Gazette Daily News Briefing, December 13
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, December 13th.
There will be a little bit of snow but more likely rain for much of the day on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a chance of rain and snow before 10 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area, but then the rain will take over. There will be a high near 41 degrees, with high winds of 20 to 25 mph gusting as high as 45 mph. Chance of rain is listed at 100 percent for both the day and evening. The temperature will actually rise to 43 degrees Tuesday night, so the low will happen much earlier.
A fight over enacting a ban on abortions in Iowa once a fetal heartbeat can be detected is on its way to the Iowa Supreme Court.
A District Court judge on Monday rejected Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request to reinstate a blocked law that would ban abortions once a fetus’ heartbeat can be detected. Reynolds immediately announced her intention to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
For the time being, abortion in Iowa remains legal until 20 weeks of pregnancy.
After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year essentially ended a pregnant person’s right to an abortion at the federal level and sent the issue of abortion regulations to the states, Reynolds asked the state courts to reinstate the 2018 so-called “fetal heartbeat” law, which at the time was ruled unconstitutional.
On Monday, District Court Judge Celene Gogerty ruled the District Court does not have the authority to dissolve the permanent injunction that was placed on the law.
The Iowa City Police Department responded to an armed man in the Court Street Parking Ramp bus depot Monday afternoon, according to a news release from the department.
When police were called around 2 p.m., the man was inside the bus depot with a woman and children. He made threatening comments toward officers and fled into the parking ramp with the woman.
A perimeter was established around the area, staff were evacuated from the parking ramp and community members were advised to shelter in place, the release states.
Police attempted to establish communication with the man and de-escalate the situation, but he ended up shooting himself. Aid was rendered on scene and he survived. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment and is stable.
The Five Seasons Ski Team, a water skiing team in Cedar Rapids that puts on free weekly shows each summer, is raising money to replace sound equipment that was stolen last week.
The equipment — 10 speakers, a sound board, an amplifier, three wireless microphones and several cords, plugs and speaker stands — will likely cost $10,000 to $12,000 to replace, according to Ryan Furnish, the president of the team.
Furnish discovered the equipment was missing Thursday, when he went to check on the team’s storage trailers. The locks on two of the trailers, including the one with all the equipment, had been cut off. The other trailer that was broken into didn’t have anything of value, Furnish said.
The Cedar Rapids Police Department is investigating the theft, and in the meantime the team is hoping to raise money to replace the equipment.
