Gazette Daily News Briefing, May 27
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, May 27.
Friday will start out cloudy but it will end up a pleasant, sunny day. According to the National Weather Service after gradual clearing there will be a high near 73 degrees and sunny skies in the Cedar Rapids area. Friday night it will be mostly clear with a low around 52 degrees.
A March 28 trial date has been set for one of the two men accused in the April 10 shootings at the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge that killed two people and injured 10.
Timothy Rush, 32, of Cedar Rapids, has pleaded not guilty to 15 charges in Linn County District Court.
According to a criminal complaint, Rush is accused of fatally shooting Nicole Owens, 35, his girlfriend and mother of his 1-year-old daughter, and of shooting and seriously injuring Marvin Cox, who was shot in the head. Rush is also charged for shooting 5 other people.
The other man charged in the shootings, Dimione Walker, 29, is accused of fatally shooting Michael Valentine, 25.
Federal marshals arrested Walker near Chicago on April 18. He remains in jail there, pending being extradited back to Iowa.
Iowa state park rangers and staff told late last year they needed to move out of state-owned housing now have until the end of 2023, according to a budget proposal passed by the Iowa Senate and House this week.
Lawmakers in March granted an extension through 2024, but a budget amendment this week reduced the grace period.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources told rangers in November they had a year to move out of houses in 26 state parks, citing as a primary factor the nearly $1 million cost of repairing the houses, some of which were built in the 1930s.
Former rangers and other law enforcement officers have predicted this change will mean longer response times if there is an emergency in one of the 26 parks — some of the state’s largest or most remote parks.
City High parents and others have donated $1,500 so far to fix vandalism done to the school last weekend in what some have described as a senior prank gone awry.
More than 500 people have signed an online petition to support Assistant Principal Scott Jespersen, who parents and students said was placed on leave following the incident.
Parents who spoke with the Gazette said it is their understanding that a school administrator let some students into the building Sunday night to hang balloons and streamers, but other students came and damaged the building by spray painting walls, pouring syrup on items and cutting up historical photos, among other actions.
The school district would not comment to The Gazette, saying it is a personnel matter.
