Show summary: COVID-19 hits Iowa's nursing homes with a vengeance, former Go Cedar Rapids financial director pleads to fraud charge for role in newbo evolve, and a Supreme Court Justice indicates his imminent retirement.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at http://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

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

The temperatures are on their way back above 10 degrees. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, it will be sunny in the Cedar Rapids area with a high near 11 degrees. Wind chill values drop as low as -25 degrees with gusts as high as 20 mphl. On Wednesday night it will be partly cloudy, with the temperature rising to 19 degrees by Thursday morning. The wind chill will finally give us a bit of a break, rising to -5 degrees.

A federal appeals panel Tuesday allowed the state of Iowa to enforce a law that prevents local schools from imposing mask mandates — but not for schools attended by students whose disabilities make them more vulnerable to severe illness if they get COVID-19.

The appeals panel found that a mask requirement is a “reasonable accommodation” for students with such disabilities, and allowed a group of parents of disabled children to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to strike down the May 2021 state law.

Two members of a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Omaha found a previous federal judge's decision to issue an injunction that blocked the state ban on mask mandates was too broad because it applied to all schools statewide.

The split nature of the ruling has led to school districts interpreting it in vastly different ways. The Cedar Rapids School District, for example, decided Tuesday to no longer require masking but to encourage it. The Iowa City School District, by contrast, decided to keep its mask requirements in place.

The opening of a magnet high school for freshman and sophomores in the Cedar Rapids Community School District is being delayed until at least fall 2023.

District officials originally proposed opening a magnet high school for the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

After gathering input from staff, students, parents and residents about the concept of a magnet high school, the district decided to delay its opening, Superintendent Noreen Bush said in an email to The Gazette.

Bush said it has become “increasingly clear” more time is needed to develop the magnet high school.

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 3.5 percent in December, the Iowa Workforce Development said Tuesday.

That is down from 3.7 percent in November and 3.7 percent a year ago, the agency said in a news release.

IWD added that the total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 57,900 in December, which were down by 3,800 from November.

Motorists in Iowa would be prohibited from using hand-held cellphones or other electronic communication devices while driving under legislation approved Tuesday by the House Transportation Committee.

If the legislation is approved by the Legislature, Iowa would join 25 other states in prohibiting the use of electronic devices capable of sending or receiving messages and storing or displaying videos while driving. In those states with hands-free legislation similar to what is being proposed in Iowa, there has been, on average, a 15 percent reduction in fatalities, according to an insurance company representative who spoke Tuesday at a hearing on HF 392.

Iowa law now prohibits the use of hand-held electronic communication devices to write, send or view electronic messages while driving. Under HF 392, use of an electronic device would be a moving violation. The fine for a violation would increase from $45 to $100.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at http://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

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

It’s going to be another frigid middle of the week, starting on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny in the Cedar Rapids area with a high near 3 degrees. Wind chill values will drop to as low as -25 degrees with wind speeds of 5 to 15 mph. On Tuesday night it will drop down to -16 degrees, with wind chills remaining at -25 degrees.

A utility-scale solar project covering over 700 acres west of Coggon can start construction this spring after the Linn County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 in favor of the project Monday night after hundreds of residents had packed meetings over the last few months to either praise or denounce the facility.

Supervisors Ben Rogers and Stacey Walker voted for the project, while Louie Zumbach voted against it. The approval means that about 750 acres will be rezoned from agricultural to agricultural with a renewable energy overlay that expires after 35 years. The project, a partnership between Idaho-based Clenera and the Central Iowa Power Cooperative, will be located almost 3 miles west of Coggon in rural Linn County.

While the project has enlisted property owners to voluntarily take part in the array, it has drawn opposition because of its large scale, because it temporarily removes farmland from growing crops and because some neighboring property owners say it comes too close to encroaching on their land.

Two weeks after the only remaining LGBTQ bar in Cedar Rapids https://www.thegazette.com/food-drink/belles-basix-longtime-lgbtq-bar-in-cedar-rapids-to-close/ (announced its closure), a buyer has stepped in to preserve Club Basix — the owners of the LGBTQ nightclub Studio 13 in downtown Iowa City.

Jason Zeman and two partners in Corridor Entertainment Group were announced as the new owners of the club at 3916 First Ave. NE. They brought one of four serious, prospective offers, according to outgoing owner Andrew Harrison. A purchase price was not disclosed.

The purchase announcement comes after a flood of support for the bar inundated Harrison, to his own surprise. After 10 years of owning the bar, he will depart from Belle’s Basix — a namesake derived from his former drag name, Pretty Belle — on Feb. 1.

As businesses for years have struggled to recruit skilled workers to fill open positions — a challenge COVID-19 has only worsened — the city of Cedar Rapids and Kirkwood Community College announced Monday they are launching a partnership to fill local workforce needs.

Cedar Rapids will allocate $500,000 of its $28 million share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the College Career Connection program, a new workforce scholarship initiative with Kirkwood that will be the first of its kind among Iowa cities.

Students in the college’s Career and Technical Education programs will receive grants totaling up to $6,000 a year when funding becomes available this fall, helping to fill the gaps for students when state, federal and other financial aid doesn’t cover an individual’s need.

To be eligible, students must be Cedar Rapids residents and qualify financially as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Kirkwood President Lori Sundberg said the students who would most benefit are those who surpass income eligibility for a Pell Grant but still have “significant financial need.”

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at http://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

* Cedar Rapids area weather today

* Silver Oak Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Marion cited

* Iowa men's basketball update after Penn State game

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 22 and Sunday, January 23.

Another cold weekend with some snow is on the way. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, there will be a chance for snow in the morning on Saturday and a chance for snow in the evening on Saturday. The morning snowfall will likely be less than a half inch, while the evening snowfall could be as much as 2 inches. Expect temperatures in the teens for most of Saturday. On Sunday it will calm down a bit, with an increasingly tranquil wind, sunny skies, and a high near 18 degrees.

A Cedar Rapids police reserve officer who fired three shots at a vehicle being driven at him last December will not face charges, the Linn County Attorney’s office announced Friday.

Reserve Officer Scott Fruehling, who has been employed with the department since September 1994, https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/cedar-rapids-police-officer-hit-with-car-after-chase-suspect-at-large/ (tried to stop a vehicle) at 8:36 p.m. Dec. 17 on 32nd Street NE. A short chase ensued to the 1600 block of Center Street NE, where the car finally stopped, blocked by road construction. When Officer Fruehling got out of his vehicle to speak with the driver, the driver turned the car 180 degrees and drove at him, knocking Fruehling to the ground.

The driver was eventually identified as 26-year-old Eddie Ayers III. Ayers was arrested on multiple charges on January 14.

Lance Cpl. Gabe Heefner has “progressed a lot” since arriving two months ago at a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago, his father told the Gazette this week, after the Marine was shot in a bizarre incident last year while driving along an Iowa City street.

Nile Heefner said his son’s healing progress over time had likely plateaued, but a https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/cranioplasty#:~:text=Cranioplasty%20is%20the%20surgical%20repair,a%20previous%20operation%20or%20injury. (cranioplasty surgery) Thursday may “jumpstart his recovery.” Doctors have told the family that after an artificial skull plate is put in, there can be significant improvement in the patient.

Last October, the 20-year-old Marine was shot in the head while driving on Highway 6 near Sycamore Street. Police said the round was fired by a man who was shooting a pellet gun at a squirrel in his yard, but missed and hit Gabe instead. Gabe crashed his car after being shot and was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where his family said he was https://www.thegazette.com/crashes/iowa-city-native-fighting-for-his-life-after-being-shot-as-he-drove/ (“fighting for his life.”)

Gabe, the oldest of three children, was in town visiting his grandparents when he was injured.

Iowa City resident Philip Olson is https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/non-jury-trial-set-for-iowa-city-man-accused-of-aiming-at-squirrel-but-wounding-marine/ (accused of violating city code) by discharging a pellet gun within city limits. Iowa City police said that three days after the shooting, Olson came to the department to say he had heard about the incident and “admitted to shooting from inside his house at the squirrel and missing” at that time.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/iowa-city-marine-shooting-brings-scrutiny-of-iowa-air-rifle-regulations/ (previously told The Gazette) she wanted to charge Olson with reckless use of a firearm but a “loophole in the law” prevented the more serious charge. An air rifle or similar gun is not considered a firearm or dangerous weapon in Iowa, which makes it hard to prosecute, Lyness said.

A Marion nursing home has been cited for more than two dozen health care violations and is accused of being so short-staffed the residents have not received food or medicine as scheduled.

One resident of the Silver Oak Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Marion died at the home after a...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, Jan. 21.

It won’t exactly be a heatwave Friday, but at least the high will be above 10 degrees. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 14 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. Wind chill values will still drop as low as -25 degrees. On Friday night into Saturday morning there will be a chance for snow, with predicted accumulation of less than a half inch predicted.

Increasingly driven by fentanyl, opioid-related deaths continue to surge in Iowa and across the country at a “shocking” rate, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said on Thursday.

“The deaths that we’ve seen have just been heartbreaking,” Miller said during a news conference, which he called after seeing the latest national drug overdose statistics issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Iowa Public Health Department estimates that deaths in Iowa due to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, rose from 31 percent of all overdoses in 2016 to 87 percent in 2021.

While there is pharmaceutical fentanyl for treating severe pain — 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine — the most recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdose and death in the United States are linked to illegally made fentanyl, according to the CDC.

The University of Iowa will regild the dome of the Old Capitol this summer after failure of gold leaf installed in 2003.

https://opnarchitects.com/ (OPN Architects), of Iowa City, recommended regilding at a cost of $504,375, compared with putting on a gold-colored sheet metal roof, which the firm estimated to cost $681,914 and take another year because of supply chain delays for sheet metal.

The UI plans to put the project https://buildui.facilities.uiowa.edu/buildui/project-info?projnumber=0913201 (out to bid Feb. 8).

The Old Capitol Building, for which the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1840, was to be the hub of state government after Iowa City was chosen as the state capital in 1839.The original dome was copper, but the UI paid $200 in 1920 to have 6,500 3-inch gold leaf pieces applied to the surface. Periodic regilding has happened ever since.

After years of funding delays, the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans Wednesday to spend over $829 million on modernizing locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River, including an infamous bottleneck north of St. Louis that farmers say is crucial to their ability to sell grain overseas.

The announcement, which comes after Congress passed the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, represents the single largest investment to Mississippi River locks and dams since their original construction in the 1930s, according to the Waterways Council.

Iowa and Illinois lawmakers say the funding will finally hasten long-delayed replacement of river locks that are well beyond their 50-year design life and cannot accommodate modern tows. Most of America’s locks and dams were built in the 1920s and 1930s.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at http://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, Jan. 20.

It’s going to be another cold one Thursday, but at least it won’t be as windy as Wednesday.

According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, it will be sunny with a high near 3 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. While the wind chill will clock in at -25 degrees, the wind will be a comparably gentler 5 to 10 mph. The wind will become calmer and it will get even colder as the day goes on, with the temperature dropping to a low around -15 degrees.

The state released their weekly COVID-19 numbers on Wednesday, and almost all of them are bad and getting worse.

On Wednesday, Iowa reported 38,574 new COVID-19 cases in the past week — an average of 5,511 cases per day. The total, released by the Iowa Department of Public Health, is the highest number of new cases in a week Iowa has seen since the pandemic began almost 2 years ago.

Statewide coronavirus positivity rates continued to increase as the omicron variant continues to run rampant, reaching 26.2 percent over the past seven days. Last week, it was 23.8 percent.

Patients admitted to Iowa hospitals because of COVID-19 reached 991, an increase from the 923 admissions last week. On Monday, hospitalizations had reached 1,010, the most seen since the 1,124 COVID-19 patients seen across the state on Dec. 3, 2020.

The surge in COVID-19 cases is leading several University of Iowa instructors to move their classes online, despite it being against campus policy.

As students return to its public universities for the spring semester, the University of Iowa graduate student union is urging members to move all courses they’re teaching online for the first two weeks — despite UI policy barring such action without permission.

The UI-based Campaign to Organize Graduate Students — or COGS — began circulating a petition last week urging members to sign and participate in the electronic-instruction shift. A COGS spokesman told the Gazette that hundreds of instructors across numerous departments have moved their courses online to start the semester — which began on Tuesday.

A Cedar Rapids teen charged with fatally stabbing his parents in October may claim insanity and diminished responsibility at his murder trial set for next month.

https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/cedar-rapids-teen-ethan-orton-charged-with-killing-parents-found-competent-to-stand-trial/ (Ethan Alexander Orton, 17,) charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder, was found competent to stand trial last week by a judge following a psychiatric evaluation.

He is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, Casey Arthur Orton, 42, and Misty Scott-Slade, 41, on Oct. 14 at their home in northeast Cedar Rapids.

Orton’s lawyers filed a notice of defense Tuesday, stating he “may rely on the defenses of insanity and diminished responsibility” at his Feb. 8 trial.

Yesterday I mentioned that Democratic challengers for governor would have to break records to match incumbent Kim Reynolds. They fell far short of doing so.

https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView/statewide/2022/Period_Due_Date_19-Jan/Candidates/Reynolds%2C%20Kim_Kim%20Reynolds%20for%20Iowa_5173/Reynolds%2C%20Kim_Kim%20Reynolds%20for%20Iowa_5173__DR2_Summary.pdf (Reynolds’ campaign raised nearly $3.8 million in 2021) — more than 13 times what DeJear raised.

https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView/statewide/2022/Period_Due_Date_19-Jan/Candidates/DeJear%2C%20Deidre_DeJear%20for%20Iowa_5198/DeJear%2C%20Deidre_DeJear%20for%20Iowa_5198__DR2_Summary.pdf (DeJear’s campaign raised nearly $280,000 in 2021), but spent nearly $271,000 to run her campaign.

The only other Democratic candidate for governor is Kim West, an attorney from Des Moines whose 2021 report was not pasted as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Iowa’s 2022 primary election is June 7; the general election is Nov. 8.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op....

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, January 19th.

Wednesday will unfortunately begin the very cold portion of the week. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, it will be mostly sunny and cold in the Cedar Rapids area with the temperature falling to 4 degrees by 11 a.m. Wind chill values will be as low as -15, with a wind of 15 to 25 mph gusting as high as 35 mph. If that wasn’t bad enough, it will drop down to -8 degrees Wednesday night.

UIHC needs to find itself a new CEO.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Chief Executive Officer Suresh Gunasekaran — just three years after arriving to lead the state’s largest teaching hospital — is leaving to head the No. 9-ranked University of California San Francisco Academic Health System. His departure was announced by the university on Tuesday evening.

Gunasekaran will be leaving at the end of February to start March 1 as CEO of the UCSF Academic Health System. Gunasekaran started at UIHC on Nov. 19, 2018, following a national search to replace UIHC CEO Ken Kates, who had retired. Before joining UIHC, Gunasekaran was chief operations officer for the University of Texas Southwestern Health System in Dallas.

We don’t know what the Democratic campaigns for governor have raised, yet, but we know now that if they want to raise more than their Republican rival, Kim Reynolds, they will have to set a record.

Gov. Reynolds’ campaign announced it raised nearly $3.8 million in 2021 and finished the year with nearly $4.8 million in its account. The campaign said both would be state records: the former being the most raised in a year preceding an election, and the latter the most ever for a statewide campaign.

Reynolds has not yet officially declared her campaign for re-election, although she is widely expected to run for another four-year term. Democrats running to face Reynolds include two candidates from Des Moines: businesswoman Deidre DeJear and lawyer Kim West.

A Tama County grand jury Monday did not indict a Tama County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a Chelsea man after the man fired his handgun during an October standoff, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

According to an account from authorities, the Tama County Sheriff’s Office received calls at about 7:27 p.m. Oct. 28 reporting https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/man-dies-after-being-shot-by-deputy-in-tama-county/ (gunshots being fired near 1001 Station St. in Chelsea). When officers arrived, they found Dewey Dale Wilfong III, 28, displaying a handgun toward others in a “threatening manner.”

Several law enforcement agencies from the surrounding area responded to the scene, and a standoff escalated to the point where Wilfong discharged his handgun. A Tama County sheriff’s deputy, who is not identified in the news release, fired one round, striking Wilfong in the upper torso.

Wilfong was taken to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, where he was pronounced dead.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation conducted an independent investigation into the shooting and a case was presented to a grand jury for possible charges, which they then indicated did not merit going to a jury trial.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at http://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

On today’s episode:

A Linn-Mar High School student and staff member are https://www.thegazette.com/k/linn-mar-student-staff-member-recognized-for-their-faith-courageous-social-justice-work/ (honored with the Dr. Percy and Lileah Harris “Who Is My Neighbor?” award)

Iowa legislators weigh in on https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/as-iowas-share-of-sports-betting-pot-grows-lawmakers-begin-to-talk-about-spending-it/ (how to spend $13 million in sports betting tax revenue)

An inmate https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/two-staff-members-injured-in-coralville-prison-assault/ (assaulted two officers at the Coralville prison) over the weekend.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at https://www.newpi.coop/ (newpi.coop).

* Today's weather in the Cedar Rapids area

* Kirk Ferentz dissolving the alumni advisory committee, after players alleged the football program fostered a culture of racism and bullying

* Iowa men's basketball defeated a depleted Minnesota team