Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 12
This Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Monday, June 12.
There is another sunny, dry week in store for us all, at least until Friday or so when there looks to be a small chance for rain again. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 78 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Monday. On Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of around 59 degrees.
A 23-year-old man died Sunday after being shot in southeast Cedar Rapids.
The shooting was reported to police at 12:06 a.m. Sunday in the 1300 block of First Avenue in southeast Cedar Rapids, according to a news release from the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
When officers arrived, they found a victim outside the address suffering from gunshot wounds, the news release states. He was given immediate medical attention and transported to a local hospital, where he died.
The name of the man has not yet been released.
A news release from the Cedar Rapids Police Department states that the shooting “appears to be a targeted incident.” Anyone with information about it is asked to call Cedar Rapids police.
Hundreds more Iowans than anticipated have applied for a new state-funded private school financial assistance program, potentially costing the state $11.2 million more than lawmakers had budgeted.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, more than 15,500 applications had been submitted for the state's new education savings account program to receive thousands of dollars to pay their students' private school costs, according to the Iowa Department of Education.
And Iowans have more than 20 days left yet to apply.
Assuming all 15,538 applications received so far get funding, that would cost the state roughly $118.6 million.
While lawmakers set aside more than $107 million for the program in its first year, as with public school funding, “the appropriation from the Legislature is a standing unlimited appropriation,” said Heather Doe, communications director for the Iowa Department of Education.
The new law is expected to cost the state $345 million annually by 2027, when fully implemented. In total, over the course of four years, the program would cost the state an estimated $879 million, according to the LSA fiscal analysis.
The program, signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in January, will be phased in over four years until all K-12 students in Iowa will be eligible for roughly $7,600 per year in public funding to put toward private school tuition or other private school expenses.
Do Iowa’s private schools have room for a rush of new private school students? Well, Iowa has about 200 non-public schools, but only 58 of Iowa’s 99 counties have an accredited private school at this time.
Most of the areas where there are no private schools in the state are in rural areas. And several private schools in state are already near or at their capacity.
