Gazette Daily News Briefing, August 29 and August 30
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for the weeknd of Saturday August 29th and Sunday August 30th.
After a cold front swept through the midwest Friday night, we can expect a new weather pattern this weekend. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a much cooler high of 80 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday, with sunny skies and a moderate wind. On Sunday there is predicted to be a high of 82 degrees with partly cloudy skies, and a chance of showers and thunderstorms as Sunday heads into Monday.
The number of new COVID-19 cases continued to surge Friday, although the way the state reports coronavirus positives might have skewed the data in an even worse looking direction. 2,579 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, with more than a 1,000 of those cases added from antigen testing the state had not previously added. Still, even with those cases removed for a comparison to the old reporting method, there were still the most new cases reported in a daily period in Iowa since the start of the pandemic, breaking the record set just the day before.
Iowa dropped down to 299 people hospitalized with the virus, while its death toll climbed to 1,108.
On Thursday, after being alarmed by the rise of new cases at the state’s universities after just a week back, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered bars in six Iowa counties: Black Hawk, Dallas, Johnson, Linn, Polk and Story counties. These are all some of Iowa’s most urban counties, with three of the six being home to the biggest universities in the state.
On Friday, the University of Iowa reported that over 600 students had tested positive after voluntary testing in the first week. Although not specifying what, university officials hinted that they may need to take more drastic changes if the rate of spread did not slow down next week.
The emergency shelter set up in Veterans Memorial Coliseum will close Saturday morning.
It was opened for those whose homes became uninhabitable after the Aug. 10 derecho.
The people who’ve been staying there — fewer than a dozen now — will be moving to the Fillmore Center, which will be open until Sept. 30 in an arrangement worked out by the city and Linn County. The county owned Fillmore Center was used as an overflow shelter for the homeless this past winter, and there are plans to expand it to a year round shelter. It can house up to 60 people.
Traffic was tied up for much of Friday night on Interstate 380 after a fatal accident near Highway 30. Police have not released many details yet, but indicated the death occurred after two vehicles struck the back of a flatbed truck while heading south near the rest stop.
Wilson’s Orchard has been known for its apples for decades and is a staple fall destination in the area. But soon local apple enthusiasts will be seeing some changes to the farm that are intended to help diversify the business. Many changes are in the works related to the operations of Wilson’s Orchard and Farm, including diversifying agricultural production from just apples and pumpkins to additional crops such as strawberries, raspberries, sweet corn and asparagus. This also will mean an expansion in the amount of baked goods offered by the orchard and in local stores.
Orchard owner Paul Rasch also said the orchard is changing its symbol from an apple to a bee, to represent the sustainable local agriculture ecosystem that the orchard’s owners want to promote.
