Gazette Daily News Briefing, December 26 and December 27
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday December 26th and Sunday December 27th.
Time to enjoy a brief break from below freezing this weekend. Well, more like at freezing.
According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high of 32 degrees with sunny skies in the Cedar Rapids area Saturday. This will come with calm winds. Then it will be a bit cloudier Saturday night with a low around 23 degrees. On Sunday there will be a chance of snow, with a 20 percent chance of flurries a slight chance of snow showers after 1 p.m. Otherwise there will be a high above 34 degrees. The chance for flurries will continue Sunday night until 7 p.m., and there will be a low of around 17 degrees.
Iowa reported 1,470 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday and five deaths, according to Iowa Department of Public Health data analyzed by The Gazette. State hospitalizations were at 600 on Friday, down from 625 on Thursday. Friday’s tally was the lowest recorded since 596 hospitalizations were recorded Oct. 28.
Two men with Iowa connections were among those pardoned by President Donald Trump before Christmas.The pair, Jesse Benton and John Tate, worked for Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s 2012 caucus campaign, and were among those pardoned Wednesday night by the president. They had been charged with corruption in a scheme to funnel $73,000 to Kent Sorenson, then an Iowa state senator, to switch his allegiance from Minnesota Sen. Michele Bachmann to Paul in the final days of the caucus campaign.
A Cedar Rapids resident was injured Friday afternoon in a head-on collision near Alice and Center Point Roads near Toddville in Linn County.
According to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel were called at 1:52 p.m. to 3460 Alice Rd. They found a southbound vehicle had crossed the centerline into northbound traffic and collided head-on with a northbound vehicle.
The southbound driver was identified as Jennifer Buelow, 33, of Center Point. The northbound vehicle was driven by Kelly Burk, 55, of Cedar Rapids. Burk was transported to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Buelow faces charges of operating while intoxicated, use of electronic communication device while driving and other traffic charges.
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