The Gazette Daily News Podcast

This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, April 27th.

Today could see some rain with a chance of thunderstorms in the morning, but this afternoon the sun should peek through the clouds and the temperature will be around 73. Tonight’s low is 52.

A couple days of rain, then the sun should come out for the rest of the week as temperatures climb into the 70s over the weekend.

Saturday saw a record high for new coronavirus cases as testing continues to expand, and yesterday added another 384 cases. Bringing the total for Iowa to 5,476 positive tests in 85 of Iowa’s 99 counties with 118 coronavirus deaths.

Despite the spike in cases, Governor Kim Reynolds’ shut down orders are set to expire on Thursday, and they aren’t likely to be renewed in full. Almost half of all of Iowa’s cases are in 4 Eastern or Central Iowa counties, and Reynolds says those hot spots aren’t likely to be at the front end of her plan to open the state back up, but other counties will begin to see restrictions easing.

The key areas of change to start with are elective medical procedures will be opened back up, and farmers markets will be exempt from the state’s crowd gathering restrictions.

Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown tested for COVID-19. Two residents — one Friday and one Saturday — tested positive and 70 tested negative, Commandant Timon Oujiri wrote in an email Saturday. Both have been transferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Des Moines where there is an infectious disease team.

For all our coronavirus coverage, you can find our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.

The NFL draft took place online this weekend, and 5 Hawkeyes are headed to the NFL.

1 13 Tristan Wirfs T Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2 54 A.J. Epenesa DE Buffalo Bills

3 77 Michael Ojemudia CB Denver Broncos

7 219 Geno Stone SAF Baltimore Ravens

7 244 Nate Stanley QB Minnesota Vikings

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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?"

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for the weekend of April 25th and April 26th.

It’s the weekend! Actually, some of you are working today, as am I. But it’s all about celebrating the little victories these days.

For your weekend forecast, it will be a bit cool, but there should be some respite from the rain that will return Monday and Tuesday. So try to enjoy those outdoor activities you have in mind. According to the National Weather Service, Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area should be cloudy with a high near 60 degrees, with a northeast wind of 10 to 15 mph. It will then become gradually more clear Saturday night with the wind dying down to 5 mph. Sunday will pick up where Saturday left off, with a high near 64 degrees, sunny skies, and calm winds.

On a day https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=48376andename=Iowaandlang=en (Iowa) reported its highest tally yet of new https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=127576andename=coronavirusandlang=en (coronavirus) cases and deaths, Gov. https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=911558153andename=Kim%20Reynoldsandlang=en (Kim Reynolds) on Friday announced the first steps in her plan to reopen businesses and amenities. Iowa saw 521 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday and 11 more deaths from the disease. This bring’s the state’s totals to 4,445 with the disease and 107 deaths. The state expects the number to worsen in the days ahead, perhaps only to lessen after its currently predicted peak in mid-May.

Despite these grim numbers, Reynolds announced she was loosening some restrictions.

While her orders closing down many businesses and limiting gatherings are in effect until at least next Thursday, she ordered changes starting Monday that loosen restrictions on elective surgeries and summer farmer markets — still with many caveats enforcing social distancing.

Reynolds said she is basing much of this initial reopening on the fact that many counties in Iowa are sparsely populated and have had few to no cases reported of the disease. She said this, along with increased testing, could allow for a phased in, regional reopening of the state.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics announced Friday that it would be ready to meet the state’s requirements in order to restart elective surgeries. This includes having the necessary protective equipment and putting restrictions in place to limit the spread of COVID-19.

A pair of Iowa Hawkeyes have joined Tristan Wirfs in learning their NFL destinations. After a disappointing night where he dropped out of the first round Thursday, A.J. Epenesa was picked by the Buffalo Bills with the #54 draft in the second round Friday. Iowa defensive back Michael Ojemudia was picked not too long after, at #77, by the Denver Broncos.

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 Friday, April 24.

It was a long week, but you made it to Friday! Have a cookie.Now that I think of it, have some ice cream, too.

Showers are likely before 10:00 a.m. this morning in the Cedar Rapids area, according to the National Weather Service. It should be cloudy during the day with a windspeed of 10 mph. Then there will be a chance of some light rain again Friday night. The weekend is looking sunny and mild, with some chance for high winds Saturday.

From ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ to “Hey Governor, have you heard about this coronavirus testing?” Iowa native Ashton Kutcher has come a long way.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday that the state’s $26 million contract with Utah companies to increase coronavirus testing was developed after she got unsolicited advice from Kutcher. Reynolds had been talking to Kutcher to ask him to do a public service announcement related to the pandemic, when Kutcher mentioned he had a friend involved in the Utah testing effort launched this month and wanted to know if there would be any interest from Iowa. A spokesperson for Kutcher clarified that his venture capital firm, A-Grade Investments, has no financial interest in the companies.

Gov. Reynolds said Thursday at her daily press conference that she would like to open the state back up for business “sooner rather than later” and increased testing could allow some of Iowa’s sparsely populated counties who have few to no COVID-19 cases to ease their way back into a sense of normalcy. Most businesses in the state have been hindered either somewhat or totally in the past month after they closed in an effort to slow the spread of the virus that travels via respiratory droplets. As usual, Reynolds would not give an exact timeline for when this reopening would take place.

As of Thursday, there were 3,924 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, and 93 deaths from the disease. Another telling statistic that was released Thursday was updated unemployment claims. In Iowa, nearly 233,000 jobless benefit claims have been filed over the past five weeks.

Who knows what the NFL season is going to look like at this point, but we now know where a very large Iowa Hawkeye is going to play in it. Star tackle Tristan Wirfs could be blocking for Tom Brady as he was selected with the #13 pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the prestigious first round of the NFL Draft.

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, April 23.

Your Thursday looks to be a sunny, calm day. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high of 66 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area, with wind speeds of 5 to 10 mph. There is a small chance it could rain some, but only in the very early morning hours Thursday into Friday.

A decision Wednesday by https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=2278319972andename=Tyson%20Fresh%20Meatsandlang=en (Tyson Fresh Meats) to idle its largest pork processing facility in Waterloo, after days of blistering criticism it was jeopardizing workers due to exposure to Covid-19, has huge ramifications for Iowa’s multibillion dollar pork industry. The company said its 2,800 employees will be invited to come to the plant later for COVID-19 testing. Workers will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed.

The plant usually slaughters about 20,000 hogs a day, about 4 percent of the nation’s pork processing capacity. Tyson Fresh Meats is just the latest plant to have its production halted by outbreaks of the coronavirus.

https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=48376andename=Iowaandlang=en (Iowa)’s bars and restaurants are taking a massive economic hit from mandated closures attempting to halt the spread of COVID-19, a new study finds — to the tune of some $310 million in April alone. Ninety-five percent of restaurant operators report their total dollar sales volume is down from this time last year, according to the https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=2656209385andename=Iowa%20Restaurant%20Associationandlang=en (Iowa Restaurant Association). The study found 87 percent of Iowa’s bars and restaurants have laid off, furloughed or terminated jobs for employees in the past 30 days.

Although she did not establish a timeline, Gov. https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=911558153andename=Kim%20Reynoldsandlang=en (Kim Reynolds) said Wednesday her administration is crunching the numbers on the coronavirus’ impact in https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=48376andename=Iowaandlang=en (Iowa) to determine when temporarily closed businesses could reopen in portions of the state.

One day after she announced a project to exponentially expand testing statewide, Reynolds said some areas of the state have had fewer confirmed cases of the virus and indicated her orders requiring mitigation efforts like temporarily closing businesses could be relaxed in those areas. As of Wednesday there were 3,748 confirmed cases of the disease in the state, and 90 deaths from it so far.

Police say a https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/man-dead-after-overnight-shooting-in-nw-cedar-rapids-20200422 (16-year-old boy was fatally shot) early Wednesday in northwest Cedar Rapids.

Officers found the teen, later identified as Judeah https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=82161andename=Dawsonandlang=en (Dawson), when they were called to the 200 block of 15th Street NW at 12:25 a.m. Dawson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No arrests have been made.

Dawson’s death marks the fourth homicide this year in Cedar Rapids.

This briefing is sponsored 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.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, April 22.

Rain and warmer temperatures will greet you Wednesday in the Cedar Rapids area. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a chance of showers during the day, with thunderstorms possible after 1:00 p.m. When it’s not raining, it should be partly sunny with a high of 73 and wind speeds of 5 to 10 mph for much of the day. It will also sometimes gust up to 25 mph, so expect the unexpected. Then Wednesday night should bring a chance of more rain, with more isolated showers possible overnight.

It may only be Spring, but the coronavirus is already leading to a spate of summer cancellations. Organizers announced on Tuesday that after 36 years of celebrating the 4th of July in Cedar Rapids, the Freedom Festival has been called off due to https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=127576andename=coronavirusandlang=en (coronavirus) uncertainty and in order to follow social-distancing guidelines. Assuming life has returned back to normal by then, the Freedom Festival is expected to resume June 17 through July 4 of 2021.

Gov. Kim Reynolds launched an aggressive public-private partnership Tuesday designed to ramp up the number of coronavirus tests statewide that could enable Iowa to more safely reopen many businesses and services in the future. The governor said the state is using federal money dedicated to combating COVID-19 to implement a testing program, now being implemented in Utah, that will allow health officials to test up to 3,000 Iowans a day — or 540,000 over the next six months — to detect and slow the spread. The contract carries a $26 million price tag, but the tests will be at no cost to Iowans according to the state.

As of Tuesday, 3,641 cases had been confirmed in the state, with 83 deaths from the disease so far.

Early voting begins Thursday for the June 2 primary election, and state and county election officials are encouraging Iowans to vote from home to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

“Casting an absentee ballot from home is the best method during this pandemic,” Republican Secretary of State https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=2600805532andename=Paul%20Pateandlang=en (Paul Pate) said.

To that end, Pate’s office is mailing nearly 2 million absentee ballot request forms to active registered voters. As of Monday, there were 1,994,576 active voters — 639,315 Democrats, 627,639 Republicans and 727,622 not affiliated with either party.

You must belong to a party to vote in the June 2 primary. Democrats are vying to decide who will battle Republican Senator Joni Ernst for her seat, while Republicans are hoping to pick up some U.S. congressional seats after several defeats in the wave of 2018

This briefing is sponsored 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.