuts-20200612 (workers rejected an administrative request) that they surrender a negotiated pay raise of 2.1 percent for the upcoming year to help UIHC absorb tens of millions in COVID-19 losses, administrators have proposed alternate options that, for now, avoid layoffs.
    According to the new proposal, most UIHC staffers would still get the raise, but must take unpaid time off or give back vacation hours to help fill the financial gap. UIHC also is enacting a 60- to 90-day hiring freeze starting July 1. That will affect between 200 and 400 open positions that won’t be posted.
    Despite the economic uncertainty wrought by the coronavirus, the Cedar Rapids City Council on Tuesday night voted in favor of moving forward on a proposal to develop an 8-acre plot of land at the intersection of First Street and First Avenue W. The nearly $100 million proposal from development group 1st and 1st LLC would turn a plot of city owned land into an entertainment destination featuring a brewery and movie theaters. The plot had been reserved for a possible casino before Cedar Rapids was turned down for a casino license, multiple times, by Iowa’s Racing and Gaming Commission.
    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).
    4 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 23
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
    Today’s going to start out mostly sunny with a high of 76, but this afternoon expect more clouds with a 20% chance of rain and thunderstorms through the evening. You can basically copy and paste that forecast for tomorrow, too.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 26,047 total cases and with only 1 new death yesterday, the total deaths attributed to coronavirus stands at 686.
    Coronavirus has had a significant impact on the way Iowans are working, and whether or not they’ll return to a normal office environment. As many companies have accommodated remote working throughout the pandemic, the model has proven effective enough for some to consider it for a longer term, or create more flexible hours in general. The Gazette spoke with the CEO of Iowa City’s ACT, a Cedar Rapids City Council member, the COO of Transamerica, and more as a part of a piece for Iowa Ideas series. For their full insights, find the full article at https://www.thegazette.com/iowaideas/stories.
    You can also find the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Drew Wagner faces up to 37 years for his involvement in the death of Chris Bagley. Wagner, pleaded to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter, assault while participating in a felony, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, abuse of a corpse and obstruction of prosecution after he started a fight with Chris Bagley for robbing their drug dealer and then held Bagley down while another man repeatedly stabbed him to death. Wagner initially was charged with first-degree murder, which is a life sentence without possibility of parole. He now faces up to 37 years in prison.
    Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival isn’t happening as normal this year, but there are a number of socially distanced events planned! The annual hunt is on for the elusive medallion, hidden somewhere in the Cedar Rapids metro area. The finder will be the keeper of a $500 Hy-Vee gift card. A new clue will be revealed daily beginning today (Monday) on the Freedom Festival’s website and Facebook page, as well as during the KCRG-TV newscasts.Freedom Festival flapjacks, a Facebook live concert, and more are also in the works. Find out more at FreedomFestival.com or the CRFreedomFestival Facebook page.
    The Gazette Daily news updates are brought to you in part by Corridor Careers. "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 22
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, June 22, 2020.
    Today’s weather will be cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms and a high near 79. The wet weather will continue into the evening as the temperature drops to 60. Tomorrow should see the clouds part and we’ll get some sun and a high of 77. We’ll have a couple more days of sun, but next weekend looks to be rainy with a chance of thunderstorms again.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 24,737 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 685 total.
    We give an update on coronavirus numbers every day, but what numbers actually matter and what should you pay attention to? On Saturday, we published a guide to Iowa’s coronavirus numbers on TheGazette.com. If you want the full details, check out the full article, titled What Iowa coronavirus numbers should you watch? When it comes to 7 day averages for both deaths and new hospitalizations are both trending downward and are at the lowest they’ve been since April
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Hy-Vee recalls bagged salad. grocery chain has issued a recall of its 12-ounce Hy-Vee Bagged Garden Salad from all its stores because it may be contaminated with Cyclospora. There are no known reports of illness at this time, but customers should discard the product or return it to the store for a full refund.
    94-year-old Iowa World War II combat medic finally gets his Purple Heart. Surrounded by 100 or so of his friends and family, John Gualtier, a World War II combat medic, was honored in Vinton on Saturday, June 20 — a day that from now on will be known as John Gualtier Day, thanks to a proclamation signed by Vinton Mayor Bud Maynar.
    Gualtier’s initial application for the Purple Heart was turned down due to the lack of reporting of his treatments. Members of the VFW and the American Legion in Vinton pushed for Gualtier to be recognized.
    The Gazette Daily news updates are brought to you in part by Corridor Careers. "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 20 and 21
    Expect thunderstorms on Saturday, with a slight reprieve Sunday. According to the National Weather Service, there will be showers and thunderstorms periodically on Saturday, with some heavy rain possible. Sunday will be mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers after 1 p.m., and a 50 percent chance of showers overnight. The highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s Saturday, and in the mid 80s Sunday. Saturday's and Sunday's lows are in the 60s.
    And don't forget, Sunday is Father's Day.
    The Cedar Rapids City Council has unanimously backed a resolution https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/police-reform-cedar-rapids-city-council-black-lives-matter-movement-20200619 (supporting the seven demands for police reform) advanced by local Black Lives Matter protest leaders.
    After two weeks of talks between organizers and city officials, the council moved Friday to formally declare its support for the Cedar Rapids Advocates for Social Justice group’s priorities calling for reform, including forming an independent police citizen’s review board, significantly investing in diversity, equity and inclusion, and banning chokeholds.
    Other points urge the city to decriminalize minor marijuana crimes, impose strict body camera provisions, make negotiations between law enforcement and municipal representatives public and abolish qualified immunity for police officers.
    The council's decision came just hours before protesters peacefully marched on City Hall commemorating Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S.
    Cedar Rapids Sgt. Lucas Jones is speaking out after being fired by the police department on Thursday.https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/lucas-jones-fired-cedar-rapids-police-officer-jerime-mitchell-20200619 ( Jones spoke with The Gazette in an interview Friday), saying he was “completely shocked” when he learned he was no longer employed with the police department. He said he plans to appeal his termination.
    Jones’ ouster has been called for by racial justice protest organizers over a 2016 shooting during a traffic stop that left Black motorist Jerime Mitchell of Cedar Rapids mostly paralyzed. A Linn County grand jury declined to file any charges in the Mitchell case.
    In announcing https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/cedar-rapids-police-sgt-lucas-jones-administrative-leave-jerime-mitchell-20200618 (Jones’ firing Thursday), the police department said he was fired “for violating rules and policies” but gave no details.
    Jones told The Gazette on Friday that in May, he was given a “notice of allegation” that accused him of lying during an investigation — though there were no specifics about what the incident was, he said. Jones said he took it upon himself to prove he had not lied in any investigations, taking and passing multiple polygraph tests, he said.
    Jones said he believes Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman gave into pressure from city officials.
    Jones said he plans to appeal his termination and he ultimately hopes to be able to return to law enforcement.
    A leader of Iowa City’s Black Lives Matter movement arrested on misdemeanor and felony charges tied to protests and vandalism https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/mazin-mohamedali-iowa-city-black-lives-matter-protest-arrest-iowa-freedom-riders-20200619 (has reached a plea deal that drops most of the charges).
    Johnson County has agreed to drop five of the six charges against Mazin Mohamedali in exchange for a guilty plea to a single simple misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, according to his attorney.
    The deal drops a https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/mazin-mohamedali-university-iowa-city-police-old-capitol-fence-spray-paint-20200609 (felony charge UI police filed) against Mohamedali for destroying a $5,000, 8-foot-tall fence protecting the campus’ Old Capitol Museum on June 7.
    Mohamedali remains in the Marshall County Jail on an...
    4 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 19
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, June 19, 2020.
    Today’s weather will be cloudy, with a high near 83, with thunderstorms likely after 1pm. Hopefully you enjoyed the sunny streak because the chance of rain and thunderstorms are expected tol continue through almost all of next week.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 24,737 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 677 total.
    Iowa receives more than 160,000 new, continuing unemployment claims. 9,516 new unemployment claims filed between June 7 and 13, many of which are due to coronavirus.. Those are in addition to the 154,752 continuing unemployment claims, bringing the total people unemployed in the state to more than 160,000, Iowa Workforce Development reported Thursday. The claims resulted in about $38 million paid out in standard unemployment insurance. Iowans have received well over $1 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits since the coronavirus appeared in Iowa in mid-March.
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Cedar Rapids patrol Sgt. fired over violating policies. Sgt. Lucas Jones’ name has come up repeatedly recently as thousands of people in Cedar Rapids protested the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. Among a list of police reform demands made by local protesters was firing Jones from the force. According to a statement, Jones had been on administrative leave from the department since May 4, weeks before his name became a galvanizing theme in large protests this month in Cedar Rapids. Police said the administrative investigation that led to his termination actually began in February.
    Collins Aerospace develops process to convert passenger jets to cargo jets. The same plane taken for a vacation to Disney World soon could be reconfigured to hold medical supplies. With the demand for passenger jets remaining low during the coronavirus pandemic, Collins Aerospace has developed a way to turn passenger jets into cargo planes in seven days, and the process works for any passenger plane.
    "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 18
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, June 18, 2020.
    Today’s weather might be the last sunny day for a while, with a high of 85. Tonight, after 1am, there’s a 50% chance of thunderstorms, and it’ll stay that way through the weekend.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 24,379 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 671 total.
    Iowa has virus cases other than coronavirus, although maybe not in as big of numbers. The first case of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus for 2020 was reported in Polk County yesterday, as well as the first-ever case of the Heartland virus thought to be transmitted by a tick reported in Appanoose County.
    University of Iowa will move to virtual instruction after Thanksgiving. Although the University of Iowa is planning to follow its current academic calendar — ending the fall semester Dec. 18 — it will move to online-only instruction after Thanksgiving break, delivering final exams remotely. Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa recently unveiled similar return-to-campus plans — although both those schools are ending the semester the day before Thanksgiving.
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Survey says the number one problem in Cedar Rapids is street repairs.Street repairs ranked above public safety, flood control, and taxes and job creation in the 2020 National Community Survey, with 33 percent of a sample of 744 Cedar Rapids residents identifying roads as their No. 1 issue facing the city.
    The issue consistently has risen to the top of the list across three iterations of the survey, which was first administered in 2016 — two years after the city’s voter-approved penny sales tax-funded Paving for Progress program began to put about $18 million per year toward street reconstruction and maintenance.
    Change is coming to the Iowa City Police Department. Officers responded to more than 77,000 calls for service in 2019. City Manager Geoff Fruin urged the council to take a “deep dive” into the department’s calls for service to determine which could best be split off for a non-police response. Some solutions may include sending unarmed professionals to certain emergency calls if sending armed police isn’t warranted or makes the residents feel unsafe. Marion is also making police reforms, most notably implementing a number of restrictions on use of force.
    "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    4 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 17
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
    Today’s weather may sound familiar. A sunny day with a high of 87, and tonight it’ll cool to about 64. Tomorrow’s the same, but after that, there’ll be a chance of thunderstorms through the weekend.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 24,168 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 661 total.
    The rate of positive test results is the lowest we’ve seen since March 22, and hospitalizations remain the lowest we’ve seen since April.
    Solon Beef Days is canceled, but there’s still a ‘'surprise' in store. No more information is available yet, but events last year included a 5k run, sports tournaments, a parade, free music, and a hay bale throwing competition. According to its website, the festival raises funds for local nonprofit groups, and has donated more than $385,000 to local causes, including community projects and scholarships.
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Governor Kim Reynolds says she will sign an executive order to restore voting rights to felons before the November election. Reynolds suggested her executive order may be different from one signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2005, which restored voting rights to an estimated 50,000 felons.
    That order was reversed when Reynolds’s Republican predecessor, Terry Branstad, returned to office and turned back Vilsack’s action with his own order in 2011. Branstad’s order once again required felons to petition the governor for permission get voting rights back.
    Iowa is the only state in the nation that automatically denies felons the right to vote.
    Lawyers want Mollie Tibbetts murder trial moved to 2021 because of coronavirus. The prosecution and defense filed a joint motion Monday, asking to move the trial for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, to Jan. 26, 2021.
    University of Iowa Children's Hospital again ranked nationally. US News and World Report ranked Iowa among the top 50 in six of 10 specialties in 2019, but this year they fell out of the top 50 in pediatric cancer and urology. Neonatology fell from 16th to 32th, Pediatric orthopedics dropped from 29th to 37th, Pediatric diabetes and endocrinology slipped from 21st to 38th, and Pediatric nephrology dipped from 39th to 49th. They also gained a new ranking for pediatric neurology and neurosurgery, coming in at 49th.
    "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 16
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
    Today will be sunny, with a high near 86, and it will cool off to around 62 tonight. Tomorrow will also be sunny with a high of 87.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 24,046 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 653 total.
    The number of people hospitalized in Iowa is dropping again, as the total comes back down under 200 to 197, the lowest it’s been since April 17th.
    The University of Iowa hospitals now running coronavirus antibody tests to determine who’s already been infected and recovered, carrying an immunity. The process is fully-automated, giving the campus the ability to run at least 300 samples a day. UIHC is using two different commercially available platforms, and all positive tests on one platform will also be tested on the other to minimize false positives.
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Iowa's public universities take $8 million hit from Iowa Legislature. Compounding the unprecedented financial woes Iowa’s public universities are facing in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers adjourning their 2020 session over the weekend cut $8 million from the Board of Regents.
    That means the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa not only won’t get an $18 million boost they requested last fall for the 2021 budget year starting July 1, but the board will have $8 million less going forward than the $620.3 million in appropriations it got this year.
    Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Iowa on Today, lunching with Gov. Kim Reynolds and then touring Winnebago Industries in Forest City. While at Winnebago, which is best known as a manufacturer of recreational vehicles, the vice president will deliver remarks to employees.
    Pence is scheduled to return to Washington in the evening.
    "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 15
    This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, June 15, 2020.
    Today has a chance of rain in the morning, but this afternoon will see sun with a high of 80 before cooling off to around 60 tonight.
    The rest of the week should see mostly clear skies and temperatures in the high 80s, but Friday and into the weekend could see some thunderstorms.
    The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose over the weekend to 23,904 total cases and the deaths attributed to coronavirus rose to 651 total.
    Yesterday saw the first day with only one death attributed to coronavirus since April 18th. After 2 weeks of declining hospitalizations due to coronavirus, the number increased again, but the trend is still encouraging.
    Of those to be recently diagnosed, 10 were Iowa State athletes, including 2 football players. Iowa State said “none of those student-athletes were participating in team activities at the time they were exposed to COVID-19. Since that time, all football team members returning to campus have been tested. Of the 147 players and staff tested, only two of the returning players have tested positive for COVID-19.
    You can find all this and the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.
    Iowa 2020 legislative session with a $7.8 billion fiscal 2021 budget — $26.6 million more than the current budget, but status quo for many areas of state government.
    Senators also approved a 24 hour waiting period on abortions, protections for businesses and health care providers, and shielded Iowans’ federal stimulus checks and business breaks that Iowans received to help weather effects of the coronavirus pandemic from state taxation.
    Protests continued across Iowa this weekend supporting Black Lives Matter and opposing police brutality. Cedar Rapids officials announced Friday that there will be a citizens review board to give oversight on police conduct. Details on the board aren’t yet available, but it appears to be the first of many steps as conversations are ongoing
    "Are you looking for a job? 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 CorridorCareers.com."
    That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"
    3 min
  • Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 13 and June 14
    This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for the weekend of June 13 and June 14.
    Your weekend weather will begin with a small chance for rain. According to the National Weather Service, cloudy skies in the morning should give way to partly sunny skies with a high near 75 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. There is a 20 percent chance of rain listed all day, although any showers that occur are not predicted to be significant. There will be a low of 54 Saturday night with partly cloudy skies. Sunday will be similar to Saturday, but will exchange a small chance for rain for a bit more wind, with a 10-15 wind sometimes gusting as high as 25 mph. The high is expected to be 76 degrees Sunday, with a low of around 59 degrees.
    Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said it will go down as one of the finest hours of the Iowa Legislature. As members of Black Lives Matter and the Iowa House’s black delegation raised fists to the sky behind her, Reynolds signed bipartisan legislation instituting reforms to the state’s policing. Provisions in the police reform law include a ban on the use of choke holds with some exceptions; requirements for de-escalation and bias training; a prohibition on hiring officers who have been fired for misconduct or using excessive force elsewhere; and clearance for the Iowa Attorney General to investigate cases when an officer’s actions result in an individual’s death — even if a local county attorney chooses not to pursue charges.
    The new law is a direct result of the backlash and protests that have erupted nationwide since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black Minnesota man killed as a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while three other officers watched.
    The bill was introduced midweek and was passed Thursday with not only rare bipartisan support, but it was rare unanimous support in both chambers of government. Advocates for racial justice on the scene cheered the progress, but cited more improvements they would like to see made in the state, including the restoration of voting rights for felons who have completed their sentence, anti-racial profiling measures for law enforcement and the decriminalization of marijuana.
    The University of Iowa announced Friday that it will not https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/iowa-state-to-start-fall-semester-early-end-before-thanksgiving-20200610 (follow the lead of its fellow regent schools) by moving up its fall semester and ending it early — instead sticking with the original UI academic calendar. Earlier in the week, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa unveiled plans to start their fall semesters Aug. 17 and complete them the day before Thanksgiving to reduce student exposure to the coronavirus during potential peak times. UI officials on Friday promised to share more details of their policies and recommendations for limiting COVID-19 exposure on campus next Wednesday, followed by a series of forums allowing community members to ask questions.
    Iowa reached 650 deaths from the disease so far by the end of the day Friday. Despite more testing positive for the disease, hospitalizations have been dropping for the past two weeks.
    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).
    Have a good weekend everyone.
    4 min

About The Gazette Daily News Podcast

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A bite-sized dose of weather, local news and national news from The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. You can also subscribe via your Amazon Alexa by saying "Alexa, enable the Gazette Daily News skill,"…

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