Gazette Daily News Briefing, August 20
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, August 20.
Friday will be yet another steamy day, but there could be some rain at the end of it for a change up. According to the National Weather Service there will be a high temperature near 92 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with sunny skies. On Friday night into Saturday showers and thunderstorms are predicted to be likely, with a chance of precipitation listed at 60 percent. Rainfall is not expected to be significant except where thunderstorms develop.
Defying state law and an Iowa Board of Regents directive, Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague issued an emergency order Thursday evening requiring masks in all classrooms and other gathering spots including stores, restaurants and churches in the city.
His order comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates Johnson County as having a high rate of coronavirus transmission and as thousands of college students stream into the community this week.
Both the Iowa City Community School District and the University of Iowa resume classes Monday for the fall semester. In his order requiring face masks for everyone in gathering spots in Iowa City — with some exceptions — Teague includes “public school buildings” and “University of Iowa academic buildings and business offices.”
His local order contradicts a state measure adopted in May and quickly signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds that prohibits local school boards from enacting mask mandates in schools.
“It’s against the law and it’s not enforceable,” Pat Garrett, spokesman for Reynolds, said Thursday night about Teague’s order. “COVID-19 has been around for over a year; Iowans know how to protect themselves and their families.”
Gov. Reynolds spoke out Thursday morning after receiving pressure from the federal government against the state’s law prohibiting mask mandates in schools. The Biden administration is arguing that such mandates could lead to a violation of the Civil Rights Act by putting some students in harm’s way. Reynolds said her government is prepared to go to court to defend the law, and criticized President Biden for having his priorities in the wrong place.
Meanwhile, Nearly 400 people are being treated for COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals — the most since January.
According to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health released Thursday, 396 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized across the state, up from 355 the week before. School is set to start next Monday, with no masking or vaccine requirements in place.
A 45-year-old Iowa City man was arrested on child pornography charges Wednesday after federal agents used a tactical vehicle to break through the side of his house.
Christopher Michael Wilson was formally charged in U.S. District Court with one count each of receiving child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Jackson of Iowa’s Southern District ordered Wilson to remain in temporary custody pending a detention hearing, as requested by a federal prosecutor, set for Monday in Davenport.
FBI agents used a tactical vehicle to ram into the side of the house where Wilson, according to state court records. An FBI spokesperson wouldn’t provide further information about why the vehicle was used.
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