Gazette Daily News Briefing, July 23 and July 24
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24.
It will be a hot weekend to start, a wet weekend at times, and a breezy weekend all the time. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a high near 96 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday with a heat index as high as 104. After some rain early Saturday morning there will be a good chance for rain late Saturday night into Sunday morning. There will be a reduced chance for rain of about 30 percent until about 1 p.m. on Sunday. It will also be much cooler, Sunday, with a predicted high of 86 degrees and a low of around 64 degrees. Winds will hover between 5 to 15 mph for the weekend and could gust as high as 25 mph at times.
Next week, it is looking to be a bit cooler still, with a chance for rain returning again.
Three family members from Cedar Falls were killed while camping Friday at Maquoketa Caves State Park, and the suspected Nebraska gunman then shot and killed himself, law enforcement officials said.
Officers were called to the park’s campground before 6:30 a.m., the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement.
Officers found three people fatally shot in a tent at the campground, DCI Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt said.
The DCI identified the three Friday evening as Tyler Schmidt, 42, Sarah Schmidt, 42, and Lulu Schmidt, 6. Investigators did not say how the three were related or provide a motive for the attack.
The suspected gunman was identified as Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23, of Nebraska. Investigators do not believe he had any prior relationship with the Schmidt family, Mortvedt said.
The nation’s winningest high school softball coach, Larry Niemeyer died at 84 Thursday night, following a longtime battle with illness.
Niemeyer won 2,089 softball games over a decorated career at Adel and Cedar Rapids Jefferson, while also racking up 871 wins and a state title as Jefferson's girls basketball coach.
“In my opinion, he is the greatest high school coach there has ever been,” Waterloo West girls’ basketball coach Tony Pappas said. “To coach for 52 years, two sports and excel at that high of a level, it’s unbelievable.
A state panel gave final approval Friday to awarding Cedar Rapids $9 million that will give a boost to development in Cedar Rapids’ urban core, funding new recreational amenities and infrastructure that will support the area’s growth.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board okayed the funds as part of the Reinvestment District program, a competitive program that reinvests sales and hotel-motel tax revenues produced over a 20-year period into projects that enhance the quality of life and create or expand recreational opportunities
Most of the millions the IEDA gave the city will go toward the $81.5 million mixed-use First and First West development that features a Big Grove brewery.
Cedar Rapids specifically will put $6 million toward a city-owned, 550-stall parking ramp to support the project
