Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 13 and November 14
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, November 13 and Sunday, November 14.
We will stay in our newly found cold zone for the weekend, but there will be no more snow for now. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service there will be a high of 38 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Saturday. The day will begin cloudy, before gradually becoming sunny. Winds will blow at 10-15 mph. On Saturday night into Sunday morning there will be a small chance for rain, and a low of 36 degrees. On Sunday it will be mostly cloudy with a high of 35 degrees. It could be a bit breezier, with a northwest wind of 15 to 25 mph gusting as high as 35 mph.
An 18-year-old Cedar Rapids man admitted during a Friday plea hearing that he fatally shot University of Iowa student, Malik Sheets, during an argument at a June 18 party last year.
Christian D. Emedi, originally charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of prosecution, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. Under the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
During the hearing, Emedi acknowledged he fired all five shots that killed Sheets, 20, who died from injuries to his neck and chest.
The other teen charged in Sheets’ death, Marshawn Jeffries, also of Cedar Rapids, has a tentative plea agreement, which hasn’t been filed.
Deere & Co. and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America have reached their third tentative agreement, according to a release Friday from Brian Rothenberg, an UAW spokesman.
A ratification vote by members of the union will be held Nov. 17 according to the Quad-City Times.
The strike has been ongoing since mid October, affecting workers in three states, including thousands of workers in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.
Cindy Axne, the lone Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation, announced Friday that she plans to seek re-election in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District next year.
Axne previously also considered running for the U.S. Senate or Iowa governor in 2022. She is serving her second two-year term in the U.S. House.
Iowa’s 3rd District race likely will draw national attention as Democrats attempt to maintain their slim majority in the U.S. House. Democrats have a small voter registration advantage in the new 3rd District, which includes Polk and Dallas counties, plus much of south-central Iowa.
The crash that killed Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ted Benda last month happened when Benda swerved to avoid a deer while responding to a call at high speed, Iowa State Patrol reported Friday.
Benda, 37, of rural Decorah, was driving south on Highway 51 north of Postville around 11:30 p.m. Oct. 14 when he swerved to avoid striking a deer that had entered the roadway from the west, the Iowa State Patrol said.
“Due to this evasive action, the Dodge Charger lost traction, entered into the east ditch, and struck an embankment on the driver’s side,” Sgt. Alex Dinkla said in an email to The Gazette. “The vehicle then rolled, coming to rest on the driver’s side.”
Benda was extricated from the damaged patrol car and airlifted to Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, Wis., where he was in critical condition for several days before he died Oct. 19.
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