Gazette Daily News Briefing, January 28 and January 29
Welcome to the weekend!
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29.
First comes the snow, then comes the cold. According to the National Weather Service snow is likely in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday. There will be a high near 22 degrees and an 80 percent chance of snowfall. Between 1 and 3 inches of snowfall is the current prediction. On Sunday it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 12 degrees. The wind chill will drop to as low as -10 degrees, with wind gusts as high as 25 mph. On Sunday night, the low temperature will settle in at 1 degree. The cold temperatures will continue into the beginning of next week.
Four people were killed Friday morning and others were injured when a van they were in went out of control on a highway in northern Iowa.
The crash happened a little before 7 a.m. when the driver of a westbound 15-passenger van lost control on icy Highway 20 near the small community of Wellsburg, in northwest Grundy County, according to the Iowa State Patrol.
The van entered the median and rolled before coming to rest in the highway's eastbound lanes.
One adult and three children under the age of five died.
The state patrol noted that none of the van’s occupants had been using using seatbelts or child restraint devices at the time of the accident.
A proposed $20 million development in North Liberty would bring various amenities to the growing city and create a new entertainment district just north of Penn Street.
The proposed development, referred to as Solomon’s Landing, includes a 33,600-square-foot indoor recreation center, as well as a 32,909-square-foot bowling entertainment center with an adjacent Pizza Ranch restaurant.
During his pitch for the district, Brandon Pratt of Lion Development Group told the North Liberty City Council this week the city needs to be a place where residents can “live, work and play.” He argued that with the support of the city, his development idea could be where the play comes in.
The proposed indoor sports and recreation center — called The Palestra — would be used for various indoor sports and community events, Pratt said. The Palestra would be located on the west side of the lot at the corner of Saratoga Place and Hayes Lane.
Possible activities include basketball, indoor soccer, football, volleyball, pickleball and wrestling, as well as e-gaming tournaments. Other features could include indoor inflatables, birthday parties and opportunities for seniors to have a place to walk indoors.
The bowling facility and Pizza Ranch would be to the east of The Palestra with parking in between the buildings, the site plan showed.
Iowa fell to No. 1 Penn State in wrestling Friday night.
Iowa won three of the first four bouts, giving Iowa an 11-9 lead heading into intermission
But Iowa only won one more bout the rest of the way, and Penn State pulled away 23 - 14. The loss snapped the Hawkeyes’ 15-dual win streak.
