Gazette Daily News Briefing, February 22
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, February 22.
Slushy, rainy mess coming on Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, rain or freezing rain is likely in the Cedar Rapids area before 10 a.m., with rain likely after. A high of near 37 degrees will be reached at some point during the day. The chance of precipitation is 100 percent. It will continue to rain Wednesday night, potentially turning into snow Thursday morning.
Be careful driving in the morning and evening especially. Some of the most dangerous times to drive are when it hovers above and below freezing. There will be a winter storm advisory from the National Weather Service from 9 a.m. Wednesday until 6 p.m. Thursday for much of Eastern Iowa. North of Cedar Rapids is expected to see significant snowfall.
A Linn County jury Tuesday convicted a Chicago man of 10 charges — which could result in up to 107 years in prison — for robbing a Casey’s store in Coggon on June 20, 2021 and shooting a Linn County deputy seven times.
Stanley L. Donahue, 38, laughed when the 10 guilty verdicts were read. As he left the courtroom in handcuffs he looked at Linn County Sheriff’s Deputy William Halverson and said, “It should’ve been worse than it was,” and cursed at him.
Halverson told reporters after the verdict that he wasn’t going to lose sleep over Donahue’s comments.
As a result responding to the robbery, Halverson was shot seven times in his hip and leg, beared the painful recovery period of over a year and underwent surgery to insert a rod in his leg and screws in his left knee.
Despite this, deputy Halverson has returned to full duty for the Linn County Sheriff’s Department.
The city of Cedar Rapids is moving forward with plans to shut down the storage quarry across from Ellis Harbor by Dec. 31 — an operational change that some residents fear will create logistical hurdles to accessing the space along the Cedar River.
Cedar Rapids residents and nonresidents may lease space for a fee to keep their trailers and house boats in the quarry at 2550 Ellis Blvd. NW. Harbor stakeholders say it’s vital to the harbor’s operation, as it allows houseboats to be transported to the water with ease.
City officials say the quarry is separate from the harbor and that they have no plans to shut down the unique neighborhood where people spend summers.
But harbor stakeholders said the logistical challenges of moving their large trailers and house boats will, in effect, force a segment of users out of the harbor, adversely affecting the nostalgic beauty of the semipermanent neighborhood.
John Hansen, the Harbor Association’s city liaison, said those with house boats on the harbor likely will opt not to return if their house boats can’t be moved with ease.
