Gazette Daily News Briefing, March 4
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, March 4.
Friday will be a cloudy day that will lead to a rainy Saturday. According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area with a high near 48 degrees. A wind of 10 to 15 mph will gust as high as 25 mph. There will be a slight chance of rain Friday night, with a low around 42 degrees.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law legislation that bans transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in Iowa.
Iowa becomes the 11th state to enact a ban on transgender girls in girls sports. The legislation, House File 2416, passed through the Iowa Legislature with only Republican support. Republicans and supporters of the new law say it is a matter of ensuring fairness in girls’ and women’s athletics.
“It’s simply a reality of human biology. Forcing females to compete against males is the opposite of inclusivity, and it’s absolutely unfair,” Reynolds, a Republican, said during the public bill-signing event. “Girls athletes would inevitably be displaced by biological boys with physical advantages.”
There are no examples of transgender girls dominating a girls’ sport in Iowa, and examples nationally exist but are rare.
Democrats, advocates for transgender people and other opponents argue the besides the rarity of what the bill says it is trying to fix, bills the target transgender students will create a feeling of exclusion who already report high rates of school bullying, isolation, and suicidal thoughts.
After at least six incidents of misconduct since the fall of 2017 — including two this academic year — the University of Iowa has suspended its chapter of the popular Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for at least four years.
That means the chapter — known as “PIKE,” sitting adjacent UI’s Mayflower Residence Hall along Dubuque Street — won’t be eligible for UI recognition again until July 1, 2026.
Should the chapter face more misconduct allegations in the interim while not recognized by the university, administrators could extend the suspension, according to a Feb. 23 disciplinary letter.
The Iowa PIKE chapter was among three UI fraternities found to have been involved in hosting impermissible and illegal tailgates in the fall.
The panel that regulates Iowa gaming facilities will take applications from those seeking a license to operate a facility in Linn County, potentially opening the door to the development of a casino in Iowa’s second-largest city.
But Cedar Rapids will only secure permission from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission if city officials and developers successfully make their case, overcome opposition and assuage concerns that a casino in Cedar Rapids will “cannibalize” the market.
That market also includes Waterloo and Riverside, cities within an hour drive that already have casinos. The five-member panel has denied Cedar Rapids a license to operate a casino twice before, in 2014 and 2017, because it considered the market sufficiently served.
But Cedar Rapids believes “the time is now” for a casino. Officials say the casino could be part of Iowa’s solution to stave off competition from recently approved gaming at Nebraska’s six horse tracks.
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.
