Gazette Daily News Briefing, August 21 and August 22

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, August 21, and Sunday, August 22nd.

There will be a chance for rain both Saturday and Sunday, but in both cases the rain will likely be while you are asleep. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, it could rain in the early morning hours on Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area, but this will likely clear up by 7 a.m. Then it will be mostly cloudy for much of the morning before clearing, with a high of 88 degrees. On Sunday it should be sunny with a high of 87 degrees for much of the day. Then in the evening into the morning hours on Monday there will be a chance for rain predicted again.

Thanks for the gesture, but our hands are tied. Officials with both Iowa City schools and the University of Iowa on Friday said they can’t require face coverings in their buildings or on their properties despite a new Iowa City mask mandate that specifically identifies public school and UI academic spaces as being included.

The UI and the Iowa City Community School District — which start their fall semesters Monday — both strongly encourage vaccination and masking, regardless of vaccination status, in accordance with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But — given action taken by the Iowa Legislature, Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Board of Regents in May — officials said they can’t enforce Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague’s emergency order, issued Thursday evening, requiring masks in all classrooms, stores, restaurants, and churches through Sept. 30.

Soon the Iowa Cannabis Co. will be able to manufacture and sell medical marijuana products in Iowa City.

The Iowa Department of Public Health has allowed the company to transfer its license to manufacture medical marijuana products from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, where the firm also will open a dispensary for consumers this fall.

The manufacturing site under consideration is in an industrial zone on the south end of Scott Boulevard on Iowa City’s southeast side.

Iowa Cannabis’ Iowa City dispensary — one of five in the state — was supposed to open by July 1, but the state gave the company an extension to start selling products Oct. 1. The company will open a dispensary in Council Bluffs at the same time and has operated a Waterloo dispensary since 2018.

Iowa Cannabis is connected with Cannabis & Glass, a large recreational marijuana store in Spokane, Wash. Owner Aaron Boshart told The Gazette in December 2019 profits from the Washington state stores help support its Iowa medical marijuana operations. Iowa’s medical marijuana laws remain quite strict and antagonistic at the moment, making success in the marijuana business here a tough challenge compared to other states.

A Sheffield man who was the “enforcer” for the northern Iowa chapter of the Sons of Silence motorcycle club, also classified as a gang, was sentenced this week to 10 months in federal prison.

Justin Carlson, 38, pleaded guilty March 19 in U.S. District Court to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

During the plea and sentencing hearings, Carlson admitted he and other members of the club and an affiliated group confronted a motorcyclist, who was an off-duty police officer, in April. They claimed the officer needed permission from the Sons of Silence to wear one of the patches he had on the back of his jacket.

In a search of Carlson’s home, officers recovered his Sons of Silence motorcycle vest, which had brass knuckles in the pocket, numerous items of the club’s paraphernalia and two firearms.

U.S. District Chief Judge Leonard Strand sentenced Carlson to the 10 months and also ordered him to serve two years of supervised release following prison.

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