Gazette Daily News Briefing, January 13 and 14
Welcome to the weekend!
This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 13th and Sunday January 14th, 2024.
According to the National Weather Service, we’re getting more snow and more cold. Saturday will have a 50% chance of snow, mainly after 11am with widespread blowing snow before 1pm. Otherwise it’ll be cloudy and cold, with a temperature falling to around 6 by 4pm. Wind chill values as low as -15. Total new accumulation should be less than an inch.
Saturday night has a 30% chance of snow, mainly before 7pm. Otherwise it’ll be mostly cloudy, with a low around -10. Wind chill values as low as -30.
Sunday will be mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -4. Wind chill values as low as -35 and Sunday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low around -16.
This week’s second winter storm is upgraded as near-blizzard conditions loom
Compared with the winter storm earlier this week, this round of weather is less likely to bring quite as much snow, although a lot more blustery weather is on the way as wind chills will fall as low as minus 30 by Saturday night into Sunday. Temperatures will be in the negatives for most of Eastern Iowa on Sunday, as well as Monday — when many Iowans will head out to participate in the Iowa caucuses.
The national weather service has issued a wind chill warning from Sunday night through Tuesday evening.
Bondholders seek 96% of Mercy Iowa City sale proceeds as closure nears
With the $28 million sale of Mercy Iowa City to the University of Iowa just over two weeks away from closing, the 150-year-old community hospital’s largest bondholders are seeking court affirmation they will get the vast majority of that money “promptly.”
Computershare Trust Company, serving as master trustee for bonds issued to Mercy in 2011 and 2018, along with Mercy’s largest bondholder, Preston Hollow Community Capital, asked a U.S. Bankruptcy judge to direct Mercy to give them $26.8 million of the sale proceeds “either at closing or as soon as practicable following closing,” which is expected on Jan. 31.
Trump’s Iowa lead huge, unchanged in Iowa State University poll
There was no surprise, and very little movement in the final Iowa State University-Civiqs poll ahead of Monday’s first-in-the-nation Iowa Republican caucuses.
Just like all the ISU-Civiqs polls before it, the final edition, published Thursday, showed former President Donald Trump with a commanding lead over the remainder of the Republican presidential primary field in Iowa.
Trump was the top choice of 55 percent of those surveyed for the ISU-Civiqs poll, well clear of the second-place tie between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley at 14 percent each.
Have a good weekend everyone, and stay warm.
