Gazette Daily News Briefing, August 9
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for August 9, 2023.
We could see some more rain on Wednesday, but the cooler temperatures are certain to continue either way. According to the National Weather Service there will be a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 9 a.m. It will also become increasingly cloudy during the day, with a high near 78 degrees.
The Board of Regents unanimously approved Tuesday a University of Iowa request to buy most of Iowa City-based Mercy Hospital’s assets for $20 million — without asking questions about the deal’s finances, including how the price was determined, where the money will come from and what will happen with the $63 million Mercy owes on publicly-issued bonds.
Regents spokesman Brock Ascher told The Gazette: “The bankruptcy court will determine what happens with Mercy’s debt, but the state will not be responsible.”
Under the proposed purchase agreement, the university will not be obligated with that debt.
UI President Barbara Wilson — in presenting the proposed deal to regents — said Mercy "did approach us and ask us to submit a bid to continue their long tradition of health care in our community and beyond.”
During the regents meeting, Wilson reiterated the goal of continuing uninterrupted care for Mercy patients as it goes through the bankruptcy proceedings and pending sale.
Iowa has joined other state attorneys general as part of an investigation into the social media company TikTok and its possible harmful effects on the mental health of young users.
The five-member Iowa Executive Council unanimously agreed this week on granting a request from Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office to bring in special counsel to help the office in its investigation into, and possible litigation against the wildly popular video platform.
Several states are investigating TikTok over whether it violated state consumer protection laws. The investigation has focused on the harm social media usage causes to young users, what TikTok knows about those harms, the techniques used by TikTok to boost young user engagement — including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform — and the frequency of engagement with TikTok.
An 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona is again seeking a permit to dispose of manure after a judge threw out a previous plan.
A half-dozen people — some who have opposed Supreme Beef’s plans since 2017 — spoke against the feedlot’s new proposed nutrient management plan at a virtual public hearing attended by nearly 40 people Tuesday.
Opponents raised many of the same concerns, including inaccurate manure calculations, an earthen basin in porous topography and the risk of runoff into a treasured trout stream.
The Sierra Club sued Supreme Beef and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in September 2021 after the Iowa DNR in April 2021 approved the feedlot’s nutrient management plan for up to 11,600 cattle. Trout Unlimited later joined Sierra Club in the lawsuit. The suit said the state based its approval on faulty data provided by Supreme Beef and that the facility will produce far more manure than it claimed.
Polk County Judge Scott Rosenberg sided with the nature groups in April and sent the decision back to the Iowa DNR. The agency told Supreme Beef Owner Jared Walz in May that until a new plan was approved by the agency, no manure could be removed from the site.
