Gazette Daily News Briefing, April 2 and April 3
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3.
The weather this weekend will feature much of what we saw this week smashed into two days. According to the National Weather Service, rain and snow will be possible Saturday morning before noon in the Cedar Rapids area, with a slight chance of rain between noon and 1:00 p.m. The overall chance of precipitation is listed at 80 percent. Eventually it will become a bit milder, with a high near 49 degrees. The skies will clear up by Saturday night, with a low around 30 degrees and calm winds.
Then, on Sunday, we will be looking at a 50 percent chance of rain, this time after 1 p.m. It will become increasingly cloudy with a high near 52 degrees. Rain will again be likely Sunday night, with a low around 38 degrees. Next week’s advance forecast is looking pretty similar, but a bit warmer, with consistent highs in the fifties.
A judge Friday reset the trial for a Cedar Rapids man charged with shooting Randal Campbell and then staging it to look like a suicide.
Joshua K. Conklin, 29, will stand trial Nov. 15 for second-degree murder and obstruction of prosecution. He is accused of fatally shooting Campbell, 44, with an air rifle on June 21, 2019 at close range in his right eye, according to a criminal complaint.
Police responded to a report of a suicide just after 9 p.m. June 21, 2019, at 1834 Hamilton St. SW and found Campbell dead, with an air rifle positioned on his lap.
An autopsy showed Campbell was fatally shot with the air rifle and the pellet entered his brain through his right eye.
Police say further investigation revealed that Conklin also lived at the address in a detached garage and had recently gotten into a dispute with Campell’s mother, who owned the property. Additionally, video surveillance showed Conklin and his girlfriend, Felisha Campbell, near the detached g arage and leaving after her uncle, Randal Campbell, had been shot. Police said that Felisha Campbell revealed to them later that she had suggested staging the shooting of her uncle as a suicide to protect her boyfriend.
According to a report from the Associated Press, bird flu has infected two more farms in Iowa, forcing the killing of 5.3 million hens and 88,000 turkeys, officials said on Friday.
The new cases mean that across the nation since the outbreaks began a month ago, farmers have had to kill about 22 million egg-laying chickens, 1.8 million broiler chickens, 1.9 million pullet and other commercial chickens, and 1.9 million turkeys. Iowa accounts for many of those cases.
Iowa is the nation’s leading egg producer and had 46 million chickens on farms in February, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Iowa raises about 11.7 million turkeys annually.
Because the virus is so infectious and deadly for commercial poultry, entire flocks are destroyed and composted on the farms when they are infected. Spread of the disease is largely blamed on the droppings or nasal discharge of infected wild birds, such as ducks and geese, which can contaminate dust and soil.
The CDC says that bird flu has no immediate health concern for humans, and poultry and eggs are safe to eat.
Former President George W. Bush will headline a Hoover Presidential Foundation banquet in Cedar Rapids this fall.
Bush, who was president from 2001 to 2009, will speak at the banquet Oct. 7 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Cedar Rapids.
In addition to honoring Bush and former first lady Laura Bush for their humanitarian work in Africa, foundation President Jerry Fleagle said the event will be a fundraiser for its capital campaign to renovate the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum at West Branch. Tickets are expected to go on sale in mid-May.
The library foundation’s plan is to spend $20 million to renovate the presidential library and other offerings at the national landmark.
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.
