Gazette Daily News Briefing, March 6 and March 7
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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7.
This weekend is going to be the start of things feeling even more like spring. According to the National Weather Service on Saturday it will be a bit warmer than the day before, with a high of 46 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area and mostly sunny skies. Then it will bounce quite a bit higher on Sunday, with a high temperature of 56 degrees and also mostly sunny skies. It will be a little windy on Sunday, with wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph gusting as high as 20 mph. By early next week we should be enjoying high temperatures in the sixties.
Starting March 8, Iowans younger than 65 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine if they have underlying medical conditions that put them at an increased risk of severe illness from the coronavirus.
The Iowa Department of Public Health made the announcement late Thursday in a news release, saying the decision comes after several counties have reported nearing completion of distributing the vaccine to other priority populations. Previously these populations had focused primarily on those above 65, those in healthcare professions, and other frontline workers.
If news of this came as a surprise to you, you are in good company. Several local public health departments told the Gazette they were pivoting their COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans on Friday and will continue this work through the weekend. This comes after they were surprised to learn a change would be taking effect on Monday for a plan they had just heard about the night before. For some counties, this will mean a change in messaging over who is eligible, while for others they have decided to stick with serving their priority populations first, regardless of the state’s directive.
A civil trial against the City of Cedar Rapids and a white police officer who shot a Black man during a 2016 traffic stop, leaving him paralyzed, remains on track to start next month in Linn County District Court.
Lawyers for Jerime and Bracken Mitchell, who filed the lawsuit in 2017 after Jerime Mitchell was shot Nov. 1, 2016, had a pretrial conference Friday with lawyers for the city and for Lucas Jones, a former Cedar Rapids police officer.
Jones shot at Mitchell three times after a drug-related traffic stop escalated. One of the bullets hit Mitchell in the neck, paralyzing him. A Grand Jury at the time decided against bringing charges against Jones, who was later dismissed from the police department for a different incident.
Cedar Rapids high school students will get to walk across the stage for their diplomas during in-person graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021, the district announced Friday.
The ceremonies for Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington high schools will be held in the Alliant Energy PowerHouse, formerly known as the U.S. Cellular Center.
Metro High School’s ceremony will be held at the DoubleTree convention Center.
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