Gazette Daily News Briefing, March 10
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, March 10.
It looks like the snow that was predicted for Thursday earlier in the week could be heading mostly to the south. Still, according to the National Weather Service, there will be a 30 percent chance of snow, mainly between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Otherwise it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 28 degrees. The chance for snow will taper off even further Thursday night, with a low around 15 degrees. As a sneak peek, it looks like we’ll have to deal with cold weather a few more days before bumping back up to above 50 degrees on Sunday.
Kim Reynolds finally made it official Wednesday: She’s running in November’s election for another four-year term as Iowa’s governor.
The Republican governor made her re-election announcement at an event hosted by her campaign Wednesday night at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Her remarks were a mixture of her record in Iowa with criticisms of federal Democrats’ policies.
“As long as I am governor, Iowa will be a state where you can live your life freely, not have to wake up every morning worrying about the next thing the government will do to you, your business or your children,” Reynolds said during the rally.
Iowa’s first female governor, Reynolds has served in the office since 2017, initially filling the unexpired term of then-Gov. Terry Branstad, who was named U.S. ambassador to China. Reynolds ran for election to a full term in 2018, winning against Democrat businessman Fred Hubbell.
Iowa reported a significant drop in new COVID-19 cases in the past week as the state enters its third year of the pandemic.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,746 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days, a major decline from the 6,809 cases reported the previous week, according to data released Wednesday.
This major shift comes as Iowa emerges from the omicron surge, which peaked Jan. 19 with 38,574 new cases reported in one week.
The Iowa City school board this week began considering the benefits and impact a four-day school week would have on student learning, families and staff.
Though the district has no plans to move to a four-day week at this time, Superintendent Matt Degner told the board at its meeting on Tuesday the idea “has the potential to create a better outcome for our students.”
With a four-day school week, the school year would start earlier in August and extend to the end of June, which could lessen “summer slide” — the loss of achievements made during the school year — Degner said.
The current school calendar, which begins after Aug. 23 and ends around Memorial Day in May, is “based on the old agriculture calendar,”
School board members expressed interest in the idea and some concerns, including meeting the needs of special education students and retaining hourly staff like paraeducators.
The impact on child care and summer camps also must be considered, they said.
Support for this news update was provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s destination for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at newpi.coop.
