Gazette Daily News Briefing, April 1
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, April 1.
We get a break from rain and snow Friday before chances resume overnight. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 50 degrees. Even the wind will be gentle, with a wind blowing at 5 mph much of the day. The low is expected to be 34 degrees Friday night, with increasing cloudiness.
The cost of staying in housing provided by the state’s three public universities could be going up for the first time in a few years.
The Regents next week will consider approving a 3 percent hike for the “standard” double room and meal plan at both Iowa State and the University of Iowa, along with a 2 percent bump for the standard plan at the University of Northern Iowa — its first increase since 2019.
The proposed rate increases come after a string of semesters were upended by COVID-19, which forced the universities to move classes online for a period — sending students home in March 2020 and then keeping many from returning to the residence halls the subsequent academic year.
Public and private education policy, changes to unemployment benefits and crafting the state’s $8.2 billion budget remain on state lawmakers’ to-do list as they approach the unofficial target date for adjournment.
The 100th day of the session, when legislators’ daily allowance for housing and food expenses expires, is April 19. But legislators can work beyond that date if needed.
There are key areas of disagreement between the House and Senate on multiple pieces of significant legislation, perhaps none more so than on K-12 education policy.
This week, both chambers passed education bills. But the House narrowly addressed transparency in and parent involvement with school materials and curriculum. The Senate passed a bill that not only addressed those topics, but also proposed a new program where taxpayer funding for public K-12 schools could be used to fund private school tuition assistance of $5,520 each student for moderate and low-income families. The Senate bill is close to what Reynolds proposed at the outset of the session.
The danger to the tuition assistance is from House Republicans from rural districts who rely on public schools in their communities. If enough of them balked at the idea, they would form a voting bloc with minority Democrats, who all oppose both this bill in particular as well as the idea of using taxpayer money to fund private schools in general.
Damage to the small airways in the lungs is an aftermath of COVID-19 that may cause long-lasting side effects, even for those who did not have a serious illness, according to a new study from the University of Iowa.
Researchers at the UI Post-COVID Clinic conducted CT scans of patients previously infected by the coronavirus and uncovered physical changes in the small airways — which may explain ongoing breathing problems associated with long-haul COVID-19.
And these symptoms are appearing in patients regardless of the severity of their COVID-19 illness. These persistent symptoms, described as small airways disease, were detected in about 40 percent of the patients in the study,
One positive note from the study is the researchers noted they have not seen any cases of long-term COVID effects in people who have been vaccinated twice and received the booster.
Support for this news update was provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s destination for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and you can order online through Co-op Cart at newpi.coop.
