Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 25
Happy Thanksgiving!
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, November 25th.
Thursday’s weather will be perfect for people who need to use their porches for extra refrigerator space. According to the National Weather Service the day will start off mostly cloudy and then clear in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 30 degrees. A blustery northwest wind during the day will calm by the end of Thursday night, but it will still be cold, with a low around 15 degrees.
Iowa continues to see increases in new COVID-19 cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations, with virus transmission rates still at the highest levels in almost every county, as the Thanksgiving weekend that traditionally goes hand in hand with spreading viruses is upon us.
Iowa reported 10,643 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s weekly report, making it the fifth week in a row for increases in new infections. The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 increased for the third week in a row, jumping to 623 from last week’s 544.
A Colorado woman accused of forging documents from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to show she had COVID-19 — as an excuse to get out of a court hearing — is facing formal charges out of Colorado related to the Iowa allegations.
Emily Elizabeth Cohen, 41, of Boulder, faces three new counts of forgery and three new counts of attempting to influence a public servant for purporting to be COVID-19 positive — and faking UIHC documents to prove it — dating to July, according to an arrest affidavit filed this week.
The affidavit information showed that investigators looked into Cohen’s claims after she had used COVID-19 as an excuse to get out of an earlier court date this summer, also using a supposed UIHC test as the justification. Upon following up on the tests, they appear to have never taken place.
Cohen, a Boulder immigration lawyer, is facing theft charges in Colorado for allegedly collecting fees from immigrant families before losing contact with them without producing visas or work permits, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. She is set for a 10-day trial in Boulder County starting Dec. 6 for 11 felonies.
An Iowa Court of Appeals panel ruled this week that residents of the Rompot neighborhood were wrongly denied a hearing in district court when they challenged Cargill’s construction of a rail yard in southeast Cedar Rapids.
Work on the $6.5 million rail yard began this summer, so the Tuesday ruling may have little impact on construction. The appeals court did not rule on the merits of the Rompot neighborhood lawsuits, simply saying the arguments should have been heard in district court under state civil procedure rules.
The rail yard being built on Stewart Road SE, between the Rompot neighborhood and Prairie Park Fishery, has riled neighbors who fear it will create noise and air pollution, harm the environment, erode property values and pose safety risks.
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