Gazette Daily News Briefing, July 24 and July 25
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday July 24 and Sunday July 25.
It’s going to be a hot weekend. According to the National Weather Service there will be a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5 p.m. on Saturday, but besides that it will be sunny and muggy both Saturday and Sunday. The high on Saturday is expected to be 94 degrees, with a heat index near 103 degrees. On Sunday the high is expected to be 92 degrees, with sunny skies.
One week after the first-degree murder trial began in Linn County District Court, prosecutors Friday rested their case against Drew Blahnik, 34. He is accused of stabbing to death Chis Bagley inside a trailer in December 2018 in a revenge plot hatched by a drug dealer named Andrew Shaw who was angry that Bagley had robbed him. Shaw is now in jail on separate drug-related charges.
Blahnik testified to stabbing Bagley, but said that he had stabbed him to death in self defense during a dispute because he thought Bagley was armed with a gun. When asked why he needed to stab Bagley more than a dozen times if it was self defense, Blahnik said he was familiar with instances where stabbing someone does not fully incapicitate them.
The defense will start presenting its case Monday.
A Coralville City Council member will seek to become the community’s first female mayor.
Meghann Foster announced Friday that she is running for the open mayor seat in the fall election.
Coralville Mayor John Lundell announced this week he will not seek a fifth term.
A 20-year Coralville resident, Foster was elected to the city council in 2017. She is the community engagement coordinator for the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and an educator at the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
A woman was shot during a dispute involving a group of people Thursday evening.
Police say they were called to the 1100 block of Arthur Street — in southeast Iowa City, south of Muscatine Avenue — at around 11:25 p.m.
According to police the shooting grew out of a dispute involving a group of people when one person shot at several others, striking the woman. Witnesses reported seeing people leave the scene in separate vehicles after the shooting.
The woman was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. She is not cooperating with police in the investigation at this time.
Big Ten football media days continued on Friday, and Iowa received five first-place votes and was picked No. 2 overall in the Big Ten West in a preseason Big Ten media poll from Cleveland.com. Wisconsin received 29 first-place votes at No. 1 and Northwestern ranked No. 3.
When asked about COVID-19 vaccination rates, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said that about 70 percent of his players are vaccinated, and he is vaccinated as well. However, despite health concerns and the inconvenience of players missing time, he said he will not be requiring the vaccine.
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