Gazette Daily News Briefing, March 12 and March 13
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, March 12and Sunday, March 13.
First of all, I should note that this weekend is daylight savings time week, meaning we will Spring forward an hour on Sunday. Just a reminder to set your clocks ahead, presuming you have any that don’t update themselves.
As for the weather, there will be one last cold day on Saturday before a warm week begins on Sunday. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 25 degrees on Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area. The wind will not be overly strong until Saturday night, but it will have a wind chill of -10 degrees before it warms up Saturday night.
On Sunday it should be sunny with a high near 55 degrees and a mild wind. It may get quite warm and sunny this coming week, with a potential for near 70 degrees on Wednesday. So if you want to spend your weekend looking for your Spring clothes I think it might finally be safe to do so.
According to reporting from the Washington Post, Democratic leaders took another step Friday toward ending Iowa's status as the first state in the party's presidential nominating process. A party rules committee meeting showed clear support for a new path that would prioritize more diverse and competitive states.
The meeting of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee came to no final decisions, but once again a majority of speakers made clear they are open to shaking up the presidential primary calendar to better reflect what speakers described as the party's values.
Despite Iowa’s lack of demographic diversity, the national party has also criticized the Iowa Caucus for what is viewed as an archaic caucus system. It did not help that the most recent caucus was botched so heavily that results were delayed for a week, leading to the resignation of the head of the Iowa Democratic Party.
On the Republican side, there is no indication that Iowa will lose its first in the nation status. Besides already being a primary, Iowa Republicans enjoy the benefit of having more sway in the national party.
Two years after a pandemic-plagued University of Iowa announced plans to wean its acclaimed Hancher Auditorium off university general fund support by 2024, UI officials Friday committed to continue providing $750,000 “annually” for the venue’s facilities and maintenance costs.
The UI did not respond to questions about how long that annual contribution will last, and it comes to half the $1.5 million annual support the UI has typically made to Hancher in years’ past.
The news came as part of a larger announcement about the creation of a new UI Office of Performing Arts and Engagement that will house a re-branded “Hancher Presents,” which is intended to expand its reach to “potential venues across the university and Iowa City area to further enable arts engagement.”
Iowa City City Manager Geoff Fruin has named Scott Lyon as the city’s next fire chief.
Lyon, now the assistant fire chief in Urbandale, is to start April 4, pending approval by the city’s Civil Service Commission and City Council.
He will succeed John Grier, the city’s fire chief from 2013 until February 2022, who retired after nearly 30 years with the department. Deputy Chief Eric Nurnberg has served as interim chief.
Fruin said in a memo that Lyon “clearly articulated his strong belief that the fire department is an extension of the community.”
Fruin said he expects Lyon will create new partnerships between the department and the community, other city departments and regional public safety organizations.
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.
