Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 20 and November 21
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, November 20 and Sunday, November 21.
It’s not going to get super warm this weekend, but it won’t be too bad for late November. According to the National Weather Service it will become increasingly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area with a high near 51 degrees. The low will settle in at around 32 degrees Saturday night. On Sunday the clouds will gradually part onto a mostly sunny day, with a high near 48 degrees. The wind will pick up as the day moves along however, so expect a blustery Sunday night with a low near 22 degrees.
The January trial for a 21-year-old University of Iowa sophomore charged with fatally shooting his parents and sister in June will be reset to a later date.
Attorneys for Alexander Ken Jackson told a judge Friday during a case status hearing that they are still waiting on discovery in the case from the prosecution, which they understand is being shared as soon as possible. The defense said the Jan. 25 trial date isn’t possible, considering they lack all the evidence and haven’t started depositions. The prosecution did not resist this request, and the judge asked the prosecution and defense to work out a later date.
Jackson, who graduated from Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of killing his father, Jan Jackson, 61; mother, Melissa Jackson, 68; and sister, Sabrina Jackson, 19, on June 15.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, the rules for getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster are about to become much simpler.
The United States on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.
Up until this point, Americans faced a confusing list of who was eligible for a booster that varied by age, their health and which kind of vaccine they got first. The Food and Drug Administration authorized changes to Pfizer and Moderna boosters to make it easier.
Under the new rules, anyone 18 or older can choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose. For anyone who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the wait already was just two months. And people can mix-and-match boosters from any company.
The board governing Iowa’s medical marijuana program plans to ask the Iowa Legislature to allow the state public health department to decide how many dispensaries for consumers there should be — and where they should be located — rather than restricting dispensary licenses statewide to five.
The board voted unanimously at a virtual meeting Friday on a recommendation to the Iowa Legislature to change the law to give the state health department discretion to decide how many dispensaries are licensed and where they will be located.
This would allow the agency to consider putting more dispensaries in urban areas with a higher concentration of registered patients, while still balancing access by rural patients.
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