Gazette Daily News Briefing, March 19 and March 20
The rain of Friday should fade away by early Saturday morning, leading to the return of some warmer temperatures by Sunday. According to the National Weather Service it will be cloudy with gradual clearing in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday, with a high near 51 degrees. There could be some patchy fog early on Sunday, but besides that it will be sunny, with a high near 66 degrees. The wind will remain light throughout the day. On Sunday night it will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 47 degrees. Take advantage of the sun on Sunday, especially, because rain is likely to return on Monday through Wednesday.
Two Iowa U.S. representatives are still waiting for information about what caused a delay in National Weather Service tornado warnings reaching the public when tornadoes swept across Iowa earlier this month, killing seven people.
First District Rep. Ashley Hinson and 3rd District Rep. Cindy Axne are asking the weather service for an explanation of a communications system malfunction that led to delays in critical alerts to the public March 5. Some warnings didn’t reach the public until nine minutes after they were issued. The weather agency has blamed a technical issue in its Dallas-Fort Worth office.
Noting that it’s severe weather season in Iowa, Hinson said she wants answers “sooner rather than later … to make sure we are finding out exactly where the breakdowns happen in the communication on their end.”
A Cedar Rapids man who authorities said was the leader of a large-scale drug trafficking ring was sentenced Friday to 30 years in federal prison.
George Patrick Ashby, 62, was convicted last year of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Court documents state he distributed a significant amount of methamphetamine in the Cedar Rapids area from 2018 through March 2020, but he also sold heroin.
Ashby admitted to investigators that his supply of meth came from Fort Madison, Burlington and another city in Iowa.
The Marion YMCA will be closed this weekend after a small fire damaged a mechanical room Thursday.
It will reopen sometime next week, according to a YMCA Facebook post.
Firefighters were called to the YMCA, 3740 Irish Dr., right across the street from fire department headquarters, around 7 p.m. after smoke was seen coming from a laundry area.
The fire in the mechanical room was extinguished quickly and contained to one room. Crews then assisted YMCA staff in removing smoke and odors from the building.
No one was injured. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
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.
