Gazette Daily News Briefing, December 4 and December 5
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, December 4 and Sunday, December 5.
This weekend’s weather will be colder than the weather we enjoyed during the week, but still much warmer than the weather that will arrive on Monday. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 41 degrees on Saturday. On Saturday night it will be mostly cloudy, with a low near 30 degrees. On Sunday the wind will pick up a bit, with cloudy skies and a high near 48 degrees. On Sunday night it is predicted to be blustery, with a low near 20 degrees.
A judge will not grant defense requests to lower the $1 million cash-only bail for two 16-year-olds charged with plotting and killing the Spanish language teacher at Fairfield High School.
Eighth Judicial District Judge Joel Yates, in his ruling Thursday, said he considered Iowa law on bail, arguments made by attorneys, the nature and circumstances of the crime charged and the family ties and financial resources of the teens, Jeremy Everett Goodale and Willard Noble Chaiden Miller.
Goodale and Miller pleaded not guilty Monday and both have trials set for April 19 in Jefferson County District Court. They may not be tried together, but neither of their attorneys have filed anything yet regarding severing their cases.
Both teens are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. They are accused of scheming to kill Nohema Graber, 66, who had taught at Fairfield High since 2012. Authorities found her body Nov. 3 in a Fairfield park just blocks east of the school, where she was known to go for walks. Authorities say social media posts tied the teens to the killing.
Patients with Alzheimer ’s disease appear to be more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who don’t have the neurodegenerative disease, according to new University of Iowa research that could hold implications for ethical vaccine distribution and global policy decisions.
The new study, published in the October Journal of Alzheimer’s disease, found Alzheimer’s patients are 20 percent more likely to die from COVID than others — an important finding as COVID, with its ongoing mutations and variants, “will likely remain a major threat in the coming years.”
The UI researchers were able to identify the trend by accessing a health research database containing de-identified medical records of more than 50 million patients — mostly from the United States — through Feb. 17, meaning the data came both before widespread vaccination had been completed and new variants had emerged.
Enrollment in Iowa’s elementary and secondary schools last academic year dropped for the first time in eight years, according to the latest Condition of Education report Friday.
Officials with the state Department of Education reported that last school year’s student count of 484,159 in K-12 districts represented a drop of nearly 6,000 students — or just over 1 percent — from the 490,094 total for the 2019-20 school year.
State officials said they believe the pandemic to be the greatest contributing factor to the enrollment drop, which was seen at all grade levels but was most pronounced at the preschool and kindergarten levels.
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